I just got off the road after a full and LONG day of driving my Roadmonster. My high school friend Clare has given up on freezing to death in New Jersey and is moving back down here to Texas. She got a $100 ticket from NYC to Dallas and asked me to get her and drive her back to Austin. Such fun.
I also had to run out to the ranch in Burnet to get the license plate off the BBQ pit trailer my father-in-law gave me at Christmas. He lives in Dallas so today was a good day to knock this errend out. He wants the plate for his flatbed trailer, so I'll have to license the BBQ pit in my name to get a new plate, no big deal, except for the fact that the trailer is at the ranch now so it's about an hour west of town in the hill country.
SO I decided on driving out to the ranch in Burnet, then just driving north through the country until I hit Dallas...or Oklahoma...ha! I'd never driven to Dallas through the country roads to the west, would be fun, nice change from the interstate and who knows what I'd see. I'm guessing instead of 2 1/2 hours on the interstate, this back way would take me 3-4 hours, but I love a road trip and it was a gorgeous day for a Sunday drive.
Her flight got in to DFW at 5pm this evening. Figured if I got to Dallas early enough I might hit some salvage yards.
600 miles later and I'm home at 11pm....that was a LONG day on the road, but had a lot of fun!
These are not the most exciting pics, and I really REALLY need a wide-angle lens so you could see how truly HUGE the sky is out there, but at least these will give you something to look at. Talk about WIDE OPEN SPACES.
When I left home this morning it was 60 degrees, sunny, but windows up on the drive out to the ranch. By the time I got to Burnet it was 71, and the warmest I saw was 76. PRETTY WEATHER.
For you MapQuest guys, I headed north from Burnet on Hwy 281 to Lampasas, from there went to basically the ghost town of Evant, the pretty little town of Hamilton, and caught 220 in Hico, which turns out to be a biker mecca, and 67 up into Glen Rose and on to Cleburn and into the Dallas area.
So who wants to take a ride with me? Here we go.
Here's the play-by-play. At the ranch I turned north, the windows all went down and the stereo went UP. Best of Steely Dan was blasting in these first pics.
From the ranch in Burnet to Lampasas and to Evant you are litterally IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. In the encyclopedia there are pics of this area listed as middle-of-nowhere..ha! On the upside you can see FOREVER out there...and north of Lampasas you can drive as fast as you want. Not many trees, rolling hills with a few bluffs, again, it's the wide open spaces. I kept the cruise set just above 80 on this leg. These are from Burnet to Lampasas
These are Lampasas to Evant, smaller road and more hills
Here is the bustling metropolis of Evant Texas.
I honked like the sign said but nobody came to pump my gas...
North from Evant to Hamilton, less hills and a lot of nothing!
Hamilton is actually a neat little town. I especially liked this place.
Great warm winter weather! 73 degrees. Ahhhh
From Hamilton to Hico. You could see FOREVER. Moved to my Tom Petty CD...In to the Great Wide Open.. ; )
Next is my favorite part of the trip. Hico to Glen Rose turns out to be both a biker and car mecca. No joke. From Hico to Glen Rose there are a lot of bikes, the roads run FAST, and we get into some larger hills with GORGEOUS views! I so wanted my motorcycle, but even still had a ball running these in the Roady. Eased the cruise control up to 85 on this leg and was still getting passed!
Biker fun!
Running FAST!
Look at that Vette!
More bikes, looks like FUN
Cruising Speed! Warren Zevon blasting Wherewolves of London here. ; )
60mph....ummm...yeah right! Zoommm!
Look at these views! Gorgeous out here!
Took this between Glen Rose and Cleburn. Hahahaha! Roady felt right at home!
As you get closer to Cleburn and Dallas the hills slowly melt away and the land levels out. Knew I was close to Dallas when all the radio towers came into view
My long-way took longer than I planned, and when I got to Dallas I only had one hour before Clare's flight landed. I made a quick run through Pick-N-Pull. A few plain Caprices and Roady sedans, nothing that I needed. I did take a few pics... See here
I made a mad dash through a car wash as the Roady got dusty in the salvage yard parking lot, washed up and got to DFW airport right at 5pm for Clare....could not pick her up in a dirty car.
We had dinner in Dallas and then took I-35 back to Austin in the dark. Stopped at The Czek Stop in West for some junk food, had a nice visit.
NOW if you are still with me, here is the downer of the day. Just north of Temple Texas an 18-wheeler threw a tire tread, which hit my Roady dead in the grill and cracked it. You guys know how I keep my cars and how much I love my wagon....I resisited the urge to cry. Clare had the passenger seat reclined and was dozing, and it about scared her to death. She thought we'd been hit. I pulled over and got out. By luck the bumper, hood and headlights seem fine, but I'll need a grill. Will take a better look at the car tomorrow in the daylight.
If anyone has a good grill, please let me know.
No broken grill pics gang, don't want to look at it.
😢
Other than that it was a really good day. Hope you liked the pics.
-Mike
I also had to run out to the ranch in Burnet to get the license plate off the BBQ pit trailer my father-in-law gave me at Christmas. He lives in Dallas so today was a good day to knock this errend out. He wants the plate for his flatbed trailer, so I'll have to license the BBQ pit in my name to get a new plate, no big deal, except for the fact that the trailer is at the ranch now so it's about an hour west of town in the hill country.
SO I decided on driving out to the ranch in Burnet, then just driving north through the country until I hit Dallas...or Oklahoma...ha! I'd never driven to Dallas through the country roads to the west, would be fun, nice change from the interstate and who knows what I'd see. I'm guessing instead of 2 1/2 hours on the interstate, this back way would take me 3-4 hours, but I love a road trip and it was a gorgeous day for a Sunday drive.
Her flight got in to DFW at 5pm this evening. Figured if I got to Dallas early enough I might hit some salvage yards.
600 miles later and I'm home at 11pm....that was a LONG day on the road, but had a lot of fun!
These are not the most exciting pics, and I really REALLY need a wide-angle lens so you could see how truly HUGE the sky is out there, but at least these will give you something to look at. Talk about WIDE OPEN SPACES.
When I left home this morning it was 60 degrees, sunny, but windows up on the drive out to the ranch. By the time I got to Burnet it was 71, and the warmest I saw was 76. PRETTY WEATHER.
For you MapQuest guys, I headed north from Burnet on Hwy 281 to Lampasas, from there went to basically the ghost town of Evant, the pretty little town of Hamilton, and caught 220 in Hico, which turns out to be a biker mecca, and 67 up into Glen Rose and on to Cleburn and into the Dallas area.
So who wants to take a ride with me? Here we go.
Here's the play-by-play. At the ranch I turned north, the windows all went down and the stereo went UP. Best of Steely Dan was blasting in these first pics.
From the ranch in Burnet to Lampasas and to Evant you are litterally IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. In the encyclopedia there are pics of this area listed as middle-of-nowhere..ha! On the upside you can see FOREVER out there...and north of Lampasas you can drive as fast as you want. Not many trees, rolling hills with a few bluffs, again, it's the wide open spaces. I kept the cruise set just above 80 on this leg. These are from Burnet to Lampasas
These are Lampasas to Evant, smaller road and more hills
Here is the bustling metropolis of Evant Texas.
I honked like the sign said but nobody came to pump my gas...
North from Evant to Hamilton, less hills and a lot of nothing!
Hamilton is actually a neat little town. I especially liked this place.
Great warm winter weather! 73 degrees. Ahhhh
From Hamilton to Hico. You could see FOREVER. Moved to my Tom Petty CD...In to the Great Wide Open.. ; )
Next is my favorite part of the trip. Hico to Glen Rose turns out to be both a biker and car mecca. No joke. From Hico to Glen Rose there are a lot of bikes, the roads run FAST, and we get into some larger hills with GORGEOUS views! I so wanted my motorcycle, but even still had a ball running these in the Roady. Eased the cruise control up to 85 on this leg and was still getting passed!
Biker fun!
Running FAST!
Look at that Vette!
More bikes, looks like FUN
Cruising Speed! Warren Zevon blasting Wherewolves of London here. ; )
60mph....ummm...yeah right! Zoommm!
Look at these views! Gorgeous out here!
Took this between Glen Rose and Cleburn. Hahahaha! Roady felt right at home!
As you get closer to Cleburn and Dallas the hills slowly melt away and the land levels out. Knew I was close to Dallas when all the radio towers came into view
My long-way took longer than I planned, and when I got to Dallas I only had one hour before Clare's flight landed. I made a quick run through Pick-N-Pull. A few plain Caprices and Roady sedans, nothing that I needed. I did take a few pics... See here
I made a mad dash through a car wash as the Roady got dusty in the salvage yard parking lot, washed up and got to DFW airport right at 5pm for Clare....could not pick her up in a dirty car.
We had dinner in Dallas and then took I-35 back to Austin in the dark. Stopped at The Czek Stop in West for some junk food, had a nice visit.
NOW if you are still with me, here is the downer of the day. Just north of Temple Texas an 18-wheeler threw a tire tread, which hit my Roady dead in the grill and cracked it. You guys know how I keep my cars and how much I love my wagon....I resisited the urge to cry. Clare had the passenger seat reclined and was dozing, and it about scared her to death. She thought we'd been hit. I pulled over and got out. By luck the bumper, hood and headlights seem fine, but I'll need a grill. Will take a better look at the car tomorrow in the daylight.
If anyone has a good grill, please let me know.
No broken grill pics gang, don't want to look at it.
😢
Other than that it was a really good day. Hope you liked the pics.
-Mike
