Van Diaries #026: Leaving Texas, Destination Unknown
June 16, 2025 - Metairie, LA
Maybe it was the storm last night that cleared the air, but this morning I awoke with a certain clarity that I haven’t had in a while. I’m eager to get back on the road. A week of rest has made me restless. Pulling out of Fort Worth, I do not know my final destination. I’ll be in New York by the end of the month for the Fancy Foods Show and that’s about the only thing for certain. I’ll be stopping in New Orleans, Mobile, Atlanta, Ashville, Roanoke, Washington DC and Philadelphia along the way. After New York, I’ll head west again, but only because there isn’t much east of New York. There is irony in finding clarity in the unknown. We’ve been conditioned to find comfort in knowing and certainty. The unknown can leave you feeling lost and anxious, but it shouldn’t. But being on an open road with an open mind and knowing that you are headed in the right direction is truly liberating, even if you don’t know exactly where you are going.
Before leaving Texas, there was some business to tend to at the ice cream factory. We are kicking off TruJoy’s biggest production run to date this week – 1,500 gallons of dairy to make some 25,000 pints – and I won’t be around for it. We spent the morning receiving and accounting for ingredients. Five 300-gallon totes of dairy, a pallet of Chocolate Chips, hundreds of pounds of Peanut Butter and various Fruit Purees and four gallons of Vanilla Extract (that’s a lot!). On paper everything looks good and ready, but the only thing for certain is that something unforeseen will happen. This is OK though, we have the best production team imaginable, and I have every confidence that they will be able to make any adjustments. I’m extremely fortunate to have such great help and can leave town knowing that TruJoy is in good hands.
I hit the road a bit after lunch. Few things make me happier than the sight of Dallas in my rear-view mirror. Leaving Texas to the east couldn’t be more different than entering from the west. It’s green, the piney woods are dense and it’s humid. The heat is about the only thing East & West Texas have in common. The climes, topography and diversity of the different regions across the state are seldomly acknowledged. Maybe it’s because of its size, or maybe it’s because often you leave via airplane and miss the subtleties, but the gradual changes across the state are fascinating to a recovering geologist.
Crossing the state line into Louisiana was anticlimactic, though I did feel a certain bit of lawlessness and pushed a bit harder on the accelerator. I pulled into a Holiday Inn not long after dark to set up camp in their parking lot. Urban camping in the swamp is a bit different than the wilds of the other LA. The sounds are different, croaking frogs are far more peaceful than passing traffic. It’s good to be going again!
