Dallas, Texas

It was a long drive from New Orleans to Texas, about 7 hours. I drove into Longview, which was were my friend Matt lives, a city 2 hours east of Dallas.

In 2005, when I lived in Arlington, Matt and I played in a band together and we've kept in touch ever since. He went to Louisiana State University for his BS in Engineering, and Southern Methodist University for Law. He now works in Longview as a Patent Attorney.

Shortly after I arrived we went on a trip to visit his first ever oil well, which wasn't too far from where he lives. According to Matt, Longview is known for oil investments. I'd never known anyone who'd own an oil well before, so seeing one up close was a first for me. Matt gave me the basics on how oil is pumped from the ground and then refined on the same lot. He also explained some of the real estate basics on how most large oil companies contract and lease land for oil. It was all very interesting, and I wouldn't be opposed to learning a little bit more about the real estate side of it myself.

From the oil well Matt took me to some Texas style barbecue restaurant called the Country Tavern, which, according to the photos of celebrities on the wall, is a famous place in Longview. The food was pretty good. I had a sample of their meats: the brisket, ribs, and sausage with a side of beans, onions, and two slices of bread. I topped it all off with a Shiner Bock, the popular beer of Texas, served in an ice cold goblet. Apparently this is the Texas way.

The next day Matt and I drove to Dallas. From there we split up. Matt had a few things he needed to get done, and I went to meet up with some other friends I hadn't seen in a while. Other than that, there wasn't much else I did while in Dallas. Overall, it was mostly a break from my whole cross country touring venture, and a sign that the whole thing is soon winding down. I'll be in San Diego within a couple of days. So, being that I'd already been to Dallas before, and there was no need for me to be in discovery mode while there, I mostly relaxed and recuperated from all the driving I'd been doing for the past two months.

I left Dallas Saturday morning and almost made it to El Paso, but my car ran out of gas 20 miles outside of Pecos, a small city just west of Odessa. It was 8pm and I was stranded in the middle of no where. I knew my car was running low on gas, but there was no indication of gas available at any of the previous exits, so I kept driving in hopes that there were be something up a head. No such luck.

Luckily I was well prepared for such an instance, and was wise enough to purchase an Apple iPhone specifically for this trip. I tapped on the Google Maps application that comes with the phone, and it located approximately where I was at on the freeway. I then activated the search feature and typed in "gas." It found four gas stations within the vicinity. Unfortunately they were all 20 miles back in the city of Pecos. I tapped on one of the icons and a phone number popped up. I tapped on the number and it automatically dialed it for me. I admit if I didn't have this phone on me, I would have had to ride my bike to the nearest station.

To make a long story short, I eventually got a Texas State Trooper to drive out and assist me in getting some gas. It took four hours for him to finally get to me, and a about two hours for me to get back on the road. By that time it was 1 am. I was pretty tired, but I didn't find a place to sleep for another two hours.

The plus side to the whole thing was that I got to ride in a patrol car and enjoyed some good conversations. The trooper had some crazy stories to share about working in a state prison in Lubbock--in the Psychiatric Ward of all places. It was interesting to hear the crazy things inmates did during his shift.