We'll Cross That Bridge When We Get To It

Well the inevitable has begun. I went to work yesterday morning and I noticed that they have officially started work on our portion of Interstate 35. Actually it isn't work on the Interstate. It is on the Sun Valley Drive bridge that crosses the Interstate. The bridge currently has one lane each way. And let me tell you, during peak times it can take an act of Congress to get across. There is a Pilot Truck Stop at the intersection which draws a lot of traffic. But within the past year there has been an Ashley Furniture Warehouse, MHC Kenworth Truck dealership, a truck tire center, two new freight trans-shipment centers added to the current Mack and Volvo Truck Center already located within a couple of square blocks. Add to this they are building a new hotel behind the McDonald's. Oh I forgot to mention that the Pilot also added a truck maintenance facility to add to the traffic.

Wow! That's a lot of trucks in the area. There are certain times of the day when both lanes of the bridge are lined up with 18 wheelers. The west bound side of the bridge is waiting to turn and get on south bound IH-35 but can't move because oncoming traffic is stalled because the east bound lane on the bridge is at a stand still. They are waiting to turn left and head to north bound IH-35 OR go straight to one of the various truck centers OR to turn right to go to the Pilot Truck Stop. If the trucks turn right they have to go across another lane of traffic to get into the Pilot. This wait causes traffic behind them' and sometimes on the bridge, to stall. Of course the trucks are waiting because they can't cross due to that one vehicle at the light that wants to turn left but can't due to the idle traffic on the bridge. AAARGH!!!! All I want to do is go straight but I can't.

Then sometimes, if you hit it just right; No Waiting. Pass right on along.

As the construction continues they will be putting a third lane north and south on IH-35 from New Road in Waco south to Sun Valley.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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The Restaurants On Memory Lane

Sometimes you start to reminisce at the strangest times. Well, now is it. Last night I was thinking about some of the hamburger places that my family would go to when I was much, much younger. Waco has had it's share of chain restaurants and local restaurants come and go. One hamburger place I remember that I think was a local establishment was The Chuck Wagon. The Chuck Wagon was a walk up establishment that I remember my family going to many times. It was located on Waco Drive in the vicinity of 7th or 8th Street s or thereabouts. The main thing I remember about the restaurant were the wagon wheels that adorned the outside. We would drive up and park. My dad would go to the window and order and then we would wait to hear our number called. When the number was called you knew that something good was coming. Years later the restaurant moved a few blocks down Waco Drive and then moved again to New Road and Waco Drive. It has been closed for many years now.

Another restaurant that has given me many memories is The Golden Point. They sold hamburgers and fries. I suppose they were similar to McDonald's. We would go there Sunday afternoons and get a bag of burgers and fries. I recall the burgers cost 15 cents. It was located on Valley Mills Drive and Sanger Avenue. At the time we would go to the Golden Point it was on the part of Valley Mills Drive that was beginning to narrow down to a couple of lanes heading out of town towards the lake. Now that same spot has seven lanes and seems like the middle of town. At the time I thought that this restaurant was the only one in the world. Nope! Here is a website that has some pictures of several Golden Point restaurants from across the states. They closed a long time ago and the building was later torn down a replaced by a convenience store.

When I was in high school there was a Sandy's Drive In just down the road from the school. At that time we had open campus for lunch and students could leave campus and go anywhere in town. Just be back in time for your next class. Since I couldn't drive my first year at Richfield I would either eat at school, walk to the McDonald's (A local shop, not the big chain), walk to the snack bar in the Clark's Discount Store, or go to Sandy's. At the time I thought it was great. Maybe that was because I was able to take a break from school. Check out Captain Ernies Showboat for a lot of great information about Sandy's.

When I have more time I will share more of my memories of growing up in Waco. For now, I think I'll go get a burger at Cupp's Drive In or The Health Camp on the Traffic Circle.

© 2008 Barry T Horst


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Please visit the Giveaway of the Day near the bottom of the left sidebar for free software downloads daily.

Way To Go McDonald's

Some of you may remember my post from yesterday, Can You Believe This???. This is the post where I show the local McDonald's displaying the Texas flag above the American flag. I drove by today on my way home from work and the flags were flying high and proud in their proper positons.




Thank you McDonald's for your prompt action!


© 2007 Barry T Horst



This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS???

I snapped this picture on the way home today from work. It was approximately 5:00 PM. I suppose it had been this way most of the day.

This is in front of McDonald's # 27359. It is located at 7961 S IH 35 in Robinson, TX 76706. Who knows how many thousands have driven by and have seen this.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

© 2007 Barry T Horst


This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.