Shell Gasoline Card — I Won’t Leave Home Without It.

As we packed for a recent trip to South Texas, I made sure my husband had his Shell Gasoline Card tucked into his wallet. Although this is a compensated review from BlogHer and the Shell Family of Cards, I would have done that anyway.

Some of y’all may know that, as a professional storyteller, I travel across Texas a lot in “my little pony.” That’s Texan for “my car.” There are miles and miles of Texas, so that pony of mine eats a lot of gasoline. I always carry my Shell Card with me when I travel, in fact I don’t leave home without it. The Shell family of cards is great for Summer road trips. Or, any other trip, for that matter.

Now, I know that another credit card company, which shall remain nameless, has already stolen the motto, “don’t leave home without it.” But, I’m serious that the Shell card comes in handy when that gas gauge starts to point at the “E.” Texas is dotted with those distinctive yellow Shell station logos, and I always know what I’ll find when I stop: quality fuels at a reasonable price, clean bathrooms ( a must on those long road trips), and usually I find something to eat. Yes, I can eat and get gas … so to speak.

Last month, my spouse and I decided to “go batty” in Austin. I’ve told you how we went to view the colony of bats living under the Congress Avenue bridge.

We stayed at a haunted room at the historic Driskill Hotel. I told you about our ghost hunting at the Driskill and showed you a lot of pictures.

I’ve shown you photographs of some of the sights we saw along the road.










and about some of our shopping in Austin.









But, I didn’t tell you that on the way to that adventure, we took a little side trip to Luckenbach, Texas.

Have y’all ever been to Luckenbach? It gained some fame back in the 1970s, when that song came out … you know it, so hum along with me:

“Let’s go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys.
This successful life we’re livin’ got us feuding like the Hatfield and McCoy’s.
Between Hank Williams pain songs, Newberry’s train songs and blue eyes cryin’ in the rain,
out in Luckenbach Texas ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.”

Even my husband, who grew up in California and was not as immersed in the cosmic-cowboy-redneck rock as I was in the 1970s, knew that song. He told me that once when his brother came to visit from Pennsylvania they had tried to find Luckenbach but couldn’t. Bless their hearts.

“That’s because the Highway Department won’t put signs up anymore. Tourists keep stealing them,” I told him. “Y’all couldn’t find Luckenbach? Well, I’ll take you there. I’m a fifth-generation Texas! I can drive you straight to it.”

I tried hard not to show my disdain. I mean, Luckenbach is just right off of Highway 290 northeast of Fredericksburg, for Heaven’s sake! Besides, I had a Google map and the GPS on my mobile phone. I didn’t mention those to him.

We headed down to Fort Worth on I-35E, and then took the exit to Cleburne, so we could go over to Highway 281. It’s a delightful alternative to taking the Interstate, with many wonderful small towns to see (and Shell stations in almost all of them). The only thing I regretted about not taking Interstate 35 is missing my favorite Shell station in the town of West, Texas. It’s called “The Czech Stop,” and you can get delicious kolaches (a Czech pastry) there. It’s just north of Waco, and it is imperative that you try it. It’s not my favorite kolache store in town, but it’s darned good!

We stopped for lunch in Marble Falls, and ate overlooking the Colorado River, then we continued down to Johnson City (named for the ancestors of Lyndon B. Johnson), where we headed west towards Fredericksburg. I was smug in the knowledge that all we had to do was find “McCarty Lane” and turn left to reach Luckenbach.

We didn’t see McCarty Lane!

Although my mobile phone GPS said we were right where it should have been, there was no road. We drove past where it was supposed to be, turned around to try to find it again … and still had no luck. On the third pass, we went far enough to find — a Shell station, where we stopped to get directions.

“Heck,” said the fellow behind the counter, “just take Luckenbach Road.” He shook his head in pitying disdain at the “tourists,” and I didn’t brag about being a fifth-generation Texan to him.

We finally found Luckenbach, but that’s a story for another day. When I relate it, I’ll tell you about a surprising “first” in Luckenbach — any of you internet sleuths want to take a stab at a guess?

Suffice to say, if you are traveling across Texas (or anywhere else in the USA), carry your Shell Card with you. You’ll find quality fuels at a reasonable price, clean bathrooms, something to eat, and DIRECTIONS!

If you don’t have a Shell Card, get one! For a limited time only, Shell is offering a return of 30 cents per gallon on the first 100 gallons purchased with a Shell Card within a 90-day period. The promotional savings is available at all Shell-branded stations nationwide for those who sign up and are approved for a new Shell Card from June 29, 2009 to September 30, 2009. Maybe you can afford that road trip after all!

So, tell me: if you were going to take an impromptu, overnight road trip in your neck of the woods … where would you go? Have you ever been to Luckenbach?

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Check out the other BlogHer reviewers’ tales from the road.