By The Numbers: Thru 2021-09-06

Now hanging out in Central Texas after recording just over 6k miles. I was hit with a donut in Memphis and I loved it. Good times.

The numbers

Data pipelines continues to capture responses from my car. So far there’s just under 83k records for me to analyze/visualize. This most recent leg of the trip was traveling about 850 miles from Atlanta, GA to West, TX. Here is a glance at the latest GPS trail so far:

Donuts

Description (Hit and Run)

On this leg I drove through Memphis as I wanted to visit a donut shop recommended by a friend. I did not realize what I was in store for. The place was Gibson Donuts over in Memphis, TN. I got there around 8a and was surprised to see a line out the door. Turns out this place has been slinging donuts for 50+ years and has earned a reputation for high quality treats.

When I finally got inside, I had to order well before I could see the donut case. I was a little disappointed about that but I decided to put my fate in the hands of the girl who took my order. Before I could ask for her help, I told her this visit was my first time there… and before I could say anything more she got super excited and ran in to the kitchen. When she came back she screamed, “fast hands!” and threw a fresh and hot glazed donut at me. I had no idea what was happening and I caught the donut after it bounced off my chest. I asked her what just happened and she explained they have a tradition of throwing donuts at new customers as part of the fun of the visit. It was great!

I asked for her help: pick the six best donuts they make to assemble a half dozen for me to take on the road. She went around asking the other workers there their thoughts and I ended up with: blueberry cake, pound cake, maple bacon raised, red velvet cake, chocolate frosted raised, and glazed raised. I decided to wait and enjoy them with friends once I reached West, TX. When we finally cut in to them, I thought all the donuts were great but was really blown away by the pound cake donut. Would happily check out Gibson Donuts again!

Photos

Location