Day Two: Heading to Frisco

Knowing my venture from Lafayette to Frisco was going to be about six hours at the most, I took my time taking off, which in hind sight as I left in the morning realized would put me in Dallas during rush hour. But as time went by, I instead enjoyed the nearly all blue sky on the day – a complete contrast from yesterday when I drove in the rain for most of the trip, including numerous heavy storms.

Turned out the Holiday Inn Express was not actually in Breaux Bridge, but right before the little town. The choice turned out pretty good because the junction for 49 to take me north was not too far off on the east side of Lafayette. What I thought were liberal speed limits yesterday was turned up a notch today with 75 for nearly all of the 49, though construction and accidents brought the speed down in a few spots. The drive from Lafayette to Shreveport lacked anything interesting at all. The most picturesque / interesting moment was at the junction near Shreveport that takes you off toward Dallas, rising well above the other interstates.

First BIG day on the road

Well, exhausted from the final day of packing and clearing out the apartment, I took a little extra time leaving chez Clamp in the morning after the family had left for work, leaving just me and the pooch (Sasha). Finally rolled out of Land O’Lakes sometime around 10:30 I think it was, stopping by Great Britain Tile one final time and saying farewell to Steve’s brother and father as I headed north.

I started off with a little jaunt on the 52 West to hop on the 589 expressway (toll) to join up with the 19, which would take me all the way up to the 10. On a national scale, the 10 runs from Jacksonville on the east coast to LA on the west, so it would be my main route for most of the trek once I got into northern Florida.

Unfortunately, about halfway to Tallahassee I hit the first of numerous heavy – and I mean heavy – rain storms on the day. It proved to be probably the lightest. I lost count after about seven or eight and it may have been about a dozen total – could have all been part of one big system that went through the area that I caught multiple times as I rounded the Gulf of Mexico, but I have no interest in exploring that at this point.

Crossing the Country

Well, this is the space where I will be creating a chronicle of my trek (mostly notes, maybe some links to pics on my photo site and if I can get the vids off my camera to YouTube) from Tampa to Spokane with a little bit of a layover in Texas to visit some old friends as well as a few new ones, doing a little something on the side for TheCup.us while I am at it with current semifinalist FC Dallas in action Wednesday for the CONCACAF Champions League.

I'm all packed up with most of the lighter stuff in the Mustang. Books, some clothes and a good portion of my ridiculously large dvd library are probably already ahead of me on their trip to the great northwest... depending on USPS, etc.

Right now, I am sitting on a nice cushy couch at the Clamps - thanks Steve & Natalie for putting me up for the night - sort of watching one of their favorite shows... True Blood. Thank goodness, one of the few shows, that while I don't watch I don't mind seeing in. A far contrast from the usual crap reality singing, talent, and other lame-drama filled stuff they usually have on.

Tomorrow I will hit the road, trekking my way north around the bend of the Gulf of Mexico en route to Tallahassee. I originally was gonna head out today to give myself a nice three days to get to Frisco and hook up with Jason / Alysha, but I will probably have to go well past the border, through the feet of Alabama and Mississippi before calling it a nice somewhere in Louisiana.

Falling Skies is partly cloudy

In general, the two-hour series opener for Falling Skies on TNT felt, well, like a mix between the movie Terminator Salvation and the CBS show Jericho, especially with Moon Bloodgood as one of the few stars in a cast that also includes Noah Wyle, Will Patton and 'Mr. Military' Dale Dye.

The show basically begins some months after an alien invasion has wiped out, apparently, 90 percent of the human population and focuses on a portion of the rebellion forces. The military combat nature of the series with the rebels in small groups trying to avoid the aliens and use gorilla tactics feels and looks very much like TS. The fact they are grouped up with hiding civilians that are scrounging for resources and have no real leadership is very much reminiscent of Jericho.

Body of Proof in good hands

The new ABC medical/detective drama Body of Proof is a well put together family version of all the CSI forensic investigative shows on television, melding together the work life of Megan Hunt Medical Examiner (Dana Delany) with her complicated family life.

The personality of the Hunt character itself though is very much Gregory House like in that she far more knowledgeable than her colleagues and arrogant, often very abrasive with those around her, particularly the detectives she works with. She is partnered with a former cop turned medical investigator in a relationship that is reminiscent of Brennan and Booth on Bones. The Peter Dunlop (Nicholas Bishop) will undoubtedly be caught in an insinuated love triangle with Hunt and her supervisor Kate Murphey (Jeri Ryan) as the show develops.