Does anyone else name their trips? I do, sometimes. On Monday this week I completed
XIT.
Although it's widely discredited now, the idea that the famously expansive XIT Ranch in the Texas panhandle was so named due to its presence in ten (
X) counties
In
Texas stuck with me, and last year I began entertaining the idea of clinching ten US highways in Texas in a single go. Trips earlier this year sorted out what was doable, and so I put together a journey of eleven consecutive days (to enable
X nights
In
Texas) traversing nearly all parts of the state (all but the Trans-Pecos and, ironically, the Panhandle) and bringing ten US highways to completion. Well, eleven, according to this site, although I'm not counting the oddball US 67 segment in Brashear as a completion since I still need several hundred miles of its tocayo. A few miles of re-clinching in Arkansas and a couple of short jaunts across the Red River into Oklahoma rounded out the plans and made it possible to finish each of the targeted routes within Texas's borders.
The path from Ohio to Texas is well-worn for me, so most of the way down used familiar roads. It would be nice if the NPS would finish up their work on the Natchez Trace and give me a fresh option, but I nonetheless appreciated the opportunity to fast-track to Louisiana and revisit some hyphenated routes in Harrisonburg that I'd previously missed clinching by a half-block each. After checking out what was happening at the east end of I-220 (nothing open, no signage posted), I headed to Marshall for night 1.
The next day brought my first new miles in Texas, and my first Whataburger in months shortly before noon. Tragedy struck about an hour later, as, walking, I failed to negotiate some uneven pavement at a rest area east of Greenville and landed on my chin. When the bleeding didn't stop on its own, I reluctantly headed to an urgent care facility, but not before picking up the Brashear segment, some miles of mainline 67, and scattered spurs and loops along the way. After receiving exactly one stitch, which was almost insulting, I returned to my scheduled drive, completing US 82 in the process, and made it to a tiny house at a campground just north of Denton for night 2.
After managing to not bleed all over my Airbnb host's home, I headed back up to Oklahoma and then mostly west until US 81 and US 70 were finished. From Paducah, I turned south and eventually ended up in Abilene for night 3, collecting several interstate business loops in the process.
The following morning took me on a US 283/183 loop north and south (clinching 283 along with numerous short grab-n-go routes along the way) and then sent me west on 67 and 87 toward my somewhat unkempt resting spot in Midland for night 4.
The first of three very long days took me in a mostly easterly direction, as I picked up the final miles of 183 and much of 190 and 84 on a very indirect route towards a much cleaner Airbnb on night 5 in Waco. Despite my arrival after 7:30, I still managed to do a quick tour of the city in order to nab a half-dozen short routes before bed.
An early rise the next morning let me collect the rest of the city's local routes, and set me on course to add US 84, 190, and 79 to my collection before lunch. I briefly considered leaving I-35 for the curious Texas 165 in East Austin, ultimately passing on it due to the heavy midday traffic, figuring I'd be passing by again at an early hour more conducive to city driving a couple days hence. From Austin, I headed straight west on US 290 and then took a very crooked combination of US 83, 377, and 277 through a surprising downpour down to Del Rio for some amazing tacos and a restful night 6 in an old adobe home.
Up early again, I wandered between Del Rio and San Antonio on my way to Eagle Pass, which provided me with more tacos and the end of US 57. From there, I headed to Laredo to drive two blocks of I-35 that magically appeared here a few months ago, and then turned back north to grab some business loops and finish Loop 1604 on the way to my Airbnb in Austin. The stitch was due to come out, but its placement was such that I couldn't take care of it myself, so I reluctantly visited another urgent care where no fewer than three people worked on me. I'm cautiously optimistic that TBDHIITL* won't fuss too much over this. Regardless, as I moved on from the unfortunate incident, I rested very well on night 7.
Although I had a light (11-hour) day planned, I nevertheless rose early to avoid Austin during the morning rush. On the way out, I discovered that, like many cemeteries, the Texas State Cemetery is officially closed between sunset and sunrise. Unlike many cemeteries, this one is also locked up tight, and so my hope of collecting the shortest State Highway in Texas had to be put on hold, since I wasn't in the mood to wait for two hours. Instead I headed to Houston on US 290, and clinched my tenth and final route in that set for the trip. However, the trip was far from over, so I headed back west to pick up more miles of both flavors of US 90 and a few miles of US 77, plus all the easy pickings along the way toward a comfortable night 8.
The next day I spent entirely in Houston and environs, mopping up lots of routes throughout a city I hadn't explored very much previously. I seem to be the first user to clinch Texas 99, a route I'd not touched on any prior visit. Greed took me north on I-45 to Conroe for Just One More Loop, an impulsive decision I regretted almost immediately as I noticed all the stopped southbound traffic I'd need to negotiate on the return trip. Avoiding it via backroads ended up taking even longer than my GPS claimed the interstate would have, so after figuring in another long wait for empanadas a few hours later, I eventually made it back to the previous night's Airbnb about three hours later than anticipated for a nonetheless peaceful night 9.
Fortunately, I had only a short journey to Longview planned for the following day, so I took it at a leisurely pace and only twice ventured off the plan to snag some nearby easy clinches. Arriving at the Airbnb for night 10 shortly after 6, I was happy to get some rest (and play with their energetic dogs) before the long haul home the next day.
That last day went according to plan, meaning it took a little more than 16 hours. Other than a few short routes adjacent to the most direct path, and a reclinch of US 412 at the Light, AR bypass, it was entirely devoted to a safe return home. That objective was achieved a few minutes before 10pm Monday. Most of the time since then I've been asleep.
Overall, the trip netted 4700 new miles and 208 clinched highways (1 interstate, 12 business interstates, 11 US highways, 37 US alternate/business/truck routes, 4 named freeways, 40 Texas spurs and 52 Texas loops, and various other routes in five states). It also brought me to 60.99% completion for the USA, based on our current active+preview systems.
Besides those, I also chose to clinch some routes not currently reportable on the site, namely the Hardy Toll Road's Airport Connector, Park Road 1836, and Loop 1910 in Andrews, plus a number of FM roads.
So XIT came through in 3 ways:
- clinching US 82, 81, 70, 283, 183, 84, 190, 79, 57, and 290
- ten nights at Airbnbs in Texas
- ten tacos in Texas, and donuts from ten independent donut shops, all in Texas (neither of these was planned)
Next up is Mapkitten's return to California, although due to circumstances beyond our control, it's just a quick 3 days out/3 days back this year, so I'm not expecting much in the way of additional mileage.
* The Best Damn Health Insurance In The Land
