What a day?!

The birds chirpped slowly, the grasshoppers whistled a happy tune. The sound was so soothing that I forgot it was my alarm clock and that it was 4:31 in the morning and time for an early departure. After hitting the shower and packing the clothes, it was time to go. The only good thing about being on the road at 5:18 is the lack of traffic. The negative, however, is that no matter what I drank or ate, I was driving half asleep. A talent, by the way, that is not recommended for the wandering soul. I remained half awake until the twilight gave way to daylight in Madisonville, just over 20 miles north of Huntsville. An hour later, I began to reach road construction. However, it was early enough to catch them off guard; they were still putting the cones onto the right hand lane. At 8:50 I got off onto Interstate 20 East towards Shreveport, Louisiana (no I did not enter the tunnel zone and stay straight). Six miles later, I got onto Dallas' loop, I-635. A word of caution: drive the speed limit and do not ignore Dallas or Mesquite police, which I did not fail to do. Driving along the loop was a new and exciting experience. I became so engrossed that for the next several minutes I drove through Dallas, Mesquite and back to Dallas again. It felt as if I entered the highway zone (how was that Mr. Serling?). Several minutes later I reached my first destination, the Dallas Historical Society archives where I performed some personal reseach about, what else, highways in the area. Two hours later, it was time to head to the University of North Texas campus tour. Just a few days earlier, I received some of the best news of my life. I was accepted into the Mayborn School of Journalism Masters program at University of North Texas. Writing and highways are and will forever be linked. From Dallas, I took I-35 East into Denton, where I got off at exit 466b (466- 4- April my birth month and 66 the Mother Road, coincidence?). After touring the magnificant campus for two hours, I decided to checkout Main Street.

At which point it was time to get some food. All I ate to this point was a cliff bar and one banana, not the meal of champions. So, the stomach headed north and sent me to.

I ate a bleu cheese burger well done with french fries and a bottle of Shiner Bock to wash it down with. In addition to the good food, the waitress and I had a conversation. I told her I will be attending school this fall and that I enjoyed writing about various highways and its unique characters. She gave me a couple of great pointers I hope will come to fruition someday. It was time to walk off the burger for a bit. In the process,I found some neat places, including the Texas Building, which was the Lacy Hotel.

A really neat bookstore, Recycle Books, that used to be an Opera House

Then the magnificant old Courthouse.

After 45 minutes, it was time to get going. I figured I will have more time to look around later. Instead of heading to the hotel room, however, I cancelled with the hope of being at the next big destination, Archer City, earlier. It is not often I change plans last minute, but I felt if I got to Decatur (25 miles west and a half hour closer to Archer City) I would not have to get up so early. However, instead of turning along the US 287 and US 81 intersection, my tunnel vision enabled me to travel to Archer City. Along the way, just outside Jacksboro along US 281, I found a couple of roadside beauties. My favorite object, the windmill.

It was time to finally reach Archer City, find a place to stay, and search the town in the morning. However, like all plans, God laughs and tells you differently. While the sunset was majestic, the historic Spur Hotel, which was open, but due to the fact that no one answered, was not. So, all I could do was take pictures and keep on truckin.

It was time to think and drive. I figured the next day I was going to end up in Lubbock, so why not hit Wichita Falls, at least there are motels there. I drove back down Texas Highway 25 and onto US 281 and caressed road until I hit town and after a wrong exit that always led me to the Oklahoma line, I found a Red Roof Inn and boy I needed to be covered.