Day 4: 11 Hours of Texas Driving (El Paso to Austin)

I knew Saturday was going to be an extra-long driving day.  It definitely was.  We were checked out of the hotel and on the road before 10am.  A quick Yelp search yielded a Whataburger within 2 miles on the way out of time, so we went through drive thru and got chicken biscuits & coffees for the road.

The plan was to drive east and south to the Prada Marfa art installation, then stop and eat lunch probably in Marfa, TX, then trek the rest of the way east and north up and into Austin.  Google maps estimated 8.5 hours direct from El Paso to Austin, so I knew adding on Marfa was going to push it at least another hour more for driving time.

Made it out to the Prada Marfa in the almost 2.5 hours estimated.  It was exactly as described on the internet (and portrayed by many, many IGers on the 'gram) -- a real Prada storefront, with Prada gear displayed in the windows. In the middle of nowhere.

There were at least 6 other cars with ppl parked on the road side, for the most part giving others space to get their shots in of/with the Prada Marfa.  I took a pic with a prop from the trunk of the Forester.

In retrospect I should have tried to look more fashionable within something other than my SF Giants sweatshirt.  Oh well.

After Prada Marfa we trekked on -- there was the tiny deserted town of Valentine not far south of Prada Marfa, about 20 minutes or so before the town of Marfa itself.  Marfa proper was not what I was expecting -- much less hipster vibes as portrayed on the internets.  Pit stop and gas up for the Forester and otherwise decided to trek on to the slightly larger town of Alpine for lunch as we made our way out of our West Texas detour.

Alpine proved to be a bit bigger, with the highway split into one way streets that ran through most of the town.  Although, was hard to find something open for late-ish lunch, and ended up driving into their Sonic drive-in just towards the edge of town to get quick 2nd meal in.  Underwhelming Sonic lunch consumed (chili dog, fries, strawberry limeade) and on the road again for the many, many hours of driving left.

Unfortunately for me, I was not paying attention to signage as we left Alpine and failed to notice the

graduated increase in speed limit as we left town -- I got pulled over by a cop not long after leaving city limits.  Ten minutes or so stopped yielded me with a speeding ticket for going "67" in a 45 speed limit zone.  I am to call the judge listed on the ticket at the number listed within 10 days for further instructions.  According to the officer the judge may end up throwing my citation out.  I am not holding my breath.  But, will call next week after the New Year.

Lots of hours later, including below freezing temperatures and more snow showers, and trading driving duties with friend, and we were finally in Austin way, way after dark -- after 9pm.  Arrived at the AirBnb and got the Forester unpacked.  The residential house in East Austin proved to be easy for parking in driveway and overall for a good space for the 4 night stay.

Got unpacked and before long figured out late meal/4th meal options -- ended up driving .5 mile away to pizza place that sold pizza by the slice as well as whole ("Austin -style -- thin crust, local veggies, homemade sauces" per their website).  I opted for a pepperoni slice and a lemon thyme chicken slice.  Got the slices back to the house and had them with the 6 pack of Big Bend Brewing beer we picked up at one of our gas station stops.  Good lowkey end of an extremely long travel day.  Looking forward to no more distance driving for the next coming days.