The Hurricane and Buc’ee’s in Texas
Thanks to everyone who has sent messages. It’s the coast of Texas that is really suffering right now and it looks as if it is going to get worse before it gets better. Wishing the very, very best to everyone, whether huddled in shelters or in their homes, or out trying to help with stranded people and downed power lines, or manning essential services.
Here, over a hundred miles inland, it has been raining steadily. There are currently 427 road closings in Austin and the surroundings areas so we are not planning on going anywhere. Indeed the whole neighborhood has been eerily quiet.
Luckily the rain has not come in torrential bursts. When it does, which is quite often, the terrain here means that flash floods are a huge problem. My personal check, the dry creek about fifty yards behind the house that turns into a torrent about once a year, is still not running in spite of about 7 inches of rainfall, meaning that the containment ponds are coping with this kind of rain.
Since some smart alecs on social media were still last night making comments about how Texas deserved this, here’s another set of photos, this time not of historic Texas but of today’s Texas.
As Hurricane Harvey approached, Texans poured into one or other of the state’s signature gas stations/convenience stores, Buc’ee’s, as they do every day. Strategically placed at highway intersections and well stocked, the Dallas News carried a story (behind a paywall so no link) on everyone from National Guard rescue teams to ordinary citizens stocking up at Buc’ee’s.
This is the one just outside Bastrop, about 40 miles east of Austin, which I visited earlier this year. Here’s The Eater story on How Buc’ee’s Became Texas’s Most Beloved Road Trip Destination. From it, I learned that one Buc’ee’s has 68,000 square feet of space.
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- Gas, gas, and more gas. What you can’t see are the spacious dog walking areas
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- Ice, ice, and more ice
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- A loss leader?
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- The check out clerk who served me had driven over an hour from Texas A & M where she was studying biochemistry to work here.
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- Snacks, snacks and more snacks to the right as you enter
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- Barbecue to the left, brisket, turkey, sausage, all the Texas favorites
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- The famous restrooms
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- Hunting gear of all kinds. There’s another huge area for cookware, much of it Texas-themed
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- Mayhaw jelly and other Texas favorites, sold here under the Buc’ee’s label (though other labels elsewhere)
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- Jerky, one of the best selling items
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- Leather aprons at the check out counter
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- And huge bins of Buc’ee who turns out to be a beaver (could have fooled me)
By the way, is anyone researching convenience store food? There’s so much on fast food such as McDonald’s but I don’t recall seeing much on what appear to be the huge sales from convenience stores.
- Victoria and Goliad, Texas in the Eye of Hurricane Harvey
- Does the horchata family of drinks stretch as far as China?
No one deserves a deluge.
No, they don’t.
My prayers are with everyone affected by the storm. (And I now have a new goal in life — visiting a Buc’ee’s.)
One may be coming to you before long!
BTW never mind the smart alecs. They are most likely miserable enough to lash out at anything. At least this time their family members remained unhurt as they took it out on the Net.
Our local Missing Screw Crew has formed a very vocal group to fight against the evil Internet. Ban computers! It is a Facebook group.
Considering the IQ involved no one should worry about them.
How is it in Texas? I prayed some, too. In case the Russian Orthodox God knows about the Americas.
There was what appears to have been a very effective response to the flooding. Huge amounts of property damage, a lot of displaced people, but surprisingly little injury and loss of life.