Wednesday Weekly August 8: Go-Kart Racing and a Trip to Waco

I hung around Austin the last week and kept getting things in order. As you read this, I will be driving up to Wisconsin for a friend's wedding. Last Friday, Victoria did our Friday lunch date at Which Wich. I got the Brunchwhich.

Breakfast sandwich on white bread with bacon, fried egg with runny yolk, and melted American cheese with tomato slice, served in clear plastic takeout container

The 2007 Focus has had some issues with overheating lately. I'm thinking it's the thermostat, but the car ran hot when I took it out for a test drive.

Vehicle dashboard displaying 250,006 miles on odometer, with speedometer showing zero mph and fuel gauge reading near empty

I left the 2007 Focus sit. On Saturday, Victoria and I first raced at K1 Speed and then went to Flyrite Chicken for lunch.

Small Texas town main street view with commercial buildings, pickup trucks, and utility poles under partly cloudy sky Takeout box containing burger with lettuce and sauce on round bun alongside golden tater tots

After that, we wanted to go to a place called in.gredients, which was a package-free grocery store. I say was because when we tried pulling up directions on Google Maps, it showed to be closed. We instead took a road trip to Waco, stopping at Buc-ee's in Temple for a pit stop.

Interstate highway with blue rest area services sign showing fuel, food, and lodging symbols under dramatic cumulus clouds Buc-ee's retail store exterior featuring iconic beaver mascot logo in red letters on tan building facade White styrofoam cup with Buc-ee's beaver logo containing frozen beverage with red straw in vehicle cupholder

Our first Waco stop was the Dr. Pepper Museum. It was packed but I was able to fight the crowds and learn a few cool things about Dr. Pepper.

Dr Pepper "Good for Life!" circular logo sign in burgundy and gold mounted on white wall

All this talk about Dr. Pepper gave me a craving for another food product, cheese. We headed to Brazos Valley Cheese so I could satisfy my cheese fix.

Brazos Valley Cheese Company rustic building with barn-style architecture, brown siding, blue-trimmed windows, and red roof under blue sky

The cheese held me over well, but we planned to get BBQ later that night. We wanted to kill some time so we started looking for free places to go. It appeared we could go to the Waco Mammoth National Monument.

The only thing listed that you had to pay for was a guided tour. I figured we could look at things without a guide. When we got there, we found out you had to get a guided tour to see the actual exhibit. Walking around the park itself was free so we did that a little bit in the hot sun.

Severely cracked and deteriorating concrete road surface with extensive spiderweb pattern damage, flanked by trees and grass White Chevrolet Cruze parked in crowded parking lot with various vehicles under partly cloudy sky with green trees in background Shaded dirt trail winding through dense grove of green trees and brush in natural wooded area Unpaved trail entrance with small wooden trail marker sign among trees and dried grass in filtered sunlight Sunken dirt trail path through wooded area with two people visible in distance walking up gentle slope Modern building entrance with wood-paneled ceiling overhang, dark exterior walls, glass doors, and metal railing along covered walkway Indoor paleontological excavation site display with visitors viewing fossil dig protected under glass enclosure and green viewing screens

Our plan was to get BBQ in Temple. I decided to take US 77 and then TX-53 instead of the interstate.

AT&T Stadium visible from highway approach in Arlington, Texas, with pickup truck in foreground and puffy clouds overhead Rural Texas two-lane highway intersection stretching toward horizon through flat agricultural land with golden crop fields Straight rural highway extending to vanishing point through open Texas landscape with scattered fence posts and dramatic cloud formations Two-lane rural highway stretching straight through flat Texas farmland with utility poles lining the road and towering cumulus clouds overhead

For BBQ, we stopped at Clem Mikeska's.

Glen Nireska's Pit Bar-B-Q restaurant exterior with red barn-style building, cow silhouette sign on roof, and patriotic bunting decorations with white vehicles parked in front

The BBQ was good and we hit the road. I continued taking the back way and took TX-95 and then US 79.

Darkening storm clouds gathering over empty rural highway with scattered utility poles across flat grassland landscape

On Sunday, we ate at Via 313 Pizza.

Vinny's Pizzeria strip mall storefront with gray stone facade, green metal awning, and several pickup trucks and SUVs parked in accessible parking spaces

Right now I'm just getting ready to go up to Wisconsin and have also started working on the 2007 Focus. The thermostat is in a really tricky place so I have half the car torn apart to get to it.

Ford vehicle engine compartment with hood raised showing Duratec engine, visible headlights, and Ford oval grille badge in dim garage lighting Front view of Ford vehicle with hood and front bumper removed exposing radiator, engine components, and mechanical systems in garage workspace

I'm not sure if I'll be able to finish the Focus before going to Wisconsin, but it can sit in the garage a while. I was planning to put it there anyway while I took the 2017 Focus up to Wisconsin. I guess this is a good learning experience for me, especially trying to get to the thermostat. I'm sure there's an easier way if I had the right tools, but I guess I'll be doing it the hard way. At least this way will make it easy to recharge my AC, which also needs to be done.

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