Yes, the weather was incredible. Lots of pretty photos — and incredible distances covered. My stomach is getting a bit better — still lots of troubles. But I took a big chance on a half a burrito tonight. Just dying for something real and warm to eat — regardless of the consequences.
Sparkle running great. But. Two little new items of concern. The tiniest of brake grindy sound that I think I hear. Just had all new brakes and rotors installed before this trip. Have heard this before years ago — a caliper or something? Something dragging. Will stop in at next dealership I see and see what they think it is and if it needs immediate attention. The other thing, more worrying, is two times in a row late this morning when I turned the key, nothing happened, turned again & started fine. So after that, I resolved not to turn the engine off even for gas. That’s about the only time I ever turn the engine off anyway except for extended dog romps. So upon stopping for the night, I turned the key, started fine. So I will be extremely careful where I turn the engine off. Most likely a starter. Can’t be a battery (turns over just fine). I think this will be harder to diagnose until it stops working. I dread losing another day or two somewhere on this trip with repair delays.
The dogs got three good beach runs in before noon. I gave them extra time since I know we won’t be near any beach for a long time. Certainly not on this trip unless we score some lakes & rivers. Nothing beats ocean or Gulf beaches though. Although the Great Lakes are pretty awesome.
On with the photos. I got settled late and am fading fast.
Corpus Christi is mid-century heaven. I’ve been there maybe three times now and am still always finding new goodies. Here are just a few random things. A parking garage:
combo office space & condos?
with what I call corduroy concrete:
A few other things from Corpus Christi — a closed furniture store:
I don’t recognize this building as part of a chain. Looks like a super skinny Pizza Hut roof. It just had to be SOMEthing:
This must have been a drive-in restaurant originally. Had a classic drive-in style canopy. But now seems more like Mexican take-out:
A local icon (or eyesore depending on your point of view). This “For Sale” statue done by a local artist has been at this intersection since 1984:
A modern Whataburger has painted this storage building like an old walk-up stand:
This mind-boggling display is on North Padre Island. The place is known as the “Ocean Treasures” gift shop:
This one from Kingsville. I don’t know if this was originally a movie theatre marquee — or if the sign was just built to look like one. I could look it up… but since it’s 2am right now…
A few signs from Harlingen. Those appear to be neon loops around the canopy edge:
And finally, a couple shots of my companions at Seven Seas in Los Fresnos. I used the same photo-op a few years ago — but it was freezing cold and grey skies:
Tomorrow, if the starter works, we’ll be hitting a bunch of small towns for quickie stops and hopefully by afternoon arrive in San Antonio. I think I have about ten days left for the Texas part of the trip.