Waiting for a windshield

 It's happening!  It's really happening!  Our windshield is finally being replaced today.  As you may recall, it was broken in that hailstorm in Austin.  

Fortunately, the windshield wasn't broken so badly that we were unable to drive, but the cracks keep spreading as time goes on and light glinting from those cracks keeps triggering the automatic wipers.  Which you can turn off, but turning off automatic wipers also turns off cruise control, and no one wants to drive from Texas to Vancouver without cruise control.  (Modern first world problems, I'll admit.)  A non-first world problem is that apparently cracked windshields become dangerous when the cracks intersect.  Fortunately the two cracks that threatened to become problematic decided to veer randomly in another direction so we've had no reason to panic.  But we really wanted to get the windshield fixed before heading home.

The car is in the shop as I write.  We'll soon have a new windshield.  Yah! The hail dints in the hood and body will have to wait until we can get to an ICBC authorized repair facility in British Columbia, but in the meantime we'll have the distinction of driving the most beat-up Tesla we've encountered so far.

So, what to share this morning? How about a few more reflections on Texas?  

Is everything bigger in Texas?  Well, highway rest stop gas stations certainly can be.  Have you ever encountered a Buc-ees?  

A Buc-ees is a roadside gas station with attached convenience store -- on steroids.  I'm afraid I didn't count, but Google tells me that they have on the order of 100 gas pumps, and their huge restrooms have about 25 stalls each for men and women (or maybe more?).  

The convenience stores are huge too. The photo above was taken from the centre, facing towards one door.  They're about half the size of a Real Canadian Superstore, but instead of carrying a complete selection of groceries they have a whole aisle dedicated to various sorts of gummy candies (with separate aisles for every other type of roadside snack you can imagine), a large collection of T-shirts and home tchotchkes (with slogans like 'A real woman can do it all -- but sometimes chooses not to'), Texas-themed photo-realistic paintings you can purchase (cows and wildflowers predominate), alongside hot food to go.  Staff work continuously to prepare pulled pork sandwiches, brisket sandwiches, and burritos that go directly from their hands to warmers, so that you simply can grab what you want.  Super-convenient, right?  It is, as long as you're happy eating a burrito whose cheese component is artificially-coloured liquid nacho cheese, or truly indifferent pulled pork sandwiches on too-sweet white bread buns.  

We've stopped at a couple of Buc-ees because Superchargers are sometimes located there.  It's definitely an experience.

Other thoughts on Texas?  Well, there's a lot of money here.  The majority of the bird sanctuaries we've visited are actually privately funded by groups like the Audubon Society, the Texas Ornithological Society, or private conservation groups (notably, the Artist Cove Coastal Heritage Preserve).  The latter organization (largely the founder, Karla Klay) has raised tens of millions of dollars in only 10 years to preserve some of the last remaining rural land on Galvaston Island from development. 

Most of these preserves have excellent facilities, like flush toilets, boardwalks, and even raised tree-canopy walkways, like the one Harvey used at Smith Oaks to take sunset photos.

In other words, these privately-funded and operated preserves have facilities of a quality that you might expect to see in a major National Park in Canada.

Other indications that Texans, or at least, bird-watching Texans have a lot of money?  The number of locals who mentioned their "second homes" in casual conversation and the ubiquity of Swarovski binoculars.  For those not in the know, Swarovskis cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2000-5000 Canadian.  Only the most dedicated (and affluent) birders around Vancouver carry them, but they seemed almost like an obligatory birding accessory here.