FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TEXAS
In which, Bob and Camille Haul all their belongings 800 miles south to Denton, Texas – despite coming down with a nasty case of the flu a few days prior to departure. ost of these impressions were taken through the passenger window of a moving truck, between coughing fits.
April 5, 2007
LOAD ‘EM UP – MOVE ‘EM OUT
Bob puts everything back together before leaving Amarillo, our halfway stopping point.
THE ENDLESS PANHANDLE
Everybody who has driven across Texas knows how big it is. We saw a lot of red dirt in the panhandle.
EAT HERE, GET GAS
The monotony was alleviated by places to eat and places to buy fuel. Signs with missing letters were common. This dilapidated Conoco sign confirmed that the Texas oil boom has bombed.
MAIN STREET
This traditional American town, like many, is long dead.
CUTE TEXAS STUFF
Y’all park yer ‘Arr Vee’ and come on in to buy it here!
GRAIN ELEVATORS
We saw a lot of these, standing strong and tall alongside the railroad tracks. They speak of
HUB CAP HEAVEN
The business plan for this operation probably goes like this: You get up and look for hubcaps alongside the road, shine them up, put them in piles and wait for people to come buy them. Meanwhile, you sit on various boards, lobbying for more speed bumps. If inventory gets low, you make a trip to the city and harvest some of the bigger seller.
JUNK ACRES
Surely something was going on in these people’s minds as they decorated their home. It almost made us want to stop and find out what.
QUANAH SHELL STATION
Quanah rhymes with wanna as in “I don’t wanna help you.” This is the gas station Bob and Steve stopped at when their Biodiesel truck broke down during a previous trip. The surly station attendant refused to help them. Notice their sign is also one letter shy of a full word.
NORTH TEXAS
So green, it hurt our eyes. “North Texas” is actually east Texas, sort of. It’s a little confusing. Notice the idle oil pump on the left.
HEY!
With all this hay, there must be some horses around here somewhere. (THAT old joke, you’re thinking. You know, the one about the pony and the manure pile.)
AHHHHHHH!
The sight of these beautiful animals grazing lush pasture made Camille forget how sick she was for a moment.