Saturday, May 26, 2012

Houston to Amarillo, TX

We made it! Our 600 mile Houston to Amarillo leg was a great success. For the very first time we made it through the Day One without insane weather issues. Our first year there were tornadoes just outside Dallas...which should probably have been our warning not to go through Dallas (the traffic can be horrendous in the morning). Our second year the tornadoes were a little further north in Oklahoma and Kansas.
The endless plains and big blue sky accompanied us through most of the drive. Sage brush dotted hills scarred by last years drought fires, a grim reminder of those long dry smoky days in 2011. The landscape is still crudely chopped by dry red-clay river beds which tell a fortune best left unsaid. I am reminded every year when we make the Houston to Amarillo haul that Texas is truly flat. I know my fellow Texans are loudly protesting, "What about the hill country? or Big Bend?" "There are hills in Texas! It ain't completely flat!" As a mountain girl, I am telling you...Texas is pretty darn flat. And there is nothing wrong with that because as you all know, Texas is a beautiful state. I love Texas! But after 12 hours, it does indeed get old.


The girls were great. I believe they have truly become accustomed to our annual voyage. They had fun entertaining themselves with new coloring books, movies and family sing-a-longs to old Glen Campbell songs (video to come!).


We made it the whole way without any tears or too many are-we-there-yet's. We stopped in Wichita Falls for a picnic lunch.


Right off the interstate there is a nice park, Lucy Park where the real falls is located. The break offered the girls some time to stretch their legs and for all of us to just get out of the car for a bit. We ate in the shade of a large Cypress tree grove. It was deceptively cool out of the sun and so after we finished we decided to take a little walk to see the falls. Once we entered the sunshine we were overwhelmed by the heat and humidity. It was just TOO hot! So we escaped back to the comfort of the AC in our car with dreams of playing in the hotel pool.
Amarillo was a welcome sight when we pulled into the city limits. We rushed to our room, jumped into swimsuits, grabbed towels and dashed down to the pool. Although it was almost 100 degrees, the pool felt like we were embarking on a polar bear swim in January. BURR! The girls were out of luck to get mom into the water. I did put my feet in, but even that was a stretch. Later they admitted that it was icy and didn't lay the guilt on too thick. Tomorrow I will have to make up for it!
This year we are adding online tracking if you are wondering our whereabouts. You can click on the InstaMapper map below to follow our progress. We considered a live webcam in the car, but I ran out of time to plan it properly.
I plan to add pictures in the morning. For some reason the hotel wifi signal strength is not strong enough to upload pics. It is driving me crazy, because I have some great ones.
Happy Trails!
Jennifer
GPS tracking powered by InstaMapper.com

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