Texas Twisted reported in May 2002 and May 2003 on the Texas Department of Transportation's upgrades to the state's highway rest stops. Many of the new stops, now called "safety rest areas," have been designed with specific styles and themes intended to reflect their surroundings, which have resulted in their becoming attractions in their own right.

It has recently come to the attention of Texas Twisted that the rest areas, both old and new, are now being equipped with wireless Internet access. Termed TxDOT HotSpots, all 84 rest areas and each of TxDOT's 12 Texas Travel Information Centers will eventually be equipped with the so-called wi-fi connections.

According to TxDOT's Web site, four rest areas in Donley and Hardeman counties have already been equipped with wireless access. Last month, TxDOT was accepting proposals from access providers interested in installing connections in the remaining facilities.

Motorists carrying personal wireless devices will be able to connect at any HotSpot entirely free of charge. Additionally, TxDOT plans to install fee-based Internet kiosks for those traveling without their own equipment.

Though the Donley County Eastbound rest area pictured here does not, at this time, offer wi-fi, its lobby boasts a tornado shelter, its bathroom showcases rare, full-length urinals, and a plaque outside features an incomplete sentence.

Those disinterested in this news completely can rest in the knowledge that the technologically upgraded safety rest areas will still provide everyone with the basic opportunity to take a pee-pee.