Just so there’s no confusion, especially for the new people: this is a seven-part series, and there are a lot of pictures and a lot of details to the story. In previous years, five parts was enough, but this year is much different, as you will soon see.

Our story begins on Thursday morning at 10:59 Central time.  (All times in these posts will be in 24-hour format. 00 is the midnight hour, 12 is noon, and 13-23 correspond to 1-11 pm.) I would depart the house and begin the trip to Frisco for the third year in a row. My first stop would the Golden Chick on East Louetta in Spring for a somewhat early lunch. That segment of driving  would be uneventful; speeds on I-45 would stay above 50 mph (but not by much) for at least most of the segment south of Beltway 8, then stay close to the legal limit of 65 mph until reaching the exit.

I would arrive at around 11:23 and order my usual at Golden Chick. What’s that, you may ask? The four-piece tenders combo, spicy, with gravy for dipping sauce and mashed potatoes, and Dr Pepper for the drink. (The drink sometimes becomes sweet tea depending on my mood, but to me, it felt like a Dr Pepper kind of day.)

With lunch out of the way, it was time to hop back on the road. I would do exactly this at 11:46. The next stop would be what has become a tradition: Buc-ee’s in Madisonville. I arrived at roughly 12:53. As one of the billboards says, “Top two reasons to stop at Buc-ee’s: #1 and #2.” On this visit, I would take care of #1. (Hey, I never met a Buc-ee’s restroom I didn’t like.) Before leaving I would purchase a “Texas for the Win” T-shirt (not shown) and a small bottle of Red Diamond tea. (Of note, Buc-ee’s is one of the few convenience stores/travel centers to stock Red Diamond tea in individual servings.)

So the bathroom break was out  of the way. My travels resumed at13:28, and everything would be fine until I reached about 4-5 miles south of Dew (FM 489). Traffic would come to a rather sudden standstill (stalled tractor trailer in the right lane). This would amount to about a 21 minute delay (14:06 to 14:27) with further slow progress for the following 9 minutes (14:36).

I’d hit another slowdown at 14:48, this time for construction, and finally make it off of I-45 at 15:02, taking FM 833 east to cut over to TX 75 north through the east and north sides of Streetman (with a detour onto Loop 262, also known as East/West Main Street and North Hogg Avenue). I would stay on the I-45 frontage road and pull over into the Navarro County rest area at around 15:30.

This would be a very brief rest break. This stop would last just long enough for me to stretch my legs and make another brief bathroom visit. I would get back on the road at 15:41 and arrive in downtown Dallas just in time for the evening rush hour. Upon reaching the  Walnut Hill Lane exit on US 75, I would exit there. Then, I would cut over to the Dallas North Tollway via Walnut Hill Lane, Inwood Road, and Royal Lane. Traffic on the Dallas North Tollway would be moderate. However, I would still manage to arrive at the hotel at 17:30. That’s not too bad given I told them I expected to be there at 17:00.

Check-in went smoothly and I would relax in the hotel room briefly before walking down to pick up my wristband. I would walk back to the hotel then back down to the convention center to hang out with a few friends for a while. (There were tentative plans to have a group dinner, which fell through.) So I decide to go (drive) to Denny’s. The nearest Denny’s from the hotel was a good 7 miles away in Plano, just north of the President George Bush Turnpike on Preston Road. I stop off at the Walgreens a bit further south (nearest one that was still open) to get a personal care item and, just in case, some cash.

Finally, with all that out of the way, time to go back to the hotel room. I would shower and call it a night.

(Note regarding pictures: These were the only pictures I took, though I do have daytime pictures of the Madisonville Buc-ee’s and the Navarro County northbound I-45 rest area in the posts for previous years, which see: 2022 and 2023.)