Day 3535

We're home. Texas has a little bit of everything. We traveled from some of the most congested areas of the country to some of the most remote. While we were in Fort Davis I kept wondering why people keep retiring there. The entire population seems to be retirees. As we navigated lunch hour traffic in Austin and a little later the evening rush hour on our return to Dallas, I had my answer. West Texas offers the antithesis of city life. People willingly deal with wells that occasionally run dry, problematic septic tanks, bears, forest fires, 40 mile drives to the supermarket, and a dearth of entertainment just to get some peace and quiet. The Davis Mountains were one of the most peaceful places I've been in my life. I'm sure the people who live there have plenty of problems, but they aren't city problems.

Fredericksburg is charming, but it definitely is not remote. The place is almost a suburb of Austin. We couldn't figure out whether the place was growing or shrinking. A lot of businesses were boarded up and we saw plenty of vacant buildings, but there was also a lot of new construction going on. The place reminded me of Gatlinburg without the Smokey Mountains. The main reason to return would be the museum. If you are a history buff, The National Museum of the Pacific War is like going to The Louvre. Before leaving town this morning, we returned to see some of the areas we failed to see yesterday. Someday we might return to see the rest.

I doubt that we'll return to Luckenbach any time soon. You almost have to go there though. If you live here you've heard the song a million times. It's one of those earworm songs. Willie, Waylon, and Kenny Chesney all sang it. I think Alvin and the Chipmunks did too. We wandered around the general store looking at tourist junk, thought about having a beer, but didn't, and then headed for home. We also stopped in West, Texas to pick up some Kolaches at one of the town's many Czech bakeries. That's also something you do if you live in Texas.

While we were in West, I used my phone to turn on the air conditioning at our house. We usually leave it off while we are away. By the time we got home, the place was nice and cool again. Even though I'm an old school analog kind of guy, I'll be the first to admit that today's technology is kind of amazing. I'm hooked. I would never travel without GPS anymore. I can write the blog from anywhere in the world. Having a watch that can take an electrocardiogram is pretty cool. So is being able to control your appliances from your phone.

Life is complex. Everything involves some sort of a trade off. I'd like to have all my advanced gadgets, but still live in an isolated place like Fort Davis that is so remote that some of these gadgets won't even work. One thing about a long road trip through Texas is that you realize you have a lot of options. Texas is huge and if there is something you like, I suspect you can find it here. I've found my place walking around a little lake in Dallas. I might start spending a little more time seeing other places though. Why not?

Duke is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day