West Texas Teardrops

Here are a few from a rest stop in West Texas. The nearest town was Iraan. I feel like you haven't seen the middle of nowhere until you've driven across Texas. I'm sure there are more lonely, isolated places on this earth, but I haven't been there yet.

Butterfly. Rest stop, near Iraan, TX, October 8, 2007, Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/125 sec f/2, Y2 Yellow filter, Kodak BW 400CN

Fence at rest stop, near Iraan, TX, October 8, 2007, Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/60 sec f/2, Y2 Yellow filter, Kodak BW 400CN

Beware of snakes. Rest stop, near Iraan, TX, October 8, 2007, Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/125 sec f/2, Y2 Yellow filter, Kodak BW 400CN

More of San Antonio

Bertram at the Rodeway Inn, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/250 sec f/4.8
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

This bunch are from The Alamo. This is the building next door. It's quite tall, and I shot just the top (this shot) and the whole thing. I like this one better:


Building next door to The Alamo, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/250 sec f/16
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

Fish in the moat:


The Alamo, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/250 sec f/4
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

The old meets the new:


Hotel next door to The Alamo, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/250 sec f/16
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

I liked this well in the grounds. I'm not sure I did it justice:


Well. The Alamo, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/125 sec f/5.6
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

On our way out of town, we were beset by a sudden downpour:


Gas station, San Antonio, TX, October 7, 2007
Pentax K-1000, Pentax-M 50mm/2.0, 1/250 sec f/?
Kodak Ultra Color 400 (400UC)

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, TX

No trip to the Texas panhandle is complete without a trip to Stanley Marsh's Cadillac Ranch. We were traveling with nothing more for directions than a mark on the road atlas. Consequently, we got off the interstate too late and missed it completely. We turned around and went back. I had expected to be able to see something from the road and there was nothing, so after driving several miles, we exited the highway again. There was a gas station at the exit and Liz needed to use the room of resting, so I pulled in. She came back a couple of minutes later with a bottle of water and directions. Get on the frontage road and it's on the right side. You can't miss it. So, we'd driven by it twice.


We arrived right before sunset. We grabbed the cameras and hopped out of the car. I checked the camera. One picture left. Crap. I'll grab a long shot and change the roll. That should only take a minute and I won't lose the sun. Take the lens cap off. No meter. Battery's dead. Crap. I don't have a spare. So, sunny f16 rule it is, and let's hope my EV estimates are good and I can count. I grabbed some extra cell phone pics just in case.

For those who don't know, the Cadillac Ranch is a public art installation on land belonging to Stanley Marsh 3. It was installed in a wheat field owned by Marsh in 1974. In 1997, it was moved a couple of miles west into a cow pasture. It's an interesting sculpture consisting of a number of Cadillacs buried halfway into the field.

Every so often, the cars are resprayed so that visitors can graffiti them again, making the sculpture an ever-changing one. It's refreshing that something like this can have stood for so long, with no souvenir stand or snack bar in sight. Nothing but an unlocked gate, a field and some cars.

After taking in such a sight, we were in serious need of barbecue, so we took dinner at Dyer's BBQ. Dyer's was good barbecue. Acting om a tip, I avoided the brisket and instead ordered the sausage, ribs and ham. They were all good, if not great and the service was very good.

The last rest stop in Texas

This map was posted at the rest stop outside Van Horn. This was the last rest stop in Texas. We started in San Antonio, and this portion of the map only hints at the long day we had. Soon after, we would be in El Paso, and then, finally, New Mexico.

Monday night at the Sonic, Fort Stockton, TX

Sometimes you take what you can get. Dinner was at the Sonic in Fort Stockton, TX. Our original plan was to get off early enough to eat in El Paso. Once we figured out that we'd never get out early enough, we decided to get breakfast and lunch in San Antonio, then get take out and eat when we got hungry. We got out even later than we wanted and had to leave dinner to the Road Gods. What the Road Gods gave us was Fort Stockton, TX, a town of 7000 in the middle of nowhere. There was a Sonic, a couple of crappy looking motels, a few gas stations and, I think, a Dairy Queen.

Texas is big

Real big. We foolishly drive all the way across it. Not in one day, but close. Day 3 was spent driving from Beaumont (just inside the eastern border) to Austin, then to San Antonio. Day 4 was San Antonio to Las Cruces, NM, quite a long drive. There is almost nothing in between San Antonio and EL Paso, on the western border. We stopped at several rest stops, both to rest and to take loads of pictures.



It's not often you see pay phones these days. The West Texas rest stops also had wireless internet connections, but they were a bit flaky (thus, no rest stop posts).



The coming storm aka Bertram at the rest stop.

San Antonio, TX

Unfortunately, our travel schedule necessitated a very short stay in San Antonio. However, we did manage to squeeze in two meals. The first was at Olmos Pharmacy, on the corner of McCullough and Hildebrand. When I was previously here, it was still an actual pharmacy and drug store, with a breakfast/lunch counter. It was a good place to get a good, cheap meal. When we arrived this time, Liz noticed a sign advertising wifi. We walked in and the whole half of the building that was the drug store was cleared out and tables put in. The pharmacy was replaced with what looks like a wine bar. It appears that Olmos Pharmacy is now a full-time restaurant. While unfortunate, the food is still reasonably good and reasonably cheap, although a touch more expensive. Still a good place for breakfast in San Antonio.

Following our breakfast adventure, we headed to the Alamo. I have no cell phone pictures, but I shot most of a roll, so I should have a few good ones eventually.



Lunch was at Bill Miller BBQ, a San Antonio institution. Over the years, they've gone from one location to 49 in San Antonio (and a few each in Austin and Corpus Christi). There's a Bill Miller BBQ every 50 feet in San Antonio. They're more ubiquitous than Starbucks. They're a cafeteria-style restaurant as is popular in South Florida. They feature chicken, brisket, sausage, ham and turkey, along with a few sides including beans, rice, potatoes, hashbrowns and cole slaw. The food isn't great, but it's not bad. I had the three meat plate with sausage, brisket and ham. The ham was nothing special. The brisket was good, but it could have been smoked a bit more. The sausage, however, was quite good if a bit greasy. It was a kielbasa-type sausage, so grease comes with the territory. I wouldn't eat a whole meal of it, so I recommend some of it with the brisket. Liz had a chicken po'boy that was quite good. The chicken was a touch dry, but good nonetheless. Hashbrowns and beans were also good. I do miss the Dinosaur, though. I haven't had much as good since I left Syracuse. Hopefully we'll hit some more barbecue joints on the way back through Texas.

Opposite Day in the Parking Lot

After dinner at Threadgill's and cookbook purchasing at Half Price Books, we made our way to the Austin Department of Elections, where they were holding an all-day voter registration event. Liz's friend Greg's band Opposite Day got drafted to play this event. Unfortunately, by the time they played, there were only a few people there, most of whom worked for the Department of Elections. A couple of them were tossing around a football and a group of the girls kept requesting songs like "Hotel California." I was reminded of the time I was working with Fun With Tungsten and they were booked to play at a professional wrestling match.