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The whole reason for the road trip was that Buddy was living in Texas for quite some time and was preparing to move back to his hometown of Spokane, Washington.
The original plan was to have his mother fly down and then assist him with the drive back. However, she felt that Joe would enjoy a good road trip with his good friend, so she sent him, along with $200, to accompany Buddy on the long drive back.
Joe came down on September 2. Buddy, Sandye, Brad, and Nicholas picked him up at the airport and ate an exquisite dinner at a Cajun restaurant called "Razu's". That's when the shrewd trader in Joe emerged, because he tried to talk the waiter into giving him some free pie (long story). Joe also spent the following day with Buddy in Tyler as sort of a pre-trip fun day. There were a few places to go, and it was nice for Buddy to tie up the rest of his loose ends before he left. Stopping at the mall, Buddy picked up his last paycheck at B-Dalton, and said his goodbyes to his friends in Tyler.
At 4:00am the next day, the two guys said goodbye to Buddy's sister and family, Sandye, Brad (his brother-in-law), Nicholas (his nephew), and Zoe, Phoebe, and Abby (their cats). On the way out to the car, Joe remarked on how the humidity was so high that it made the eighty-degree morning seem hotter still.
The trip actually began in Canton, where Buddy lived with his sister, but Tyler is really close by and it had a lot of significance for Buddy, because he usually spent most of his days there when he resided in Canton.