Road Trips with Ruby

We finally used the segways in Montgomery!! We left South Padre Island Friday and drove to Channelview Texas.  We never did find the channel or the view, and ended up eating "down home cookin'" in a Karaoke bar.  They did not serve enough beer for us to join in, tho the locals seemed to have a good time!  My Dad would have gotten into the Patsy Kline songs, but up-tempo, it was not!  The most contemporary song we heard was Harper Valley PTA!! Saturday morning we drove to Biloxi.  We considered going into town and trying a Community Theatre production of an Elvis musical, but after thoughtful consideration decided we weren't quite "covid comfortable" with an unknown theatre crowd.  We opted for Cajun seafood by the river instead.  It was delicious and the whole time we sat by the window, we watched a storm come in and leave and a "junk raft" tie-up under the bridge for shelter.  It looked like the boats that Johnny Depp had in Chocolat , and we...

We loved this sculpture!  But couldn't figure out which one was Elon!! Wednesday afternoon we drove into Boca Chica, TX, home of Elon Musks Starbase where they are developing, assembling, and testing the next generation of rockets and spaceships.  Mars is the ultimate objective!  Dave has been following Space X closely since its beginning with Falcon rockets which now send satellites and people to earth orbit.  At Boca Chica, there are no falcons, just much larger boosters and spaceships, called Starships.  We were lucky to get there right after they finished cryogenic pressure testing of the fuel tanks.  When we returned the next morning they were releasing the pressure which almost sounded like the ship was taking off.   As you can see from the pictures, the booster and starships are HUMONGOUS!!  They will be the largest and most powerful heavy-lift rockets ever created. We didn't see this "For Sale" sign until we were in the hotel looking ...

Texans love to fly flags!  We wondered what was on the flagpole BEFORE the war, but loved seeing support for Ukraine  Waco was a halfway point between Dallas and Austin.  Some of my friends watch The Food Network when they want some mindless TV.  Me?  I’m an HGTV gal.  So seeing the JoAnna Gaines Silo complex held a mild interest for me.  Oh!  I’m so over it!!  This was definitely Buffy and Muffy-want-to-be territory!!  There was a line to enter her bakery and the Magnolia store was just the Target section on Texas-steroids.  There was a courtyard with small shiplap “tiny houses” around it for their vendors.  I realized I  was completely “over it” when we came upon a men’s clothing store and a woman’s clothing store that prominently carried his khaki  “signature” vest and her flippy little white sundresses.  All you saw were dozens of Muffies being followed around by bored husbands carrying Magnolia shopping bags...

Deb and Dave meet Jo and David  Sunday, after charging in the underground parking deck (it took 2 trips to find it!), we went to a juried art fair in a park in a neighborhood close to downtown Dallas.  (Think the neighborhood around Freedom Park but with high rises!!)  The show had great art and jewelry and we bought a few things:  some jewelry for gifts and a few prints, nothing really notable.  But we had a good time talking to several of the vendors and suggested to a few of them that they apply for Artisphere next year.  I asked several artists if I could photograph their art so that I could talk to Abbie about the different techniques.  We had a great time texting back and forth and I finally got an idea for her real birthday present.  Since her mother will probably have to work Mothers Day, she and I will go to Artisphere and get a "birthday art fix".  If that doesn't work out, I'll take her into Asheville to the River District.  I...

Can you spot us?  Dave and I had just finished lunch and we saw some young folks were taking "selfies" in the heart.  Old fuddy-duddies can do it too!  The heart was suspended above the dining room in a great art museum called Crystal Bridges.   Crystal Bridges is Alice Walton's gift to Bentonville and the world.  When you have more money than God, you can afford to gift an art museum!! It is free, except for special exhibitions.  There are 5 truly amazing galleries/buildings.  Two house Early American art, others have contemporary and modern art and one building has special exhibitions.  We were there 10 years ago as it was just opening and only had a few hours to see it all.  Today, we spent the day but needed more.  It is sort of like touring the Smithsonian museums:  too much to take in at once!  Our energy definitely ran out before our eyes took in all of the art! They have added a performance pavilion since we were here, ...

In 2 days, Ruby has traveled through 6 states:  NC, SC, GA, AL, MI, and Arkansas where we are now!  So far we have been mostly on interstates, and except for driving around Atlanta, Ruby has been a pleasure to drive.  Dave has driven about 2/3 of the time, and I've taken at least one "leg" each day.  We decided to "boogie" out here so that we would have more time in AK and Texas.  We did make 2 short (micro!) side trips.  The first to see where Deb first taught in Fair Play, SC.  I had already read that the school had merged with one in Westminster, but it was really sad to see the building practically falling down! In Tupelo, we had to pay homage to Elvis! In this part of the country, instead of "George Washington slept here", it's "Elvis, slept/ate/sat here"!  LOL In downtown Tupelo (about the size of Hendersonville), they paint guitars instead of bears or rocking chairs! We arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas about 5 and I typed in "...