When I first entered the state on the east, I was greeted with a torrential rainstorm in Beauford. It was white-knuckle driving as all the cars slowed to 40 miles an hour with windshield wipers working at the fastest speed. I couldn't see the road and could barely see the car in front of me. My only saving grace was that it was driving with its hazards blinking, guiding me like a beacon. I saw the edge of the clouds and the blue sky beyond and I was talking to myself, "almost there, almost there," to keep some sanity.
Just west of Houston is Katy, where Kristen lives. It's mile after mile of manicured planned neighborhood communities, strip malls and restaurants. You could find anything you want there, except rain. It was pretty dry there lately.
After visiting with Kristen, I went up to Austin for lunch and was amazed by how cute, and 'granola-ish' it is.
On Kristen's recommendation, I went to this independent book store, BookPeople on the corner of 6th and Lamar.
I loved this place and I could have stayed there all afternoon reading the creative staff recommendations for books, artsy gifts and the great liberal t-shirts and bumper stickers all over the place.
I walked up 6th to Sweetish Hill Bakery for a yummy lunch.Then it was time to say goodbye to Austin and continue west towards El Paso. The scenery changed quickly to sparse, rocky brush land with plateaus rising up out of nowhere.
On top of those plateaus were hundreds of huge windmills standing watch over the land, picking up the wind that whips across.
(More later, I gotta hit the road.)
