Texas Trip, Day One

Texas Trip, Wednesday April 8


Left home about 9:30 a.m. The morning started out cool, but soon became sunny and warm, with the temp reaching into the 80s by mid-afternoon.



At one point, a flock of Canadian geese, white undersides and black-tipped wings shining, flew against the blue sky overhead, as a jet, too far away to hear, glinted in the sunlight, leaving a vapor trail streaming behind. Red clover, and yellow blackeyed Susans decorated the medians along the highway.


Mother had given Snoops a sedative before we left, which, instead of calming her and making her doze, just made her more hyper than ever. She frantically tried to chew her way out of the carrier, but she settled down finally.


At noon, about an hour away from Texarkana, we pulled into a vacant lot to have a lunch of deli turkey and baby Swiss cheese sandwiches, with lettuce, and Mother's homemade chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies for dessert.


We arrived at the Texarkana Koa about 2:30 p.m. After we set up camp, we went down State Line Road, which divides Texas and Arkansas, to the courthouse, where we did snapshots of us standing by a sign dividing the two states. A billboard along the way declares "Texas...so big, it takes up two states."



We also toured the war memorials near the courthouse. The memorial to World War I notes the names of the area's fallen, beneath which is a list of the "coloreds" lost in the war. At that time, segregation was obviously practiced even in listing their fallen heroes.



Back at camp, we visited the registration center, where there is an exhibit of RV art...paintings of campers through the years. At the gift shop, I bought a couple of postcards…one depicts a “Texas traffic jam” (a herd of longhorn cattle).


Hubbie drove the truck back to the campsite, but Mother and I walked. She stayed at camp, then, while Hubbie and I ran to the WDCS to buy tea bags and ice cream, among other things. We picked up a bunch of sweet potatoes at 30 cents a pound while we were there.


Back at camp, I heated the leftover stirfry and rice for supper. Then we relaxed…Mother and Hubbie read our state’s newspaper, while I wrote this trip narrative on my laptop. Then Mother and I went for a walk around the campground, after which we enjoyed the campground swings for a while as the evening cooled down.



Later, we played three games of Skipbo...I won two and Hubbie won one. Then we enjoyed banana splits, using the vanilla fat-free, sugar-free ice cream we picked up at the WDCS, with chocolate syrup drizzled on top.

After that, we were plenty ready for bed.