Texas - July 19, 2020

We made it to Texarkana, Texas, not to be confused with Texarkana, Arkansas. They're side by side with barely a bump in the road to separate the two. I don't get it, I really don't.

We left Maryland yesterday about an hour and a half late. So far I realized I've forgotten my cell phone charger, the air mattress and sleeping bag, ketchup, mustard, salt, and pepper. Robert insists I also forgot the games he wanted to bring on the trip. However, I told him several days ago to pick out the games and put them in the living room, so I'm not taking credit for leaving "Battleship" behind.

So far so good. We didn't have plans for last night, we just wanted to get as far as we could before stopping for the night. The original plan was to make it past Knoxville, Tennessee. We actually made it past Nashville, Tennessee. Yea for us. Since we didn't have reservations at a campground, Glenn wanted to try staying in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Turns out quite a few of the stores allow overnight parking. I'm not sure where he learned this interesting fact, but when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas takes his RV out, he frequently stays in Wal-Mart parking lots. I have always resisted this idea based on my disdain for Wal-Mart, I boycotted the store over 5 years ago, but I was in no shape to argue the point at 1 am. Glenn found a Wal-Mart, thanks to our new Garmin GPS, and wonder of wonders, they allow overnight parking. So our first night of our Westward vacation was spent at Wal-Mart. Fortunately, we are self contained, so the RV stayed a comfortable 68 degrees thanks to our generator and two air conditioners.

We hit the road around 7 this morning and made it to Texarkana by 3:30 this afternoon. We are staying at a KOA, which we have found to be very kid friendly through the years. They usually have a pool, which is a must with my crew. As soon as we pulled in the boys were clambering to get into their swimsuits. The pool is tiny and the water was lukewarm, but we had it to ourselves, so that's a plus. I hung out and swam with the boys for about an hour then decided to head back to the RV to start dinner. I spent the better part of last week making freezer meals so that we could have nice, home cooked meals while on the road. Tonight's fare, Teriyaki Chicken. It was okay, a little salty. I'm hoping some of the other meals I made will be better. It was a lot of work for mediocre results.

Our biggest upset of the day, other than the missing "Battleship"... no ice cream in the little store at the KOA. I know, I couldn't believe it either. I've never heard of such a thing. We're in Texas for heaven's sake. Texas. It's hot in Texas. Sean was inconsolable until Glenn tracked down a Hershey's bar. It's not quite the same, but it will do in a pinch.

I have to give a shout out to my good friend Elizabeth Thompson who I was talking to when I remembered I could check out books on CD at the library. I told her I would give her credit for the idea. I, Alex Cross by James Patterson got us through yesterday, and we started Valkyrie by Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager today. Should finish it tomorrow.

So that's it for tonight. I'm beat. Hopefully once we start the actually fun part of our vacation I'll have more interesting things to share. Depending on our timing we may get to Carlsbad, New Mexico in time to see the bats fly out of Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow night. That should be fun. I'll keep you posted.