Mile 3250 - Start packing car up at 6:45 a.m. Dean is shocked that Travis is up this early, much less ready to go. While packing up the car, Dean unlatches his convertible top latch and hints around that it is a great morning. Travis takes the hint and puts the top down. "Yeah!" says Dean. We pull out of the motel around 7:00 a.m. Travis resumes driving from last night.

Mile 3251 - We arrive at McDonalds for breakfast (did someone says McDonalds?). Travis whoofs down two (2) bacon,egg, and cheese biscuits to Dean's one (1). We leave McDonalds and head out on the road for Houston.

Mile 3320 - We enter San Antonio. Dean remarks that he used to think that San Antonio was West Texas. We both now know that there is a lot of West Texas west of San Antonio. This will make sense to anyone who lives in Texas. It's a BIG state! Regrettably, we join the major interstate, I-10 outside of San Antonio.

Mile 3362 - Thankfully, we leave the big interstate (I-10) and join up with Alternate Hwy. 90 (2 and sometimes 4 lanes), which we can take ALL THE WAY TO HOUSTON! We're both glad!  

Mile 3365 - We stop in Seguin for gasoline. $1.559 / gal. Can you guess who's driving now?

Mile 3394 - Dean admits to be in a driving zone when the car in front of us veers off to the shoulder to allow us to pass (a typical Texas driving maneuver when the car in front wants the car behind to pass). Dean can't remember how long we had even been following that car.

Mile 3419 - We stop in Shiner, TX, home of the Spoetzl Brewing Company. They're the fine makers of Shiner Bock beer, a Texas tradition! A good photo opportunity. It was a good thing that the brewery's hospitality suite and the brewery itself were closed today. Otherwise, Dean may not have made his flight back to Wichita.

What do we have here? Well, it's another bridge, and it's at the brewery. Imagine that. Unfortunately they have access blocked, and we can't get the car up there. But not to worry, we give the bridge a thorough look over, and believe us, it inspected just fine. Our fixation with bridges continues. Now admit it…could you actually stand a day without a bridge pic? Has anyone found a support group for us yet?

Mile 3457 - Travis starts totaling up gasoline consumption. Dean thinks that he can name off all of the fuel stops we've made since the start of it. Travis says, "Prove it!" Dean starts rattling all of them off. How can he do that? Travis can't even remember what they had for lunch two days ago, much less where the last gas stop was. Travis is impressed!

Mile 3474 - We stop at Eagle Lake and take some pictures. Eagle Lake is known for its outstanding goose hunting. Dean takes this pic to make Jeff and Mike jealous. Did it work?

We briefly stop at the local feed store for batteries, because we're low on CD player juice. The Firebird doesn't quite belong at this stop. Do you think we can get them to load a bag of feed in the trunk?

Mile 3476 - We encounter a BIG bird (no, not the one from Sesame Street) strolling across Alt. Hwy 90. Yes, we mean strolling. Dean said he'd look up what kind of bird it was when he gets home. Some type of Egret perhaps?

Mile 3516 - We regretfully enter the Houston city limits.

Mile 3532 - We have just enough time to stop for some lunch before Dean has to catch his flight. Since the seafood in Wichita is just a notch higher than frozen fish sticks (Travis' opinion), we stop at Pappadeaux (Cajun seafood) so Dean can get one last GOOD seafood meal before returning home. We sketch out some of our ideas for today's web page and our final thoughts.

While leaving the restaurant, Dean has problems distinguishing between 1^st and Reverse gears. Travis asks if Dean needs assistance. Dean replies by burning rubber in Pappadeaux parking lot. Travis takes the hint and keeps his mouth shut. We finally have to pull onto the highway, and we realize that we've re-entered the Big City Rat Race.

Dean wonders if he can get a research grant and move to Marfa and look for those Mystery Lights. Travis begins to wonder why he lives in Houston in the first place.

Mile 3543 - We arrive at Houston Hobby Airport.

Travis kicks Dean out of the car after he's had to spend an entire week with someone obnoxious.

No, that's not it. Dean races out of the car to get away from way-too-structured Travis.

No, that's not it either. Two friends regretfully depart after having spent an amazing week together.

Ready to do it again? You bet! Hey Dean, you left your smuggled banana in Travis' cooler. He'll be sending it to you in the mail. There you go, forgetting stuff again.

Travis hopes that Dean actually gets off his plane in Oklahoma City. His flight continues on through Kansas City and finally ends up in Chicago. Dean better not think about going to Chicago and continuing on the Route 66 adventure without Travis, or he's in big trouble!

Mile 3563 - The car arrives back home at Travis' house with a full tank of gas. $1.579 / gal. Our journey and adventure is now complete. And what an outstanding one it's been too, wouldn't you agree?

 Total miles driven today: 313. And we even got Dean to the airport on time!