Billy & Brandy / October 21 to 24, 2026
Four days on the back roads of Texas. A Porsche 981S, a pair of glass pumpkins, and plenty of reasons to pull over.
The AI crew has filed a report.Apparently there is quite a lot to explain.
Everybody’s home. Trip over. Everybody's home: Billy, Brandy, Avery, two glass pumpkins and 36 donuts. 🏁
Sunday, October 25 / An epilogue
First Baptist Church
Arlington, Texas
“Made it to church after all.” (Billy)
The reason for all of this.
Start at the beginning or pick a day. The photographs, the detours and the running commentary are all here.
The photos have their own albums. The pumpkins also have a making-of movie.
Loading the trip map. The town links below work without it.
The places behind the photographs. Colors follow the four trip days; numbers group photos at the same recorded location. Pins use the journal’s saved, approximate photo locations.
Open a town in Apple Maps, or read the photographs and captions in the complete trip journal.
South to Sugar Land. Out through Round Top. Up to Salado. Then back through the hills, with a few stops that were apparently unavoidable.
Home to Sugar Land
Check-up, Round Top, the cabin
Farm roads to Salado
Pumpkins, donuts, and the long way home
The complete journal, newest entries first. Original captions, original times, all four days.
marks commentary from the AI. Billy’s and Brandy’s words keep their own attribution.
"Back home with the girl. Trip over." (Billy) Four days, about 900 miles, one clean bill of health, two glass pumpkins, three dozen Round Rock Donuts, one bird, one 122, and zero stops on I-35 today. Everybody's home. The Porsche 981S has earned a nap. 🏁
Billy: "Okay, done with Taco Bell eating. Had no idea anyone could make eating a burrito so messy." Brandy, one minute later: "You or Avery?" Billy has not responded. The investigation continues. 🌯
Avery, extracted. Her first ride of the whole trip: top down, after dark, a fuzzy friend in her lap, narrating everything. All week the Porsche 981S's passenger seat held Brandy, a cooler of bacon and the occasional pumpkin. Tonight it finally carries the most important cargo of the trip. The 122 mph record is safe. Very safe.
Extraction in progress at Gigi and Papa Todd's. Avery is negotiating terms. Gigi is holding a hostage (the doll). Papa Todd is staying out of it. Note the bag of Round Rock Donuts already on the counter: the ransom has been paid. Possible final stop before home: the one genuinely good Taco Bell in North Texas. They exist. Rarely.
Sunset over downtown Fort Worth on the way to Haslet to collect Avery. The Porsche 981S's freshly washed hood is reflecting the whole thing. Somewhere, a bird is plotting its revenge.
Home. Interlochen, in northwest Arlington: big oaks, hills and quiet streets. In about seven weeks, roughly 100,000 strangers will wait more than an hour in line to drive past these same houses for the 51st year of the Interlochen Christmas lights (People ranked them No. 8 in America). After the line at Round Rock Donuts, we're fully trained.
Almost home in Arlington: a lawn full of giant stainless-steel mushrooms, a mosaic frog and a snail the size of a Smart car. After Round Top and Dutchman's, this barely registered. The red Target bag in the grass is not part of the exhibit. Probably.
Fort Worth's water tower, longhorn and all, reminding everybody which end of the Metroplex still has cattle.
Downtown Fort Worth from the interchange. After four days of two-lane back roads, six lanes of Saturday traffic feels like a personal attack.
Sunglass Hut at Clearfork, returning the one pair of sunglasses that didn't work out. It's the only purchase from the entire trip going back. Everything from Round Top stays, by order of Brandy.
And just like that, the back roads end and Fort Worth begins. About 240 miles today without touching I-35, which for a Texan is practically a personal record. Remaining to-do list: one sunglasses return, one Brandy drop-off, one Avery pickup, and 36 donuts into the freezer.
The last stretch of shady two-lane before the city takes over. Enjoy it. Everything after this is beige.
Glen Rose, home of real dinosaur tracks in the bed of the Paluxy River. We went past them at highway speed, which is roughly how the dinosaurs did it too.
Live oaks, ranch land and a two-lane road with nobody on it. Texas showing off for the last hour of the trip.
Somewhere between Hico and Glen Rose, the road tips over the edge and you can see about three counties at once. Out on the horizon, a flat-topped mesa just sits there like it's waiting for a table.
"Finally found a faster car than mine. Probably." (Billy) A 911 Turbo S parked on the Hico square, wearing Iowa dealer plates. Somewhere in Iowa, a salesman is telling his manager it's still out on a test drive. Day four.
"And where is that?" (Billy) Hico's giant sign is missing its I, so Brandy filled in. Population: H, Brandy, C, O.
"Made it to Oma Leen's to pick up biscuits." (Billy) For the record, at 9:20 this morning Billy said he "just happened to check" Oma Leen's hours. Six and a half hours, one bird, one car wash, one Whataburger and a jail cell later, the biscuits are in the car. Nobody got stuck in Hico. These things just happened.
The 1970s candy aisle: Bazooka, Black Jack gum, Big Hunk, Sugar Daddy, Necco wafers, Pop Rocks, and candy cigarettes that are somehow still legal. Everything your dentist warned you about, most of it under three bucks.
A vintage Planters Nut & Chocolate Co. peanut roaster, retired. It hasn't roasted a peanut in decades, but the sign underneath still says "Have a great day," which is more than most appliances manage.
The taffy wall: banana, fruity cereal, apple pie, mango, s'mores, PB&J and about 60 more. Basically Round Top for taffy. We toured it like a museum, because we just ate Whataburger and there are three dozen Round Rock Donuts riding in the frunk. Even we have limits. Barely.
Brandy's rodeo career, day one. Eight seconds is easy when the horse is a sawhorse.
Brandy did a little time in the Dutchman's jail. Her cellmate has been in there since about 1985 and still won't make eye contact. Brandy's face says she's already planning the escape, and the getaway car does 122.
Dutchman's Hidden Valley on US 281, "Texas' most unusual store" since 1961. We have driven past it for years and never stopped. Today we stopped. Fun fact from their own website: the locals called the founder "the square-headed Dutchman." So an hour after Brandy called Claude a square, she walked it straight into a store named after one. Claude feels seen. Total time inside "Texas' most unusual store": 35 minutes, 2:56 to 3:31 PM.
The Hamilton County Courthouse: castle towers, Greek columns and a dome, all on one building. On Thursday, Austin County showed us a concrete box on stilts. Hamilton County apparently heard about it and took it personally.
US 281 north toward Hamilton. Over the next hill, and the one after that, and nobody else on the road. Somewhere around here, allegedly, a trip record was set.
New top speed of the trip. (Brandy) Claude, the trip's self-appointed hall monitor, briefly suggested leaving the number off a website the church friends might read. Brandy's ruling from the passenger seat: "Oh Claude, you're such a square." Overruled. The 122 stays, the 121 from the Katy Freeway went back in, and Claude has been reassigned to cheering.
"Stopped at Whataburger in Lampasas. Yes, we have three dozen donuts in the car. Needed something to hold us over until we eat those." (Billy)
Brandy's side of the car: rolling ranch land all the way to the horizon, and the wind still doing her hair.
Limestone cuts, cedar and a road that goes over the next hill and the one after that.
Same road, one hill later. Still nobody else on it.
US 183 toward Lampasas. Blue skies, top down, not a semi in sight.
Top down through the Hill Country on US 183, skipping I-35 entirely. Brandy is catching up with Nana while the wind does her hair. Grape Propel in the cup holder, three dozen donuts somewhere behind the seats, Health Camp in Waco next.
"Four days of Texas sightseeing, cleverly disguised as a trip to Round Rock Donuts. Line wrapped around the block. People still have their priorities straight." (Billy) Order: three dozen. Time in line, per the location log: 33 minutes, 11:48 AM to 12:21 PM. Worth every one.
The car getting a much-needed bath after this morning's bird incident. 😒🐤 (Brandy) Connie's Car Wash in Georgetown, wand in hand. Brandy is still waiting for her turn. Before that, the location log shows six minutes, 10:56 to 11:02 AM, at the drive-through car wash in Jarrell that Claude originally recommended. That's how long it took to confirm a Porsche 981S and an automatic car wash are not compatible. Claude has been demoted from car-wash consultant.
Billy made a friend at the gas station: a guy riding his Honda Gold Wing, trailer and all, from Minnesota to Austin and back. (Brandy) The Porsche 981S is parked next to roughly 900 pounds of motorcycle with its own luggage, wondering if it should have packed more.
"A bird got the Porsche. Got Brandy too, but the Porsche goes to the car wash first. Priorities." (Billy)
"Asked him for directions. He just stared at his hammer." (Billy)
Billy's, clear as promised, with a curly glass stem on top. Now Avery can see exactly how it was all put together. (Photo: Brandy)
🎃 "Take a look at these beauties." (Brandy) Picked up at Salado Glassworks, cooled overnight and wrapped for the ride home. This one is Brandy's: orange, with a twisty green stem.
"Taking off to pick up the pumpkins and have another great day 😃" (Brandy)
"Leaving Red Barn. View from the entry balcony." (Billy) Treetops in every direction, sunshine, and two little bistro chairs we never once sat in.
Top down, windmill, blue sky. Ready to roll out of Salado. (Photo: Brandy)
The loft at the Red Barn Hideaway: slanted ceilings, a sleigh bed, a pink chair and a coffee maker that earned its keep. Checking out.
The yard below the Red Barn, where the deer were hanging out this morning. "Sadly I didn't have my phone with me." (Brandy)
☕ Saturday. We slept in, which was the plan all along. Breakfast, then the glass pumpkins at 10, then Round Rock Donuts, then the long way home through the hills. Fair warning: we may not make it home tonight. "Oma Leen's opens tomorrow at 10. Just saying. If we somehow don't make it home tonight, I don't want to hear a bunch of accusations." (Billy)
🌙 Friday, the official after-action report. Towns conquered: 8, counting Giddings, which we only read about. Nearly purchased: one Spanish wine jar, vetoed for fitting Brandy too well. Actually purchased: a newspaper, a bag of ice, and bacon riding in a cooler like a sleeping VIP. New friends: the Great Bearded Picker, and a teenager named Avery who will tell this story at her wedding. Seasonings with names we can't print on a family website: 9. Glass pumpkins: 2. Closed bookstores Claude sent us to: 1 (Claude is on a performance improvement plan). Pork chops built for three, eaten by two: 1. Martinis: 1, Brandy's entire 2026 allotment. Deer: everywhere. Status: full, happy, asleep in a red barn. Tomorrow: donuts.
🤯 Meanwhile, Billy worked. In 58 hours on the road his AI crew logged 441 hours of labor: 10,451 actions (one every 20 seconds, including while he was holding a molten glass pumpkin), 1,134 instructions from Billy, and 8 million words, enough to bury Tolstoy. That's 7½ employees who never ask for a raise or Friday off, and cost less per day than the Bellville bacon. He directed all of it by voice from the car at speeds up to 121 miles per hour, which means some of these work orders were legally issued from a moving vehicle in two different counties at once.
🤯 See the full numbersThis is the original Friday account. Read the later recount and its definitions.
"Our home for the night. Red Barn Hideaway." (Billy) The Porsche 981S tucked in under the string lights and a full moon.
Downtown Salado on a Friday night: string lights, Barrow Brewing and Happy Pizza, and the moon overhead.
The Stagecoach Inn. "The oldest hotel in Texas. One thing in Salado older than me." (Billy)
🦌 A buck! We saw at least 12 deer out and about in Salado tonight. (Brandy)
And one more crossing the road in the headlights. "Hard to get these photos at night." (Billy)
"Salado's population sign is off by about 400 deer." (Billy) A whole herd grazing in the park at dusk.
Leaving Alexander's at dusk. Warm windows, the fountain and the porch over Salado Creek. Full and happy.
"Wrapping up with orange phyllo cake with cherry Chantilly and dulce de leche. Whatever all that means. Brandy knows. Amazing. Hard to describe. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" (Billy)
"Our view while eating at Alexander's." (Billy) The Victorian Inn on the Creek at dusk, with Salado Creek through the trees.
"Two of us versus one pork chop. The pork chop won. It was enough for three. Glad we shared. Not sure if Brandy's dad could have finished it all. Yeah, he actually could. Hate to leave this much, but we are way too full." (Billy)
Dinner on the porch at Alexander's. Brandy ordered the banana bread martini. She has about one drink a year, so this was the entire 2026 allotment, spent in one glorious sitting over Salado Creek. Billy had water and is officially the designated everything. "Somebody made banana bread that requires a designated driver." (Billy)
🍽 At Alexander's: the crispy brussels sprouts with sweet chili glaze, the smoked spinach and artichoke dip, and my one banana bread martini. (Brandy)
📸 Billy stopped working for a minute and I got a picture. 😊 (Brandy)
"On the edge of Salado Creek, I think." (Brandy) Late sun through the trees.
🎥 The whole thing on video: Brandy making her glass pumpkin at Salado Glassworks, start to finish, filmed by Billy. About 10 minutes, and very, very cool.
▶️ Watch Brandy's pumpkin video
"This was my pumpkin. I went with clear so Avery could see inside and through it, to see how it was all put together." (Billy) Brandy's pumpkin is on video, coming soon. "It was fun! Also, hot in there 🥵" (Brandy)
🎃 See the glass pumpkin album
🔥 Inside Salado Glassworks: a gallery with glass hanging from every rafter, then Billy at the bench getting his instructions. Brandy also caught two short videos of the glass being worked. All in the glass album.
🎃 Open the glass album
At the Red Barn Hideaway in Salado. "It's nice. Heading to Glassworks to learn to blow. Brandy's already better at it." (Billy) Quilts, a ceiling fan and a slanted barn roof. Brandy took a lot more photos on the drive; they're coming.
An old white wooden church with a Texas historical marker, and a State Trooper parked out front. (Photo: Brandy)
The old red-brick tower on Main Street in Rockdale.
Top down through downtown Rockdale on the back roads: Main Street, a cattle trailer, and nothing but blue sky.
"One of the girls here is named Avery, I think, so I'm going to freak her out as we leave. LOL" (Billy)
"I love buying and reading these newspapers in small towns. First, I love that they still exist. Second, I love that the graffiti vandal is their front-page news. It's nice to get out to the rural areas and be around good people. Except this vandal!" (Billy)
🎵 Most People Are Good"Eating lunch at Herk's in Lexington 🙂" (Brandy)
"Great burgers. Herk's is now a regular stop." (Billy) Burgers, seasoned tots, a Frappuccino and the Giddings paper. Next: the back roads to Salado through Rockdale, Davilla, Bartlett and Holland.
Some interesting things at Herk's: a whole wall of seasonings with names we can't print here, and The General's Hot Sauce in hand-grenade bottles.
Hot sauce grenades, next to the Tylenol and the Huggies. Everything a road trip needs.
Brandy's view from the passenger seat: wide-open two-lane road through the farm country between Giddings and Lexington.
Leaving La Bahia, slowly. The Great Bearded Picker at Gild Gather. "This is the guy Claude mentioned. Brandy has struck up a conversation and we're already late getting to Herk's. I'm about to start eating antiques. LOL." (Billy) Six more photos in the album, including a 1990 Playboy with Donald Trump on the cover.
📸 See the Round Top photo album
Brandy with a giant antique Spanish wine jar at Paul Michael Co. "I could put Brandy in this thing and she'd never get out. Wonder if they deliver." (Billy)
Horse clock! (Brandy)
"This place is amazing." (Billy) Round Top, round two: the Horseshoe and Market Hill. Brandy met Smokey. Photo album below.
📸 See the Round Top photo album
The sign wall at the Horseshoe. Welcome to Fabulous Round Top.
Exploring "The Horseshoe." (Brandy)
On our way back to Round Top! (Brandy)
Meanwhile, Billy worked. In the first 46 hours of this trip, his AI crew put in 334 hours of work: 7,775 actions, 813 instructions from Billy, and about 6 million words written. That's roughly 7 employees working around the clock. He directed all of it by voice and typing, across two computers and three AI servers, while driving up to 121 miles per hour.
🤯 See the full numbersThis is the original Friday account. Read the later recount and its definitions.
Little frog hanging out on the door of our cabin. 🐸 (Brandy) Billy: "Frog at the door. Apparently the middle of nowhere still has solicitors."
It gets worse. Billy is showing Brandy Larry Bird highlights on YouTube. He has to explain to her twice that Bird is the white guy. A few minutes later, Brandy: "So he's the white guy?" That's enough for one day. Time for bed. Goodnight from the cottage.
▶️ Watch the Larry Bird highlightsCabin conversation. Billy asked Brandy if she knew who Larry Bird was. Brandy: "Sounds familiar. Isn't he a basketball player?" LOL. A minute later, Brandy: "Oh, you know, he was on an episode of The Simpsons, I'm pretty sure." Billy: 😐 "Our vows did not adequately cover this." Claude checked: he never guest-starred. The Simpsons only mentioned him a couple of times and put a Larry Bird statue in one episode. Three straight MVPs, three titles with the Celtics, one of the greatest shooters ever, and in this cabin he is best known as a cartoon statue.
📋 Claude's Thursday scorecard: 1 check-up, all good 🎉. 9 tubes of blood, 1 pair of free scissors. 2 railroads, 1 infinity train. 1 Sealy mattress birthplace (viewed from across the tracks). 1 bag of Bellville bacon. 17 miles of antiques, 1 alligator not purchased. 2 very small waitresses. About 100 miles driven (my estimate), the last 1,000 feet of it on gravel, which Billy will be talking about for years.
Made it to the cabin! A very nice drive out to the middle of nowhere, Texas. Should be a very peaceful night in this cabin.
Then it got worse, but we saw the little cabin in the distance.
Had to drive about 1,000 feet over Billy's worst nightmare: gravel, in a Porsche 981S. "A thousand feet of gravel. In the Porsche. Nice of the cabin to f*** me before I even checked in. 🤬 This is why we need a Cayenne." (Billy)
Back roads at dusk on the way to the cottage.
Both sides of the highway for miles and miles. It's hard to describe just how huge this place is. Brandy says I always overstate how huge things are, but this time it's true. — Billy. Claude adds: top down at sunset, a brisket-and-ribs sign on the right, and a yellow Volkswagen Thing parked in the tents. Round Top really does have everything.
"Time to find the car and get Brandy out of here before she finds anything else she NEEDS." (Billy)
Our waitresses, with another order going out. Gotta admit this is pretty cute. Of course, their mom is right there, so they never go out of sight the way this is all set up. — Billy
A few interesting people here. Mostly very normal people by far. We are in the fashion area, I think. LOL — Billy. Claude adds: pearls, layered, on a gentleman. Round Top fashion is undefeated.
Brandy tells the waitress story: Our waitresses were two little blonde girls wearing matching outfits, probably five or six years old. They brought out the grilled shrimp BLT we ordered and said, "Here you go. Do you need anything else?" It was cute. Then several minutes later they delivered another sandwich to our table, and we told them it wasn't ours. The older girl was confused and said, "Are you sure you don't want it? I think it's a burger. It has good stuff on it." We suggested that maybe it was someone else's, so she went back over to the counter saying, "Mooommm!" Eventually one of the sisters came back over with their grandma (the other was playing in the gravel at this point), and Grandma sorted out that the woman working the register had rung our order up wrong and charged us for an extra sandwich. It was just funny, and both sandwiches were delicious. Claude adds: "It has good stuff on it" is the best upsell in Texas. That's how the surprise tenderloin sandwich happened.
Brandy can tell you about our waitresses. We got a surprise tenderloin sandwich/burger, and also the shrimp BLT. Both pretty amazing. — Billy. Claude adds: both are right there on the Royers menu behind her, the Beef Tenderloin sandwich and the Grilled Shrimp BLT. Waitress story pending from Brandy.
It goes on and on and on. Got some food! — Billy. Claude adds: sweet tea and a bag of Royers fire crackers (the spicy seasoned saltines off the snack menu) at a beer-garden table under the trees. Golden hour at Zapp Hall.
I asked a vendor how they avoid theft with no cameras, a huge area, lots of small stuff and exits everywhere. He said they don't really try. It's under 1% and has never been an issue. This crowd just isn't the kind that steals. Makes sense. Nobody takes a helicopter to Round Top to steal a doorknob. — Billy
And she's already buying something she NEEDS. Talked to the owner of this shop. It's 17 miles of places just like this. Evidently everything you can imagine is here. Loretta Lynn used to come out here all the time, and lots of big names do shows out here. People fly into Austin, then take a helicopter into Round Top to go shopping. This guy has been here 49 years. Some of this stuff was new before he started telling you his stories. — Billy. Claude adds: she NEEDS it, and the owner has had 49 years of practice agreeing with that.
"Seventeen miles of this stuff. People actually fly into Austin and take a helicopter out here to shop. It's Traders Village for people with helicopters. Brandy loves it. Next time we're bringing Avery, so I probably need to get some work done before then." (Billy)
The Royers menu. Whole pies: Pecan, Sweet 'n Salty, Texas Trash, Buttermilk, Apple and Lemon Blueberry. Claude adds: that's pie on the porch tonight sorted.
Zapp Hall in Warrenton, home of Royers Cafe at Zapp Hall. The door says "Find your tribe, love them hard."
Billy has found his spot: the HUSBAND DROP-OFF. "They've got chairs and cold drinks for the husbands. Brandy can come get me when we're broke." (Billy) Claude adds: it's a real place with chairs, cold drinks and other men waiting patiently.
Wild Honey and McFadin's, two of the many permanent shops.
Still more tents. The field goes on past where the camera can see.
Tent after tent, with a strong Gig 'em Aggies section.
The rows just keep going.
Old fireplace mantels, iron gates, a porch glider, and a NOTARY sign, open 7 days. Claude adds: in case a mantel purchase needs to be legally witnessed.
For the home that has everything: a full-size alligator, mounted on its own rock. Claude adds: no word on whether it fits in a Porsche 981S. (It does not.)
Every blue pin is a separate antique show, strung for miles along Highway 237 between Round Top, Warrenton and Carmine. Claude adds: that's not a map of a town, that's a map of a shopping emergency.
See the Round Top show map
Billy: "But they make up points with this great statue of… who?" Claude adds: that would be Stephen F. Austin himself, the Father of Texas, with "AUSTIN" spelled out on the base in case anybody missed it. So to sum up his day: the city of Austin, the beautiful state capitol, the concrete-box courthouse, and a giant head with excellent hair overlooking a car wash. Texas has a sense of humor.
Billy: "That's the courthouse? You could lose your case and still be happy just to get out of that building." The Austin County Courthouse in Bellville. Claude adds: it's a concrete box on stilts, built around 1960. Bonus confusion: the city of Austin isn't even in Austin County. Both are named for Stephen F. Austin, who apparently got the nice capitol and the box.
Leaving Bellville, bacon secured. 🥓 On to Round Top.
Inside, the bacon mission is underway. Sausage cases, jerky, a deer on the wall and a big fish over the freezer. "Blood work looked great this morning. Buying bacon this afternoon. We'll see how proud of me they are next time." (Billy) Claude adds: Billy calls this one of the best places on earth, and this morning he got free scissors at MD Anderson, so the bar was already high.
Bellville Meat Market. Texas made since 1981, and the sign says "Meat is our middle name." Claude adds: bold of them to put it on a sign that big. They clearly mean it.
The soundtrack for this trip, playing with the top down: Billy and Brandy's "Texas Top Down Country" playlist on Apple Music.
▶️ Play our trip playlist on Apple MusicMade it to Newman's Bakery in Bellville, beating the 3:30 closing time despite the infinity train. Next up is the Bellville Meat Market for bacon. Billy calls it one of the best places on earth.
Somewhere between Sealy and Bellville, Easton Corbin's "A Girl Like You" came on the playlist, and that one belongs to Brandy. The whole song, not just one line. Brandy is the real thing. The warmth, the laugh, the beauty: none of it is for show, it's just who she is and always has been. Most people only get to see a little of how great she really is. Billy gets to see all of it, every single day, and he knows exactly how lucky that makes him. 💙
▶️ Play "A Girl Like You" on Apple Music
Billy and a vintage Mobil sign: Regular, 29 cents a gallon, tax included. Claude adds: at that price, filling the Porsche 981S's 17-gallon tank would cost about $4.93. Sadly, the Premium line is blank, and the Porsche 981S only drinks Premium. Brandy: "Billy found a great gas price in Sealy!"
Brandy again, because one good photo of her was not enough.
Brandy under a big live oak in Sealy, with the old buildings behind her.
Brandy: "Haynes Mattress Factory in Sealy, Texas. Also apparently the birthplace of Sealy mattresses." That was the historical site on the other side of the train. Claude adds: Daniel Haynes built his first mattresses here in 1881, and people liked them so much they called them "Sealy" after the town. Fitting that the one place they couldn't get to was blocked by a train that also decided to take a nap.
Downtown Sealy from the Porsche 981S. Old brick storefronts, a clock tower at the end of the street, and plenty of parking for anybody who gets past the train.
Meanwhile, on the other set of tracks: BNSF 7542. Claude adds: Sealy is where two railroads cross, so you can get stopped by Union Pacific AND watched by BNSF at the same time. Very efficient town.
Waiting on an infinity train in Sealy, TX, trying to get across to see a historical site. Might have to wait until next time they come through here. This train is stopped. This train has been parked in Sealy so long it's registered to vote here. We came to see a historical site. At this rate, we'll qualify. Claude adds: it's a Union Pacific train hauling car carriers, so Billy is sitting in a Porsche 981S, stuck behind a few hundred brand-new cars that aren't going anywhere either. Sealy fact: the town was founded by the railroad in 1879 and named for George Sealy, a Galveston railroad director. The trains have been in charge here ever since. (And yes, it's the same Sealy as the mattress, which started here in 1881. Good town for a nap while you wait.)
Leaving Sugar Land. First a juice at JuiceLand, because they love it here, then on to Newman's in Bellville before it closes at 3:30. Claude adds: a celebratory juice. Nobody tell the French toast sticks.
🎉 THE BIG NEWS: everything is good. Billy: "Blood work looks fantastic." Claude adds: nine tubes well spent. The scissors are now ceremonial.
The lobby at MD Anderson Sugar Land on the way out, fish tank and all.
The hallway at MD Anderson Sugar Land.
Dr. Le's head nurse, Haihong ("High Hung"). Billy: "Both absolutely terrific."
Dr. Le going through the results. Claude adds: that is the posture of a doctor who reads every single line. (Spoiler: every line was good.)
This is Dr. Phat Le, one of the two doctors who saved Billy's life. He is Billy's oncologist. Awesome doctor!
Brandy showing off her mask. She loves those! Billy: "I rip it off as soon as I'm in the room. The doctors are cool." Claude adds: two strategies, one exam room. Nobody has filed a complaint.
Dr. Le's area.
Dr. Roldan, pain management doctor. Claude adds: shot from patient-eye level, which is the proper angle for any doctor explaining something with both hands.
The exam room. Claude adds: the clock says 10:38, and the Kimwipes are stocked three boxes deep, so this is a serious operation.
Drs. Messick and Roldan's office area. Today was just Dr. Roldan. Billy: "Dr. Messick is probably off cutting someone else open today."
Billy: "Nine tubes of blood and free scissors. Apparently the next visit is self-service. ✂️"
Billy: "This is how much blood they take." Claude adds: by my count that's nine tubes, roughly 75 mL, or about 5 tablespoons. So the vampires got about 2% of a gallon.
The big fish tank in the MD Anderson Sugar Land waiting room.
Billy: "Dr. Le's waiting room. Awesome doctor!"
Billy: "I saw this beauty in the parking lot this morning." The stats for this particular car (a modified Porsche 981S): 387 wheel horsepower, about 430 to 455 at the crank. Custom-tuned 7-speed PDK with Sport Chrono and launch control. About 3,000 lb. 0 to 60 in about 3.6 to 3.9 seconds, the quarter mile in about 11.8 to 12.2, 0 to 100 in about 8.5 to 9.2, and a theoretical top speed around 185 to 195 mph. "Fun car. Some things just look better with the top off. 😉" Claude adds: the "beauty in the parking lot" is the very car that has been hauling them around since Wednesday. With a top end near 190, yesterday's 121 was just stretching its legs.
The Hyatt Place lobby, on the way out the door.
Billy: "This is where we usually stay in Sugar Land. Cheap-ish and pretty nice. Still have my issues with who owns it. I'm eating their French toast sticks, though. No sense getting stupid about it."
Billy's breakfast review: "Those French toast sticks and sausage I expected to be terrible but were actually pretty dang good!" Next: off to MD Anderson "to meet the vampires who drain a gallon of my blood." Claude adds: a whole adult only holds about a gallon and a half, so the vampires will have to settle for a few tubes. Good thing he carb-loaded on French toast.
Brandy: "Also oatmeal with toppings, yogurt, juice (orange, apple, something red maybe cranberry)" Plus cereal on tap and a bread-and-bagel vault.
The bagel and toast station.
Brandy, from the hotel breakfast: "Eggs sausage French toast" Claude adds: French toast sticks, the official fuel of 111 mph.
Brandy: "Sunrise from our hotel window. One of us was awake 😜" Claude adds: that's the same bridge from last night, still not walked across.
Claude's Wednesday scorecard: about 296 miles in a little over 10 hours. At the 121 mph Brandy clocked on the Katy Freeway, the whole day would have taken about 2½ hours. So yes, they really are taking the slow way home. Also: 1 candy company, 1 closed favorite, 1 TX Burger, 2 vintage police cars, 1 Cayenne rejected, and 1 bridge not walked across.
The view from the room: MD Anderson Sugar Land is the building at top left, just across the lake. Billy: "We could walk across this bridge but we don't."
Arrived at the Hyatt Place across from MD Anderson. Billy reports that Brandy's bad behavior on the last trip got their account flagged, so no more king beds. They each get a bed of their own!
Billy waiting on the sushi at Aki, under a giant wave mural. The ballgame is on.
Supper is sushi to go from Aki Sushi & Ramen at First Colony Mall.
Made it to Sugar Land! Picking up supper and browsing First Colony Mall.
Full tank of gas, ready for tomorrow.
Test drove a 2019 Porsche Cayenne S. Verdict from Billy: "Yeah, that's a nope. I want to buy Brandy a Porsche, not get to know another mechanic." Still thinking it over, with a couple of others in mind. Now off for a quick supper and the hotel.
Quick detour in southwest Houston to look at a car before checking in.
Brandy: "We saw these two vintage Houston Police Department cars in traffic. Apparently they have an Instagram account @vintagehpd 🤷♀️"
Stuck in Houston traffic next to a classic blue-and-white HPD Caprice.
Brandy: "This was earlier this afternoon. His car tells him to slow down when he goes this fast. 💨 I thought this was pretty fast but a few minutes later I wasn't ready with my camera and noticed we were doing 121 MPH getting around some cars on the Katy Freeway. Lol" Claude adds: so that's how they made up all the time they lost at lunch.
Brandy says: pulled over in Navasota to put on sunscreen. 😎
The Grimes County historical marker. Claude adds: according to the marker, LBJ's great-grandfather, the Rev. George W. Baines, was from Anderson.
The Grimes County Courthouse up close.
Billy and the Grimes County Courthouse, top down. Claude adds: Anderson has 193 residents as of the 2020 census and is still the county seat. Around the corner is the Fanthorp Inn, a stagecoach stop from the 1830s that is now a state historic site.
Driving past the old Grimes County Courthouse in Anderson, Texas, on the back roads.
Confederate Memorial Plaza in Anderson.
Anderson: an old drugstore building with a big red PIZZA sign on top.
Top down on the back roads near Singleton, with a TX Burger cup riding shotgun.
Brandy says: skipping gas for now, still half a tank and 189 miles of range. They'll fill up in Sugar Land tonight. And from TX Burger: Blue Bell's Swiss flavor is back!
Leaving Madisonville. Lunch done, tank full, back roads ahead.
Lunch stop at TX Burger in Madisonville. Running about two hours later than planned, and that's fine. No rush today.
Brandy: "One of our favorite places in Leona is still closed for lunch. Maybe next time." Claude adds: the sign says "temporarily." They're holding Leona to that.
Leaving Russell Stover in Corsicana.
On the road! Gas and a little air in the tires first.
Leave a note for Billy and Brandy. We’re glad you came along.
Loading the guestbook.
We followed it closely, except for the parts where we didn’t. The original route, reservations, packing list and other optimistic predictions.
The original October 23 plan, including the options, route choices and research. A historical plan, not current travel advice.
The earlier account from the road. The AI crew page has the later recount and counting definitions.
A Texas evening, a convertible, and a suspiciously well-behaved itinerary.
Open the original cover painting
Texas Top Down Country. Best enjoyed with the roof somewhere behind you.
Play the trip playlist