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Mar. 12th, 2008 11:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariSorry about all the meme's lately. Frankly, there's not been much to catch up on. The days have been "Wake up, Go to Work, Draw Comics, Go to Bed, Wake up, Go to Work, Draw Comics, Go to Bed, Wake up, Go to Work, Rob a Bank, Go to Bed."
This weekend I had a bit of spare time with CS having a one-week-hiatus between storylines, and went on a small 60 mile road trip. With all that Sit at Work and Sit at Home, I was just feeling stir crazy with cabin fever and HAD HAD HAD to get out. So I went to Dean's then went on a roadtrip. At $3.25 a gallon, well...I needed the trip.
Saturday, I'd gotten off work at 7 - seeing as I didn't have anything to that night since CS was on hiatus - I went to go see Dean for a bit. Just a night playing video games and visiting. I learned to late that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
erinlefey was looking for some company that night, if I'd left ten minutes later, I woulda stopped by for a bit.
Sunday, I got up, cleaned myself up, grabbed a camera and headed into the Texas Hillcountry. I don't have a way to edit pictures (or even VIEW them on my work PC) right now, I left my thumb drive at home. I'll post them later.
The trip: http://tinyurl.com/yv4ccr
The first stop, Hugo Road. FM 12 coming out of San Marcos veers to the right, while what looks like the old road (Marked "Hugo Road") veers to the left. While it COULD be the old road, more than likely it forked here to the left AND right - you have to get to Wimberley SOMEHOW and Hugo Road doesn't get near it. Hugo Road does take you to Purgatory Road (running through the aptly named Devil's Backbone (A ridge of really tall hills, even for the Hill Country() at the old ghost town of Hugo. Hugo is surprisingly populated for an old ghost town. Not really a whole lot of houses here, but all clustered along Puragtory Road.
Heading south on Purgatory in Comal County, east on FM 306 I hit Canyon Lake, running up the side of the Scenic Overlook. The view of the lake...eh, not too scenic, really...then I turned around and saw all the hills and valleys behind me, gorgeous. Picture coming soon.
Pulling into Sattler, I made a last minute decision to go up skyline Drive. AMy and I had driven once in the early 90s - it runs along the hilltops near Canyon Lake. I decided to get another look.
The problem was...it was a STEEEEEEP hill. And a rainy day. I made it up the Eastern climb of Skyline about halfway before the tires began slipping.
INTERMISSION - WHY JENN DECIDED TO STOP GOING UP THAT HILL
1993 - Jenn is taking a good friend to the highest point in Bexar County - Spur Clip Trail in Helotes. It is also a wet night, and a steep hill. WE made it about halfway up before the wheels started slipping. We stopped, and before we could start creeping back down, the truck began SLIDING backwards. I put on the emergency brake, put the truck in gear, and we jumped out. The wheels, never turning once, just began to SLIDE DOWN THE HILL. We watched that truck slowly creep down, getting faster and faster until it hit the Sharp Turn sign and the tree behind it.
Again - proof my truck is invincible, we were able to escape (with the help of a folks in a nearby house) back into HElotes (I did manage to get her to the top of the mountain, but had to take a VERY VERY VERY VERY long way up).
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO FINNIGAN'S RAINBOW, ALREADY IN PROGRESS.
As soon as I felt the wheels slip, I stopped the truck and slowly slowly inched backwards. Thankfully this time, the truck didn't slide backwards, and I got out of there okay.
That doesn't mean I'm smart enough to try it again. I knew I couldn't make it up THIS face of Skyline. Maybe the Western Face would be a gentler glide up. And maybe some extra speed might help.
So up I went the OTHER side of Skyline at about 40 MPH in third gear listening to my engine go "PLEASE SHIFT ME TO 4th!" I made it up halfway before the engine began to whine down, and 3/4s of the way up, it needed to be shifted down. And worse - if I began to slide backwayds, I'd go right into a house (an expensive house...or two...or three...and a lake). I had enough momentum to make it up the last real ridge before the tires started spinning, but managed to make it to the top at about 15 MPH.
Note to self - Jenn: DON'T FRICKIN' DO THIS AGAIN. AT LEAST NOT ON RAINY DAYS, IN A REAR WHEEL DRIVE PICKUP.
Still, the views from the top of Skyview? GORGEOUS. Totally worth the near destruction of myself, my truck, and expensive real estate. Pictures to come.
(Going down the east face of Skyline drive? SCARY, even when the truck was jammed in first gear)
Heading West on FM 2673 I came across the Heritage and Dinosaur Tracks Museum. Who knew Texas Heritage had so much to do with Dinosaurs...what with all the dinosaur placards and dinosaur stuff you can see from the road. :) Sadly it was closed...
Turning south on FM 2722 (aka Bear Creek Road) I drove into New Braunfels, taking the old road whenever it appeared. I did find a NEAT little crossing on the Old Bear Creek road. The road just skims over the top of Bear Creek, and off to the left is some large windowed house or greenhouse. Betcha it looks pretty inside, and is a hell to keep airconditioned. Not sure what it was, really. But it was pretty. ANother crossing allowed me to look along Bear Creek itself. Road on one side, water in the middle, sheer limestone wall on the right.
Coming into New Braunfels, I took a left on TX 46, then a left on Hueco Springs. This is part of an old route my dentist of all people gave me. BAck when I was an avid bicyclist, we'd share stories about routes we'd ridden - Hueco Springs Road was part of a San Antonio/Austin route he'd ride. It's a quiet lonely little road, perfect for biking (hilly but not steep), then through an older "Ranch style" subdivision, the kind that you see now on the outskirts of Austin. Once a place for the elite to get away from it now, turned into (large plotted) suburban homes.
It was getting dark, so I decided to head back. I was also hungry...I'd decided that on weekends it was okay to splurge, as long as it was within reason (As it stands, I'm 4 days on diet, three days off). I saw a Chicken Express sign, and decided if I was gonna splurge, I'd splurge big.
INTERMISSION II: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE FRIED CHICKEN
My mom loves Fried Chicken. Oooey, gooey, oily, greasy fried chicken. As kids, we had Churchs Fried Chicken twice a week (82 locations in San Antonio!). And you wonder where my weight problems began. Anyways, after 21 years of fried chicken at least once a week, I got rather hooked on the stuff.
The good news is, I don't LIKE ooey gooey greasy fried chicken. So I started getting it from Bill Millers (less greasy, less flavorful), then Popeye's (less greasy, more flavorful, always the wrong order when I open the bag) and Golden Chick (great side items, just as gooey, and the most bland chicken I'd ever had).
WE NOW RETURN YOU TO JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, ALREADY IN PROGRESS
I figured, why not - I don't eat Fried Chicken too too often (Maybe once since Emily left), I can splurge a little. So I tried out the Chicken Express chicken.
Why oh why, month before my move to Seattle, did I find the Perfect Chicken Place. Not oily, VERY tasty, (although the sides are pretty dull) AND...this one is for Dean to drool over...DUBLIN DOCTOR PEPPER ON TAP. (What makes it even more delciously mean to Dean is the fact that I can't taste a difference between the Dublin and Regular Dr. Pepper). I so blew my diet away that day, but at the same time, it was the ONLY thing I ate all day.
I moseyed my way back to San Marcos via the old Hunter Road and headed home.
So there - finally...non-meme update. :D
This weekend I had a bit of spare time with CS having a one-week-hiatus between storylines, and went on a small 60 mile road trip. With all that Sit at Work and Sit at Home, I was just feeling stir crazy with cabin fever and HAD HAD HAD to get out. So I went to Dean's then went on a roadtrip. At $3.25 a gallon, well...I needed the trip.
Saturday, I'd gotten off work at 7 - seeing as I didn't have anything to that night since CS was on hiatus - I went to go see Dean for a bit. Just a night playing video games and visiting. I learned to late that
erinlefey was looking for some company that night, if I'd left ten minutes later, I woulda stopped by for a bit.Sunday, I got up, cleaned myself up, grabbed a camera and headed into the Texas Hillcountry. I don't have a way to edit pictures (or even VIEW them on my work PC) right now, I left my thumb drive at home. I'll post them later.
The trip: http://tinyurl.com/yv4ccr
The first stop, Hugo Road. FM 12 coming out of San Marcos veers to the right, while what looks like the old road (Marked "Hugo Road") veers to the left. While it COULD be the old road, more than likely it forked here to the left AND right - you have to get to Wimberley SOMEHOW and Hugo Road doesn't get near it. Hugo Road does take you to Purgatory Road (running through the aptly named Devil's Backbone (A ridge of really tall hills, even for the Hill Country() at the old ghost town of Hugo. Hugo is surprisingly populated for an old ghost town. Not really a whole lot of houses here, but all clustered along Puragtory Road.
Heading south on Purgatory in Comal County, east on FM 306 I hit Canyon Lake, running up the side of the Scenic Overlook. The view of the lake...eh, not too scenic, really...then I turned around and saw all the hills and valleys behind me, gorgeous. Picture coming soon.
Pulling into Sattler, I made a last minute decision to go up skyline Drive. AMy and I had driven once in the early 90s - it runs along the hilltops near Canyon Lake. I decided to get another look.
The problem was...it was a STEEEEEEP hill. And a rainy day. I made it up the Eastern climb of Skyline about halfway before the tires began slipping.
1993 - Jenn is taking a good friend to the highest point in Bexar County - Spur Clip Trail in Helotes. It is also a wet night, and a steep hill. WE made it about halfway up before the wheels started slipping. We stopped, and before we could start creeping back down, the truck began SLIDING backwards. I put on the emergency brake, put the truck in gear, and we jumped out. The wheels, never turning once, just began to SLIDE DOWN THE HILL. We watched that truck slowly creep down, getting faster and faster until it hit the Sharp Turn sign and the tree behind it.
Again - proof my truck is invincible, we were able to escape (with the help of a folks in a nearby house) back into HElotes (I did manage to get her to the top of the mountain, but had to take a VERY VERY VERY VERY long way up).
As soon as I felt the wheels slip, I stopped the truck and slowly slowly inched backwards. Thankfully this time, the truck didn't slide backwards, and I got out of there okay.
That doesn't mean I'm smart enough to try it again. I knew I couldn't make it up THIS face of Skyline. Maybe the Western Face would be a gentler glide up. And maybe some extra speed might help.
So up I went the OTHER side of Skyline at about 40 MPH in third gear listening to my engine go "PLEASE SHIFT ME TO 4th!" I made it up halfway before the engine began to whine down, and 3/4s of the way up, it needed to be shifted down. And worse - if I began to slide backwayds, I'd go right into a house (an expensive house...or two...or three...and a lake). I had enough momentum to make it up the last real ridge before the tires started spinning, but managed to make it to the top at about 15 MPH.
Note to self - Jenn: DON'T FRICKIN' DO THIS AGAIN. AT LEAST NOT ON RAINY DAYS, IN A REAR WHEEL DRIVE PICKUP.
Still, the views from the top of Skyview? GORGEOUS. Totally worth the near destruction of myself, my truck, and expensive real estate. Pictures to come.
(Going down the east face of Skyline drive? SCARY, even when the truck was jammed in first gear)
Heading West on FM 2673 I came across the Heritage and Dinosaur Tracks Museum. Who knew Texas Heritage had so much to do with Dinosaurs...what with all the dinosaur placards and dinosaur stuff you can see from the road. :) Sadly it was closed...
Turning south on FM 2722 (aka Bear Creek Road) I drove into New Braunfels, taking the old road whenever it appeared. I did find a NEAT little crossing on the Old Bear Creek road. The road just skims over the top of Bear Creek, and off to the left is some large windowed house or greenhouse. Betcha it looks pretty inside, and is a hell to keep airconditioned. Not sure what it was, really. But it was pretty. ANother crossing allowed me to look along Bear Creek itself. Road on one side, water in the middle, sheer limestone wall on the right.
Coming into New Braunfels, I took a left on TX 46, then a left on Hueco Springs. This is part of an old route my dentist of all people gave me. BAck when I was an avid bicyclist, we'd share stories about routes we'd ridden - Hueco Springs Road was part of a San Antonio/Austin route he'd ride. It's a quiet lonely little road, perfect for biking (hilly but not steep), then through an older "Ranch style" subdivision, the kind that you see now on the outskirts of Austin. Once a place for the elite to get away from it now, turned into (large plotted) suburban homes.
It was getting dark, so I decided to head back. I was also hungry...I'd decided that on weekends it was okay to splurge, as long as it was within reason (As it stands, I'm 4 days on diet, three days off). I saw a Chicken Express sign, and decided if I was gonna splurge, I'd splurge big.
My mom loves Fried Chicken. Oooey, gooey, oily, greasy fried chicken. As kids, we had Churchs Fried Chicken twice a week (82 locations in San Antonio!). And you wonder where my weight problems began. Anyways, after 21 years of fried chicken at least once a week, I got rather hooked on the stuff.
The good news is, I don't LIKE ooey gooey greasy fried chicken. So I started getting it from Bill Millers (less greasy, less flavorful), then Popeye's (less greasy, more flavorful, always the wrong order when I open the bag) and Golden Chick (great side items, just as gooey, and the most bland chicken I'd ever had).
I figured, why not - I don't eat Fried Chicken too too often (Maybe once since Emily left), I can splurge a little. So I tried out the Chicken Express chicken.
Why oh why, month before my move to Seattle, did I find the Perfect Chicken Place. Not oily, VERY tasty, (although the sides are pretty dull) AND...this one is for Dean to drool over...DUBLIN DOCTOR PEPPER ON TAP. (What makes it even more delciously mean to Dean is the fact that I can't taste a difference between the Dublin and Regular Dr. Pepper). I so blew my diet away that day, but at the same time, it was the ONLY thing I ate all day.
I moseyed my way back to San Marcos via the old Hunter Road and headed home.
So there - finally...non-meme update. :D
