‘Paris, Texas. Athens, Georgia. Not what I had in mind.’

Then, how about Kermit and Pecos and Marfa?

Yep, the big day, teased earlier here and here, has finally arrived. My cousin, Kathy (aka Kate for all her Kansas friends who are reading this) and I are hitting the road. We’re going back to my tiny West Texas hometown, a place where, when we were both much younger, her family would come visit.

Helping us roll down the highway will be the rest of the lyrics from the Dixie Chicks song, “Lubbock or Leave It,” from which today’s headline comes. (More on the soundtrack of our trip a bit later.)

Although we’d often go up to the Dallas area to visit Kathy’s family (and  Six Flags), they just as regularly came to see us. Part of the reason: A visit to my town was a twofer. I grew up in the same burg as my mother’s parents, so Kathy got to come see her favorite cousin (me!) and our grandparents, too.

Sometimes Kathy’s family would come down in the summer. We’d play outside all day, sometimes taking a break from the heat by going for a swim at the county park public pool. And of course they’d show up for the holidays, especially Christmas.

Eventually, my uncle’s job took their family overseas, so we didn’t get to spend even those few weeks a year together.

Well, Kath and I are going to make up for all that “lost” time now!

I’ve got a cooler stocked with ice and water. I swear. Water. Maybe a Coke or two. But that’s it. I’m driving. And I know how bored Texas Highway Patrol officers can get just sitting along those long, empty stretches of flat West Texas highway.

With a song in our hearts: I’ve pulled out a dozen CDs so I can impose my musical tastes on Kathy. But I’m sure by the time we get back to the Live Music Capital of the World, she’ll love Joe Ely, Patricia Vonne, the Chicks, Lyle Lovett, Ollabelle, Terence Blanchard, Dianne Reeves and Jane Monheit as much as I do. Or one of us will be catching a bus back to Austin. (Hint: It’s my car!)

On the financial front, I’ve got a couple of credit cards, paid up and just waiting for whatever mementos we might run across. I’ve got a bit of cash in case some of the mom-and-pop places along the way don’t take plastic.

And, of course, I have the cell phone and the laptop. I’m hopeful that that in at least a couple of places along the way we’ll find a reliable Internet connection. When we do (I’m thinking positively), I’ll post a report from the road.

In the meantime, I’ve written some posts to autopublish. I’ve done this in the past, but I’ve also always been home to quickly follow up in case things didn’t go as planned. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll make the prewritten words magically show up over the next few days when I really want the system to work!

So please, come on back by over the next few days. Just because I’m on vacation doesn’t mean the blog will be. And if my ability to use our digital camera coincides with cooperative Internet gods, you might just find some fun road trip surprises, too.