Does the building really matter?

These two buildings are about 30 miles apart.  I found them within hours of one another.

Does one represent more faithfulness than the other?  I'll let you decide.

Really?

Would be able to believe this sign a little more if there was actually a sidewalk there..........

Navigating on the road

Well, I've been traveling for a while.  And navigating as you go has evolved.

When I was young (that was a long time ago), you navigated with paper maps or by memory.  If you were a member of an Automobile Association, and planned far enough ahead, then you might be able to get a "turn-by-turn" map made for you.

Then mapping tools, both online and available for purchase for your computer, became available.  With this advancement, you could pre-plan your trip and print out your route ahead of time.  Of course, if you needed to go off-route, you still needed to have and know how to use a traditional paper map.

Then GPS came along.  This has been a godsend for folks like me.  While you still pre-plan, that actual navigation is *generally* pretty straightforward.  Except when you run into situations like this:

These "flyovers" apparently efficiently move traffic.  But the entries to the various ramps are not intuitive and confuse the h__l out of GPS units.  Over the weekend, I went the wrong direction twice, and ended up stopped in a highway Y trying to figure out how to blend back into traffic.

Give me a lonely back road to this carp any day.............

Oxymoron

The signs greeting you when you drive into Texas should be the #1 listing in Webster's for the term "oxymoron":

"Welcome to Texas. Drive friendly - the Texas way."

I went to high school down here, and learned how to drive "the Texas way" - which is defined as "I am the only person on the road, and you all are just impediments to my progress". Now, I have truly fought this indoctrination since then and usually do OK. However, once infected, there's little one can do.......

Did I mention that gun racks in pickups, completely with registered and loaded shotguns, are legal? Just in case there's a wayward deer in the road..........

Don't get me wrong, I drive friendly. I plan to get home in one piece and driving my vehicle - not in a body bag.....

Hey there!

Seen today on the road:

Stopped for a fuel, a pit stop, and a caffeine reload this afternoon. Drove to one bank of pumps, which had bright yellow plastic sleeves over the pump handles stating that they were "Out of Order". Pulled up to the back side of those pumps, which were operational, and filled up my car.

Just as I was finishing fueling and heading into the store to take care of the rest of my business, a (blonde) person pulled up to the busted pumps. She opened her filler door, pulled the plastic off the nozzle, and placed the nozzle in the filler neck. And attempted to start using the credit card reader to activate the pump. I almost stopped to comment on the pump being out of order, but thought she'd figure it out.

So, I went inside to relieve myself, text Cat about my progress, choose a caffeinated beverage, wait for 2 people ahead of me, and then pay for my selection and head out.

SHE'S STILL AT THE PUMP TRYING TO SOMEHOW COAX GAS OUT OF IT.

She sees me returning and finally looks at her hand and realizes what's up. She turns bright red, hastily puts everything back together, and follows me out of the gas station.

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As background, I have a job which requires that I travel extensively through the Western half of the US and in parts of Canada. I average 70,000-100,000 miles of travel per year, of combined driving and flying miles.

Most of this travel, for those of you that aren't cursed to travel that much, think it must a lot of fun and glamorous to travel. While, at times, funny or unexpected things occur (such as above), much of it is - frankly - absolute drudgery. While I will try to stay on the more exciting and fun parts of traveling, I may touch on the drudgery side from time to time and will not apologize for it. If you want to follow what a "Road Warrior" deals with, then I hope to be able to educate and entertain.

If you have questions or comments, I welcome them.