Craig,
There is nothing to compare with getting a dispatch from someone on-the-ground -- thanks for this update. Troubling as it was.
Mark
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Craig,
There is nothing to compare with getting a dispatch from someone on-the-ground -- thanks for this update. Troubling as it was.
Mark
I am sure that there is whole lot more to it than I could possibly begin to understand, being an outsider looking in, it is quite possible that the area I drove through would have been a hell hole even if Katrina had blown itself out before it hit land. It is just a huge shock to see something like that when, a couple of hundred miles in either direction, everything was all Mercedes, swimming pools and beach houses.
Anyway, here’s the last couple of instalments, as I’m sure you’re all waiting with baited breath! LOL
Day 12
Having seen the bad side of New Orleans I was keen to get as far away as possible and set the alarm for 7am. I had packed the car, taken a shower and was on the road by 7.30. What I’d seen the previous day was still on my mind as I headed down the I-12 and I almost hit the back of a line of traffic which came to a sudden stop in front of me. Oops. After a few minutes of not moving I decided to chance my arm with the back roads and turned off along a road, resembling Radiator Springs, which ran parallel with the interstate. Trailer parks, junk yards, closed down cafes and ancient full-service gas stations were the only thing that I saw for close to thirty miles. Suddenly though I arrived back in reality as I saw a McDonalds, Taco Bell, Exxon, Walmart and every other symbol of modern-day America looming up in front of me. Again it was noticeable how the scenery could change so suddenly, something we don‘t really get in England, where it‘s either run-down industrial land, housing, green fields or, as is usual, a random mix up of all three at once.
Something else you don‘t get in England is the service I received in that Walmart when I stopped to have a look at cameras. I think I mentioned yesterday that mine had broken and, while at first I thought it couldn’t have happened at a worse time, I made a 180 degree turnaround when I saw how cheap they banging new ones out for in Walmart. The two people in the photography section couldn’t have been any more help as they opened box after box up for me, patiently explaining the merits of each camera, before moving on to the next. In the end I decided on one that I liked and bid farewell to my two new friends. I was that impressed that I was unsure if I should be leaving them a tip. What’s the deal there anyway, why does everyone in the whole country think they deserve a tip for doing their job? A couple of days ago there was a stand selling raced at programmes at Talladega, on the desk sat a box, with a sign on it: ‘we appreciate tips.’ Yes, I’m sure you do, but what the hell did you do to deserve one?
With my new toy to play with I pressed on, anxious to find some good photo opportunities, first through Baton Rouge, then into Lafayette. By now, for some reason, I was starting to feel restless, probably because the end of the trip was approaching. I was going to have to face up to life back in England, that thing that had excited so many of the people I had met on the trip, and the only way to put it out of my mind was to crank up the pace still further and press on.
Before I knew it I was turning into the ‘Texas Welcome Center’ which, fitting for a state of this size, was enormous. I picked up some information on state parks where I could camp and also got some directions to a couple of fun attractions that I wanted to see in nearby Beaumont. Is it a bad thing that the first proper opportunity to use my new camera was to snap some shots of ‘The World’s (third) Largest Fire Hydrant’ which just happens to be painted in black and white spots in deference to the Disney movie, 101 Dalmations? I think not, I think it’s actually rather fitting!!
Across to the other side of town I went - having waited for a giant freight train to pass through. Why do they continually honk their horns? Arriving at the Gusher Monument I discovered that it was actually part of a larger attraction and I felt guilty roaring into the parking lot, taking a few photos, then roaring out again. Perhaps someone with more time can make up for my rudeness by popping by and paying to have a look around, maybe even let me know how it went, as it actually looked quite interesting and I was quite annoyed with myself after I drove off for not stopping to have a look for myself.
Too late to worry about that, as I sped to my final destination, 400 miles down the road from where I started the day. There are two ways to get to Galveston from where I was coming from - via Houston or by heading south off the interstate and taking a free ferry from Port Bolivar. Quite happy keeping off the busy roads around Houston I drove south, stopping off at Crystal Beach to admire the fantastic beach houses, before driving onto the ferry. The opportunity to drive down the sand presented itself but, and this will have the founders of Nascar turning in their graves, I was too scared about getting myself stuck! It’s a job reserved for 4x4s, surely?
The ferry was a nice change and gave me 10 minutes to ponder on the fact that the journey had come almost full circle, approximately 2800 miles would be added to the clock whilst I had the car, and some of the faces of the people that I had met started coming back to me. It was one of those special ’we’ve done it’ moments and I couldn’t prevent my mind wandering to what I wanted to do on my next trip.
Galveston itself was nice but I wasn’t really in the mood for a pretty seaside resort without sun, it was now 630pm so, after driving around for an hour or two, I decided to head back up to Houston and find accommodation there overnight. Halfway back I started to felt myself drift into another lane so I pulled off at the very next exit and found myself at the Days Inn at Dickinson. On the last night of my previous best roadtrip we had pigged out on KFC so I thought it fitting to treat myself once again. It really hit the spot as I repacked my bags ready for the flight back to London.
Day 13
Unlucky for some - me - I was going home today. I had set the alarm for 7am so I didn’t sleep in too late and was woken about 5 minutes before that by a huge truck starting up outside my window. I wondered what the hell was going on but it was certainly more effective than my alarm clock at home which I could quite happily ignore.
I headed off to have a look at the San Jacinto Monument and museum which is located to the east of downtown Houston. It’s a pretty impressive construction but the effect is somewhat spoiled by the fact you must drive through an oil refinery to reach it. Looking back, perhaps it’s somewhat fitting, we were in Texas, after all. I had braced myself for the climb to the top of the 570ft tall monument, the tallest monument column in the world, but was equally relieved and disappointed to find an elevator had been installed - presumably after construction of the monument itself. They probably shouldn’t have bothered, it looked far better from ground level.
It was still too early to head to the airport so I headed back to Minute Maid Park, determined to buy that baseball for my collection. Having wrestled with a tricky parking meter, it didn’t show how much I’d fed it, so I just kept shoving all of my loose change into the slot, in the hope it’d cover me for the ten or so minutes it’d take to walk to the shop and back. This time the shop was open and I finally did get my hands on that elusive ball.
With time still to kill I first tried to locate a park where I could chill out in the sun but, when that plan was foiled by an apparent lack of parking, I decided to head back to the Williams Tower and see if the Water Wall was operational today. It was, and pretty cool it was too, literally. It was indeed like being on the Maid Of The Mist as I had been told on the first day of my trip. Looking back the trip finally had come full circle and now I knew the time was right to head back to the airport. It was with much sadness that I handed back the keys to the car, we had become firm friends over the past 13 days, especially since I worked out how to override the traction control!
One day I will own a Roush Mustang but, for the foreseeable future, I will have plenty of great memories of a few thousand miles shared with a very capable standard model rental. It’s funny how a trip entitled ‘Another race weekend roadtrip’ will be remembered for so much more. The numerous Civil Rights memorials and landmarks that I visited will live with me for a long time to come. Indeed I have to say Memphis was probably the most memorable part of the trip, with the exception of meeting Laura and Dale Jr, but more for Graceland than for the Lorraine Motel.
Funny how things work out, isn’t it, but I guess that's the fun of travelling - the discovering!
Craig,
"but I guess that's the fun of traveling - the discovering!..."Yep, that is why I turn on my computer every morning and open the Forum page -- great report!
You really captured the "on-the-road" feeling -- thanks so much for sharing it will all of us!
Mark
Thanks for persevering with it, I am well aware that I was starting to ramble at times...
I really loved reading along with you on this trip. You have a real knack for getting your words across and making the reader feel like he or she is standing there with you.
Laura
That's because, for some of it, you were!
Glad you enjoyed reading it, I will try and put up some more photos later this evening (just got home from first day back at work grr)
Just checking out my credit card statement online. Oh my god, HOW cheap is it over there?!!
Fuel
23 April 2007 EXXONMOBIL 45686060 34.00US DOLLAR at 1.99882422 CORSICANA £17.01
24 April 2007 SHELL OIL 91002590707 36.63US DOLLAR at 2.00163934 FARMERSVILLE £18.30
26 April 2007 DK EXPRESS Q39 29.17US DOLLAR at 1.99794520 HETH £14.60
28 April 2007 SHELL OIL 50143610074 29.00US DOLLAR at 1.99724517 JACKSONVILLE £14.52
29 April 2007 SHELL OIL 50137200049 32.41US DOLLAR at 1.99691928 GREENVILLE £16.23
30 April 2007 SHELL OIL 00000000000 20.00US DOLLAR at 2.00000000 TUPELLO £10.00
30 April 2007 CHEVRON 00200668 38.00US DOLLAR at 2.00000000 MANDEVILLE £19.00
01 May 2007 SHELL OIL 57542302708 35.50US DOLLAR at 1.98879551 IOWA £17.85
02 May 2007 EXXONMOBIL 00000000 40.00US DOLLAR at 2.00000000 GEORGE BUSH AIR £20.00
TOTAL (for 2800 miles) $284.71
Accomodation
22 April 2007 HOLIDAY INNS HOUSTON AS 481.89US DOLLAR at 1.99912881 HOUSTON £241.05
23 April 2007 CEDAR HILL STATE PARK 25.00US DOLLAR at 1.99840127 CEDAR HILL £12.51
24 April 2007 SUPER 8 MOTEL 44.64US DOLLAR at 1.99019170 HOPE £22.43
25 April 2007 SUPER 8 MOTELS HETH 41.80US DOLLAR at 1.98952879 HETH £21.01
26 April 2007 HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS 84.70US DOLLAR at 1.99764150 CEDARTOWN £42.40
27 April 2007 HOLIDAY INN IRONDALE 187.20US DOLLAR at 1.99743918 BIRMINGHAM £93.72
28 April 2007 TRACE STATE PARK 18.00US DOLLAR at 2.00000000 TUPELO £9.00
29 April 2007 FAIRVIEW-RIVERSIDE ST 12.00US DOLLAR at 1.99667221 MADISONVILLE £6.01
30 April 2007 DAYS INNS - EVERGREEN 60.50US DOLLAR at 2.00000000 EVERGREEN £30.25
01 May 2007 DAYS INN & SUITES 79.10US DOLLAR at 1.98893638 DICKINSON £39.77
TOTAL (for 12 nights) $1036.84
Okay I let the side down a little with a couple of more expensive hotels, but these were peak prices anyway, with the race in town on both occasions.
Try doing that in the UK! The cost difference in gas/petrol is most noticeable. I did approximately 2800 miles for $284.71 which is insanely cheap. I didn't keep a record of what I paid per gallon but I think it ranged from $2.65 to $2.90 a gallon. We pay £1 a litre here in the UK, which equates to $8.50 a gallon at todays exchange rate.
When it came to accomodation I didn't do quite so well but still a whole lot cheaper than in the UK, especially when you factor in four nights of my stay were 'peak prices' due to the races being in town.
The average per night was $86.40 which compares favourably with prices in the UK where you can expect to pay $50 a night to camp (we don't have state parks) or $100 for the cheapest hotel (unless you book three months in advance online, between 3am and 3.30am on a Tuesday morning whilst it rains and the wind is blowing from the west)
Anyway, no real point to this post, just happy!
I have also copied this intel and placed it here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig Antill
Mark
You know that numbers are my thing. So of course I pondered over every last penny posted.
Good job on the cheap trip. I've really got to look into this camping thing. I'm just not so sure about a single female camping alone. Sounds a little too much like the beginning of a bad horror film to me. :)
Laura
For those of you who have been badgering me for them, I've uploaded some more photos for you! Laura, there's a couple on there which might turn you on to camping, there's some stunning places to camp where no one will ever bother you.
Also, stealing the idea totally from this page here's some best and worst memories:
Food
Best: Absolutely amazingly, the inflight meal on the flight out. In fact, the whole flight was an absolute pleasure, well done Continental.
Worst: The 'salmonella burger' I bought for six bucks at Talladega. No wonder it was wrapped in tin foil when it was handed over, they were embarassed. They'd have been better off selling them as projectiles for the 'post-race shot put challenge'
Lodging
Best: The Holiday Inn in Cedar Town, arriving late and tired the girl on the front desk was friendly, polite and helpful, but not overly so. She bought me hot cookies and milk to my room - what more could you ask for?
Worst: The Super 8 on the outskirts of Memphis with the 'beings' living in the bed. ewww
City
Best: Memphis. Really enjoyed the contrast of the Lorraine Motel and Graceland. Oh, and actually getting out of the Super 8 without being eaten by the 'beings'
Worst: New Orleans. Strange people and nasty scars.
Driving stretch
Best: Hot Springs National Park. Fantastic banked hairpin bends on this climb up into the mountains. I just had to turn off the traction control and drop the roof. Really loved the sound that car made when it was pushed!
Worst: The awful 75 mile drive from Talladega to Cedartown. Went round in circles several times and then had a ridiculous 20 mile stretch of perfectly good road with a 30 mph speed limit on for 'construction' - you just knew that a local cop was stood somewhere with a speed gun. grrr
Attractions
Best: Amazingly, Graceland. Really enjoyed the cheese of it all!
Worst: Crater of Diamonds. Total waste of the effort it took to find it unless you happened to have a JCB with you. If just looked like a building site!
Gadgets
Best: Easily - Sirius radio - absolutely superb. There are some fantastic (and some fantastically tragic) stations on there, I wish we had it here.
Worst: Streets and Trips. Just... frustrating. It was really, really handy. But sometimes you'd just feel like throwing it out of the window on the interstate. Then pulling over and backing up to make sure it was dead.