I aqua-planed all the way from Austin to Fort Worth and the warm, cozy home of my friends, the very '90s Debra Wilson-Million and Clark Million-Wilson. It poured most of the way, and I mean poured. I thought about pulling over a couple of times but I couldn't really see my way clear to do that so I kept going, sort of relying on the other cars around me to keep me on the road.

After a full month of traveling, it felt good to cocoon a bit in the homes of my friends in Houston and Ft. Worth. I spent three nights in each place, longer than I've spent in any other town so far on the Odyssey. I guess it was having a couple of places where I felt at home, after living out of a suitcase and, often, in a tent for nearly four weeks. My days in Ft. Worth were spent, for the most part, putting the finishing touches on BRETTnews #11 but I managed some mighty good eatin' as well. I had lunch at the Parris Coffee Shop; the place is known for its homemade pies and the slice of apple that I had was tasty. We were joined by the Gaineys of Dallas for Mexican food at Joe T. Garcia's, a great place. The best of all, though, was Angelo's, the best BBQ meal I've had on the trip, bar none (and I've had several). It's just a little joint that's been there forever, nothing fancy, but delicious brisket and darn good Polish sausage. I also took in a flick (The Playboys, worth seeing and that Robin Wright, man oh man!), and watched the hated Longhorns beat my Sooners again!

It's strange to think how different my life is from many of my closest old friends. I accompanied Clark and Debra to their new home, the first one they've owned. It's a cool old place, built in the '20s and plenty of room to grow (not intended as a hint, kids, but I wouldn't mind being an unofficial uncle again. I'm good at it.) and they've been doing a little work on it prior to moving day. Almost all of my long-time friends are married now, most have children and many own their own homes, whereas I hope to go out on a date sometime in the fall. A wife, child, and home seem a bit distant at present.

When issue #11 was finally in the bag and I began to plan a bit for my next destination, it hit me: I was a day or two behind. You see, my family had decided to fly my father to Chicago while I'm there, so we could take in a couple of games at Wrigley Field. Dad is a long-time Cubs fan (don't ask me why) but he's never gotten to see them play in person. So, although it goes against one of my rules, I have to get to the Windy City by June 12. I broke down the distance I had ahead of me and the days remaining in which to get there and - oops! I was about a day short, so I needed to put in a marathon day behind the wheel. I've been covering about two hundred miles, give or take, a day so a four-hundred-mile-plus junket was in order. I still wanted to take in the Mississippi Delta before I headed north, so Greenville looked like the best bet.

Continue on the American Odyssey.
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