Traffic, Food, and Bats

Yesterday we left San Cruces, NM and headed for Texas. That has to be one of the longest, most desolate drives I think I’ve ever been on. And I’ve been on some barren drives before! Hour after hour of nothing but brush and high winds beating on your vehicle here and there. Yuck.

We went through El Paso and the girls were very excited to look across the street and see Mexico. It was amazing to me how easily you could tell that it was Mexico. Such a definitive line between cultures. I wonder what they think as they live each day and look across into America????

Anyways, we made it into Austin early evening. It was a lot greener than I thought it would be. Trees everywhere and we all found it really pretty. My allergies started acting up almost right away though, which I found a little crazy.  And the freeway traffic. OH, THE FREEWAY TRAFFIC! Bumper, to bumper, to bumper, for miles. Luckily our side was a little bit better so we moved a tad easier but the other side was horrible. And we ran into that a few times plus have heard it’s very common. What a nightmare to have to live and drive in day after day! That’s too bad. It really takes away from the amenities of Austin, in my opinion.

So we found our motel, got gassed up, and went to the Original Chuy’s for dinner. And it did not disappoint. We all raved about it. In fact, my husband proclaimed it to have the best enchilada he’d ever had! I got chicken soft tacos which were also very, very good and my girls shared a “Big as Yo Face” burrito.  They are hard to please, but also loved it. Our waiter was great as well, which always adds to a fun dining experience. And the place had such charm. Yes, we are all now fans.

We then hustled out of there to get to the Congress Bridge by dusk to see the bat phenomenon. I guess every night at dusk over 1 million bats fly out from under the bridge to go feed for the night. They are supposed to fly out in huge masses and look like just a black mass going out into the sky. Sounds amazing huh? Well, to our disappointment, for whatever reasons, the bats did not perform as usual on this night. A few came out here and there and then finally some were coming out when it was almost dark but no mass quantities like usual. I heard some people talking (and there were A LOT of people there watching, just like us) and I guess there are rare instances where the bats don’t come out. Yay. We caught them on an off night. It was a bummer but still interesting.

Today (it’s Tuesday right?) we drove around Round Rock a little bit and Pflugerville. We found Austin traffic to be just as bad at 9:30 am on the freeway so we skedaddled out of there even though we thought it so pretty.  We grabbed a HUGE Round Rock Donut and shared it and then headed to Waco for lunch and to go through the Dr. Pepper factory. (I’m a pepper – wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?)

The Dr. Pepper factory was okay. Not fantastic, but interesting. Waco….well, Waco was an adventure. From detours in scary neighborhoods to an “almost” car accident – we were ready to leave. (We were driving and a car didn’t stop at his stop sign and as we both screeched were within mere inches from colliding.) So scary!

We’ve arrived outside of Dallas now and are meeting with a dear friend of mine and her family this evening. We actually arrived a little early so have almost an hour of down time. We are relishing it for the moment.

We’ve had several close calls in the car – please continue to pray for us as we drive and for God’s hand and protection over our family.

Thank you so much.

~ Dionna