I can't think of a more miserable day of driving than the one I had today. I've had bad experiences - snow storms, rain, etc. for short periods. But today was almost the whole day. The wind I talked about yesterday howled all night and was still blowing this morning. And it had stormed overnight with residual drizzle holding on. Adding to the stress was Susan's demands to vacate the hotel by 8 AM due to an impending fire alarm test. I got the look at 7:59 along with a "You have 1 minute."
The wind along the way was relentless. Looking at the map above, I was mostly moving east. Based on the wind farms I saw, the wind was coming from the south or southwest. I had to deal with cross-winds almost the entire trip. That meant that every time I passed an obstacle on my right, I was impacted. As I first entered the obstacle's "zone", it shielded the wind and my normal rightward steering (into the wind) pulled me toward the obstacle. So I straightened my wheels to adjust. But then when I left the gravitational pull of the obstacle, the wind hit me full force and pushed me left. This happened for every obstacle, including concrete barriers (especially on bridges) and big rigs. It was particularly challenging to pass them with a 75 MPH speed limit. Even I had to throttle back. I set the cruise control at 73.
We also passed several more wind farms. They were not as big as the 36-mile one we saw yesterday, but there were a couple about 10 miles in length. I took one long-distance photo from a rest area.
It is becoming obvious that this trip home will be about getting there without delay. There is no time nor patience to randomly stop for photos. I saw some good opportunities but kept on truckin'.
As I said, the wind never quit. Part of that is the flatness and lack of trees. It may make for easy farming but it also makes it ideal for wind farms. It was flat as far as one's eyes could see. Except for the rare occasion when a large mound would show up. It was kind of weird.
But it was grueling to drive through the wind. By the time I got to Fort Worth, I was worn out. Finally, there were buildings and other structures to break the wind. Plus it was coming in a different direction relative to where I was heading as I had turned more to the south. But traffic was heavy ... and fast. Have I mentioned how Susan dislikes urban interstate speeds? She wasn't happy. But we made it to Waco in one piece, if not mentally weakened.
Arriving in Waco didn't end the driving fiasco. I-35 runs through the center of town and the GPS believed that I-35 must be traveled no matter where I wanted to go. That would ordinarily be OK except that I-35 was in complete disarray due to construction. Some exit and entrance ramps were completely closed and others were moved. If I hear "Route Recalculation" one more time, I might tear the car apart looking for the voice behind the announcement.
One may wonder why we were so far south of our most efficient route to home. Travel efficiency holds no candle to the lure of Magnolia Farms and their empire. That's why. For those who don't know, Magnolia Farms is the enterprise owned by Joanna and Chip Gaines of "Fixer Upper" fame on HGTV. It is likely Susan's all-time favorite TV show. The Gaines now have 3 public businesses in Waco. The main one is a retail store selling decorating stuff and is located at Magnolia Market - The Silos. After checking in at our Hampton north of the city, we plowed ahead to the store.
For me, it was disappointingly small. For Susan, it was like visiting Mecca or finding the Holy Grail. There was no way to escape this retail entrapment scott-free. No one leaves Magnolia Market without buying something. So we did. I will say that the business is run impeccably. There is an incredible attention to detail and the customer experience, both inside and outside.
The crowds were big but not too bad. This was likely due to it being mid-week and late in the day.
The checkout lines were long when we entered but much shorter when we needed them to be short.
There was lots of stuff.
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| The Silos |
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| Flower boxes |
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| Old Car |
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| Discount store |
We capped off the day with dinner at a steakhouse that we frequented while living in Houston. Despite the arduous early part of the day, it turned out to be a darn good one. Its a good thing since we are 300 miles out of the way.
Susan’s quote of the day: "Of course I did." in response to inquiry about whether she found anything. It was more the look than the words - like "how could you be so dumb". (That's not a question needing an answer.)
The highlights - Magnolia Market.
The regrets - None.
Today's direct miles from hotel to hotel - 426
Today's miles on side trips - 41
Today's miles driven by Paul - 467
Today's miles driven by Susan - 0
Today's hours in car - 7.5
Total Miles Hiked - 0
Cumulative direct miles from hotel to hotel - 4,756
Cumulative miles on side trips - 3,506
Cumulative miles driven by Paul - 7,280
Cumulative miles driven by Susan - 587
Cumulative hours in car - 168.5
Cumulative Miles Hiked - 52.1
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