Road Trip East Day 2: Ft. Stockton, TX to Lafayette, LA

I had very grand plans of waking up at 7am and getting on the road early but that didn't really go so well--I forgot about the 2 hour time difference and was still on Phoenix time. 5am was not happening, so I went back to bed and woke up at 9. I grabbed my free breakfast (bacon, a biscuit and grits--totally unhealthy but filling!) and hit the road by 9:30. The mountains I had seen the day before were gone, replaced by flat mesas that were only 100 feet high or so. As I continued east, the landscape became less arid with scrubby brush and more green. It even rained at one point, which I had forgotten actually happens in other states besides Arizona!

I stopped for gas in the morning and continued towards San Antonio. The countryside was not as boring as I thought it would be and I was keep entertained by a steady stream of cheesy rock hits from my iPod.

I arrived in San Antonio at 2pm and drove straight to the Alamo. The downtown area is quite small and the square around the Alamo is very touristy, with cheesy tourist trap museums around. The Alamo itself is smaller than I expected. Photography is not allowed inside, as it is a shrine to those who died defending it against the Mexican Army, led by General Santa Ana. The two most famous dead on the US side were Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie (inventor of the Bowie knife). The inside is run by the Daughters of the American Revolution and there are docents aplenty should you have any questions. Behind the Alamo is a nice garden with plenty of pretty flowers in bloom. It was warm and humid, but not too unpleasant in the shade.

After walking around and having lunch at Subway (second day in a row, argh), I got back on the road towards Houston. The drive from San Antonio to Houston was actually quite nerve wracking as there are only two lanes but a lot of traffic. The passing lane was crowded and prone to sudden slowdowns. I wasn't able to cruise like I had been for the past day and a half. Once I got to Houston around 5:30 the road widened out and became huge--10 lanes! The space was nice! But then, once you pass the downtown, the road is back to 2 lanes and is very small and crappy. Weird.

The landscape past Houston flattens out completely and is filled with pine trees. As I-10 approaches the Louisiana border you see tidal rivers and bayou country. By my calculation I-10 is 880 miles long in Texas! Wow!

I ate dinner in Sulpher, LA, which is about 20 miles across the border from Texas. I was drawn in by a bill board off the highway promising crawfish. Some Louisianan classmates of mine had a crawfish boil a few months ago and it was so delicious I figured I'd better have some now while I could. Well, I found the restaurant, called the Boiling Point, but it was closed. I decided that if I couldn't have Cajun seafood, I'd have BBQ instead, another Louisiana specialty. I found two BBQ places on Google Maps that sounded promising, but both were closed also! I guess 8pm on a Sunday night in bumf*ck, Louisiana is not the time to be eating.

I finally found a non-chain restaurant that was open, called Cajun Charlie's. I got 3lbs of crawfish for $12. SO WORTH IT. I stuffed my face with every single one. They were spicy and salty and just delicious! I'm so glad I kept with my restaurant search!

I'm now in Lafayette, LA, which is about 150 miles from New Orleans. I should get there around noon tomorrow and I'll have lunch, then check in to the hotel. So psyched to be staying in the French Quarter!

Road Trip East Day 1: Phoenix, AZ to Ft. Stockton, TX

Day one of my road trip odyssey did not start all that fortuitously--I received an email on my Blackberry while I was gassing up in Phoenix about the death of one of my good college friends, Tristan Campbell. Tristan and I met in Prof. William Chester Jordan's European History class freshman year and we took another class of his together. He also attended Episcopal services with me and I always looked forward to his passage readings. Tristan was from NYC by way of Jamaica, but he was an Anglophile through and through. I will always remember his kindness, his intelligence and sharp wit and his beautiful soul. Once he told me that my nose was "mathematically perfect" and sometimes he would just send me Facebook messages that said, "Ginger, you are awesome. I love you." They were meant in the most non-creepy way and I always smiled when I saw them. We'll miss you terribly, Tristan, and I hope you are somewhere finding all the answers to the questions you had in Prof. Jordan's history class. The email mentioned there may be a memorial service during reunions, so if I can make it I will try to get to NJ for it.

My route today was very easy: I-17 South to I-10 West towards Tucson. Driving through Tucson was surprisingly fast. After two years in the Phoenix metro area I forget what normal towns are like. I saw a sign for the Saguaro National Monuments and I wished I had time to stop. I wanted to get to Ft. Stockton, TX, however, as it's the best stopping point between El Paso and San Antonio. After Tucson, all the signs on I-10 point to El Paso, which is pretty exciting.

The interstate past Tucson takes you through some pretty rugged country. This part of the state was used as Cochise's hideout when he was fighting the US Army, guerrilla style. Once I hit the New Mexico border, however, the road got very straight and very flat. There's not much in New Mexico until Las Cruces, which is only 50 miles from El Paso. Surprisingly the scenery in west Texas was much more interesting than New Mexico.

El Paso is the US city equivalent to the famous Ciudad Juarez, which is currently in the news due to the drug violence plaguing the city. If I had time I would have tried to go to Mexico, but New Orleans calls.

I stopped at the Lucchese outlet in El Paso to get some cowboy boots, I got a fabulous chocolate patent leather pair for $139, bargained down from $269, original retail price $600. I love shopping!

After El Paso the scenery continued to be pretty, but boy, is it empty! All I hit was a US Border Patrol checkpoint outside of Sierra Blanca. They were stopping all trucks and cars. I got asked if I were a US citizen which got me thinking if that was legal or not (since they don't have a suspicion that I am an illegal alien). I guess in Texas driving while half-Asian is not a problem.

I ate dinner in Van Horn at a restaurant called Chuy's, which advertised good Mexican food and free wi-fi. My enchiladas were very tasty and they did in fact have wi-fi! I got back on the road and kept going, but I forgot that most of Texas is on central time so suddenly it was 9pm instead of what I thought was 8pm. I did make Fort Stockton eventually, rolling in around 10:30pm. The last part of the drive there was a gorgeous lightning display next to me. It never rained on the road but there were huge streaks across the sky and from clouds to ground. I'm in a suite at the Holiday Inn, since all the other rooms were full. The guy gave me a good deal on it, though, and there's free wi-fi here and free breakfast, which is all I care about. Oh yeah, and a king size bed. Party in room 219!

Tomorrow: I plan to remember the Alamo in San Antonio and will hopefully make it to Lake Charles, Louisiana.