The many faces of Texas

The problem with drinking rum at night is that by the time the laptop's free to type on, my blog-writing skills are severely limited.  So here's an early morning update to catch up on the pre-Florida fun.

Neither of us were looking forward to Texas, viewing it as a long flat obstacle in our way to the Gulf Coast.  Our initial foray in that state seemed to validate our view.  The landscape was monotonous and the buildings in disrepair, or "ghetto" as Jenny might say.  We were having difficulty finding an open restaurant in the tiny towns on our way, since they were either closed for Sunday evening or closed forever.  The choices boiled down to fast food, leaving Jenny with the worst Taco Bell experience she's had.  The workers didn't wash their hands or wear gloves before handling her food, then left it sitting in a counter for five minutes until she finally got their attention so that they handed it to her.  Meanwhile, I was amused by the mens' restroom, which featured a floor covered in urine due to an overflowing urinal.  Jenny was largely too disgusted to eat her meal, but my low standards let me finish my chicken strips from the KFC (it was a hybrid business).

We stayed in a hotel in the small town of Kerrville.  It was actually a decent town, comparable to any moderate Western Washington city.  When we left in the morning, we realized Eastern Texas was lush and green.  It seems Texas is similar to Washington in having a forested and developed coastal region, and a more conservative deserty interior.  Houston itself was huge and cleaner than Seattle.  We stopped for dinner at a seafood and oyster bar so that I could try crawfish and catfish.  It was shaped like a boat and very authentic, but I found the crawfish disappointing as they were the size of salad shrimp and largely tasteless.

My favorite part of Texas was what we found right before entering Houston though - an armadillo carcass.  We had both been on the lookout since Arizona (pointlessly it turns out, since they don't even live in Arizona or New Mexico), since I want a skeleton of one for my collection.  Jenny was especially helpful, even Googling armadillo roadkill photos and urging me to stay alert on a stretch of highway that was especially full of dead animals.  So when she saw the armadillo on its back on the side of the highway, she immediately pulled off.  It was quite exciting, and Jenny had the perfect way to secure it to her car.  We used a trash bag tied at both ends like a giant piece of candy, then knotted the ends to a tow rope from the emergency car kit Uncle Bob gave me.  The rope went through the rear windows, which made the trip to Florida noisier and slightly smellier, but Jenny was quite a sport for understanding how important it is to me.  Stabilizing duct tape finished the job, so the armadillo stayed intact all the way to Saint Petersburg.

In case you're wondering, on my first day in Florida, I went to Wallgreens to procure materials for an armadillo container so that we wouldn't have the open windows, smell, or conspicuous duct taped garbage bag on our car for the rest of the trip.  It's currently in a vacuum sealed clothing bag which is superglued shut, with an air freshener inside a superglued plastic container.  I bought some Liquid Nails yesterday to further ensure the smell stays contained.

Next up, gorgeous Gulf Coast beaches.