To Johnson City  

I left Dallas and drove south along the I-35 towards Austin (the state capital). This interstate highway is never less than 6 lanes wide and sometimes 10 lanes. The speed limit varies from 60mph to 75 mph (100 to 120kmh) but everyone consistently drives at 80mph (130kmh). For the 300kms between Dallas and Austin there can’t be more than 5kms when you can’t see a fast food place to eat; all the usual suspects plus some found only in the US and some found only in Texas. There seems to a size limit on signs but no limit on how high the sign can be placed; so there are signs 50m up a pole that can be barely discerned because they are only a couple of meters square.

The freeway travels over undulations the whole way south to Austin; not really hills but enough change in height  that the road ahead can sometimes be seen for a couple of km. Any junctions are elaborate beyond what is reasonably necessary and there seems to be an unofficial competition amongst road builders to see who can build the highest flyovers at these junctions; outside Waco (pronounced way-co) there was a flyover that must have been 50m high; at least 40m higher than necessary.

The US has not converted, and probably will never convert, to the metric system. I’m sure I will get used to it but at the moment when I see a sign with a speed limit of 60 I suddenly worry that I seem to be going way too fast; drivers behind me are probably mystified at sudden random braking and then acceleration.

Seat belt usage here seems to be way under 100%; anything compulsory is seen in the US to be an infringement of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So far in 2012 the number of people killed in Texas in car accidents is about 2200 (Texas has a population of 26 million, 4 million more than the whole of Australia). 

With the help of the GPS I skirted around the western side of Austin and joined US 290 which took me towards Driftwood where I was having lunch at the Salt Lick BBQ.

Once I left Austin the countryside became hillier and the vegetation is trees, but never more than 5m tall, because of the poor quality of the soil.

It was obviously a quiet day at the Salt Lick; the car park would have held several hundred cars but only about 30 there today. Some Australian students at the next table; studying in the US; studying beer and bbq mostly!

The photos I have posted show my lunch. BBQ in the US is different than in Australia; here they are into basting and smoking more than cooking over direct heat. I thought the turkey was the best of the meats I had on the sample plate; not a meat I’d typically consider bbq-ing.

I’m now at the Best Western Motel in Johnson City; a city of 1536 inhabitants and a city that has 11 churches for those inhabitants; they are (according the Johnson City Record Courier, the local newspaper);

Community Church of the Hills

Faith Christian Church

First Christian Church

First Baptist Church

First United Methodist Church

Good Shepherd Catholic Church

Johnson City Church of Christ

Liberty Lighthouse Fellowship Full Gospel Church

Rocky Community Church 

St Luke’s Episcopal Church

The H.O.M.E. Church 

These churches are all active each Sunday and all have a pastor, reverend or priest named in the paper and all have at least one service advertised for next Sunday. The surrounding area is not that heavily populated and there are lots of other towns not too far away. The nearest town is Blanco, about 15kms south, and it has another 10 churches and they are all different to the churches in Johnson City. I’m amazed that such a relatively small community can actively support so many places of worship.

Tonight I had planned to sample the Chicken Fried Steak at the Hill Country Cupboard (next door to where I’m staying tonight) but breakfast and lunch are weighing heavily on me at the moment.

Another food note; I saw Drumstick ice creams for sale; they are about 4 times the size of the ones in Australia. You could club someone to death with one of these things and then eat the evidence of the crime (to forestall any pedants leaving comments; i obviously mean eat the drumstick, not the person you have just clubbed to death).