A Short Short Road Trip Story

The countryside in east Texas was beautiful, blankets of wild pinks and purples and blues. 

When we made it to Nacogdoches--almost 400 miles of backroads, we couldn't find a pet friendly motel, so I called the main number for Best Western and mistakenly asked if Palestine had one (I meant Henderson, but I was road addled and my navigation device on the phone wasn't working.) 

So we drove a little bit west and north and arrived at our motel before dark, but I'd forgotten to ask for a downstairs room and my knees were getting stiff and the other leg aching with road stenosis. But up we went, Luci on a leash, me hanging on to the banister and carrying a suitcase.  

I said to myself, "Self, you are too old for this!"

Self found it sad to hear those words and she cried and called her mama. Together we contemplated and came up with the plan: go back home and don't try to do 4000 miles until knee surgery. I imagined doing this 8 more times in three weeks and driving all those highways alone and I decided that traveling SOLO by car has lost its allure for a while. 

"In the last year and a half the world has changed," I said to Kate.

"And so have we," she said. 

Traveling through Trump country I saw hundreds of Trump signs.  By the looks of things, nobody in Trump country favors masks or vaccines--which make a traveler feel vulnerable.  I went in only one restaurant and got take out and ate a few bites of it in my room. 

So the adventure I'd planned will have to happen in the air from now on--and I'll plan to take Luci in a little kennel.  That or hope a friend wants to join me for a road venture.  

Carlene and Day--whose houses I was planning to stay in--were very understanding about my change of plans.  We'll arrange a visit soon when I figure out how to fly with Luci. 

So here are my two road trip photos and I am safely back at home in my own bed: 

Luci waiting for me to get gas.....

When we left Palestine this morning, the fog was thick and the orange moon nearly full.  And because I had mistakenly asked for Palestine, I was an hour closer to San Antonio, so the drive today was much shorter than yesterday's.