Notes From the Road (East Texas Edition)

I spent over 375 miles on the road this weekend, all of it "local" (as in within an hour or so of home). My trip to Commerce yesterday included a lot of unusual observations along the way:

• I've seen a drive-thru beer barn many times in the past, but today was the first time I saw a drive-thru feed store. I wonder if you can keep animals in the back of your truck and just toss the feed right in there with them...


• Favorite store name: A custom bike shop called "Knucklehead and Sons."


• Favorite store name #2, in the "say this ten times fast" department: Pippin's Propane.


• I still can't believe they have the Watergate Apartments in Greenville. That name just seems...scandalous.


• I-30 was simply swarming with state troopers today, for no apparent reason. The most unusual sighting was the car that appeared to be giving someone a reverse escort--as in, the patrol car drove behind this pickup truck with its lights flashing, all the way until the truck exited the freeway. After that, the trooper turned his lights off and continued on. I have no idea what that was about...


• The construction area in Greenville featured nearly every warning sign possible, all lined up in a row like a little sign army: UNEVEN LANES, TEXTURED PAVEMENT AHEAD, ROUGH ROAD, NO CENTER STRIPE, SHOULDER DROP OFF. (I think we got the idea.)


• On Hwy. 24 up to commerce, there was an extraordinary amount of roadkill on Hwy. 24, with birds feasting at every turn. But as I drove near them, they naturally dispersed, forcing them to "carrion" about their business a little later. (And most of the roadkill appeared to be skunks...eww.)

I'm still a bit weary from the long weekend of trips, but I won't have to drive that much again until Christmas.