It’s time to finish up the long commute to Arizona. We’ll see how long it takes and if I have time to visit friends along the way.
I headed out from Hammond/New Orleans after a week of just chillin’ out. I got a fairly early start so I may be able to make it all the way to Austin, TX before it gets too late if I want. I love finding cool little greasy spoons on my trips cross country. Today was to be no different. I found this neat little place called “Chicken on the Bayouâ€. Cute!
The food took a little longer than I hoped but I wasn’t really in that much of a rush. The food was quite tasty and really hit the spot! I hope I manage to find some more fun food along the way.
Once I hit Texas I started calling my friend Mark Meyers. He was the best man in my wedding and we’re still close. You’ve probably read about him before. Unfortunately he didn’t respond to my texts so I grabbed a bite to eat outside Houston and continued on my way.
Since it was getting dark, I opted to not drive thru Austin. My Biz associate has a family and would most likely be asleep by the time I get in. So, off to San Antonio I go! I passed thru San Antonio at about 8pm. After that town, the signs of life are few and far between until you get to El Paso. El Paso is still a long way off, by the way.
By midnight I was getting deep into the Texas panhandle. El Paso was still 100+ miles away and I was starting to get tired. So, I stopped in FT. Stockton for the night. Found a cheap motel and crashed for the night.
I got up nice and early the following morning so I could get to the festival at a reasonable hour. I’m glad I fueled up last night. I almost ran out! But now I have enough gas to make it all the way to the Festival site.
On my way to El Paso I got a text from Jenn of “Tartanicâ€. They stopped in Las Cruces, NM to have some work done on a truck and invited me for breakfast. I told ‘em I couldn’t make it for breakfast but I might make it for lunch. So I told them I’d call when close.
The rest of the trip to El Paso was simple enough. I’ve made that trip so many times now (about 15) that I could do it in my sleep. Once I hit El Paso, I called Jenn and then met them in Las Cruces for lunch. We found this neat little place that looked like it had some history. Little did we know how big or beautiful the place would turn out to be. It was amazing! The food was pretty good but the building was really beautiful! After lunch I continued on my trek to Arizona.
I arrived in Arizona that evening, about 7pm. I got to the house I stay at and said hi to Riki and Kim (they stay there too) and chilled out to let the road noise in my head subside before bed. Time to start the new season!
As I write this we’re a few weeks into the AZ show. Things are going well! The weather is being very cooperative. Last year we had a lot of rain and hail. Thank God this year has been so nice. It’s good for business.
In between weekends I’ve been doing my usual thing. I’m doing lots of credit card merchant business, writing Tortuga stuff with the guys, hitting my usual restaurants and bars and doing the occasional social gathering on site. I’m even planning an L.A. trip between the last two weekends to visit my Italian cousins that own some restaurants out there. That should be fun!
Well, that’s all for now. I’ll hopefully have a fun story about the L.A. trip. Have a great March!
