The way we are at 5AM: Eleni stirs and threatens to wake up. Thankfully, she is convinced otherwise.
The way we are at 6AM: Sleeping
The way we are at 7AM: Surprisingly long lie-in!
The way we are at 8AM: We’re packing the car.
The way we are at 9AM: Back on Interstate 10. Sign –“Don’t Mess with Texas.”
The way we are at 10AM: We pass a border control vehicle searching an Americanos bus (not the one here).
The way we are at 11AM: San Antonio. We cut through the city by walking on the sub city river walk towards the Alamo. There it is, the 1700s Spanish Mission turned symbol of Texan Independence in 1836, surrounded by skyscrapers and exploitive attractions such as “Crockett’s Hotel.”
The way we are at 12 PM: Similar to the reason we are visiting this site, Eleni is standing her ground. She does not want to walk around the Alamo anymore. Alex wants to buy a coon-skin hat. No, change that. An arrowhead. No, change that. A pop-gun. No, change that. A stuffed armadillo. He can’t make up his mind, and a few things have been vetoed for him. He ends up leaving the gift-shop empty handed.
12:30 AM. CDC Monkeys at the Alamo!
Tyler, this one is for you!
The way we are at 1 PM: We’re eating lunch by the river. Lone-Star café. Kirsti and Neil are eating fried Jalepeno peppers (again).
The way we are at 2PM: We’re on the road again. Still I-10. Kirsti and Eleni both need naps. The latter holds out …
The way we are at 3PM: We all wish Eleni would give in to a nap. The emergency DVD doesn’t seem to work. We exit the Interstate, cross a one-lane bridge, and stop in a town called Junction. Emergency rations – kids are given 3 dollars each a Dollar General store. Alex buys blue tac, a bag of rubber bands, and 50 erasers that go on the end of pencils. Eleni buys two pseudo “My Little Pony” type toys (I thought you might like to know that, 7th grade!) and a pink hat with pink hair coming out of the back. This is what desperation looks like. I’ve succumbed to some level; I’m not even sure there is a name for it. Survival? It works. This buys us another hour.
The way we are at 4 PM: Terrain changing drastically. We pass ranches and rocks, low bushes, aloe plants, cacti, windmills and shacks, cows, and bald eagles.
The way we are at 4:30 PM: Beautiful rain storm.
The way we are at 5 PM: Eleni finally fell asleep. But it’s 5 PM…? We hand Alex some Goldfish crackers and see how far we can get in the car.
The way we are at 6PM: The speed limit on I-10 at this point is 80 during the day and 65 at night. Kirsti reaches some sort of driving Nirvana.
The way we are at 7PM: Sudden realization that there are long spaces between towns in Texas. I mean LONG spaces. Kirsti asks, “How much gas do we have left in the car?” Neil responds, “We have a tent.”
The way we are at 7:10 PM: Eleni wakes up. Waking up (like her mother) has never been her best trait. She’s howling in the back seat, and Alex is trying desperately to soothe her.
The way we are at 7:25 PM: After driving 410 miles, we realize we have 50% battery power left on the computer. Their DVDs come out, and the wailing comes to a complete and sudden stop…
The way we are at 8 PM: Fort Stockton has an 11-foot road-runner at an intersection in this lonely, used to be vital for trading goods, town. We’re just thankful to see a sign for a motel.
The way we are at 9 PM: The kids just got out of the pool, and we are eating a make-shift picnic on the beds in our very small motel room. The wind rushes through this town on the plains (or some type of terrain that is very flat!) and we feel and hear it hum though our motel door.
The way we are at 10 PM: After a very long second wind (and who can blame them?), Alex and Eleni are finally asleep.
The way we are at 11 PM: Kirsti just uploaded yesterday’s blog.
The way we are at 12 AM: We’re all fast asleep
And so it continues until 4AM. Two women talking downstairs gets so loud that people start yelling “go to bed” from their motel rooms. Kirsti can’t get back to sleep so she writes this. Good morning…and, it's July 8th now. Happy birthday, brudders Michael and Matthew!
3 comments:
good job alex school supplies in the summer! you can use the rubber bands to flick people. you can use the erasers to put in your sisters mouth tell her flying ponies eat them but only do that when shes being a real pain. the sticky tack you can put in your sisters hat and her hair will get stuck.
--sam
P.S. dont do any of this stuff.
What a busy couple of weeks! And I must say that it looks very warm in some of those photos, very warm indeed. (I am where it's cold, two pairs of socks and a fleece cold...which is why it felt like time to check work email and saw the notice of the blog -- so the gale force 5 wind is good then, I suppose.)
I'm pleased to read off all your adventures!
Marcia Worth-Baker
Neil -- Clare is wearing the Imperial Britain t-shirt today!
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