BigWeather's Blog

We awoke, packed, ate breakfast, and made it to Love Field well in advance of our 10:25a direct flight to Raleigh.  It was a pretty uneventful trip — a little shopping in the airport, some Chick-fil-A to tide us over, that sort of thing.  We landed a little after 2p and headed home, another great trip completed.

While we’d seen several states (particularly along the East Coast) here and there over the years, our quest to visit all fifty states really began in earnest in 2007 with our drive to visit relatives in New York and Maine.  Following are the trips (and the states visited, * is first time in these trips):

2007: Virginia*, Maryland*, Delaware*, New Jersey*, New York*, Connecticut*, Rhode Island*, Massachusetts*, New Hampshire*, Maine*
2009: Tennessee*, Mississippi*, Arkansas*, Missouri*, Illinois*, Indiana*, Kentucky*, West Virginia*, Virginia
2010: Louisiana*; Colorado*, Wyoming*, Nebraska*, South Dakota*, Montana*, Idaho*, Utah*
2011: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania*, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont*, New Jersey
2012: Louisiana, Washington*, Oregon*, California*, Nevada*
2013: Nevada, Utah, Arizona*, Colorado, New Mexico*, Texas*
2014: Louisiana
2015: Alaska*
2017: Louisiana; Illinois, Wisconsin*, Iowa*, Minnesota*, North Dakota*, Michigan*, Ohio*, Indiana; South Carolina*, Georgia*, Florida*
2018: Texas, Oklahoma*, Kansas*, Colorado, New Mexico

Remarkable that those trips hit 47 of the 49 states we have thus far.  Granted, some of those we had visited before those trips, but not a huge number.  That leaves only Alabama (which Michelle and I have visited, but not the kids) and of course North Carolina which I didn’t count as visiting since we live there.  We’ll hopefully pick up Alabama this year for the kids then Hawaii next year for our 25th anniversary.

Following is the map of our trip (click to view full size, as with the other maps in the more recent blogs).  Google says it was thirty-nine hours of driving and just over 2,400 miles.  Obviously that’s off a little bit but not by much.  Not our longest trip in distance nor time but, as with the Midwest last year, it managed to surprise (delightfully so) despite much of the itinerary not being as exciting on paper as some prior years.

We visited the National Weather Center, something I’ve wanted to do for years (my nickname is BigWeather, after all).  We toured a salt mine six hundred feet below Kansas and saw movie memorabilia being preserved for future generations.  Monument Rocks, Kansas looked like terrain we’d seen in South Dakota years before and seeing so much wildlife — turkeys, rabbits, deer — was unexpected.  A wicked storm reminded us all of our mortality in Colby, Kansas, as did wildfires in Colorado.  We spent the day on a steam train, getting a glimpse of travel over a hundred years ago.  America’s largest sand dunes were found a thousand miles away from the nearest ocean.  We pondered the possibility of life beyond our planet in Roswell then visited a truly alien environment in the spectacular caverns at Carlsbad.  The Alamo and Spanish missions provided some historical context and we had the best brisket of our lives in Austin.  Finally, we put a bow on the trip with a visit to the National Videogame Museum.

Route for June and July, 2018

We awoke a bit later for our final full day of vacation, about 9a.  Got breakfast at 9:30a then signed up with Southwest for our boarding position.  About 11a we headed to nearby Poppasito’s Cantina for some Mexican.  We had chips and queso for appetizer.  Michelle had shrimp salad; Genetta a beef taco and chicken quesadilla; Addision steak fajitas; myself two cheese enchiladas.  It was decent enough, I suppose, but way too expensive.  Luckily restaurants were the 5% cash-back bonus for Discover this month.

About 12:30p we headed north through the Dallas suburban sprawl towards Frisco, taking a little longer due to the chore of avoiding the copious toll roads.  Grrrr!  We did see many corporate headquarters like Ford, Toyota, KFC/Pizza Hut, and Oracle.  Finally got to the Frisco Sci-Tech Discovery Center at 1:30p.  There were some train cars and an engine outside but as it was hotter than Hell we ducked quickly into the museum, home to the National Videogame Museum.  Also, it turned out, a miniature train exhibit that was sadly not to open until July 17 — a mere nine days later.   NOOOOOO!  Anyhow, the Videogame Museum had a neat metal sculpture with loads of TVs and monitors showing game footage, vintage commercials, and interviews.

Sculpture with TVs showing gaming stuff at entrance to the museum

While not huge (basically a large room split into different sections with a small room for an arcade as well as an attached gift shop) the museum was quite a treat.  First came a section with early consoles and computers, including some super rare versions of Pong that were marketed to specific venues like “Puppy Pong” meant for vet waiting rooms.  A really interesting display showed the same game (Frogger) on different devices to show the compromises made across the very rich early 80s ecosystem to bring early arcade games to the home.  A display of t-shirts had a sweet one that used art from an old favorite of mine, Quest for the Rings on the Odyssey 2.  There was also a niche with portable games including the old electronic football game, Merlin, Simon, etc. as well as a wall of controllers and other input devices.

The earliest days of videogaming, including a Puppy Pong!

Addision schooling Genetta on giant-sized Pong

Love the graphic design of the old Odyssey2 cartridges like Quest for the Rings

Display comparing different ports of Frogger

Nifty niche with many different controllers

There were nice displays for both Infocom and Electronic Arts album box games.  A long table had many of the early 8-bit microcomputers and computers including early IBM PCs, TRS-80, Commodore 64, etc. with old-school company logos (including Origin!) painted on the wall behind.  There was an area related to the videogame crash of 1983 that was in the form of a store counter and bargain bin with loads of carts.  The bathroom lobby area was a visual treat — in addition to a Dragon’s Lair arcade machine the walls were painted like the final scene of that game, with Daphne on the women’s room door and Dirk on the men’s.  Very neat.  The next section had two rooms decorated in the style of the 70s (old console TV, retro decor, etc.) and the 80s (music posters, toys strewn about).

Display of early Electronics Arts “album box” games

Display of Infocom “feelies”, the cool trinkets every game came with

A recreated videogame store from 1983, the year of the videogame crash in North America

The earliest computers, shown here, survived the crash quite well…

Even the bathrooms were videogame themed, in this case the classic Dragon’s Lair

A display of some of the many patches Activision would send players that got high scores

A recreated 70s living room

A recreated 80s bedroom

A few more sections rounded out the large room — a case containing many rarities as well as exploring the presence of videogame characters in other medium like board games, toileteries, books, etc.  I’m old enough to remember when Pac-Man was ubiquitous.  Beyond a small room was a purple neon drenched room with 30 or so arcade game cabinets, many of which were classics.  They even had a high-score wall.  Very cool!  Michelle played some Q*bert, her favorite game.  I played a few as well.  We finished up in the gift shop which actually was a bit disappointing.  They didn’t even have great magnets!  A decent selection of t-shirts, however, and the people were friendly.

A Dragon’s Lair lunchbox, a great example of videogames influencing other mediums

Addison playing Spy Hunter and Michelle her beloved Q*bert

One half of the arcade, illuminated in glorious purple neon

One thing that impressed me about the museum was that it was so interactive.  Lots of games and systems available to handle and play.  Also despite the small square footage it managed to cover a broad portion of the landscape with a fair amount of depth.  There was a lack of focus on micro-computer and computer gaming which was a tad disappointing.  Though Id (from Dallas) was well represented Origin (from Austin) wasn’t represented much at all — a glaring oversight.

We emerged from the museum back into the brutal Texas heat about 3:30p.  On the way back to the hotel we visited a store that I had always read had great retro videogame and role-playing game finds — Half Price Books.  It wasn’t bad, certainly better than the ones back home, but not many finds, an Intellivision game or two, and the standard White Wolf RPG books.  We stopped at a Barnes & Nobel that was attached to a Gamestop — both sadly infested with toys as most are nowadays.  Got a frappe at Starbucks which helped with the heat.  Finished up the shopping with another Half Price Books location (one of 10 or so in the area!), but still no great find.

Frisco Sci-Tech center focuses on two of my loves — trains and videogames

One of Dallas’ many, many Half Price Books — wish home had one!

We drove through a super rich neighborhood (Zillow later confirming that nearly every house was $2 – 3M, ouch!) and decided to stop at Dunston’s Steak House at about 6p.  It was OK, not great, and a bit pricey.  We had an appetizer of fried mushrooms, fried zucchini, and cheese sticks.  Michelle had the New York strip, okra, pinto beans, and cheesecake; Genetta the New York strip, baked potato, and salad; Addison the 8oz rib-eye, tater tots, fruit cocktail, fries, and banana pudding; and myself the 9oz filet mignon with bacon, baked potato, and salad.  It was pretty neat to see how they cooked the steak, however, on some cool wagon wheel ratchet-gear thing.

Steaks cooking at the steak house

Back to the hotel just before 8p.  Michelle packed while I cleaned out the car with a storm looming on the horizon.  We went to bed by 11p after cleaning off the cameras.

Route for Sunday, July 8th, 2018

Genetta and I awoke super early, around 6a, and ate the edible Holiday Inn Express breakfast, heading out at 7:30a or so.  We walked north then east, crossing the highway, and a short bit later found ourselves at Franklin Barbecue.  The line was already a bit long, with some of the ones at the head of the line having lined up hours earlier.  Many people came prepared with chairs, coolers, and the like.  Genetta and I assumed our post at the end of the line and began the wait.  Genetta read on her phone while I went through my copious Chrome tabs and closed lots of them.  While the line did grow after we arrived it didn’t grow that much.

Our line position at Franklin Barbecue, Austin

It was getting quite hot so I got Genetta some unsweetened tea at the Legend Coffee stand in the parking lot.  Around 9:30a or so a Franklin Barbecue employee worked her way down the line getting an estimate of what everyone would order so she could say “past this point is unlikely to get ribs”, etc.  She also gave us an estimate for when we’d get in the building of 1:30p to 2p or so.  Hearing that estimate a couple of nearby groups dropped (one had a wedding and couldn’t wait around) but they were all just after us — typical!  A thunderstorm was also threatening, the sky just to our north having turned that bruised color.  On the other hand, the cloud cover and strong outflow from the storm really helped cool us off and provided a nice breeze.  I asked the employee what people did in case of rain and she’s like “yeah, it happens — just try and compress the line”.  A-yup.

A very nice couple of Australians were just behind us and over an hour or so we had excellent conversation over a variety of topics — weather, politics, travel, etc.  They had arrived in Los Angeles and, now in Austin, were parting ways.  The guy was driving back to Los Angeles and the lady was going on to New Orleans to visit a friend.  They did tell us an interesting story of being asked to show their passports while driving in New Mexico.  Not crossing the border with Mexico, mind you, just a routine stop within the state.  I later researched it and it turns out that law enforcement officers can ask for passports / identification for anyone within 100 miles of the national border.  Strangely enough, this even extends to an ocean border, so even 100 miles inland all along the east coast (like say New York City and all of Florida) is fair game.

Franklin Barbecue in Austin, Texas

At 11a the restaurant finally opened and we started to advance.  Great timing as it was starting to rain a little.  We got lucky, however, in that it never did more than spit rain as the storm went to our west.  We got under the building’s overhang about 11:30a just as Michelle and Addison conveniently showed up to join us in line.  An employee came by and offered us a sample of brisket within folded white bread.  Amazing!  We were up the ramp and in the building at 12:15p and got a hat and shirt with the Franklin logo on it while we waited in line.  About 12:45p (well ahead of the estimate, yay!) we ordered 1.5 lbs of brisket, a brisket sandwich, 1 lb of pork ribs, an individual potato salad, a slice of lemon chess pie, and a Texas blueberry pie.  It was neat to see the guy wrestle the slab of brisket, unwrap it from its butcher paper wrapper, and carve it right in front of us.  We had a choice between less or more fatty — guess which we chose!  We ordered a St. Arnold root beer, two Mexican Cokes (meaning using real cane sugar), and a half-and-half sweet tea to chase it down.  We found a spot at one of the tables (which had butcher paper as placemats) and dug in with our plastic utensils.  Not exactly fancy, but it was AMAZING.  The brisket quivered when I tried to lance it with a fork.  Very tender, juicy, fantastic taste, and deliciously fatty.

Interior of Franklin Barbecue

What is surely the best job in the world, carving such glorious brisket!

Part of our meal — ribs, brisket, potato salad, and (a Texas staple) white bread to accompany it

Close look at the ribs and brisket

Remains of the feast, St. Arnold root beer to wash it all down

We left Franklin Barbecue about 1:30p and walked back to the hotel.  After using the restroom we headed up I-35 to Dallas about 2:30p, arriving a little before 6p.  Nothing really remarkable along the way, relatively flat country with many cottonwoods (I think) dotted about.  I did eat the Texas blueberry pie along the way, however, and I must say it was phenomenal.

View of Waller Creek in Austin from a bridge

Check in went smoothly and we decided to go see Antman and the Wasp at Studio Movie Grill, one of those combination cinema and restaurant.  As the place was practically adjacent to the hotel we arrived in plenty of time for the 7p movie and ordered.  Michelle had a spinach and mushroom pizza with a chocolate shake; Genetta chicken tenders and frozen hot chocolate; Addison chicken tenders and chocolate shake; and myself a meat eater pizza and a strawberry shake.  It was quite good (all things considered) and the movie was really entertaining.  Returned back to the hotel about 10p or so and offloaded pics before heading to bed.

Route for Saturday, July 7th, 2018

We awoke at 8a and were out and about by 10a.  After tossing our luggage in the car we walked to Alamo Plaza and visited Kings X Toy Soldiers shop.  The gentleman running the store that day was James, a Army recon veteran who served in Iraq around 2008.  We talked about the shop and his service, and about two bits of shrapnel that had shredded their vehicle that he was allowed to take home with him (with some amount of dealing with bureaucracy).  They had miniatures from every imaginable conflict but a particular focus on the Alamo (of course) and World War II.  I wanted a miniature that had significance to the place so chose Charles Henry Clark, a member of the mercenary group New Orleans Greys, who died at the Alamo.  Significant because not only was it related to the Alamo but also New Orleans.

Lobby of our hotel, the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk

The Alamo display at Kings X Toy Soldiers

Michelle, Genetta, and Addison had already headed out.  I eventually caught up with them and we went to Schilo’s Deli, a nearby deli founded in 1917.  After a short wait we were seated and enjoyed an excellent brunch.  Michelle had breakfast, Genetta couldn’t resist German food so had schnitzel and home fries, Addison had a patty melt with fries and cheese, and I had a breakfast sandwich on a croissant with two pieces of French toast with powdered sugar and cinnamon.  We all shared ice cream for dessert — breakfast dessert! — as they were out of apple strudel.

View of the San Antonio River and Riverwalk from a bridge

Monument on the E Commerce Street bridge, San Antonio

Schilo’s Deli in San Antonio

About 1p we made it back to the car and headed south out of town along the Mission Road that links four Spanish missions along the San Antonio River.  The fifth mission was located in San Antonio — the Alamo.  It’s easy to forget that it was a church with a walled courtyard that made it a great fort.  The other four missions were in better shape as they were spared the battle.  Surrounded by the suburbs some imagination is required to see them for what they were in the 1700s — islands of Spanish influence in a sea of often hostile (to them) tribes.  Tribes that had been displaced by more dominant tribes sought the protection of the missions and worked within them growing crops and helping maintain them.  The architecture of each was distinct and remarkable in their own right, with ornate details.

The first mission we visited was Mission Concepcion.  It had a large lawn dotted with a few trees and some palms and the remains of the quarry from which much of the stone used to build the mission came from.  Two towers rose on either side of the entrance.  Inside were some still colorful murals and a quaint church.

Mission Concepcion, just south of San Antonio, built in 1731

Some of the original painted murals survived to this day

Interior of Mission Concepcion’s church

Entrance of Mission Concepcion

Next we headed farther out of town to Mission San Jose, which also housed the headquarters for San Antonio Missions National Historic Park.  We browsed the bookstore and, yes, bought a couple of magnets and some postcards for Genetta.  The mission itself look a bit like Mission Concepcion but it had only one completed tower.  There was an ornate stone carved window unique to this mission.  In terms of layout it was similar to the first — a church on one side of a large fortified compound, with storage, lodging, etc. inside the interior wall and room for crops within.  As it was so hot we didn’t linger long.

Mission San Jose, built in 1768

Ornate window at Mission San Jose

Example of the interior of a mission’s walls

Interior of Mission San Jose’s church

Entrance to Mission San Jose

The third mission was Mission San Juan Capistrano.  It was bright whitewashed with three bells — one positioned over two underneath.  Mercifully the sky was threatening and the cloud cover had started to cool us down a bit.  The church inside was modest but had a really intricate wooden ceiling.

Mission San Juan Capistrano, built in 1731

Mission San Juan Capistrano’s interior with neat wooden ceiling

Mission San Juan Capistrano doorway

Entrance to Mission San Juan Capistrano

Our last stop was Mission San Francisco De La Espada, Texas’ oldest Spanish colonial mission, established in 1690.  The mission had a similar form to Mission San Juan Capistrano but was more exposed brick and not whitewashed at all.  It had a pretty courtyard with plenty of flowers and bushes and a quaint well.

Mission San Francisco De La Espada, built in 1690

Entrance to Mission San Francisco De La Espada

Interior of Mission San Francisco De La Espada

About 3p we headed out for Austin, first on I-10 then I-35 to Congress Avenue in Austin to avoid a couple of accidents.  We crossed over the Congress Avenue bridge famous for having over a million bats and into downtown where we located our hotel.  The parking deck wasn’t ideal — crowded with tight spots with pillars all over.  I was able to back us into a spot though and we went to check in.  Some interesting folks in the elevator busy keepin’ Austin weird!  We relaxed for a few minutes then about 6:30p headed out to nearby Stubb’s BBQ.  Michelle had pulled pork and fried okra; Genetta ribs (very tasty), onion rings, and macaroni shells; Addison also had ribs, brisket, and fries; and I had brisket, mashed potatoes, and potato salad.  The brisket was great as well.

Austin and the Texas State Capitol

Stubb’s BBQ in Austin

I really dug the sign for Stubb’s

We got back to the room at 8p but Genetta wanted to visit 6th Street and Austin nightlife.  We headed out about 9p and stopped first at San Jac Saloon.  It (and 6th Street) was pretty empty at first but opened up as the night progressed.  Genetta and I went upstairs for a couple of drinks and enjoyed a three-piece band playing covers of fairly mellow music.  We could hear the more rocking (and loud) band downstairs as well.  By the time we left San Jac it was crowded enough that we had to wade slowly through to get out into the still steamy evening air.  We headed to Voodoo Doughnuts and got a bite to eat.  Their donuts were like little works of art, one had a pentagram symbol drawn with icing, another was iced up to look like a little voodoo doll with a pretzel stick.  The decor was very eclectic.  About 12:15a we pushed through the now very crowded street.  Music of various genres blasted out of various clubs and some clubs had dancers in their windows.  Very bizarre.  In addition to the clubs we saw a billiards hall, theater and a bar called “Bat Bar”.  Once we got north of 6th Street the neighborhood was a bit rougher at that late hour but we made it back to the hotel safely and went to bed.

San Jac Saloon’s upper floor, a quiet space with a mostly acoustic band

San Jac Saloon’s lower floor, quite a bit more crowded and they play it LOUD

Voodoo Doughnut’s interesting interior

Neat American flag at Voodoo Doughnut

Voodoo Doughnut’s claim to fame is crazy decorated voodoo-themed doughnuts

Voodoo Doughnut’s sign

Austin’s Bat Bar on 6th Street with dancers in the windows

A view into an Austin music spot with a band playing

A music-themed mural in Austin

Route for Friday, July 6th, 2018

We slept in a bit late as the last few days had been really hectic with lots of activities (train, Great Sand Dunes NP, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns NP) and quite a bit of driving.  About 10a we set out for San Antonio on I-10 east.  It was quite a long drive, about four hours, but the 80 mph speed limit really helped speed things along.  Big Bend country was very beautiful with many mesas dotted with cacti and other plants not seen in our part of the woods.

Windmill store near our hotel in Fort Stockton, Texas

Big Bend Country mesas

Cool terrain in west Texas, Big Bend Country

After a couple hours and switching drivers a couple of times we arrived in Junction, Texas at a BBQ joint that Google reviews seemed to like.  It was called Lum’s and wasn’t much to look at, basically a lunch counter in a gas station convenience store.  We ordered and got our food but didn’t receive a ticket or have to pay; the gentleman just said pay later and it’s good.  The food was wonderful!  Michelle had sausage, creamed corn, potato salad, and chocolate pie.  Genetta had ribs, potato salad, and macaroni salad.  Addison had a half pound of brisket and Doritos.  I had brisket with raw onions (that seems to be a thing in Texas and Oklahoma), potato salad, baked pinto beans, and pecan pie.  We settled our bill and got a magnet and hit the road again.

Lum’s Barbeque in Junction, Texas

I’ve always liked the Texas flag

Brisket dinner at Lum’s

Another couple of hours of driving and about 3:30p we arrived in San Antonio.  The traffic wasn’t too bad which was great as we circled the block a time or two to find the garage entrance for the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk (a sign with the arrow pointing the wrong way was to blame).  We parked at the top of the deck with no one else crowding us then checked in.  We went up to our room but it was being cleaned.  Waited a few minutes before realizing it was the wrong room — ooops!  Got into our room and relaxed for thirty minutes before heading back out.  The hotel was really nice and a part of the river came into the lobby.

Interior of the Hyatt Regency San Antonio Riverwalk

About 4:30p we headed to the Alamo.  The crowd wasn’t too bad, which was good as it was hot outside and the trellis to the side of the building offered interesting historical facts but scant shade.  Inside we couldn’t take pictures but enjoyed seeing the surprisingly small space.  When we were wandering around a guy asked Addison about the shirt he was wearing, my King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard concert shirt from Asheville the week before.  Turns out he was from Kinston, NC and was a tour guide.  Michelle and I gathered around the glass case containing a scale model of the Alamo as he went through the entire timeline of the building including the battle of February and March, 1836 and the aftermath leading to the capture of Santa Anna and the formation of the Republic of Texas.

The Alamo

Courtyard plants at the Alamo

At 6p we headed to the Riverwalk, a pedestrian walkway / shopping / restaurant strip below street level along the banks of the San Antonio River.  Walked a bit looking at menus before settling on Waxy’s Irish Pub.  Not my first choice — I mean, an Irish Pub in Texas?! — but it was quite good.  Michelle had fish and chips, Genetta beef stew, Addison ribs and cheese fries and veggies, and myself shepherd’s pie.  Not bad, though the tater skins appetizer wasn’t super.  After dinner we split up with Michelle and Genetta going shopping and Addison and I walking a bit.  Addison wanted to go back to the room so I headed back out to see the Alamo at night, encountering Michelle and Genetta.

San Antonio Riverwalk

Errrr, why is there a Pat O’Brien’s in San Antonio?!

The Alamo after hours — no crowds!

Horse-drawn carriages beside the Alamo

We looked in the window of a shop called Kings X which sold metal military figures then got some ice cream at the nearby Haagen-Dasz (coffee for me, of course!) and ate it on a bench in front of the spot-lit Alamo.  The cool evening was very pleasant after the hot day and it was great to spend time with the ladies.  Headed back to the room about 9:30p or so to offload pictures and relax, going to bed about 1a.

Interior of Kings X Toy Soldiers

Mexican army miniature

Closeup of the Alamo at night

The Alamo

Route for Thursday, July 5th, 2018