Wichita Falls, Texas : Don't speed

Dallas TX
January 2007

Was there a good reason for my trip to Wichita Falls? None. Absolutely none. I woke up on the first Saturday of January in "Big D" Dallas and decided I was going to drive to Wichita Falls. Who would do something like that? Nobody. It defies any logic and any rationale. What did we do in Wichita Falls? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Like driving to Wichita Falls was not crazy enough I did not turn around when it got late in the day, instead we kept driving further north and crossed the Texas border and drove in to Oklahoma state and got on the interstate I-44 north bound and set my sights on Oklahoma City until the signs indicating the highway was turning into a tollway stopped me in my tracks.

"I am not paying toll for a trip I had no business doing in the first place", is what I remember admonishing myself. My good senses finally prevailed on me and it was time to go back home. But there was no way I was going to drive back on the highway that I came up on : the highway 114/287 that meanders through the towns in the region that is to the north west of Dallas namely Grapevine, Decatur, Bowie, Wichita Falls. The round trip had to be done in a loop. You are now in Oklahoma, you didn't want to go back the way you came, you didn't want to pay toll go up to Oklahoma City and going west could mean you could end up in Amarillo Texas for Pete's sake and you would never be able to make it home that night. Now what?

My only other option was to go east and that is what we ended up doing. I did not drive for 5 miles on Route 70 going east before I noticed a car that drove past me going in the opposite direction, and saw the driver in my rear view mirror making a U turn and was barreling fast towards me, he pulled close right behind me and before I knew I was being entertained to disco lights. He was a State Trouper in an unmarked car. So I pulled over. He stopped, got out of his car walked up to me and asks me "Do you know how fast you were going?" The angst in his tone was unmistakable. I said "No Sir!" He took my license, walks to his car, runs my license and walks back to my car and tells me "Slow down, drive safe" in an agitated voice and left in a hurry faster than a prairie dog retreats into a burrow at the sight of a hyena. I got out of the jam without a ticket.

The traffic stop kinda soured my mood. I kept driving east through barren fields and we stopped at "Ardmore, OK" the junction of Route 70 interstate I-35 and ate our dinner at a restaurant and we got on I-35 south bound to go back to Dallas. I was cruising along as I kept thinking about my day. "I just bought my brand new shiny Jeep and I wanted to take it for a spin and I got pulled over for speeding on the very first day. " So much for a joy ride on your freshly minted wheels...