On The Road

8:50 AM
We are having a nice leisurely ride down interstate and are approaching Shreveport, Louisiana. There are lots of green trees and pools of water to the right and left of us.The skies are clear and the sun is bright and warming. I had to pack some sweaters and warm slacks. I am anticipating cool evenings in the Rocky Mountains. I should have bought a jacket but it was too far out of my imagination to go to the coat closet when the temps in Louisiana were in the high '80's. I could take a nap. The drive is soothing. I"ve been working a crossword puzzle and playing solitaire on the laptop as we cruise along.
Right now I can see fields and fields with rows and rows of corn. The rows of new crops are as neatly coiffed as a head of braided hair. I would love to see this from the air though I dislike flying. OH SNAP! I just realized why they call that braided hair "corn rows"!!
As I ride along, I do stretches on the knee and keep some movement going in that leg. I want to be able to walk when we stop somewhere. If I don't keep moving it, it will be very stiff and painful.
I'm signing off for a while. I'll be updating this throughout the drive.

12:00 Noon
We stopped along the way (close to Lindale, Tx.) for a picnic lunch at a roadside rest area. We chose a picnic table on a rise overlooking the traffic on interstate. A nice breeze blew through the shaded picnic spot. We had our meal of hoagie sandwiches and drinks and then drove to the next exit and fueled up the truck. We are now about 322 miles from where we will shut down for the night. So far it has been an uneventful trip. The roads in Texas are awesome. Some of the best maintained roads in the USA can be found in this state. Usually I see an enormous amount of wildflowers along these highways but today it's most tall grass that could use a mower over it. I like this part of Texas. East Texas is green and lush; west Texas is dried, parched desert. The traffic is moving along and there hasn't been any major pileups or even any minor ones.
Lots of cattle and horses grazing can be seen off to the right in the green fields. The horses are busy fighting off the flies; their tails whipping from side to side. This time of year is especially nice. The animals have their babies frolicking at their sides. Occasionally you can see a horse or cow break into an impromptu romp.
We are about 6 miles from Canton, Texas. That's the home of the huge flea market that is open every "first Tuesday" of the month.. I finally got to go there a few months ago when we came through here at just the right time. It was worth the stop.
The next time I open this to post again will be when we reach Childress, Tx. around 5PM.
Later!

2PM
165 miles from Childress where we will spend the night. We came through Big D and as usual the traffic was heavy. We passed the Texas Motor Speedway; a huge race track. We will be moving out of the green pastures and away from the trees. Soon it will be desert; dried, parched and brown. This is not my favorite part of this state.
I should settle in for a little nap but I find it almost impossible to sleep while a vehicle is moving. To be continued later today.

4:30PM
OH DAMN! Thankfully we have arrived. We just got into Childress and our room. I think my butt welded to the truck seat. I unglued myself and stumbled into the room. I found the Ibuprofen and took 800 mgs. My leg was stiff and painful. A long ride and I'm grateful I'm out of that truck.

We traveled through a little town about 45 miles from here named Chillicothe. Population on the city sign said 795 people. I think they need to do a recount. Main Street or the highway coming in was one and the same and there was not one store that wasn't boarded up. There was a service station and a DQ and then nothing. The houses lining the street were in major disrepair. I'm left to wonder just what industry supported this little town and what happened to it? Childress is a bit bigger and looks more prosperous. The main industry here is farming. Cotton and wheat.

We had dinner at a real Mexican food place. The food was awesome. Lafayette, Louisiana has some of the best food in the USA but there isn't a good Mexican food restaurant in the whole town. Texas is a good place to eat some good Tex-Mex food.

I'm almost in West Texas and that's not the prettiest part of Texas. Sage, Sand and Mesquite and lots of uninhabitable land. Dry land. You can see an occasional windmill still twirling; it's indeterminable to whom it serves.

I'm just glad to be anywhere that does not resemble the inside of a Dodge 4X4!

I will post pictures to this blog later tonight.