Short Trip to Lubbock

Donna and I made a short trip to Lubbock this past week. We needed to get away for a while, and there were a couple of things we wanted to do in Lubbock, so off we went for an overnight trip.

We took the most direct route to Lubbock; that is, we drove straight up US 87 through Big Spring and Lamesa. Throughout the entire trip, we were to see many large loads on the road, the first appearing just north of Angelo.

This oversized load was in the southbound lane. It was so broad traffic was having a difficult time getting around it, even with 2 lanes and shoulders.

I snapped this as we drove by. Notice the extra long trailer setup.

After taking care of a little business upon our arrival in the Hub City, we went to the Tikka Shack for lunch. We had eaten here once before and enjoyed it, so we wanted to try it again. We do like the place, but then, we love Indian food. On both trips, we were disappointed that there were not many people in the place. I hope it survives. West Texans take a while to get used to exotic food.

The Tikka Shack is a casual dining establishment, and not a very busy one. Perhaps Donna and I have bad taste; we prefer to think we have good taste but everyone else is corrupted. I'm sure we are the sane ones.

Chicken curry with basmati rice and plain naan bread.

Lamb tikka masala with basmati rice and specialty naan.

On our trip back, we decided to take a different route. We drove southeast on US 84 through Slaton and Post. We detoured briefly at Justiceburg to take a look at Lake Alan Henry. This is a fairly new lake. When Donna and I first moved to West Texas in 1979, we would follow US 84 up through Lubbock and on to Olton. The lake was not there then, and I'm not sure when it was formed; to be honest, I'm too lazy to look it up.

Sunrise over Post. This photo was taken from a rest area atop the Caprock, before we descended to Post below.

The Caprock to the west

View from atop the Caprock looking east.

A cove on Lake Alan Henry, with boat ramp bottom left. It is difficult to get close to the lake.

I was not impressed with the lake area. In fact, I wasn't impressed with the entire drive from Lubbock on down to Snyder. Sure, the Caprock is always interesting, appearing as a flat mountain range. In our younger days traveling this route, this area fascinated us because it was so different than what we grew up with. Time has a way of making you see things differently.

At Snyder, we turned south on Texas 208, and followed it through Colorado City and Robert Lee on to San Angelo. The stretch from Colorado City to Angelo was the most scenic, especially the stretch from the tiny hamlet of Silver on to Robert Lee. I think this stretch calls for a day trip in the days ahead.

Here is another long load. It is about to make a right turn, and had to move all the way over to the left to do so. His companion had just made the turn.

Here is the same rig near the end of his turn.

Once we arrived home, I was about to pull up to a traffic light to make a left turn when I noticed 3 trucks with oversized loads pulling up to the light from the left. I stayed well back so that they could swing wide. It was a bit unusual to see so many large loads during the trip.