Day 76- In Houston

Total Mileage: 9,258

Song of the Day: "Scott Pilgrim" (Plumtree)

A few random thoughts:

It rained again on the drive to Houston.  You know, I've decided that, contrary to popular belief, this part of the country is not the dry, arid landscape that TV and movies have led us to believe.  Rather, plants in the American Southwest are just really lazy.

I was driving along at one point and happened upon a town called "Chappell Hill."  Aside from being a slight variation of Duke's main basketball rivals, I was struck by the fact that that's my middle name.  Mom, Granddad, or Aunt Jeannie, do we have Texas connections that I didn't know about?  Actually, everything in Chappell Hill seemed to have a pretty significant Polish influence, and I know that our branch of the Chappell family has British roots (with my great great great great great great great great great grandfather Thomas Chappell settling here in the 1630s at Jamestown).  So yeah, these Chappells might have been no relation at all, but it was still a cool coincidence.  I was also very disappointed that they didn't have any Chappell Hill postcards-- just the same generic bumper stickers and novelty license plates you find at every gas station.

I have officially defeated Subway and figured out how to make their fabled $5 foot-long (the staple of my diet for much of this trip) into a $4 foot-long.  You see, Subway now has a promotion where you can get two of a certain 6" sub for $2 each.  It's pretty simple math.  Instead of ordering a foot-long meatball marinara; I can order the exact same sandwich as two 6" subs and have an extra dollar in my pocket for no logical marketing reason.  Not really sure what Subway was thinking with that promotion, but I appreciate the extra cash.  That ought to take care of some parking meters or maybe a toll road at some point.  Plus, now I have a still-wrapped 6" meatball marinara in my fridge for tomorrow or Thursday.  Thanks, Subway.

Well, back to writing.  I'm holed up in a Super 8 on the 610 loop, and it's not the most phenomenal neighborhood, but it's not that bad either-- mostly just warehouse/factories and service stations, but I think there's a residential area just north of here too, and I'm not that far from downtown.  I have two of the three writeups from Sunday done, so almost ready to post.  Lord of the Streets tomorrow.

Peace and Blessings,
Tom