The End.
It was nearly 5PM when Houston's familiar hulking towers made their return on the horizon. A wave of familiarity and comfort crashed over my car, which I really have put through the ringer over the last few years.
In five years, I've put 70,000+ miles on this poor Ford Focus. For scope, I live and play in the city and often take public transit. The "average American's" 13,500 miles per year does not apply to me, as I do not commute to my office from some far-away suburb; I commute from my mid-rise apartment building 1.8 miles down one street when I do drive.
My annual mileage is likely closer to 3,000 miles, roadtrips not included.
With my home growing steadily closer with each passing strip center and side street, I reflected on the previous nine days.
A hostel.
Mystery ghost lights.
Climbing a mountain.
Curious enchiladas.
Aliens.
Beautiful traditional architecture.
The ghost of Molly Brown, maybe.
Memorials, eyeballs, and coffee.
Lots of good coffee.
Though I didn't purchase souvenirs save for two mugs, I was thankful for having had the opportunity to see it all. See, I'm not a souvenir guy. I don't want more clutter. But what I do like is food. The local fare. The local coffee.
I love to take photos. I like videos.
Coming home from this trip, I had roughly 70 videos from the previous nine days. Nothing special, no talking. Just... capturing what I saw. Capturing the hostel, the mountain, the aliens, the et cetera and et cetera.
I took what I saw, what I captured, and compiled it for you here. It's ten minutes long, but hopefully worth your time if you're curious about the world that was built in the last nine installations of this blog series.
Content Warning
Oklahoma City National Memorial
In memoriam of those lost in the Oklahoma City Bombing
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
(timestamp 07:12 - 08:03)
Say Their Names Memorial
In memoriam of Black lives lost
Dallas, Texas
(timestamp 09:28 - 09:48)
Thank you for reading along.
I appreciate every single one of you who clicked through to share this adventure with me.
- NOTICE -
COVID-19 TRAVEL PRECAUTIONS I IMPLEMENTED
Though this blog is written with a carefree, fun, and exploratory nature, please know that I took every precaution behind the scenes.
I tested negative for COVID-19 prior to taking this trip.
I avoided other people at all times.
If person-to-person contact was unavoidable (such as my accommodations in Part Six of this series), I was wearing a mask. That being said, person-to-person contact was a very rare occurrence.
I only booked accommodations where I could have the whole place to myself with no spaces shared with other people (except for Part Six).
I only booked accommodations where I could check myself in. Again: No person-to-person contact (except for Part Six).
I took sanitizing wipes with me and gave every accommodation a good wipe-down.
Though I talk about food and coffee here, I also brought a lot of non-perishable food with me which I ate in the car while driving. Any and all food that I did purchase was done so over the phone and picked up to-go.
Photos posted to this blog and my Instagram featuring me without a mask were only possible outdoors, distanced from other people - and the mask only came off for the photo.
If you are choosing to travel during this time, please be aware of all of the precautionary work that you must put into your trip to ensure that you do not contract the virus and do not spread it to other people.
If you cannot guarantee that, do not travel.