Another Trip so Soon?

Ken has a friend, Dr. Gopal, who was going to be coming over from India this summer to visit his daughter and grandchildren in Houston. We had been debating about how, when, and how long to go there to visit them also. (Houston in the summer was not appealing to us, but…) Well, “going to be” has happened and Gopal and his wife are in Houston now. For reasons unclear to me, it was decided that the second week in June would be the best time for us to be there.

So, a week after our LA roadtrip, we’re back on the road again. We decided to drive instead of fly for monetary reasons, but I’m starting to regret that choice.

We chose Fort Stockton as a reasonable stopping point – especially since there isn’t much before or after. That part of Texas is pretty empty! Then we had trouble booking a room for the night. While there are several hotels there, they all seemed to be booked up. Finally, I found the Deluxe Inn via Yelp (I think). Seedy looking on the outside, but rooms freshly redone according to the reviews. Plus they had a room open! And the reviews were right. It was a pleasant stay.

Then back on the road Sunday morning. We toyed with the idea of going into San Antonio and having lunch along the River Walk, but traffic was practically gridlocked as we approached the outermost circle freeway. What was going on!!? After a couple miles of stop and go and no signs of an accident or other cause, we decided to skip that idea, backtracked to the circle freeway, stopped for lunch, and generally skipped San Antonio.

With no further excitement, we pulled into the Candlewood Suites around 4:30 and settled in.

 

After getting directions to Sandhya’s house, we headed over for a visit and then out for supper. At least all of us except Sandhya and her young son who wasn’t feeling well. Her daughter was pretty lively though and entertained us all. We ate at Pico’s Mex Mex at Sandhya’s suggestion and it was very good.

 

Sat – Mesa to Fort Stockton: 676 mi, 11:20 hrs, 8:52 hrs moving
Sun – Fort Stockton to Houston: 513 mi, 9:01 hrs, 7:36 hrs moving

[written 1/4/14]