[Alex Burr - hester_nec]

Since my room-mate needed a few days to recuperate from a heart probe, and some other tests, and was having a girl friend over to help her out, I decided this would be a great time to head for the little town of Bulverde, TX, just north of San Antonio, to visit with the fellow I went to the Hudson National with in July and his family.

So out with the maps, and we find that U S 79 runs all the way to Austin!! Close enough for govm't work. Only problem is that 79 turns south in Magnolia, AR, runs down to Minden, then thru Shrevesport and then into Texas thru Marshall. So we opted to turn west on U S 82 in Magnolia for Texarkana, then south on U S 59 to Marshall and pick up 79 to Austin.

We took I-40 into Arkansas, then turned south on 79. We found the roads to be flat, straight and in great shape - and NO 18-wheelers. We were running 65 and 70 most of the way to Magnolia, where we turned west on 82 for Texarkana. We had trouble finding 59 in Texarkana, tho - with highway construction it is confusing. We probably didn't go far enough on 82 so ended up turning north on I-30 for a short distance until we found 59 south. That is a great road - 4-lane divided most all the way to Marshall, where we stayed the first night - around 400, 410 miles in 8 hours.

The next day we picked up 79 and found long empty stretches of 2 lane (somewhat narrow 2-lane) with posted speed limits of 70!!! And NO 18-WHEELERS. Well, not many anyway. We found hiway construction, widening to 4 lanes, in the Hearne-Gause-Rockdale area and 4-lane divided from Rockdale into Austin. And only a few 18-wheelers!!!!!!

We were taking U S 290 west south of Austin, traffic thru Austin on the I-30 to be a nightmare, but we finally made it. From there on to U S 281 was a beautiful drive thru mostly hilly country, again speeds of 65 to 70 were possible with very light traffic. We went south a few miles on U S 281, then turned off to Russells house in Bulverde - a run of 350 miles in 7 hours.

Although we had foggy conditions early the first morning, and intermittent rain shows most of that first day, the 2nd day was mostly sunny and temps in the hi 60's giving a pleasant drive. We didn't take any pictures, 'cause there weren't nothing to take pictures of!!! Most of the route thru Arkansas is thru flat farmland; in Texas much is also farmland, and such towns as exist out there only consist of a few buildings that probably date back to the early 1900's if not a tad earlier. It is a great alternative to the interstates - and did we mention NO, OR VERY, VERY FEW 18-WHEELERS?????
Safe traveling everybody - y'all have some great road trips.


Hudsonly,
Alex Burr

This post has been edited by Alex Burr - hester_nec: 26 September 2009 - 07:16 PM

[mobilene]

Sounds like it was a great drive! I love it too when you can avoid the semis.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Alex,

Hope your sister’s tests came out OK.

I wondered about the nothing to take pictures of bit, so I took a short “drive” along 79 in Texas using Google Earth “street view.” I didn’t see a whole lot to photograph either!

It did bring back some memories, not of Texas but of California’s central valley in the “old days.” "Thanks for the memories….."


Dave

Keep the Show on the Road!

[DennyG]

Looks like US-79 is one of those odd numbered highways that spends a fair amount of time going east & west. Posted 70 MPH, eh? Sounds like a good trip.

[Alex Burr - hester_nec]

Looks like US-79 is one of those odd numbered highways that spends a fair amount of time going east & west. Posted 70 MPH, eh? Sounds like a good trip.

Actually, Denny, it runs pretty much NE/SW, at least 90% of the way - all the way from Kaintuck to Austin, with a couple short N/S alignments in NE Arkansas and SW Arkansas down into Lousyana. In that respect it is consistent - as opposed to many others that seem to wander all over the place.

As I drove this route I could not help but wonder if this was, back in the 1800's, the trail that men like Davy Crockett and others followed on their way to immortality at the Alamo. Interesting conjecture.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN
(Bulverde, TX)