The Day I drove 65 miles in 2 1/2 hours from Austin to Gidding to eat a Whataburger and turn around and drive home.

I will get back to stories about my engagement tomorrow. Yesterday was such a crazy day that I had to write it down.

Yesterday started very well. It was Easter and we were going to my sister, Lisa’s home for a family gathering. The little ones would hunt Easter eggs. After that we were to drive to Houston to see our grandkids. We were raring to go.

Well, we got up and started packing for the trip. Not so much in clothes as we were going to come back home on Tuesday. We had goodies for the grandkids. Carla was so excited. We also had to make Queso to take to Lisa’s home. Although we make our Queso with Velveeta Mexican Style, we add a lot of things to it. So, we spent an hour getting the Queso ready. While Carla was washing the dishes, I was packing the truck.

We left for Lisa’s at about 1:35. I stopped at the Chevron 3 ½ miles away to clean my windshield. I had a bug spot right in front of my eyes. While I was cleaning the windshield, I just remembered that I had forgot Pistol’s (our little dog) food and toys. He’s really pretty spoiled. I drove back home and got the food and then turned around and headed to Lisa’s. We were supposed to be there at 2 but it was now 2 as we got back to the Chevron. This should have been my first clue that today was going to be different.

We got to Lisa’s at about 2:30, thirty minutes late but that’s about right for us anyway. Had a good time at Lisa’s. Got to see Mom and my brother and sisters. Got to see my nieces and nephews. I sat around on the patio outside and talked with my brother and his two boys and my brother in laws. As usual we talked about funny things that had happened in the past.

It rolled around to about 4:00 and I told Carla we needed to leave. Now I didn’t know that Carla wasn’t feeling so well. She was having a real hard time with her allergies yesterday. When that happens, she has a lot of drainage. She didn’t eat much breakfast; she just drank a can of Ensure (that stuff tastes really bad to me). When you start drinking Ensure, you know that you are now eligible for AARP.

At lunch, I had noticed that Carla didn’t eat much either. About 3:30 the women moved from inside the house to out side and were setting up an Easter Egg Hunt. Carla has trouble with heat too, and it was hot yesterday afternoon. She told me later that the heat, mixed with something that she ate and she got nauseated. When we were driving out of the driveway at 4:30, she asked me to stop at a near by Sac N Pac and get her some mints. She thought that might help her nausea. Well we stopped at the Sac N Pac and while I was in the store, she threw up for the first time. She had been holding our little dog, Pistol, and she said that he had farted. She said that’s all it took for her to throw up. I said, “Let’s just call Christi (our daughter) and tell her that we were going to stay home”. Carla was sick. But she wanted to see the grandkids so bad, Carla insisted on going anyway. I said ok, because I was missing the grandkids too.

We took off and passed the Manchaca Fire Hall Kitchen and the light at Manchaca and 1626. We were heading west on 1626, when we approached the railroad crossing. All of a sudden the lights started flashing. A train was coming and it was headed downhill into Austin. Well, we had to stop for a freight train. I don’t think I have ever stopped for a train at that location. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the train to pass. It was going fast downhill into Austin. I remember telling Carla while we were sitting there waiting. “Why did this have to happen to me, today”. Little did I know what was to follow.

After fighting some traffic on I-35 heading north, we finally got to the Ben White exit and we were moving pretty good until we got out by the airport. I hate that light just past the airport. It’s the one where you turn right to go to the county jail. We had to sit through five or six light changes. It was really bad and took a long time.

Well, Carla was still feeling nauseated. I told her I was going to stop at a Valero right before we got into Bastrop for gasoline. I told her I was also going to get her some Benedryl to see if we could stop that drainage. While I was pumping gas, she went to the restroom. When she came back I was washing the side rails on her side of the truck. She had made a direct hit on the side rails from her first throw up. She got back to the truck and before we could drive around back to the front of the store, she jumped out and threw up for the second time. Luckily she reached the trashcan by the pumps. I was really concerned now. I went into the store and bought some Benedryl (cost $9.00, remember it's Easter and all the grocery stores are closed). I have to stand in line behind 5 people. Everyone in front of me was paying with a ten or a twenty. The young chubby gal with the real bad complexion behind the counter was inspecting each and every one of those bills very carefully. She put them up to the light and studied them. She was looking for counterfeit money, but she was slowing down the checkout. I finally got back to the truck and gave Carla a dose and we sit there for a couple of minutes trying to decide what to do. Should we turn back and go home.

Carla was determined to see the grandkids and wanted to press on. I don’t know how long we were at the Valero but it was a while. We zipped along all the way into Bastrop. Just after the Colorado River Bridge we turn right and take Hwy 21 to Hwy 290. Trouble lay ahead. The traffic stopped and I mean stopped just over halfway into town. I could see ahead and it was about 3/4 mile to our turn off. The problem was a rear end collision on the bridge about 300 yards from our turn off. There were no exits, no way to get off of this road. Needless to say, we spent the next 20 minutes crawling along before we finally got past the accident. We had a motorcycle in front of us most of the way. It was this bid old guy with his chubby biker chick sitting behind him. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt. He had these big old hairy arms with tattoos all over them. The only reason that I mention this is because Carla and I both notice how red his arms were. He must have been riding all day, because he had really bad sunburn.

Well, anyway, we made our turn and thought we were in the clear. I told Carla that it was now 6:30; we have been traveling for 2 hours and had gone 42 miles. I think its around 15 to 20 miles down Hwy 21 to Hwy 290. We went along there pretty fast. I was getting pretty tired. Well, we got about a ½ mile from the intersection and traffic stopped again. I looked at Carla and started laughing. I said, “What now”. Even after the Benedryl, Carla was still sick at her stomach. I told her, Giddings was about ½ way to Christi’s home. If she still felt sick when we reached Giddings, we should probably go back home. She said ok. Well, we waited about 10 minutes to get through this traffic jam. A horse trailer was hooked up to a wrecker on top of the Hwy 21 Bridge over Hwy 290. It took us another 15 minutes to get to Giddings.

It was just before 7 when we rolled into Giddings. I told her I wanted to stop and get something to eat. I told her she needed to try and get something down herself. I stopped at the Whataburger.

When I pulled into the parking lot, Carla said she didn’t feel well. I pulled into a spot away from the building and Carla opened the door and threw up again. Our little dog, Pistol had been riding in her lap all of the way. When she leaned over to throw up, I was trying to grab Pistol away from her. Now remember, I was in the driver’s seat and Carla was leaning out throwing up out the passenger door. I leaned over to try and grab Pistol, so Carla wouldn’t have him to deal with. Well, while Carla was leaning out the door, and I was leaning over to get Pistol, Carla cut wind right in my face. I just started laughing.

Carla had just sat back up in the truck and closed the door. We were talking about what to do, go on or go home, when our truck was rocked. Carla hollered and said "What was that". I looked into my rear view mirror and saw that someone had backed into us. It was a big black guy with bulging eyes and a whole lot of kids in the back seat.

Well, I got out and looked and there was no damage. The guy apologized to me and I shook his hand and said, "Have a good Easter". I got back in the truck and looked at Carla. I said, “ I think I’m ready to go home”. She called our daughter and Christi agreed.

Well, I went in and ordered a burger and fries. The little gal behind the counter got my order wrong, but I was too tired to mess with it. I figured that’s just a minor thing and pretty par for the course for today.

We pulled out of the Whataburger parking about 7:45. We were headed home. We had driven 65 miles to this Whataburger and turned around.

After almost turning back around and heading to Houston at least three times, we kept on driving towards home. We really wanted to see those grandkids. The trip home was rather uneventful. We came upon another wreck on Hwy 21, but got through that pretty easy. We saw another truck that had broken down was being loaded on a wrecker but we zipped by that one.

We ran into heavy traffic back in Bastrop, but after that zipped on back home, dodging a few things in the highway. We got home around 9 and it took me another hour to unload the truck.

The day was over. We are going to try and plan to go see the grandkids next weekend. God willing and the creeks don’t rise.

I picked a song to remember this trip. I picked The Beatles, Long and Winding Road.



Coming Tomorrow: I finally get back to telling Mom about my engagement.