Every so often, my wife, Donna, and I go on little road trips. We leave our home in Houston, hit a road and just drive until we see something that looks interesting. Part of the experience, for us, is the keeping of a careful journal of our adventures and the places we've seen.

I need to note, here, that these are simply impressions, and if any offense is taken by those living in the places we describe, none is meant, and we apologize. Also, I'd like to see this area grow, so if you're given to taking road trips and keeping journals, feel free to forward your experiences to bhainley@casualnotice.com Put "Road Food" in the subject, so I know.

All of the tours will be undergoing reformatting over the next few months.  In some cases, pictures will be added to better illustrate the text.  Any time something is changed or added, it will be accompnied by this graphic—>

Politically Incorrect Tour—Our first real road trip.  We were ambitious and set our goals high, and we paid for it.  (1995)

Footnotes to History Tour—A long-weekend jaunt through western Oklahoma and some other nearby states.  (1996)

Donna Found a Penny Tour —One of our more fun trips, even though we discovered that West Texas has a whole lotta nothin'.  In fact, nothin' is the major export.  (1998)

The Bad Timing Tour—Can there be a bad road trip? We found the answer in 1999.

Eaten by Bears Tour—Originally titled "Left Turn at Albuquerque" until it turned out that we didn't go anywhere near Albuquerque and we turned right.  Newly completed.

Eaten by Bears Part Two:  When Road Trips Attack—As Tropical Storm Allison ruins our few remaining carpets, we travel through wind storms on the Great Plains, Utah Desert Heat, and a summer snow storm in Montana.  Now complete!

Weird Stuff and Odd Business Names—I didn't make these up, honest.  Finally updated with new stuff from our more recent trips and a submission from a loyal reader.

Slogans Heard and Seen—I didn't make these up, either. 

Hotel Reviews—Where we've stayed...

Road Food—Other people's tales of road adventure.