We took Mom's car (2004 Kia Optima) and went down to San Antonio, TX, to exchange it for mine (2010 Mazda3), which she has been driving since we bought it in January. And of course, the most importans thing, we finally got our boys and took them home at last. It has been so long since we actually lived together as a family.
We left Fort Campbell at 4 AM for our 936 mile trip and our scenic route took us all the way around the post and through a lot of woods at first. We then went through an area called the Land Between the Lakes, a popular recreational area in this region. Definitely want to go hiking and camping over there some time. We then drove through Tennessee in southwestern direction on I-40 and passed Memphis. After Memphis, we drove through Arkansas, passing Little Rock and the birth town of Bill Clinton, Hope, AR on I-30. Then we went through Texarkana (yes this is the name of a city), which is, surprise, on the border of Texas and Arkansas, hence the name I guess. Later on we saw a bit of Dallas, driving through it. It has some beautiful areas with big lakes, might want to live there one day. We will see...
So, Nathan was stubborn and decided on driving the whole route without an overnight stay halfway. By the time we almost got there (Austin) it was raining really hard and we stopped at Whataburger (Yum!) to grab a bite and then took a 4 hour nap in the car. We were just exhausted and did not want to drive in that heavy rain at night. Once we had enough rest and the rain wore off, we continued our journey and finally made it to Mom's house around 2 AM.
The following days we were busy packing the boys' things and donating anything obsolete to the Goodwill. Love that place! You can donate pretty much anything from furniture to clothes to toys etc. They create jobs for people who cannot find work in the regular job market due to disability or other reasons, by selling donated goods. So we went there with bags and bags of clothes and toys. I am always glad to help others. http://www.goodwill.org/
After we knocked out all the packing and getting rid of things, we finally had some time to kick back and relax. We actually spent our last couple of nights at a hotel, where we were barbecueing and the kids (the boys and their cousins) had fun in the pool.
We also met a "Texas sized" spider, as Mom called it. I believe it was a trantula. It was huge, hairy, and creepy. I was walking to my car, parked in the cul-de-sac, where Mom's house is at, wearing sandals of course since it is summer, and what do I see slowly strutting down the street next to my car? This big old, fat spider. Eeeek! I literally jumped when I saw it. I wanted to run, but then I was fascinated to see a spider of that size roaming freely and not behind glass in a zoo. I did keep my distance, considering my open shoes. That spider was walking extremely slow, not in a hurry or anything. Then comes the kitty of the neighbors, a tiny but bold little feline, attacking the spider and playing with it until the spider disappeared under a trash can. That kitty had some balls, I was afraid for it to be bitten and die or something, but that little furball was fearless.
Talking about crawling things. San Antonio had a plague of crickets this summer. Parking lots, store fronts, entire gas stations literally covered in carpets of black crickets. That was just crazy. I haver never seen anything like this. The boys were grossed out by them. I did not care, just hated the crunch everytime you stepped on one, which you could not avoid as they were everywhere, including the hotel grounds. Unfortunately they also made it into our room, through the A/C, but what could management do about it, a different room would not have made a difference. So every night we hunted the crickets (about 15 to 30) in the room and got rid of them. So, yeah, I had my share of crawling creatures this summer, not to mention the occasional roach you encounter in a Texas home. LOL. Roaches really are the worst though. One thing I love about Fort Campbell: I have not seen a roach here, yet!
As we, or should I say Nathan since I cannot drive yet, learned our lesson, we decided to split the trip back home in half and stay overnight at a hotel in Little Rock, AR. In Little Rock we also went to a BBQ place called Backyard Burgers, one of the best grilled chicken sandwiches I ever had. Delicious! I later found out that it is a chain restaurant. I am not a big fan of chain restaurants, which are a big deal in America. This place was different though and I love it! I need to find out if there is one close to Fort Campbell, too.
As we arrived at Fort Campbell in the early evening (this time we took more time and longer stops throughout the trip, I could not help it and had to take the picture of the squirrel just relaxing in the shade at the gate:
More pictures coming soon.
