Notes from the Road

I can’t remember who said it, but it strikes a note with me - “It is better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times.”  Getting on the road fulfills a lot of yearning.  It will always be a nagging concern that I will go to my grave wishing I would have seen and done more, but we keep chipping away at it.  To date I’ve visited 49 states, several Canadian provinces, and four foreign countries.

On this trip we are traveling a route we have traveled before, but there’s nothing wrong with seeing something twice.  The North Dakota Farmers Union travel department furnishes our favorite transportation for trips of this nature and we now ride with them again on their Southern Texas Tour.  Jeff the driver and his guide Jerry have made themselves informed about the areas we pass through and over the bus intercom give a running commentary as we roll along.  For instance, a statue in honor of Sergeant York stands high upon a hill near Council Bluffs, Iowa which commemorates the only man who died while on Lewis and Clark’s expedition.  Look out the window and he can be seen looking over the river valley.

We were reminded of a terrible airplane crash at Sioux City when an airliner lost most of its controls, but the pilot and co-pilot succeeded in steering it somewhat. About one-third of the passengers perished, but the fact two-thirds survived was deemed somewhat of a miracle.  There, near the river we were told where to look out the window at the memorial erected in their honor.

Check out all the oil wells pumping right within the city limits of Oklahoma City and express jealousy over $1.77 per gallon gas prices.  Ride into the heart of the city and visit the bomb site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.  A person would possess a dead soul to not feel sadness and ponder “Man’s inhumanity to Man.”

The Fort Worth Stockyards might not do as much for the cattle market as they once did, but they’ve remade themselves into a tourist destination with shops, restaurants, and museums.  In one of the cafes I ate the best brisket sandwich I’ve ever eaten, and afterward a visit to a museum proved interesting where the exhibits were given over to history of the cattle industry in the area.  Imagine prototypical cattle prod with a large square battery taped to a wooden cane, wired to the metal spike on the end, used as an electric stimulant to move cattle along a chute.  They had one.  They also had an electric light bulb that has burned steadily for the last 110 years.  They had one of those, too.

San Antonio brought a new stop with its history and attractions.  SAS shoes are a popular shoe and here is where they are made - San Antonio Shoes.  We toured their factory and can attest to their claim of being handmade.  Their production line runs efficiently while turning out a variety of products.  Mostly women workers, they turn out a good product.  We saw a rack of rejections from which our guide pulled one off for us to look at.  None of us could find anything wrong, but the inspector wasn’t happy with the eyelets.  The company pays well, and consequently, their staff stays loyal to the firm.

Still to come in San Antonio are The Alamo, old mission churches, and who knows what?  After that we hit the highway again headed southward for many more days, so there will be plenty to talk about.