Stage 7: San Antonio to Fort Stockton (the Scenic Route)

[kevin_standlee]

We got away from San Antonio this morning at least an hour earlier than I expected, and headed off to our first stop: The SAS Factory Store. More than just shoes (although both Lisa and I bought two pair of our favorites), this store includes a whole bunch more stuff, and we bought a bunch of other things too. Even more fascinating is that (almost) everything there is made in the USA. In fact, their goal is for it all to be American made. When Lisa pointed out that one of the books we were thinking of buying was printed in China, the staff were aghast, and while they didn't take it off the shelf, they did say they'd raise it to management.

Then it was off on our scenic-route trip west via US-90, by way of Del Rio (where we stopped for lunch at a local rib joint), the Pecos River bridge (impressive scenery, and I hope to post the photos someday), and Langrty, Texas, the site of Judge Roy Bean's "Law West of the Pecos." Alas, we got there two hours after the visitor center closed for the day, and had to settle for peeping through the fence. (Again, photos someday.)

We had originally planned on visiting Langtry on the trip east, but skipped it and took the short route on I-10 so we would be in San Antonio before LSC3 registration closed on Wednesday. But in changing our trip plans, we didn't think about changing the return. In retrospect, we either should have stopped today in Del Rio (requiring a much longer trip tomorrow but making it possible to visit Langtry when the visitor's center is open) or Alpine (a more direct route than swinging north at Sanderson as we did).

Anyway, we're in Fort Stockton tonight for the second time in a week, and it has the virtue of us already knowing where the grocery store and quick food is. And tomorrow's trip to El Paso should be relatively short, so we can sleep in a couple of hours on Wednesday morning.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Then you went through Uvalde, home of John Nance Garner. That would interest me.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Yes, we did, as a matter of fact. We stopped there for a rest break. The John Nance Garner museum was closed for renovation, however.

[slymongoose.livejournal.com]

I had an enjoyable visit when I went through there. I accidentally left my pillow in a hotel. On the way back through, they had saved it for me!
Then there was the Haunted Coffee Shop. I've forgotten the name, but I ate there coming and going. It was good. But I was at a little table and WHAM! The big oil painting on the wall right above me had swung out and slammed back against the wall with a bang. It happened fast. I was startled, jumped up and looked up and around. The hostess called from her stand, "Oh. It's ok, Hon. Just the ghost."
?!
Personally, I'm pretty sure that the kitchen was behind that wall or the walk in fridge and someone must have slammed the door or hit that wall or something.
The hostess came over to refill my coffee and figured she'd explain further that, "He only likes to spook the pretty girls."
When I was on the return trip, I got seated at the same table. That time, the "ghost" only tapped lightly on the wall. He must have been embarrassed for scaring me that bad the last time. Heh!

[delosharriman]

Did Lisa get to feeling better pretty rapidly as you got out of town?
I'm going to have to add that to my personal list of reasons not to have Texas Worldcons in San Antonio.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Lisa is slowly improving, as opposed to getting worse. She started improving as soon as we got out of South Texas and toward the Big Bend Country. But she continues to cough and it likely to not be recovered fully for at least another week. And as I've hadn't had any problems at all, it really must be the allergies, because if it was contagious, I surely would have had it. She must have a really serious sensitivity, given that three hours' exposure last year left her sick for 24 hours.

[delosharriman]

Bismillah. Can she take Benadryl? It really is useful against allergic reactions (an aunt of mine once used it to stave off anaphylactic shock), although not a panacaea.

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

Lisa is leery of a lot of medications because she's had such strange (and often contrary) reactions to them. She continues to slowly improve. As we get closer to home, she gets better.

[delosharriman]

Believe me, I am intimately familiar with strange & contrary reactions to medication. The stuff that turned me into an exam-acing zombie, for instance…
And I've never been exactly eager to take so much as an aspirin — I don't know how many times my mother has said "well, did you take something for it?" But occasionally I find something that works, which is good knowledge to have for when I really need it.

At least she's recovering.