San Antonio Trip -- The Course of True Life, Take 2

The course of true life, like that of true love, is never smooth.

I woke up about 15 minutes before the alarm went off at 4am, and because of the adrenaline I always have before travel, decided not to bother to try to catch that last fifteen. Good thing, too, because the morning did not run quite as planned.

Sweetie was up, too. That is not conducive to getting stuff done, as he wants attention and is already feeling abandoned because I am leaving town.

The kittens also had other ideas. When I finally finished stumbling around the dark bedroom (I told Sweetie to go back to bed), I took the suitcase downstairs to finish packing in the dark and they weren't content to have their one serving of breakfast.

I did finally give up and got #2 Son up, as he did want to help. He made everything easier, as he distracted the kittens and hauled things to the ice chest as I went fridge-and-freezer diving.

Besides my suitcase, I had to get all of the ingredients for gumbo packed, and food that I can eat, as I am one of those weirdo raw vegan people. I ended up actually carrying more food with me on the trip than clothes.

Speaking of clothes, we come back to life not being smooth. I wanted out of here by a certain time, and ended up being late, but thinking I had done well. I didn't even make the interstate when I realized I didn't have the one nice outfit, on hangers, that I was bringing. I had to turn around and go back. Well, at least it wasn't when I was halfway there, and I only had to stop long enough to say good-bye again, as everyone had to come outside to bring me the items!

Because it was early the traffic was light and I had time to admire the beautiful almost full moon hanging beautifully low over the horizon in front of me. It played hide and seek with me through the beams of the Mississippi River Bridge as I drove over, and looking back in the rear view mirror I could see the sun like a huge red ball lighting up the clouds in a beautiful glow. A lovely portent that foretold great weather and a fabulous trip.

Since I was so anxious to get there, and was driving a rental that didn't drink gas like a wino downs MD20/20, I didn't bother stopping for 3 full hours. During that time I passed through Lafayette, Louisiana's rush hour. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it consisted that day of a few cars pulled onto the shoulder at the Ambassador Caffrey Exit so they wouldn't slow the traffic. Every time I drive through there, I wonder what it would be like to live where the traffic is so light that the most it causes is a hiccup.

I had to laugh as I passed into Texas and saw a huge black cloud ahead. The rain was pouring from it and as I drove under it, I could see blue skies all around. Just overhead was the one cloud, pissing on me, as Sweetie would say. It happened 3 times on the trip -- pouring rain as I looked at the blue skies everywhere else, and it ended almost as fast as it started.

All the areas of road construction I had fought through last year had shrunk considerably, and I finally realized something as I bopped down the highway to the blaring radio. A couple of somethings, actually. First was that I was having a blast and even if the construction had expanded and the rain had been continuous I would have just smiled through it. Second, in construction zones in Texas they don't post a construction zone speed limit unless it changes. I don't have to worry that the signs say the fines are doubled and stuff like that, if the speed limit was 70. and construction starts and no sign says the limit changes, you can still do 70. That is amazing to me as I come from the land of "lets slow people down as much as possible for as long as possible."


Today is:

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication)

Gwynn ap Nudd -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld)

Inventors Day -- Argentine

Leif Ericson Day

Mifflin County Goose Festival -- Pennsylvania

National Mocha Day

Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice

Sts. Gabriel and Raphael's Day

St. Michael's and All Angels Day (Michaelmas) (patron of bankers, the Basques, Brussels, Germany, grocers, Papua New Guinea, radiologists, paratroopers, policemen)

Xenophobe Understanding Day


Birthdays Today:

Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Lech Walesa, 1943
Madeline, Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106


Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009