R-V There Yet?

Anyone that has traveled the Texas highways has probably made two observations.

 1.  The Texas highway system is pretty good and generally in excellent repair.

2.  The Texas rest areas are throwbacks to the 1950’s.

If you remember going to the restroom and noting that, not only are there no doors on the stalls,  but there is a two-foot open air gap between the restroom walls and the ceiling.  This is not very conducive to privacy, relaxation and comfort.  On really cold days, how would you like to sit on a 30 degree toilet seat?

Well, luckily those days will eventually come to an end.  As we pulled into the rest area between Austin and Salado, on Interstate 35, (Bell County Northbound) to our surprise, we were greeted with what will be the new version of the Texas rest area.

 

The picnic area was spotless and they even had a  play area for the kids.

 

Inside we found the clean, modern, and climate controlled, restrooms.  The vending machines are indoors and you don’t have to reach through steel fencing to use them.  This particular location has a mock up of a grist mill that doubles as an historical information display.

 

The display features an interactive computer that shows videos on several local historical topics.

 

It appears that the Texas Safety Rest Area Program is making some pretty good headway.  The red stars on the map below show remodeled rest areas.  Now, all Texas rest areas have free Wi-Fi Internet.  The theme for the rest areas varies by location and local history.

I guess it’s sad when a bathroom is the highlight of the day.  As we get older, those days come more frequently.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm and is filed under Texas, Texas Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.