Jumping fences, wrong turns, an interview, and Sonic!

Not ours... but close!

June 25, 2012

Marble Falls, Texas

For all those people who like to read about trying new food I can finally say I've had the experience I've been waiting for ever since I crossed some unknown boundary a thousand miles back or so. Now to most it may not seem like a lot, but to me going to Sonic with its 40 something drive up stalls and waitresses on roller skates has been a long time dream. Now I can finally check that one off the list too with a pleasantly full feeling in my stomach.

To give a little back story, where I live has direct TV with commercials from around the country not necessarily relevant to your own daily living. Normally I consider myself somewhat immune to commercials on TV, but one has caught my attention on numerous occasions. Sonic's commercials, for which we have no chains in New York that I know of are constantly being featured splashed with crazy looking hot dogs covered in all types of happiness piled precariously on top. Today with my breakfast sandwich, coffee, and tater-tots I finally saw my opportunity to try one of these delicious creations.

While the hotdog came out almost definitely microwaved due to its soggy texture, the mix of nacho cheese, guacamole, and jalapenos was even better then I could have ever imagined. While I'm not proud of myself for ordering one of these monstrosities for breakfast, without a doubt it was worth it. In fact the only strange part of the experience was when a woman pulled up to a drive in booth, and five minutes later they brought a child and strapped him in the back of the car. While I pointed out to my brother that I didn't realize children where now available in drive-throughs here, almost nothing about Texas can really surprise me anymore. I guess Ian's point that maybe they had just been watching him inside for his mother could conceivably make sense, but it sounds a little too simplified for me in a place where you can also walk into an establishment and opt to borrow a weapon normally used to fight insurgents. Besides, if you can order a monstrously loaded down hotdog with everything but common sense as a side for your coffee and breakfast, who knows what else you can order here...

Today me and Ian will be staying one more night in Marble Falls, Texas before heading back to Killeen to part ways. Yesterday we got to take an incredible route out of the Texas' capital city on highway 1 that was filled with huge winding rock faces, million dollar houses, lush green valleys, and breathtaking views that went on for miles at some of the peaks.

Now I'm hoping that anyone reading this isn't to familiar with Texas because if they were they'd without a doubt realize that Marble Falls is West of Austin, and not due North. Turns out for about 30 minutes we happily road in the glee of our surroundings unaware that we had gotten on the totally wrong road in the wrong temperatures for driving a motorcycle an extra hour. Stopping at the nearest McDonalds we grabbed a quick bite to eat (yeah we've been eating like champs!) drenched our shirts in ice cold water, and then finished up the amazing drive. I really had no idea of how nice the scenery in Texas was going to be and I can honestly say its been a pleasant surprise. Some roads like the one yesterday demonstrate how Texas' flat plains can lead to incredibly dramatic 9 mile views, and then other roads if it weren't for the road signs in English you could mistake your location for somewhere in Mexico.

Either way in a few short days I should be reporting on what Mexico roads really look like from my bike. While I will have no where's near the time I thought I'd have, I still have to at least try and make it to Mexico city before turning around and heading for home. My time in Texas with my brother has been priceless (especially for me!) because now that we're older and finally get along like true brothers should, we find ourselves normally separated by 10 or so states and about 1500 miles. And besides, adventures have still be around every corner, and continue to impress and astound me.

Two nights ago we had an incredible cookout with some new found friends at our extended stay hotel. It was a great night filled with a great jam session, tasty food, and maybe even clumsily hopping the fence of the pool due to the overbearing hotel's policy of locking said pool's fence before we were done drinking. When you look at it that, it really seems like the hotel's fault right and when they warn of cameras I'm pretty sure their lying. After all, I merrily offered to lock the pool up when we were done (both nights) but those suggestions sadly only fell on deaf ears.

Even better then our stumbling midnight swim, and another first for me, yesterday I got the chance to sit down with an incredibly talented musician from Austin and he took an hour of his time to try and explain the true heart of Austin and the music that grows from it. While I took pages of transcripts typing as quickly as I could, combing through that and fashioning it into something postable is surely going to be a challenge. So although the interview is done, I'm going to need some time to work on sharing it. Without a doubt Woodstock Jones is one of the truest most interesting characters I've met on my voyage , but his straight forward truths and feelings about being a musician are so inline with my own that I feel like its really important to get it out correctly. The post on the interview will be soon to follow hopefully today, but for now I have to head to the lakeside park Marble Falls is known for to try and escape the predicted triple digits weather approaching.