On the Road to Texas - Day 4

 McKinney, Texas

On Wednesday, Oct. 21st I was up and moving by 6:30. Bill and Gibbs were out walking through the pecan trees at 5:45 - in the dark. 🫣 We headed out of the plantation at 8:15 and the clouds were really moving in. Let's head further west and find the sun again!

Good morning!
Our little rascal at the end of a travel day.
He doesn't sleep at all from our departure
until after our arrival at a destination.

A stop for fuel, taking advantage of the Mudflap savings, and topped up at $5.99/gal. We soon got onto I-40W and at 9:10, Gibbs was panting so much we stopped at a Rest Area near Ozark, AR. We all used the facilities and at this stop, we saw walnut trees. It's a nutty world!

Our departure from Paw Paw's

An hour later, we were crossing into Oklahoma and the temperature had risen to a pleasant 68F/20C and we had left the clouds completely behind. There are no winds to deal with again, more blessings.

Every once in a while a business
logo catches my eye.
I think this one is really suited
and well designed.

There are some pretty waterways we crossed, the Muskogee River being one before we took Exit 264A onto US-69S.

Lots of clouds to outrun.

Did you know there was a town called 'Canadian' in OK? We didn't and this is a new interstate for us but once we crossed both the North and South Canadian Rivers, we shouldn't have been surprised and a familiar Eufala Lake but we're not sure why I would have previous pictures for it?  🤔

North and South Canadian Rivers

Population of 2300 and it is
known for its high plains landscape.

We turned off the highway to get fuel at a Casey's on Hardy Springs Rd. taking advantage of another Mudflap savings. Diesel was $5.68/gal. with the discount. We tried eating lunch in the lot but it was just too small and congested so used the facilities and got back on the interstate. We ate our sandwiches while moving.

I can't argue with that above
statement. It's lovely.

Hey! This is actually my picture.
I was on the ball this time.

It is a warm day, just wonderful! 78F/25.5C is nothing to sniff about! We crossed into Texas @ 2 pm. and it had risen another few degrees. We had the a/c on in the truck because the sun beating in through the windows was hot. We went from US-69S to US-75S and the pavement was quite rough to start. We groaned, collectively. 🥴

And for our Texas arrival too.

Arriving in McKinney, TX we took Exit 46 onto Melissa Rd, then Milrany Ln arriving at our next Harvest Host destination. It is called SqueezePenny and is a Truck Stop with available covered parking for rv's, trailers or vehicles. Not an elite spot but it was on the route and we can get 30 amp electric service for the night. Works for us!

If you know me or have followed my
blog since early years, you may remember
that I love water towers. This is not the 
reputable Leaning Tower of Texas, at Groom,
but this one caught my eye.
It has a wee bit of a lean to it.

We got set up with Mohammed's assistance for the plug in and were good for the night by 3:15. Well, almost. Our Starlink is still not working properly which means no tv tonight again. 🤷‍♀️ Bummer. Bill isn't sure what happened with the Starlink but has a new cable to try once we are done moving. 

The back street to our destination
tonight. We're glad it wasn't in the heart
of downtown McKinney.

It was time to relax until supper and we did exactly that. We were cool enough under the shelter, without the heat of the sun beating down on the roof. The panels are fully charged but we won't be needing solar tonight. I made myself a cup of tea, 
Bill had a Coke and we updated blogs.

It's a pretty good spot for a night.
We'll have easy access for early morning
departure. Gibbs approves too.

When my tea was finished, I hopped in the shower. We've been killing flies in here for days, even before we left home, so maybe the heat from a hot shower will keep them out of the bathroom! 🤣🫣 

Every morning and afternoon,
we've masssacred this many flies - easy!
LOL

For supper, we had meat pies, which I cooked in the oven. Bill had fries with his and I heated 2 slices of garlic toast.

Supper was good.
I'll be picking up more meat pies, for
the freezer, in Yuma.

It was all very good! While it was cooking, I made our sandwiches for tomorrow. We cleaned the dishes up and after finishing my blog, we both sat with our books. Bill is halfway through his already! Good thing I brought a few. 🤭😉

Monday - acorns
Tuesday - pecans
Wednesday - walnuts
In a nutshell (🤭) it is 
a cracking great trip!

We've reached 81F/27.2C today, dropping to 53F/11.6C overnight. We've had a great day!

On the right, boughten goodies.
On the left, free gatherings from the ground.
Good night!

Thank you for stopping by and dropping a comment for us.

From Acorns to Pecans

Atkins, ArkansasW

On Tuesday, Oct. 20th we had a different wake up. Boy, it sure is strange going through time changes. Last night, just before our meal out, Bill was starting to feel stuffed up so took a cold tablet. He didn't eat as much as I'd normally expect and maybe that was why.

Good morning!

We woke at 4:45 am. First Gibbs and I heard Bill tell him that it wasn't time to get up, to go back to sleep. Bill used the facilities and apparently was wide awake anyway. Old time was 5:45. Bill, feeling the way he did last night, went up to bed just after 8:30 so he was slept out.

Acorns at Sikeston, MO

I watched the episode of Survivor myself, he'll catch up (or not) and went up to bed around 9:30 and slept well. We were in no hurry today. Our drive will only be just over 4 1/2 hours. Bill wasn't much better but took the Tylenol again and we sat with our tea and coffee and planned our next 3 nights.

Our spot
at J.T.'s Monday night
Lambert's is across the lot.

It was another unbelievably lovely day for traveling. I know the weather back home is good too and that is nice to see. I took Gibbs for a nice long walk around the park and admired the oak trees, even finding a few tiny acorns on the lot. We hooked up and pulled out at 9:15.

Remember our new table?
Bill knows how to pack!

Bill put shorts on today and I wore capris. Showing some leg!! The forecast everywhere is around 77F/24C. We got on I-55S and the roads were good. It was a pretty smooth ride and we made a brief stop at a truck parking area for nature calls. Gibbs settled down better after that, laying down for most of the morning.

Bill is happy with Black Beauty's mileage, getting 10.8 mpg today mostly. Good girl, BB! It has warmed up considerably, 74F/23.3C. Fuel prices are slowly dropping, we expected that in the mid-western states but don't expect it to last too long. To get the Canada vs US breakdown, check out Bill's next blog post.

I missed the sign to Arkansas
so had to steal one.
Memphis........sigh....maybe we'll have to
make a special trip one year. We always
talked about going back.

I thought this was considerate
of the county to add port-a-pots when
their services were unavailable.
Cute little teardrop called
The Birdhouse.

I didn't make a lunch, we discussed the need last night and again this morning while eating breakfast at 8:30, so at noon, we just snacked on cereal bars and cheese. I have hard-boiled eggs and yogourt in the Suite for when we stop, if we are so inclined to have more. 

Around North Little Rock, this
beautiful, massive church was worth
a photo op this year.

We did stop at a Rest Area although the building was closed, used their port-a-pots. That was very considerate as it meant we didn't have to open the Suite up to use our washroom. Gibbs stretched his little legs, as did we, and we were back on the interstate within 15 minutes. 

With just under 90 minutes to go, we felt refreshed and content with how the day was progressing. We've been so fortunate with our travel weather and thank the good Lord for watching over us this fall. We remembered (well, Bill did) to bypass the first road our vehicle gps's told us to turn onto last April, and stayed on Rd. 113 before making our turn.

Arrival at our destination.
Paw Paws Pecan's
We love Charlotte's Plantation home.

Either way involved a lot of twists and turns on a single lane road but this one we knew was more suited to traffic, especially large rv's. 😉🤣 We arrived at Paw Paw's Pecan Farm/Charlotte's Plantation at 2:45, parked in the same spot and got set up with no issues at all. Gibbs roamed off leash while I gathered freshly fallen pecans. ('pe-cahns').

Just relaxing outside in the
gorgeous sunshine and peacefulness.
Not a sound other than a red breasted
woodpecker, blue jay and a flicker.
(according to Merlin)

I still have very few left from last spring. Bill and Gibbs had a snooze inside and I was tickled that my sweetheart brought out my gravity chair to sit in and enjoy the outdoors. I'd brought a book to start but soon realized that I'd already read it. Oh well, I closed my eyes and relaxed. Our Starlink kept going in and out so I couldn't even catch up on your blog posts.

Lots of room for guest parking.
That's us, way back there.

Nancy will appreciate this
as I'm sure other quilters will too.
Charlotte's quilts are beautiful.
On the Christmas ones she integrates
sparkles in certain places. 💞

At 5, Billy had invited us up for a visit after their work day was done. It is harvest time! We had a lovely 30 minute chat and chose from an array of goodies to bring back to the Suite. Her quilts, fudge and his spiced nuts etc. were on display and the house smelled heavenly! Such a lovely couple, we'll be sad not to see them again.

This is what 'hungry eyes' look like.
Good thing his hands are in his pockets
although they had sample jars for
each one.

Charlotte and Billy
If you are coming this way,
it is definitely worth a stop!

Back at the Suite, Bill finished the leftover mac & cheese and I had fried bacon and a hard boiled egg. We weren't that hungry, seems Lambert's is still keeping us filled! With Starlink being spotty, for some reason, I forgot to use my hotspot and instead we both opted to leave the tv off and read. 

Such a peaceful place.
We did hear some coy dogs before
we went to bed.

I'm into  Sue Grafton's U is for Undertow and Bill is reading James Patterson's Cajun Justice. When I went to add pictures to my written blog, half of it had disappeared. Oh bother! Anyway, I was in bed by 9:30 and Bill by 10:30. Gibbs, of course, was sleeping most of the evening and followed me up. 💗

This was quite enough supper
for me tonight.

I hope you had a good day, we certainly did! We are happy to have you along. Just a note, like Lorne mentioned in his blog, if your name comes up Anonynous when you comment, please add your name. I'd love to know who you are! Thank you!

Where we are today.

Where we'll be
tomorrow.
Good night!

Tomorrow, we'll be in Texas, come along for the ride.