Speed Racer - or - Around the State in 8 Hours

452 miles in one day. Whew.

Thank goodness gas is only $1.85/gallon and I drive a hybrid. Total trip cost, about $50 (including gas, tolls and food) and 4 hours of sick leave.

After several phone calls yesterday morning, I was told that the updated page of our homestudy had not yet arrived at the agency as of 10:45am, but that they would provide me with paperwork that could be apostilled in its place, so I took 4 hours of sick leave and left work a few minutes after 11am. I endured I45 traffic for about an hour driving from IAH to Friendswood to pick up said paperwork. Just as I exited I45 and was about 15 minutes from the office, K called to say that DHL had just arrived with the back dated paperwork. Woo hoo! It did not need to be apostilled, nor did I need to pick it up, the agency would overnight it to M directly. So, I turned around and sped back up I45 to the Sam Houston Tollway to catch Hwy 290 westbound. Not the cheapest way to go, but at least I didn't have to deal with traffic on I45 or the 610 Loop.

Oh, yeah - speed 'limit' signs miraculously all turned into speed 'suggestion' signs as I approached. And my normal average mpg went from 34-35mpg (in an SUV hybrid) to about 28mpg. The left lane was my new best friend. And so were all those nice tractor trailer drivers who blocked the cops radar guns for me! I also found out that there is a whole lot of nothingness between Houston and Austin; especially after you pass Brenham, aka "Blue Bell." And I didn't even take the time to get some ice cream, bummer.

Total trip time from Friendswood was 2 hours 50 minutes and I arrived in Austin right at 3pm. I found the correct building very quickly, but it took another ten minutes of circling two blocks to find one open parking spot. After I poured all of my change into the meter and earned my 51 minutes, I walked one block over to the state building on Brazos. I signed in at 3:16pm and rode the elevator down to the basement. There was already one person finishing up her apostilles when I walked in and another man waiting ahead of me. If it wasn't for that one guy who was in the wrong department and who wouldn't take no for an answer, I would have been in and out of there in less than five minutes. But, the nice clerk finally got through to him and about 20 minutes later I had my apostille for our I171h in hand and directions to the nearest UPS store. Five minutes walking down the street, two minutes petting a gorgeous do, and another five minutes later I was out of the UPS store with my I171h on it's way to M. Heck, I even got back to my car with 16 minutes to spare on the meter.

Total time spent in Austin - less than one hour.

Then it was back on I35 headed north to Hwy 290 until I could find the nearest pit stop. I actually had to make two pit stops on the way back. It seems all that caffeine was catching up to me. Unfortunately, I also saw all speed limit signs again on the way back home, so that trip took about 3 hours. And what is it with dark winding country roads that you are unfamiliar with - why is there no opposite direction traffic on the straight parts, only the curvy parts so that you have to turn off your high beams just when you need them most? Is that some sort of Murphy's Law or something? (I'm referring to FM1488 from Hempstead to Magnolia here.)

So, our dossier will be on it's way Wednesday morning to hopefully be filed with the SDA on Thursday!!!