Day 5 - Routing Through Texas

Odessa, Texas

On Thursday, Oct. 22nd it was a dark 6:30 when I got out of bed. I'd woken up a couple of times, 4:10 and 5:40 but thankfully dropped off again. We like to be up and moving on our 400 mile days by 8 and it was 7:45 when we pulled out.

Good morning!
Beautiful sunrise and sky
but not a beautiful departure
on the roads out to the US380.
🥴🥴

That was an okay stay, but we wouldn't do it again. Mainly because of the way to it and certainly our exit roads to the highway were horrible. The lot itself, it was nice to be covered, it kept the Suite cool on the hot day. However, there was a 5th wheel behind us with large dogs. 🤷‍♀️

I wish I could have got in front
of this dummy.
It looked like Edward Scissorhands
but I'm dating myself.
I love the sense of humour!

I know, I know. Gibbs barks too but they were loud and no one telling them to stop was annoying, causing our mutt to want to join. It was a truck stop so it was noisy until about 9 when it became very quiet. 

What looked like a long way to go on
our Google map, was quite short when
we came to Denton.
This Children's Hospital is huge and very nice.
I'm just so sad that it is so necessary.
😟
That's a lot of sick little people.

Next to the hospital was
a Daycare.
Donna, here's an elephant for you!
🤭

We were pleased with the host, who came to get us hooked up to 30 amp (which was offered 'free' on the app) when our outlet was being used by aforementioned rv. We slept well and gave Muhammed a donation and good review. He was a nice man, introducing himself to Bill early on.

Runaway Bay
was a cute, pretty town and lovely
water access.

Downtown Runaway Bay
there were many cute displays.

Just a few views along the way.

We got on the US380W all the way through Denton, which was busy enough but steady and at Decatur we took the 380W truck route bypass (288N). This relieved us of a lot of traffic, bringing us back to 35S andthen 380W again. Roads are pretty good.

Yup, definitely a wide load!
Bill had to move over to the right side to
let him pass.
I love seeing the working oil rigs
around here, all along our drive today.

With a stop for fuel at Casey's, our Mudflap didn't work again but the price at $5.59/gal was the best yet. Just before Jacksboro, we went on 281S to I-20W. That was a long stretch and at 12:45 we stopped for 1/2 tank of fuel at Clyde, Tx at an Allsups. 

I like the fat ones, the chunky ones
but I love the tin man ones.
🥰

Our Mudflap worked again, strange as it is. We paid $5.58/gal and Black Beauty was full again. Before we pulled out, we had lunch and got back on I-20W at 1 pm. It seemed like another long stretch of traveling through a fair bit of construction. 

Our second train today.
This was a short one, the first one
had multiple engines, beginning and middle
but I didn't get a good picture.

Odessa was no different but we followed the gps instructions to Exit 115 where we got onto W. 8th Street to Belmont Baptist Church. This is our destination for the night with a nice big paved parking lot to swing around in and park. It seems pretty level. We were set up by 4:15.

Gibbs started out panting a lot,
sitting up but the afternoon was
laying down at least.
He keeps checking to see our house.
💕

My stomach was upset on and off throughout the drive today, mostly off but I was uncomfortable enough. When you're on the road you don't have the same options as you do at home, where I would have just laid down. Instead, I popped some Tums and they seemed to calm things down.

Driving through some of these
construction congested cities seems
simple enough.
But pulling a big rig, through cement
barriers on each side and semis at
every bend, it can be harrowing.
Bill gets my greatest respect,
especially after 7 hours.

I only ate half of the sandwich and some cheese and felt that I could have gone without it. I didn't feel sick, just an upset stomach. 🤷‍♀️ It was fine for much of the afternoon until we parked at the church and I had a cup of tea. I wonder if the glass of Coke from last night was the culprit. 

Belton Baptist Church
is our stop tonight.
It is on a quiet back street so
we're hopeful for a good night's rest again.

So, for supper, I cooked 4 weiners for hot dogs but while Bill and Gibbs had theirs, I had some Pepto Bismol. That seemed to do the trick and I had a hotdog too. We cleaned up the few dishes and Bill sat to read while I finished up with my blog. 

I felt better so had a hotdog.
Giving my second weiner to
Gibbs with his dry food.
Gobble gobble, it's gone!
🐶

There is a slight breeze coming in my small window as I write and it feels great. I think getting used to sucking it up when the heat gets to be too much this winter will be my challenge. I'm spoiled and with no ceiling fan in the Suite, I'll have to get creative so I don't irritate my house mates too much!

With a lot of clouds, a
pretty sunset is mostly
guaranteed.
Our Suite in this perspective looks
as long as the church.
We were the only guests here.

We reached the 82F/27.7C again today and the clouds have moved in heavy. They aren't rain clouds though and it won't cool down much below 60F/15C overnight. We've had a great day, other than a fairly long day, we survived! Thank you, everyone, who sent good wishes for Bill. He was feeling 90% better this morning. 💖

                                   Good night!

Thank you for your comments and for visiting us.