Two Large Strides and GoodBye Texas

Hello to Zig Zags from Alexandria,Louisiana!! Well, the sunset in Big Spring was glorious but for some reason both Barb and I had a terrible time sleeping. I finally bit the bullet and got up at 5:30, found my clothes, glasses, phone and USA Today puzzle in the dark and went down to the breakfast room. Got a cup of coffee. Called Bill and had a nice quiet chat. Then around 6, breakfast was set up but I did my puzzles first. Various workmen came in one by one to have breakfast before heading out to work. Each said good morning to me and each other. Very polite and friendly. Then as I was getting a Danish one of them said, oh, you don't work here--I'm so sorry. I looked at him questioningly--apparently he'd asked me where the syrup was, I was so zombie-like that I hadn't heard him. He explained that to me and apologized again--I assured him, it was fine and we were both lucky that I didn't work there--lol After I finished eating, I went back to the room and grabbed a bunch more puzzles I'd saved and went back and completed three pages of them. Checked my email on the motel computer and the time and then went and woke Barb up. Changed into fresh clothes and washed up and then kept her company as she ate--I didn't want any more coffee--I'd had three cups!! We were both exhausted but having made the reservation we had to move on to Waco. Got on the road by 9:08 at 50 degrees and sunny. Started out with buttermilk skies. Thank goodness we had excellent weather for the 298.5 mile drive. I told Barb I had to take a nap along the way, since I simply could not stay awake. As a result there aren't many pictures of the trip. I had written down the route numbers for Barb, in case I wasn't awake when we had to change roads. We drove southeast to Sterling City and then east toward Brownwood-Early. This is a route Bill and I have taken quite often. As a matter of fact, we stay in Brownwood and eat at Prima Pasta right next to the hotel. I slept for about an hour after leaving Sterling City and, though awake by the time we went through Early, I wasn't in the mood to take pictures--my nose was running, my eyes were running and I couldn't stop yawning but eventually the body pulled itself together and I felt more or less normal. The skies now had mare's tails clouds, replacing the buttermilk. After passing through Gatesfield we saw the flooded fields from the torrential rains that have been drowning the area for days. At last we arrived in Waco. The room had a different arrangement than any Choice hotel I've ever stayed in but it actually was quite comfortable and we each had a window and space to move. As you can see, though she slept a bit more than I had, Barb was quite ready to collapse and watch TV. The last 50 miles were painful, it was obvious she was tired and having a difficult time driving the last bit of the day. I kept praying she'd manage to stay awake til we got to the motel and that it would be easy to find. My prayers were answered. We arrived safely at 3 and, since our room wasn't quite ready, relaxed with coffee in the breakfast room. Ate in and watched PBS since it was Sunday night. I've read The Woman in White so am anxious to see how well they adapt it. The movies made from the novel have been horrible and in no way attached to the book other than the name. Not sure I'm liking the turn Poldark is taking--they should have finished it as they did the original, in stead of extending the original books with modern additions that are now turning a family drama into a soap opera. Barb started to doze before WW ended and I put out my light at 10pm. Slept right through until 630 am, fell back to sleep and got up at 8. We had wanted to wait and see the weather report before making tonight's reservation in Alexandria, La since it was a 319 mile drive. Both ends seemed clear of any rain and looked as though it would be cloudy rather than full sun. It was a go. Met a nice Texas couple at breakfast who chatted about their children--four of whom live in NYC in various places and one of whom lives in Lafayette, La. They move to the warmest part of Texas as the weather changes during the winter--lol I guess that's one way of handling a colder SOUTHERN winter--lol We got on the way around 10 am, both of us in much better condition than yesterday, we slept so well. We even took a couple of Farm Roads making the trip 10miles shorter. Flo was the funniest town--next door to the fire station was the water department and it was open. Before both buildings an empty road and across the road a herd of Brahmin bulls--some very curious, others totally indifferent to our presence. There was certainly no evidence of the population being protected. We sure aren't in the desert anymore, nor even on the prairie--the hill country is pretty much behind us, too and we passed through the piney woods of East Texas--the Big Thicket. Not only are we in the Central Time Zone we are also in the South, not the West or Southwest. It seems so strange how quickly the topography changes. Bet it wasn't like that for the Pioneers!! Rt 7 goes across Texas almost to the Louisiana Border and we picked it up just west of Crockett, which has some pretty impressive homes on the east side of town. Since Bill and I have been in this area the roads around Lufkin are finally finished and we were able to totally avoid the heart of town as well as the chaos of the college section. East of town we start to see the big rivers that are typical of the East Texas area--indeed of the Eastern part of the US. Starts in the Midwest that huge rivers flow. One of them, though it is dammed here to form Sabine Lake, is the Sabine which is the boundary between Texas and Louisiana. The causeway across the reservoir is almost 2 miles long and the coast of both sides and along their lengths is covered with recreation areas. Many is a town with several buildings that caught my eye--the French latticework wrought iron gallery in one, the Alamo Spanish look of another and the Mission appearance of St John's Catholic Church. In Robeline the buildings were somewhat smaller but still pretty though decaying. Came upon an accident and though the young girls involved seemed okay their car did not. At Natchitoches, the oldest town of the Louisiana Purchase, we got on an Interstate for the first time in days and headed south to Alexandria. Troopers out and pulling over non-Louisianes--even though the speed limit is 75!! Soon, we were at our Comfort Inn, where we ordered Pizza from Pizza Hut and washed it down with Pepsi--soda is something I rarely drink, but it tasted good and cold tonight. Arrived at 351 after driving 309.3 miles. The temperature only got to 66 degrees today, noticeably colder than yesterday's 72. Tomorrow is an easy day--St Francisville for Grandmother's Buttons and then on to Natchez and across the Mississippi again to stay in Vidalia. Soon we will be on the Trace and it will truly feel as though we are close to home once more. So, I have to do some more computer work and then get ready for TV and bed. Will be in touch again soon--take care, BarbZig and KatZag