Road Trip to Texas with Three Little Boys

July 7, 2014
We got off to a good start.  Lorene arrived about 5:20 am.  We hadn't been up very long, our alarms went off at 5.  I didn't feel ready yet, and Lynette was still in bed. We were all packed and ready.  Jim packed our things in Lorene's van, checked the oil and the windshield washer fluid while I quickly packed some cheerios and the muffins I made for our breakfast.  Come to find out, those boys don't like blueberry muffins with big blueberries and crumbled them into a mess trying to eat around them.  We were on the road at 6 and going strong when Jim noticed he didn't have his phone.  Thankfully, we were hardly out of town so back home we go.  We dropped Lorene and Lynette off at Wal-mart so one could buy a book for trip entertainment and the other could get a syringe for the Tylenol Christian was needing for teething troubles.  The rest of us whooshed on home and we were back on the Texas road at 6:20 am.

Unfortunately, C took offense at his mom leaving and began to howl.  Fortunately, Zane asked for a toy and began to talk to him which stemmed the tide for only a few minutes.  We were on the road a half hour before he finally succumbed to sleep.

8:32 am
We are south of York, two hours on the road.  C is asleep, Ly is asleep, Lo is trying to sleep, Barry would sleep if he had his paci, and Zane is quiet.  It is now broken by a fussy, wakeful C and Ly didn't get her nap.  The corn is tasseling here and wheat harvest has begun.  It doesn't feel like we are very far south yet, but they are ahead of us here.

9:59 am

We are a little more than a quarter through Kansas. We just passed the Solomon River.  It's so green down here; they must have had rain down here, too.  The little river cuts through white clay banks with trees hanging over the water.  Somehow it reminded me of the Plum Creek, a wide shallow creek in the Sandhills that runs through my grandparent's ranch property.  I have many happy memories of the summers spent splashing there with my cousins.  The best place to swim was a few miles away from the house so it took planning and effort to get someone to take us there. 

10:20 am 

We stopped 20 miles before Salina for a rest area bathroom and "let the kid's run" break. There's sluggish creek here with a wooden bridge over it.  It was a nice place for a photographic moment, but Z wanted to look too closely and lean right over the edge.  We saw gauzy blue dragonflies and another kind with black and white wings.  

12:25 pm

We stopped for lunch at the McDonald's in McPherson, KS. The boys played in the play area and ate their lunch when we were back in the van.  Jim wanted a Big Mac; we don't eat at McD very often.  Not much there works for me.  I got the Southwestern salad with grilled chicken and no dressing, but I got it anyway.  So, I ate the chicken and some dressing free lettuce. I should have had a bunless grilled chicken sandwich.  I bet I won't remember.  

C finally fell asleep again, who knows how long it will last.  B and Z are doing pretty well, they are chatting and drawing pictures.  I don't know how long that will last either, there's a lot of trip left. 

3:04 pm 

Edmond, OK

We stopped for gas at Perry. It is HOT out here.  We aren't used to that kind of heat.  I don't think Oklahoma believes in "Welcome to Our State" signs.  Either that, or I missed it. We haven't had much heat yet this summer. The convenience store there was dirty and crowded.  We had to go to another one to find milk for C.  It wasn't much better.  He was having some bad moments; he's quiet again now.  Z and B are doing really well, fussing very little, they just want snacks every 15 minutes.  Z asks, "are we there yet?" or else, "is this Texas?" Barry sits without complaint.  We saw a rock shop at Edmond with the kind of rocks Jim wants for his backyard projects.  We will have to go where they have rocks to buy them.  You have to have rocks in order to sell them. C is talking to himself now.  It is better than the screeching he was doing earlier for his own entertainment.  We are passing through oil pump country and I missed the best photo op.  The rest have been too far away.

4:33 pm

Arbuckle Mountains/Wilderness Area.

We had slow going in the Moore area with road construction.  We were merged into one lane marked off with cones on either side.  Creeping along for a few miles we suddenly emerged into two lanes with a "End of Road Construction" sign.  All along there, we saw no workers, no machines, no torn up roads.  I wonder what that was all about.

The interstate here is cut through these high hills. I find it hard to call them mountains, since I have seen the Rockies.  The rocks look pretty rugged towering over the road, but it isn't a natural ruggedness, dynamite is the cause. 

We are within a half hour of the Texas border.  I've tried again in vain to photograph an oil well.  We really are going too fast for my digital camera with not so instant response time .

4:48 pm

Ardmore, we aren't in Texas yet.  I just heard Ly complaining that her hair was like a rat's nest.  She said another old saying earlier, but I can't remember it now.  She's the one who remembers more of those old sayings that have been passed down from my grandmother, to my mom, to me, to my daughters. Ly and I were talking earlier about knowing a prospective husband well before marriage, and I was giving her my "relationship lecture of the week" and she's rolling her eyes.  So, just now she and Z are talking Disney movies and marrying bad guys.  She says,"That's why you need to know someone really well before you get married, there's your lecture of today." That makes me laugh.  How many, many lectures (talks) I have given to a then non-appreciative audience. 

5:50 We are in Texas!  

We stopped for another kid run and potty break at the Information Center.  I took photos of the kids by the rock Texas sign.  There is only one with all three looking the same direction. 

We are all tired and C has screamed since we got back into the van.  Poor kid.  He's plumb tired of being strapped in.  He is settled down now and we should be at my brother's in a half-hour.  

9:08 pm 

After a tumultuous evening the house is quiet. Lo and Ly are exhausted. C is not.  I'm going on nerve I think.  We are wondering about our sanity is wanting to drive all this way with this age of kids. It takes so much energy to keep Z occupied and out of trouble.  He is so curious, but much of what he investigates ends up making a mess.  My brother's boys when with all the rest to the park after supper.  They are such nice boys. The girls are thinking it would be a good idea to drive at night on the way home, so the boys will sleep.  Ly starts detasseling the day after we get home and will need some sleep. C is not a good sleeper at any time. I hope we survive. We will, of course, but we will need to pull together.  I just hope Lo can get some sleep.

We did leave early. We left at 8:30 pm Wed. night instead of the early Thurs. morning as originally planned.  The trip home was much calmer.