We’re here. An uneventful day, leaving Tallahassee at 8 AM and arriving home at 1:20 PM with one charging stop in Gainesville, FL (charging cost: $18.20; new shoes at REI, $160).

Our kitchen remodel is coming along nicely. We still need to pick out backsplash tile and wall paint color, but you can get an idea from the photos. White and grey is a big change from traditional wood colors we’ve lived with since 1987!

Here’s a summary of our trip, statistically speaking.

• We traveled a total of 2,775 miles in the Model 3 from Sun City Center to Austin and return. Excluding “sightseeing days,” we were on the road covering 2,245 miles over 5.5 travel days, averaging 445 miles per day.
• We stopped a total of 18 times to charge. The average charging time was about 40 minutes, which often included time for food and you-know-what breaks. Sometimes we unplugged during dinner and finished our meals, thereby taking longer than 40 minutes.
• The total cost of Supercharging came to $237.12, or $12.87 per fill-up. Assuming a gas-powered car averages 25 mpg and regular gas goes for $3.10, the total would come to $344.84, a net savings of $107.72.
• One disappointment is that the range, which nominally shows as 300 miles or so is in reality closer to 250 miles less. I’m not sure why but three factors may come into play. First, I drove at 80 mph most of the time (10 over the limit). The temperature never exceeded a cool 55 degrees. Judy had her seat heater on most of the time, drawing additional power from the battery. There is a display in the Model 3 that shows average energy usage for the past 30 miles and the range that would result at that rate. That number is closer to reality.

As for the driving experience, I would note that:

• The Tesla is fun to drive and I found it quite comfortable and enjoyable car to ride in.
• We didn’t find the charging stops bothersome, but then again, we’re retirees with no particular time pressures. In fact, the 40-minute breaks gave me plenty of time to relax and hence drive further than I would otherwise. Judy only drove for about two hours going out and two hours coming back. I did all the rest. Normally, Judy and I would trade off driving duties, more like a 2/3 – 1/3 split. 
• Tesla has three autopilot modes: Speed and lane control; Autopilot on highways; Full Self Driving on city streets. I found speed and lane control works quite well, better than similar features we’ve had over the years in other cars. Lane following, in particular, is much advanced over other cars. It did a superb job even when the lane had been reduced by road construction and Jersey barriers. A neat feature in this mode is that by depressing the turn signal lever the Model 3 will check the blind spots and, if clear, initiate the lane change without driver involvement. I liked this mode a lot: two drivers checking blind spots is better than one. 
• Autopilot while driving on highways gives the Model 3 control over lane change decisions. The driver just sits there and keeps his/her hands on the wheel. The Model 3 in this mode is maybe 85% OK, moving to the passing lane and back as required. It is sensitive to faster cars coming up in the passing lane. It will sometimes make lane changes that make no sense, and it seems to love hanging out in the left-hand lane even when no cars are around. I found it amusing to watch its decision making and correcting dumb lane changes. Nothing it did was dangerous, just annoying. I used this mode only occasionally, especially on the return trip.
• I’ve only used Full Self Driving (beta version) around town here in Sun City Center and based on that did not use the feature during the trip. I’ll mess around with it just for fun; I need to learn how to behave when in this mode, when to trust FSD and when to intervene.  In my opinion it’s far from ready for everyday use.

Judy’s put together her report on the trip, charging experiences, etc. It’s included below.

Thanks for following along with us – it’s great to get your feedback and to know some at least are paying attention. For those who haven’t kept up, save it for a night when you can’t get to sleep; an instantaneous insomnia cure is guaranteed!

Judy’s January 2022 Road Trip Summary

Jon’s idea of a road trip in the Tesla, just to see what it would be like needing to charge the car, started with the idea of going from Florida to San Diego to visit Reagan at the University of California San Diego.  He mapped it all out and excitedly called me in to see his wonderful trip.  We had Melrose friends renting a place in Austin, TX in January so that set us up for a halfway point to stop for a couple of days.  Since part of the trip was to do sightseeing, and since I had never traveled across the south, he had us doing three days to Austin, two days there and three days to San Diego and a few days with Reagan.  Ten days. That was all well and good but then —-I looked at him and said, “and we need to turn around and drive all the way back!”  After further consideration and my explaining that a Tesla Road trip did not have to take us all the way across the country, Jon decided going to just Austin, TX could meet his desire.  After that it was determined that we had the opportunity to spend a week with Carter while Jeff was in Nepal in January, so the half trip worked better for that.

So, on January 10, 2022 we headed out for our first long distance road trip relying totally on electricity.  The Tesla maps out everything once you put your destination into the car.  We said Panama City Beach because several years ago Jon had given me a Christmas present of a trip to Panama City Beach.  We then realized the distance and were unable to find the time to drive up there.  We instead choice a closer destination.  So, the Tesla tells us to stop for a charge in Lake City, FL and directs us to the Tesla Supercharger.  This place had six chargers and 2 were in use when we got there.  People came and went while we were there.  Five of the six chargers were in use.  The cars were from Indiana, Colorado, Michigan and FL.  Everyone was staying in their cars.  This was mid-morning so not really mealtime. Chili’s, Red Lobster and Southwest Grill were all right there.  

Our second stop was in Tallahassee and we were there for 35 minutes. Cars again came and went, and a lady went off to shop while she waited. This place had Home Goods, Publix’s, pizza place and other food places. In this shopping center there were also Electrify America charging stations.  I think this is the only site that had something other than Tesla.  

So far one thing that was missing at the charging spots were the restrooms.  They do not have restrooms, trash cans anything that would require people to take care of it.  So, the next morning in Panama City Beach when we charged, we were pleased to have these charging units at a Busy Bee Convenience/Gas Store.  Restroom and shopping which I did while I was killing time.  We were charging in the morning because the hotel and charging were not close to each other, and we were too tired when we got there the previous night.  

By now we are starting to catch on.  The need to find restrooms was a major one.  Crestview, FL had a Starbucks and Panera.  I went to the Starbucks to use their restroom and purchased a drink. Jon went to Panera and just used their restroom.  On our return trip we stopped at this same place and because it was lunch time, we picked up Chick-fil and ate it in the car.  There was also Burger King, MacDonald’s along the same road.  By now we have figured out that picking up food, using their restroom and then charging works in many places.  

Our next stop Tesla took us was north of Biloxi.  We stopped here both ways.  There was lots of eating opportunities, but we were not in need either way.  Sonic is a fast-food place at several Superchargers.  Here there was a Walmart across the street that Jon went to use the restroom.  By now we have used Bed, Bath and Beyond and Walmart or Target shopping placed to use the restrooms. We are catching on!

On our third day we had stayed in Lafayette, LA and again needed to charge in the morning.  This time we also needed breakfast, so it worked out alright.  The Chick-fil had only drive thru and we did not have the car, so we settled for the MacDonalds.  Next stop was in Channelview, TX outside Houston.  This was located behind the Holiday Inn.  It had a restaurant and restroom.  We used the restroom but ate the crackers and cheese we had with us along with an orange.  On our return trip we were pleased when Tesla sent us to the same place and we were able to eat at their restaurant.  The lunch and charging took the same amount of time.  That brings up a point.  Most of the charging times are around 30 mins.  The ones that say 20 we frequently put a little more since we are usually doing something.  Some took as much as 50 minutes, and we ate at Panera with plenty of time. 

We are now getting to Austin, TX and we waited to charge on our way to the airport to go see Carter.  We had ridden with our friends so had not used the car.   We fully charged the car and left it for 9.5 days.  It does use charge just sitting there, about 13 miles this time.  We went to San Antonio and did not use the car much there.  

Off we went on our way home.  We have learned somethings on our way out.  We did not tell ourselves that we should do things differently, but we did start doing it.  The first night we had left San Antonio in the mid-afternoon and did not have a destination in mind so just looked at where Tesla wanted us to charge and then we went on Hotels.com and found a Best Western at the same exit. We checked in and went to the Subway across the street, took our subs and went to the charging station. 

Boy that worked great!  So, the rest of the trip we did the charger location with the hotel at the same exit.  I had also discovered that I can sometimes see the eating places that are near the charging station on the screen.  Usually we would drive to the charging station and discover eating places on the way or near it.  Another thing that helps is to choose a restaurant right near the charging so Jon can move the car if the charging is done  before we’ve finished eating.  You cannot leave the car at the charging station when it is done charging because Tesla will charge you for every idle minute.  The handy Tesla app on our phones does tell us how much time is left on the charging and when it is all done.  

One time we had a Tesla Supercharger cable that was not working.  Jon figured it out right away and moved the car to another charger cable that did work.  Someone else came, plugged in, and went to a store before he looked and realized the car was not charging so came back and moved his car.  He was glad he could access the information from his phone.  

The last day we charged in Gainesville, FL.  Here there were eight chargers and when we arrived, we took the last open charger.  While we sat in the car for 10 minutes, the car next to us left and a car had been waiting and backed right in.  The cars continually pulled out and another car came in.   I do not think a charger was not in use for more than a couple of minutes.  Because all the chargers were in use it took us an hour to charge.  They say the more cars on the chargers the slower it will be.  While here we went to REI and Jon purchased a pair of shoes.  Good use of our time I would say!  He was going to need new shoes sometime. This stop was in a mall area with Whole Foods, Bone Fish Grill, and REI. Many of the people were doing their shopping at Whole Foods.  There was also a strip mall right there, but I could not see the stores.

On the return trip we had two days where we did minimal sightseeing and were on the road for 9 – 10 hours and we charged twice and then again at our destination.  

So, in summary I would say the charging has been a good experience.  The really side-benefit to this charging is that Jon could do all the driving.  Usually we both drive 2 – 3 hours so Jon has a break.  The charging is needed every 2 – 3 hours and you have a forced break and Jon always felt ready to continue driving at that time.   As we continued the trip, we learned how to maximize our stops by eating at the same time.  We were then not losing too much time.  Also charging while we ate dinner and being ready to leave in the morning again made it, so we were not losing time.  

Yes, you can gas up quickly but then you still need to go eat!  I am not sure how much time difference there is.  I guess that could be for another trip when we can keep track of time we are not driving with the Tesla and with the Kia gas car.

It was a fun trip and just the right length.  I am glad we did not go to California!  We are planning to still pay Reagan a visit, but we will Fly.  

Not much to report today. Spent most of the day behind the wheel and plugged in at three Supercharger stations (Biloxi, Crestview, and Tallahassee). Clear weather, temps in the low 50s, moderate traffic. Didn’t get on the road until 9 and plugged in at the Supercharger station near our hotel at 6:40. Ate a Blaze Pizza (recommended – really hot oven; made-to-order pizza done in 5 minutes). In the room here in Tallahassee by 7:30. Ready for a 5-hour trip to Sun City Center in the morning, stopping for electrons in Ocala.

Our one sightseeing stop today was in Pascagoula, AL. No Revolutionary, Civil or Texas Independence wars fought here, as far as I know. There is said to be an historical marker, designating the spot of the Pascagoula Abduction. As you’ll recall, two fishermen from Pascagoula were abducted in October 1973 by aliens from a UFO that was spotted by numerous other people in the area. This event occurred only seven years after the famous UFO sighting in my hometown of Hillsdale, MI. Theories claiming that UFO sighting was in fact swamp gas have been dismissed by local observers.

Our real reason for visiting Pascagoula was to see the drilling ship that our Nephew Chris Hempstead is working on. No, he isn’t scraping barnacles off the hull or painting the bright work or swabbing the deck. His job is to oversee and manage the process by which the ship is being readied to start drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico starting April 1. The two tall grey structures in the picture are the drilling rigs (the yellow cranes are attached to the dock and are being used for maintenance tasks). The bridge and helipad are on the left.

Chris’s history in this business is interesting.

After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy Chris signed on as a maintenance engineer on rigs drilling in the Gulf and off the coast of Brazil. His company sent him to South Korea to help oversee construction of a number of these billion-dollar rigs. He traveled with one of the rigs across the Atlantic and was promoted to be the Chief Maintenance Officer. Then, with the crash in crude oil prices, drilling ground to a halt. Chris’s job was to put the rigs into mothballs, tied up at a dock in the Canary Islands off Spain and to keep the complex and expensive systems in a satisfactory state of repair. Things dragged on and one or more of the drilling ships have been sold for scrap, two have been sold to Elon Musk’s Space X for a reported $1 Million to serve as floating launch platforms. The ship we saw today is being readied to be placed back in service. Chris’s dad told me one of relatively simple tasks is to replace 40,000 hydraulic hoses. These are big, complicated beasts where the cost of breakdown and system failure is huge.

So tomorrow ends our Tesla Road Trip. While we’ve been gone, workers have gutted our Sun City Center kitchen and replaced all the cabinets and fixtures. We’ll send a couple of pictures when we get home so you can see the result. I also plan on producing a statistical analysis of the Tesla’s performance and cost of operation, along with a qualitative review of what it’s like to travel by EV. Judy will also provide her thoughts about traveling cross-country in a Tesla.

 

I woke up in a cold sweat last night about 3 AM. “Did I really say Cheyenne? What was I thinking?” Maybe I can blame spellcheck. Nah, Comanche might start with a C but that’s the only similarity. It was a plain old brain freeze. I know nothing about the Cheyenne. It was the Comanches who came out of a stone age existence in the Rocky Mountains, learned to ride horses and became, in a couple hundred years, the most fearful and dominant warrior tribe on the plains. They caused problems for settlers, Mexican and American alike in the latter half of the 19^th Century.

I failed to mention yesterday that after winning independence from Mexico in 1836 Texas became the 28^th U.S. state in 1848. It took almost 10 years because of disagreement over slavery. Texas entered the Union as a slaveholding state and 15 years later seceded to join the Confederacy.

Mexico didn’t see the humor in the U.S. absorbing Texas; it still laid claim to Texas even though they’d lost the war of independence (Santa Ana’s treaty was rejected in Mexico City). The Mexican-American War started in 1846 and was concluded in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo gave the U.S. Texas plus “Alta California” (not Baja California) plus New Mexico and Arizona, give or take a boundary or two. U.S. territory now reached from Atlantic to Pacific!

And Santa Ana? He landed on his feet. After San Jacinto he went into exile in the U.S., returned to fight for Mexico in the Mexican-American War, lost a leg fighting the French, became President of Mexico for a fifth time and was eventually forced into exile in Cuba before he died in 1844.

Today we drove to the east side of Huston to the San Jacinto battlefield where there is a gigantic monument commemorating the battle. When planning the memorial, someone suggested a monument like the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument. “Let’s stack Washington on top of Lincoln,” someone suggested. So, in grand Texan style, they did.

We visited the small museum in the memorial. Those of us who didn’t nod off enjoyed a nice 30-minute movie about the battle and the circumstances leading up to Texas independence.

I walked from the Memorial, roughly located at the site of the 20-minute battle to the far end of the reflecting pool, a distance of about ¾ mile, to the area where Texan soldiers were camped. The Mexicans were less than ¼ mile behind the Memorial. A small space and a short period of time to decide the course of Texan, Mexican and U.S. history.

Near the Texan encampment area there is the U.S. Texas, a battleship moored in the Buffalo Bayou/Houston Shipping Channel. It’s a WW I ship that is closed for repairs; apparently it is rusting badly and is supposedly being restored, although there was no such activity evident.

Reflecting on the U.S. Texas’s role in WW I, you may recall that WW I was declared on June 28, 1914 after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand . . . . WAIT A MINUTE! NO MORE HISTORY LESSONS! In fact, I haven’t the faintest idea what role, if any, the U.S. Texas played so pretend I never brought the subject up.

Getting to the battlefield entailed driving through the Houston Shipping Canal and the enormous, never-ending petrochemical processing and storage facilities. When you hear about hurricanes threatening Houston, the question is, “how badly will oil prices rise if the oil industry suffers a direct hit.” Now we know what that’s all about.

Our travel day has brought us to Baton Rouge, LA not far from where our cruise ship was berthed last November. Fond memories! We stopped at the Supercharger, so we’d be ready to roll in the AM. Nearby was Acme Oyster House, a 100-year-old establishment. We went the Po Boy route. Judy had a grilled shrimp version, and I went whole hog with the “Fried Peace Maker Po-Boy, Voted #4 in Top Ten Sandwiches. Golden fried oysters & shrimp, seasoned to perfection, with TABASCO® infused mayo.” It gets my vote.

We also found a Trader Joe’s in the same mall area, so we stocked up with OJ and muffins with which to break our morning fast.

And speaking of Superchargers, we topped off the tank at the same Channelview location that’s right behind the Holiday Inn, the same place we charged going west and met the gal with the pistachio-colored Model 3. This time, lacking cheese and crackers, we ate in the hotel’s restaurant.

So tomorrow we push on with no major stops planned, but we’ll see what the day brings.

 

OK, no more living high on the hog. No fancy hotels on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. No more Texas steak dinners and hotel breakfasts where two glass of orange juice cost as much as a Tesla Supercharger session. We’re back to serious business, tourist style. Tonight, we’re staying in the Best Western Plus in Flatonia, Texas. Really. Flatonia. Can you believe living in a town named Flatonia? Our room tonight costs just a few dollars more than what we paid for valet parking and breakfast this morning. And no $50 steaks, no siree. We paid $12 for a shared 12” sub at Subway and ate it in the car while we charged at the Flatonia Supercharger. 

And I’m sorry, we’ve got to get serious about this Texas history thing. It’s complicated but after our visit to the Texas Capitol and the Alamo today I’ve got to take a stab at it. Remember, if you’re studying for a high school history test, go elsewhere. I’m giving you my befuddled version, not the truth. Although in fairness I’m not sure any historian knows the “truth” especially when it comes to Texas.

You’ve got to start with Spain. Recall that Pizzaro conquered Peru, producing untold quantities of gold and silver for Spain. Cortez conquered the Aztecs in central Mexico and produced his share of silver. They couldn’t unload the stuff fast enough back home in Seville. Spain ruled Europe; its currency was the standard of exchange everywhere. Life was good in Old Espania.

Spain extracted the gold and silver, built the fancy cathedrals and whatnot using native labor. Bring Spaniards over to do the heavy lifting? No way. The Spanish method was to “convert” native populations to European ways and Catholicism and put them to work. Free labor.

But Spain didn’t have such luck in its northern American holdings, specifically Texas. Today we visited five Spanish missions established to convert native people to become subservient Christian subjects of the Spanish King. The five missions spanned a distance of less than 20 miles, from the Alamo Mission in downtown San Antonio (site of the famous battle) southward to Mission Espada. They were generally constructed in the last half of the 18^th century. 

All had been “secularized” before the end of that century. Secularization meant the priests deemed the natives to be sufficiently converted. The mission buildings and land were turned over to the natives who were expected to go on growing crops, operating the blacksmith shops, and maintaining the buildings. There was little evidence of success; wishful thinking prevailed. You can see that at each mission an impressive church was built, surrounded by a collection of Indian houses built to form a wall around the mission grounds, thereby protecting against marauding Indians from other tribes. The Alamo had been secularized long before the battle and was at various times a military base thereafter.

There are lots of reasons for Spain’s failure to move north, but one was that the native tribes in today’s Texas discovered horses, the horses that the Spaniards had brought over with them. Turns out, Spanish horses were ideally suited to the plains and desert conditions north of the Rio Grande. The natives took to horsemanship like a duck to water. The Apaches, Kiowas and especially the Cheyenne became experts at riding and fighting from horseback.  Bottom line: San Antonio was as far north as Spain could establish a mission and military base. These tribes continued to devil white settlers until the end of the 19^th Century.

Then things fell apart back in Spain. Napoleon invaded and put his brother on the Spanish throne. Mexicans became dissatisfied with Spain’s rule under Napoleon. New Spain ultimately became the Republic of Mexico in 1821 The war of independence started on September 16, 1810, which is celebrated as Independence Day in Mexico, but took another decade to complete before Spain said “Uncle”.

Mexican government whiplashed back and forth between a republic with a federalized government like the U.S. and a centralized dictatorship. It took decades to come to some level of fragile stability.

Meanwhile, in Texas, Stephen Austin and other empresarios petitioned the Republic of Mexico to allow him to grant land in Texas to planters and ranchers from the United States. His vision was that Texas would become a state in the Republic of Mexico, peopled by English speakers and self-governed with loose ties to the central authorities in Mexico City. Mexican authorities liked the idea. They granted Austin a 10-year tax holiday. The Mexicans figured the gringos would provide a buffer between Mexico and the native Indians. Austin became a citizen of Mexico and was successful in establishing 297 families, now called the Old 300 in Texas. Anyone proving lineage back to the Old 300 is a big deal in Austin even today. 

Things came to a head when Santa Ana took over as despotic ruler of all Mexico. The federalist constitution of 1824 that the gringos in Texas were hanging their hats on? Fergetit. All immigration is hereby cut off. The ultimate result: the Texan War of Independence.

The Americans in Texas entered the conflict without a standing army to speak of nor a government to call the shots. Stephen Austin was looked to for governance and to be the commanding general. He was a skilled politician but new little of war. He spent much of his time shuttling between Mexico and the U.S. seeking support for his cause. 

Two battles, among several, were key and they bring us to our activities of today and our plan for tomorrow.

The Alamo, as everyone knows, is where Davie Crocket and Jim Bowie met their ends at the hand of General Santa Ana. That is true, and it is true that the Kentucky sharpshooters took out 600 or more enemy soldiers before being annihilated – all 200 or fewer Texans. Santa Ana had warned the Texans that he would take no prisoners. “Bring it on” was the reply. Santa Ana was good to his word, this time at least, and killed all enemy combatants who survived the battle.

Santa Ana hoped that his victory at the Alamo would discourage the American Texans. It did the opposite. Sam Huston took over as commander of Texan forces, whipped them into some semblance of shape and marched to the San Jacinto River just east of present-day Huston where his greatly outnumbered troops surprised Santa Ana’s. The Texans won a decisive victory, Santa Ana was taken prisoner and the War of Texan Independence was over. 

OK, so much for history. I may expound on San Jacinto tomorrow after our visit, but I promise, no more big history lessons.

Our fancy-schmancy hotel last night was on San Antonio’s Riverwalk. Just our luck: they’ve drained the darn thing this week to clean it so what we saw was a four-or five-foot drainage ditch through which waters of the San Antonio River normally flow. We walked perhaps a half mile from the Hotel Contessa to the Alamo. Lots of shops and restaurants and despite the lack of water it was a fun experience. From a previous visit in warmer weather (it was 50 degrees out this morning) I know that floating down the river on a barge can be a fun way to spend the evening, especially since typically the liquid flowing is not confined to the river.

Remember Carter, the kid with laser-like precision slap-shotting the puck from the blue line? The poor guy came down with a terrible stomach bug of some sort. “Grampa”, he groaned as he woke me from a deep sleep at 2 AM on Tuesday. “I’m sick and threw up.”

I won’t impinge on your sensibilities with a blow-by-blow account but suffice it to say his aim tossing cookies doesn’t match his hockey skills. Nana did an estimated 25 loads of laundry and is still nursing blisters on her knees from scrubbing various surfaces within Jeff’s apartment. He missed school through Friday and stayed home from the 8 AM hockey game on Saturday. He recovered to play in two games on Sunday plus a team outdoor skating event in between so we declared him fully recovered.

Meanwhile I came down with the same thing on Friday.  I’m pleased to say my recovery was quicker and my aim, reflecting many more years of practice, was better. So, our week with Carter turned into something different than planned. But you know what? We still enjoyed being with him just the same. And what a trouper he was. Not only was he sick but he went for five days with no human contact other than his ancient grandparents. A full complement of hockey teammates (five in all) add up to less in age than just one of us oldsters.

Monday (yesterday as I type) we left Carter at school and drove to Melrose for an Uber ride to the airport and our flight back to Austin. Much to our surprise we found that Esme, Griffin and Rebecca had prepared very nice hand-written birthday cards for Judy who turned, well never mind the number, one more than before. Best of all, 11-year-old Esme made a two-layer cake, white cake on top and brownies on the bottom, nicely frosted and decorated, all by herself. She provided the energy that gave Nana an unplanned celebration. Much, much appreciated. What a gal!

The flight to Austin was on time (we’d earlier been warned by American that it would leave an hour late). We checked into our Austin Airport hotel by 10:30 PM and we were up on deck by 8:30 AM this morning.

Stop #1: the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin. I won’t try to describe the building but it’s quite nice and, fitting Texas, large. The legislature meets for 140 days every other year so most of the time it serves as a tourist attraction. We had a very nice 45-minute guided tour.

We walked around the grounds admiring the several monuments and sculpture pieces. We found two prominent monuments commemorating Texas’s role in the Confederacy (there are apparently seven in all). One, the Confederate Soldiers Monument (aka the Confederate Dead Monument), was quite striking. It was erected to “normalized the motivations that drew Texas into the Civil War.” An inscription on the monument reads, in part:

Died

For State Rights

Guaranteed under the Constitution.

The people of the South, animated by the spirit of 1776, to preserve their rights, withdrew from the federal compact in 1861. The North resorted to coercion. The South, against overwhelming numbers and resources, fought until exhausted.

A House bill was introduced in 2021 to remove these and other Confederate memorials from the Texas Capitol. It died in committee.

The Texas Historical Museum was closed today so we left downtown a little earlier than planned and drove to meet our friends Joanne and Dan Tims at the Salt Lick BBQ restaurant in Driftwood, TX, about a half-hour west of town in hill country. It’s a low-key down-home picnic table kind of place but they serve great BBQ. Best of all, of course, was our three-hour visit with former neighbors we haven’t seen since 2004 when we left Minnesota. They have three kids and five grandkids which, coupled with our two and four, gave us lots to catch up on. Joanne and Dan have had a fascinating later-in-life career working with Samaritan Purse, an NGO that provides relief to those suffering from natural and political disasters. They served two years in Greece, among many other places, aiding refugees from Syria. A truly inspiring story of great sacrifice and service by Joanne and Dan.

Next, we drove somewhat aimlessly south toward San Antonio, passing through more Hill Country including a stop to view a big dam project that formed Crystal Lake. The sun was setting, and the right-seat birthday girl (plus a day) was getting hungry so we stopped to top off the battery and hopped on Interstate 35 to swam with the rush hour trout into San Antonio to the Hotel Contessa, our overnight accommodations. It’s on the Riverwalk and near the Alamo so we should have good sightseeing opportunities tomorrow.  

We walked a few blocks to Boudro’s, a Texas steak house on the Riverwalk. So now we’re stuffed with black angus. Judy’s birthday celebration is now on hold until next week when we go to Top Golf in Tampa for a party with friends.