Texas

It took us roughly eight hours to drive through Oklahoma to the Texas border and that was seven hours and fifty nine minutes too long. The only good thing we found to photograph was, while going through monstrous Oklahoma City, a place which rises out of the plains and goes on forever was some US Airforce fighter jets.

These were real mean looking mothers, but, and this has happened here before with military stuff, the camera image was scrambled into psychedelica when we tried to take a photo, how do they manage that? We don’t know and don’t care, than can keep their military secrets it’s not like I’m going to steal any ideas for the Stealth Bomber I knocking up in our backyard shed.

Aahhhh Texas. We pulled into a beat up old gas station for fuel and hopefully get water for the RV.
So while I’m refueling Rhonda goes in to ask about water.
There she finds a cliched group of bow legged, cowboy booted, Stetson wearing Texans all sitting around having a bacon and beans breakfast.
In true Texan style with all the manners of “yes ma’am, surely ma’am, you just drive that there RV right round back now ya hear were you can give her all the water she can drink”

So while filling up our tanks a couple pull in and park beside us.
Friendly as, the wife hops out and says in a Ma Kettle type voice “where y’all heading”
“California” I say.
“Californie! whooow that’s some kinda distance ya traveling” she says.
“Wait” I say “that’s nothing, we picked this RV up in LA, drove to New York and are on our way back to LA”
“Get outa here” she says “
“No it’s normal, we’re use to driving long distances” I say.
“So where y’all from?”
“Australia”
“Australia!, I would love to go to Australia”
I tell her I think she would love it there and she says she knows she would.
Then she says “I sure do love the way you talk” I tell her I love the way she talks too, which is true, great Texan accent, then she goes off into the gas station.

While driving that morning we had experienced horrendous winds, the RV was getting buffeted badly along the highway so the woman’s husband who was still sitting in their pickup next to us says as I’m filling up with water “y’all adding ballast?”
“Yeah” I say “I tried feeding Rhonda up a bit but it didn’t work, so maybe this will add more weight”
“Had the same problem once with a thanksgiving turkey” he says, “had her real plump then four weeks before thanksgiving darn thing stopped eating, ended up being skinnier than a scarecrow in a cornfield”
“That’s a shame” I said.
“No worked out well” he said “had a neighbor who I didn’t see eye to eye with. He needed a fat turkey cause he had family coming, I sold him that nice plump bird just four weeks before thanksgiving”.

We really like Texans because of their friendliness and hospitality but again, in America you keep running into the same extremes.
Along the interstate highway from the the state line to Amarillo we saw more State Troopers in that short distance than we have seen in the whole trip and they were doing the full Hollywood move police thing.
Three or four police cars, lights flashing, guns out, surrounding one car.
Suspect in handcuffs or spread eagle over bonnet, contents of car being ripped to pieces, reinforcements arriving.
Surely there can’t be that many felons on that one strip of highway at the same time.

Admittedly on the Texas Panhandle there isn’t too much to do so maybe they get a little bored.
We had one patrol car following us for awhile then drove along side checking us out.
We’ve done nothing wrong except drive on some guys grass, we don’t speed and obey all the road rules so I’m getting a little annoyed by any suspicion.
Rhonda notices this and says “don’t say or do anything, for once in your life just shut up”

Sound advice, since June in Texas there have been about eight fatal shooting of innocent people by police, no excuse but maybe because it’s legal to openly carry firearms in this state the police are a little edgy and feel they need to hedge their bets.

Sorry forgot to mention the sights.
We stopped off at the Cadillac Ranch. Years ago some farmer decided to nose bury ten Cadillacs on his property. Back then they were in really good condition, stuff art I thought what a waste but it did make an statement.
Now they are basically wrecks and the latest thing to do is for everyone to graffiti them with spray cans.
Some enterprising person has set up a stall from their van selling spray cans, American flags and Trump for 2020 banners, you’ve got to hand it to them.
The effect is not the same because it resembles a junk yard, not the contrast between exquisite auto design and quality machinery ploughed into the ground but it is still impressive in a way.Read more