I finally left home at 11pm and hit the road for Houston. Took me way too long to pack and unpack and pack again. Keep thinking about George Carlin's routine about "stuff." Seems like I'm trying to take ALL my stuff, not just a smaller version of it. Aaaarrrrgghh!

Just north of Huntsville, about 1:30am, I stopped at a rest area. I was way over-tired and had to get a couple hours sleep in the back of the truck. Not bad, really. The bed I made before I left town paid dividends!

I'd heard that RIck Perry had done a bang up job on the rest areas along Texas highways but I have to say, this one exceeded my expectations. Sadly, no shower, though. A trucker sitting outside doing paperwork told me this is one of the best ones in the state because Sam Houston's home was here.

On the road again at about 4am.

Gassed up at an automated station in Huntsville. First time I've done that. Kind of strange. $3.339/gal.

Grabbed breakfast at the IHOP around the corner. My waitress, Darlene, is from Onalaska, on Lake Livingston. First time ever that I've been asked if I would be needing Wi-Fi.

Ordered a low-cal breakfast but my tummy couldn't take it. Way too much grease. Asked for some oatmeal instead. It was not much better. Actually, it was my stomach that was so sensitive. The food was fine.

Hope this doesn't last long. Two weeks of upset stomach could be miserable.

She gave me directions to "The Walls," the Texas prison Huntsville is famous for. Need to get cleaned up and head over there.

You know, I wonder if my upset stomach is due to taking that chewable B-12 on an empty stomach. Let it be so! Won't make that mistake again.

Photographing "The Walls" is not exactly how I envisioned starting this trip. But there you have it. I'll hang out here for a bit, get cleaned up, and drive over to the prison. Now, that's a sentence I never thought I'd write!

If I'm not mistaken, The Walls faces north, which means the sun will be rising and the sky lightening behind and to the left of the building, as I view it. Lots of "ifs" in there!

Shooting The Walls was not a problem. Technically. But as soon as I set up the camera, almost as soon as I had the tripod on the ground, an assistant warden, Warden Smith came out and wanted to know what the hell I was doing. That was not his attitude but it's what he wanted.

In the end, he gave me about five minutes to do what I needed to do. Fortunately, that's all the time I needed.

Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out a way to transfer images from my camera to my iPad. I think a visit to an Apple Store or a camera store is in my very near future.

Still, the day is young and I've got road to cover between here and Houston. And lots of photographs to take.