Radically Retired

Category: Travel

  • 2026 Road Trip Home – Day 2

    2026 Road Trip Home – Day 2

    Yesterday was all about bucket list hits.

    Along the way from San Angelo, TX to Amarillo, TX we saw some varied and beautiful scenery and enjoyed a couple of breaks from driving to check out attractions.

    The weather has been more than cooperative with sunshine, warmth, and clear blue skies.

    Breakfast and road snacks from our hotel
    Near Sterling City, TX
    Red Soil at Ackerly, TX. The white specks are debris from the cotton harvest

    Our first stop was Lubbock, TX – birthplace of Buddy Holly.

    After touring Clear Lake, Iowa on our way south this past fall, which I posted about here , we were interested in visiting Buddy Holly’s hometown.

    Lubbock Texas has streets named after their favourite son.

    There’s also the Buddy Holly Center which is a museum tribute to his life, and includes an art gallery inside an old attached train station.

    Across the street, is The Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza which includes the West Texas Walk of Fame – with inductees from the area named in plaques along a curved wall. Among the many inductees were Tanya Tucker, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, and Dan Blocker.

    We also toured the house of JI Allison, the first drummer for Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets. In his bedroom was a piano and a drum kit and this is where “That’ll Be the Day” and “Peggy Sue” were written.

    I was in Rock n Roll heaven here.

    Entrance to the Buddy Holly Center
    Me with the famous glasses
    This courtyard can be rented out
    Inside the entrance
    Lots of reading involved
    Doorway to the Art Gallery
    Three large sections for exhibits
    Original doors to the old train station
    Hubs was most interested in the history of the train station
    JI Allison’s home
    JI’s room in the home
    Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza
    Front of the old train station
    Dedication Plaque

    From Lubbock, we made the 121 mile (194 km) drive to Amarillo, TX where we checked out our first stop on historic Route 66.

    2026 is the hundredth anniversary of “The Mother Road”, so over the course of this year we plan to see as much of it as we can.

    First stop: Cadillac Ranch

    There’s spray paint everywhere
    Even on the pavement alongside the entrance
    Spray painted locks on the fence
    This truck pulls the souvenir trailer
    Every souvenir you could want is in here
    The famous interactive art installation, created in 1974
    I took my turn at spray painting
    Hubs did some tagging too
    The Second
    Amendment Cowboy with a neon sign (one of many on Rte 66)
    A diner and gift shop behind the cowboy

    For those of you wondering about fuel prices:

    This is per US Gallon (3.75 liters) We saw it as low as $2.99 and as high as $3.99

    Yesterday was a ten hour day, worth every enjoyable second.

  • 2026 Road Trip Home – Day 1

    2026 Road Trip Home – Day 1

    Yesterday was take off day and we logged nine hours on the road with only quick rest stops.

    Texas is a big state and because we’re headed up to the panhandle, we’re taking the longest route from south to north.

    It’s bluebonnet time in Texas and the state flower was abundant on the roadsides and in fields along the way. My feature photo was on the way by, so more blurred than I like but it gives you the idea.

    Here are a few more “on the way by” photos.

    I had to do a white balance correction on them, because of the tinted windows in our truck.

    Check stop at Encino, TX
    One of many overpasses at San Antonio, TX
    Coming to Comfort, TX
    Comfort TX
    Fredericksburg, TX
    Many great old buildings in Fredericksburg

    Mason, TX Courthouse

    My Moment 58 mmTele Lens for iPhone does a pretty good job of bringing things closer and at the same time, reducing blur. It’s my favourite attachment for shooting from a moving vehicle.

  • A Telling Sight

    A Telling Sight

    When I see “Arnie” (our golf cart, named after the famous golfer, Arnold Palmer), all wrapped up and sitting on wooden planks to keep the tires from melting onto the concrete in the extreme summer heat, I know we’re leaving the next day.

    As we always try to do, we have a new route home to Canada in the plans, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

    It’s going to be a bucket list hit for me, so I’m pretty excited!

  • Spring Weekend 2026 – Day 3: The Best Laid Plans …

    Spring Weekend 2026 – Day 3: The Best Laid Plans …

    Neither hubs nor I have ever been involved in a spring break celebration, so we thought that a Sunday visit to South Padre Island during spring break might be a good way to wrap up our weekend of welcoming spring 2026.

    Out of curiosity, the morning that we planned on leaving, I decided to consult professor Google as to what we might expect in terms of crowds. I’m so happy I did that.

    Sunday, March 24 this year just happened to be the apex of the Texas Spring Break and this is what we should expect: possibly fifty thousand high school and college students in full and noisy party mode, heavy traffic (including complete jams) for both South Padre Island and the causeway going to and from the island, two hours or more waits for food, and zero parking at the main venues.

    We decided to nix the trip and spend our last day of celebrating spring by watching nature programs on TV in the comfort our A/C’d living room, with snacks available immediately, and silence on demand as soon as we decided to mute the TV and have a nap.

    The header photo for this post came up in Google Images when I looked for Claytons Spring Break Celebrations 2026. Claytons is one of our favourite stops for food and entertainment.

    This photo was all that either of us needed for a “hard no!”

    I guess we’ll complete life with never experiencing spring break.

    I’m perfectly OK with that.

  • Iconic in the Valley

    Iconic in the Valley

    Pharr, Texas is four miles down the road from where we winter.

    Hubs’ favourite street in Pharr is Cage Blvd because of the iconic cowboy welcome sign that sits high above the entry to the street. Hubs says it reminds him of the famous neon “Welcome to Vegas” cowboy.

    My fave spot is up a couple of blocks on the corner of Cage Blvd and Kelly Ave.

    Although weathered and missing an A on one side of its tall vertical column sign, this place just begged to be researched

    The long vacant Texan Hotel and Chung Mei Kitchen restaurant has always intrigued me.

    Through looking for some history of the hotel, I learned that the welcome to Pharr cowboy originally sat on top of the Texan Hotel sign.

    Web Image

    In 1984, Du Ong Lee, long time owner of the hotel and restaurant was featured in a local newspaper.

    Now, it’s my mission to visit the Pharr Memorial Library. Isn’t it funny how once we start researching, one curiosity often leads to another?

    It was fun to learn that the two things that hubs and I love most about Pharr have a strong connection.

  • “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

    “Laissez les bons temps rouler!”

    Every year at this time, McAllen, Texas (our neighbouring city) hosts “The Golden Age Olympics”. It runs over several weeks and includes every event from race walking to jigsaw puzzles (yes, you read that right – it’s a timed event) and winners come away with medals as well as bragging rights.

    Each year, there is a different overall theme, and this year, as you’ve no doubt guessed already, the theme is Mardi Gras.

    My feature photo was shot at the community hall where hubs registered for the poker event.

    The title of my post, translated to English on this banner, is always the theme for New Orleans Mardi Gras – and is so appropriate for the fun and games happening daily at the
    Golden Age Olympic Games

    I had planned to enter the 5K race walk this year, and am ready for it. Unfortunately, it was downsized this year to a 1.6 K (one mile) race. That’s about the distance I walk at my warm up pace.

    I could figure out a way around it, I suppose, but decided not to this year. I’d have to find a warm up spot close to the race path and then work on it. I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that this year.

  • Angle Parking

    Angle Parking

    This year, some of our adventures have included visting the downtown areas of cities and towns near to us.

    Hidalgo is home to our county seat.

    Welcome to downtown Hildago, Texas 🤠

  • Juxtaposition

    Juxtaposition

    Alongside a secondary highway, in San Juan, Texas, there’s a little park that we pass often.

    There’s a mini Lady Liberty, so we’ve often wondered what the park was all about.

    Last week, we finally stopped to check it out.

    The park is a war memorial, dedicated to armed forces members from the area who died serving their country in various wars since WW2 . Its name is Liberty Park.

    The subject of this post, and my feature photo is the juxtaposition of the words carved in the back of the bench and the abandoned items on the bench that hinted that maybe someone had spent the night there. What would be your guess about this scene?

  • And That It Is

    And That It Is

    Last Saturday, we took a little road trip to nearby towns to explore their main streets. We were also on the hunt for an infamous roadside tavern.

    Many people we know here in south Texas had told us about the uniqueness of an establishment called “The Junkyard Bar”.

    We’d passed the location several times over the years but had never spotted the bar.

    This time, because we were paying attention, we spied the sign (feature photo)

    There were no vehicles in the parking lot (except, of course, for the truck on the post) but we could see a young fellow cleaning inside so we asked if we could come in and take some photos. He told us that the bar didn’t officially open until 3pm but we were more than welcome to come in and take a look around, and he even offered us a beer.

    We’d been told that this place is wall to wall people during opening hours, so our arrival time was perfect to explore and get some photos of things you’d never see if the place was packed.

    I don’t know if you’d call it “atmosphere” but its decor (or lack of it) certainly lives up to its name.

    I laughed at “No outside food or drink or drink”
    Stage is reminiscent of the old west
    I wonder how many actually pay
    A tribute to a football team
    The Bar
    The tables have seen better days
    It makes one wonder
    Would hesitate to visit if it was raining
    Tiniest sink I’ve ever seen
    Corrugated metal stalls in the ladies bathroom
    Budweiser is famous for their ads
    The fence on the hill behind hubs is a part of the border wall
    The top of the original bar sign says EST 1957

  • Just Ask a Question

    Just Ask a Question

    Before we left Starbase, we noticed one Tesla truck that was bright orange.

    It stood out from the pack of identical metal coloured ev’s like the proverbial sore thumb.

    There was a fellow plugging it in to the charger and his wife/girlfriend was taking photos. There was another couple nearby who appeared to own one of the grey metallic clones.

    Hubs thought that these people looked approachable, so he decided to stop and ask them some questions about the cyber trucks.

    They were all extremely obliging, answered all of hubs’ questions, and even invited us to their Mars-themed beach party, which was to take place last Saturday evening.

    We asked if they were Space X employees and they told us they were from Dallas and Missouri and were just major Tesla fans visiting the area over Christmas.

    They told hubs that once you buy a Tesla cyber truck, you can customize it any way you wish to.

    The young couple that owned the orange Tesla, had every electric kitchen appliance you could think of, plugged in to the box of the truck!

    Friendly and fun folks
    Hubs shirt matched!
    They even had a sleeping tent on top!
    Funny name, and there’s a
    story behind it, of course

    Once again, we learned that people are friendly and kind – all you have to do sometimes is ask a question.

    P.S. Although we appreciated the invitation, we didn’t attend the Mars Beach Party. I would imagine that it was pretty “far out, man!”