In summer 2002, shortly before my move from Texas to Virginia, I launched my personal farewell tour in Texas. Highlights during this tour include the "Ballunar" festival at Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake, mansion tour on Galveston Island and bat watching in Austin. Soon afterwards, my third long distance drive of the year took me through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee and finally to Virginia. Therefore, within about a hundred days I took three 1,000-mile plus drives, reaching as far south as Cuidad Acuna in Mexico and as far north as Toronto in Canada, totalling more than 4,000 miles. In the aftermath, I traded in Big Bend for Shenandoah, the Texas Hill Country for the Appalachians, the Capital of Texas for the Capital of United States and the Gulf of Mexico for the Atlantic Ocean. Fair trade? You be the judge.

1. The Transco Tower in midtown Houston.
2. The Moody Mansion, a 19th century mansion on Galveston Island. Gelveston was the Hollywood of the United States at the time before the devastating flood of 1900.
3. The Moody Mansion.
4. Galveston Island, can you feel the tropical breeze?
5. A Catholic church on Galveston Island.
6. A statue on Broadway Street.
7. The historical Strand in Galveston.
8. The Strand.
9. 2002 "Ballunar" balloon festival in Clear Lake.
10. Balloon.
11. Balloons taking off in the L.B.Johnson Space Center.
12. Balloons.
13. The rocket at the L.B.Johnson Space Center.
14. Balloon Glow.
15. "The Drag" in Austin. "The drag" is a section of Guadalupe Street on the UT (the University of Texas) campus. According to a UT tour guide, the name originated from the drag racing that used to take place here. I am not convinced.
16. A mural on The Drag.
17. Another mural.
18. UT campus.
19. UT campus.
20. UT campus taken from the UT Tower.
21. UT campus taken from the UT Tower.
22. UT campus taken from the UT Tower, you can see Austin downtown in this one.
23. Street scene in downtown Austin. This one is for the ages.
24. Street scene in downtown Austin.
25. What are these sworms of things? They are the bats at dusk. This one was taken under the I-35 bridge at McNeil Street.
26. Chicago's O'Hare Airport.
27. Little Rock, Arkansas. If you pay attention, you can actually see the setting sun.
28. Elvis is indeed alive in Memphis. At the Memphis Visitor's Center.
29. Outside the Memphis Visitor's Center, one of the best in the country I've seen.
30. The Natural Bridge in Virginia, my journey is coming to an end.
31. The Natural Bridge.
32. Again, the Natural Bridge.