Moving On Across Texas, Temporary Goodbyes, Walmart Overnighter

Walmart, Vidor, Texas

It was 5:30 on Friday, Nov. 15^th when I first woke up. It was still dark out my window so I snuggled closer to my sweetie and dozed back off for 45 minutes. We rose just shy of 6:30 and dressed for the day. The sky was clear and the sun about to rise within the half hour. With clear skies, as a rule, we expect cold temperatures but the 45F didn’t feel bad at all with no real wind.

Our last morning in the park

When Bill saw Jo-Anne walk by with Higgins he saw Higgins stop and look back at our door. So, he went to say hi. Jo-Anne and Bob’s plan last night was to stay with us today to Beaumont, TX and then split off Saturday morning. This morning, she informed us, that after looking at it again, if they left from St. Bernard they would gain an hour in their travel to Frisco. That means that we were saying goodbye this morning instead.

Some sights on our drive to I-10
We laughed at the dog with his head out the window
Top right - an egret in flight beside us
The pretty view of pecan trees near Chalmette

We were both on schedule to pull out between 8 and 8:30 so we carried on with the usual packing up procedure. It was 8 when Bill and I were hooked up and although we would both be travelling I-10W for a while before the split off onto I-49, we figured we’d leave first. This would be good experience for them, finding their own way. We gave them the information about places we’ve stayed and knew to be safe.

Harrah’s Casino in Shreveport, LA and Coleman Park in Brownfield, TX, were two places I found on freecampsites.net and we were very happy with them for overnight stays. Bill and I got onto W. Judge Perez Rd. which unfortunately took us downtown through Chalmette, Violet and a busy rush hour but small towns are not as bad as big cities at that time of day. We eventually got onto I-10W and around New Orleans onto the quieter interstate.

Yikes - When we were ready to merge onto I-10W
it was morning rush hour

We drove along with the large body of water on my right and we felt knowledgeable (from our friends’ info) that it was Lake Pontchartrain.  It was just before this that we received some sad news regarding our friend’s wellness. Bill was driving so I read it to him and we shared a quiet tearful moment. One day at a time, they are saying and that is the only way to look at one’s recovery. We sent our hugs and prayers across the miles, feeling a bit helpless.

Barges and boats

The drive was good with the usual slow downs for construction every so often but generally we had no complaints. We crossed the Mississippi River again, it seems it is following us or is it the other way around? Then the very long Atchfalaya Bridge took us over water which was very interesting. It reminds me of exactly where we are, Louisiana, with tree stumps jutting up out of the water and fisherman trolling the inlets. We passed Exit 103A where Bob would be turning off onto I-49N and we texted back and forth a bit.

There's some fishing going on here
and just such pretty views across Lake Charles

They are about 15 minutes behind us. We stopped at Rayne for fuel at a Frog City station. The price was right and although at the pumps, things looked dungy, this was one of the nicest truck stop washrooms I’ve been in so far this trip. There is a Casino here so maybe that is why. We decided to pull out to the back of the lot since it was 11:30 and have our lunch sandwiches now. Then it was back on the highway again for a couple of hours.

Frog city Truck stop
I loved painted decals at the overpass
A very suitable, clean ladies' room

The interstate pavement was not too bad for the most part with overpasses and bridges being the rough sections. When we were over the bridge at Lake Charles, we hit a rough section for about a mile that almost jarred our permanent teeth loose. I cringed and said “I’m afraid of what that did to the inside of the Suite”.  Then it smoothed out again and out of the city, traffic also cleared a fair bit.

The Information Travel Centre
welcoming travelers into Texas

We were getting tired and so what originally seemed like it would be too early to stop (according to our gps arrival time) worked out well. We found a Walmart Supercentre at Vidor, TX and a good spot in front of a motor home from Quebec, Canada. It was around 2:30 when I walked in to notify the Manager and get the approval to stay. It was a great driving day, with sunshine warming Black Beauty up nicely all the way but we were happy to be done for the night.

We passed Gander RV
Huge flags usually indicate Camping World
and there is a definite connection

I’d remembered to pull out a container of chili from the freezer but with a Jack in the Box across the road, we thought we’d give it a try instead. In the meantime, I re-organized the fridge and cupboards that had jostled about during that upsetting mile of rough pavement. My goodness, it is sometimes very surprising how much things jump around, even with bars and preventative measures in place. The best was ………… well, you can see for yourself! Ha ha, it made us laugh.

Never before has this happened to our toilet paper
during travel

I made myself a cup of tea and took some Advil to ease the headache that was niggling across my forehead. After reading a chapter of my book and finishing my drink, I went upstairs and curled up under our Algodones blanket for a snooze. That did the trick. Bill had no problem dropping off downstairs in his recliner – within minutes, I might add. 😊 When I came downstairs, I went back and forth with my buddy back home on text and then caught up on the blog.

There was room for us tucked over here in front of a motor home

At 5:30, we walked across N. Main Street to Jack in the Box for supper. We’d never eaten at one of these before but looking at the menu online, they provided a lot of choices for fast food meals. I ordered the Swiss cheese, crispy bacon and tomato burger on sourdough bread with curly fries. This was delicious and for under $20 we had a good dinner. We walked from there right into Walmart and picked up the few groceries on our list.

Back at the Suite, I made up the last of the egg salad into sandwiches for tomorrow and Sunday’s driving days. Bill put the recorded episodes of The Voice on, we had a serving of custard each and I worked on publishing my post. This has been a great day, no problems with the drive and we found our overnight stop easily. I hope you’ve had an enjoyable day too.

This was a great fast food meal

Dessert couldn't have been any better
Good night from Vidor, Texas

Thanks for popping in!