Tequila and Frogger!

July 20, 2012

Killeen (UGH!), Texas

Me and my little brother are at it again! I clearly remember requesting a semi quiet night last night due to our long drive to Dallas today. After purchasing the beer and tequila (you can take the American out of Mexico...) after dinner though then things get a little foggy. We hung out, watched Family Guy, and bored in our hotel room devised a great variation of home run derby with a beer bottle for a bat and the empty lime juice container as a ball. Thankfully nothing got broken except for maybe some world records and after we went for a couple games of pool at the local pool hall right up the road.

Remember when I said that the Alamo should be interesting and or might be a nice surprise? (Warning: For any Texan's reading this you should probably skip this section) Well it wasn't. It wasn't that nice and I wasn't really surprised except with how small it was. “The Alamo” is in fact a one room building, old without a doubt, but a pretty small exhibit compared to the sites that I've been accustomed to. For all the fuss that's made about the place being the true monument to American bravery and heroism I was definitely expecting a little bit more. It had some exhibits next door that were slightly informative at best explaining what a mission was and showing off some old guns, but the whole time I couldn't help but focus on the fact that it wasn't just attacked, but captured as well!

Okay there was one other thing that was surprising about the place. Standing guard at every corner of the small park were armed park rangers. And when I say armed I don't mean clubs, or tazers, or notebooks ready to ticket offenders . I'm talking about huge looking pistols on these guys with cowboy hats, boots, and the Texas ranger sunglasses to match their intimidating demeanor. Now what they are exactly on the look out for I have no idea. Maybe some visitors get a little over zealous and try to take home the only cannon on the premises with them? Or perhaps they're worried that as a true symbol of American authority and power (except for the time it was captured of course) if Mexico does decide to attack us the Alamo would be their first primary target to crush our spirits. Either way the cannon wouldn't fit on the back of my bike so I left only with a little bit of disappointment and a slightly sweating shirt in the incredible morning heat of San Antonio.

From there I packed up and made my way to Killeen. At this point I think I need to make some kind of statement about the differences between driving in Mexico and in the states. In Mexico you move with traffic gleefully ignoring the speed limits, or if your car isn't fast enough you politely move to the oversized shoulders (which I've actually seen done in Texas on some of the back roads). Every time you drive somewhere in Mexico its with a purpose and the main objective is to keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible. In the beginning it might seem chaotic but soon enough you realize that drivers in Mexico are actually very good and know what they're doing. Not once did I see an accident and not once did I have any close calls. No one puts on their brakes for no reason, they use their flashers every time they go slower then the speed limit and everyone is polite. Only a few times at traffic lights did I hear honking of horns, but they weren't for me because motorcycles always drive up the middle of lane before stopping. After all why hold up the line with another vehicle when it can just as easily pass by and keep the flow of traffic moving.

Driving in Texas on the other hand is a totally different nightmare. I've been told countless times how dangerous route 35 is and without a doubt that is definitely the case. But the reason why is because Texans don't really seem to abide by any of the basic rules of driving on a highway. They seem to choose any speed they want and then pick any lane they want planting themselves in that lane no matter the flow of the rest of traffic. And while veering back and forth in a desperate attempt to simply go the speed limit is difficult on a two lane road, its even worse on a three lane highway seemingly much like Frogger having to jump back and forth with no clear pattern of what people are doing.

Nevertheless we made it and have checked into our hostel. Its Ian's first stay at a hostel so I hope he enjoys it. We have a few hours to relax and do our laundry before we plan to take the train to down town and hit the town hard. Should be a good night followed by a nice relaxing day tomorrow.

The Wild Wild West Backpackers Hostel in Dallas

Well ladies I may not be #1 but at least I'm not #36! ( A "gift" from Whataburger)