5 States, 4 Days and 2 Crazy Stories

As we journeyed back towards the vast openness of the desert, we soaked up the variety of landscapes along our way.

Having traveled about 1,450 miles in four days We’ve also experienced a few things that are worth sharing.

There are some stories in life that when you hear them, you kinda wish you hadn’t, and it’s a visual that will stick in the back of your mind for the rest of your days. This will be one of those stories. Our first stop after pulling out of Bay Hide Away in Mississippi was a Burger King near Slidell, Louisiana.  It was very busy, papa and I put in our order, filled up our sodas, got the necessary condiments  and  stood near a table waiting. There were four orders before us, and people were just standing around waiting to hear their number called.  I look around, soaking up my surroundings, lost in thought hoping Mitch would like the power-ade flavor I chose for him.  Suddenly, I am brought back into the moment when the woman in front of me, wearing a bright pink shirt has a brown dot scurry across her back!  I think to myself, “no… That couldn’t have been…no way, not on her back!” I take a step towards her, and there it is, at the nape of her neck, a COCKROACH in her hair! I approach her and say,” excuse me, you have a bug in your hair. It’s right by your ear. Do you want me to get it out?” She turns and looks at me, says, “huh?” and seems unfazed.  I say again ,”a bug, in your hair, bug. Can I touch you to get it out of your hair? It’s right there. A BUG! ” she seems confused, finally I can’t  stand watching it crawl around in her hair any longer and I just flick it out. As it flies from her hair towards the soda fountain area it lands on the ground and darts under the counter.  I am so consumed with the yucks, and was trying so hard not to scream out, “cockroach in your hair!” I didn’t realize for a few minutes that either she didn’t speak an ounce of English or was so used to them being on her that it wasn’t a big deal. The rest of the time while we waited I was on high alert, looking for more to crawl out from her hair, or did it fall on her from the ceiling, crawl up her pant leg when she came in? Which was it? The restaurant or the girl? Either way i was totally bugged out. I ended up telling someone behind the counter about the occurrence. I felt they needed to know that there was a cockroach on the loose, whether it was originally theirs or hers, it would now be their problem. Needless to say, my burger was tainted from the experience and it took some real self encouragement to get lunch down.

Hundreds of miles later, a quick visit with Amy’s dad in San Antonio, two nights of sleeping at different truck stops along the I-10 we arrived at fort Stockton, TX. We filled up on gas at the best price we could find using our handy dandy gas buddy app. While we were at the gas station I went into the trailer to make us sandwiches, papa did his usual searching around the parking lot looking for change while Mitch took the dogs for a walk.  We’ve seen plenty of trash, every sized dog poop there is and the occasion rotten food scattered through out the land during our walks with the dogs, but Mitch’s find in Fort Stockton is a first.  He came across two completely enacted crack pipes and a handmade foil pipe.

I’ve never actually seen one before, unless it was on TV or in a movie.  So as to ensure that they wouldn’t be of any use, and others may not be harmed they were destroyed and disposed of.  Again, another first for our travels, and hopefully the last time we encounter those things!

We’ve made it to Tucson, AZ and are staying at Whispering Palms for week. Papa talked us into going out for breakfast this morning, so I googled best breakfast in Tucson, AZ and they did not disappoint.  We went to a place called Bobo’s Restaurant.   It was by far the best breakfast we’ve had since we started traveling, and probably one of the best breakfast places ever!! If you are ever in Tucson, it’s a must eat!!!! Their pancakes are yummy and ginormous!! I myself had a BLT and loved every bite, including the fries! plus a few bites of the guys omelettes, which were superb.

The best mexican food we’ve had was just the other day in Las Cruces, New Mexico called Si Señor! They have four different dips for your tortilla chips all of which are fabulous and our meals were so delicious, even their Sopapillas! If you’re ever in Las Cruces, hope you stop by, try them out and say hi to Victor. We stopped in before our sleepover at the Las Cruces Pilot.