On the road again

The younger daughter and I just returned from a four day, 2200 mile roadtrip to Clemson to pack up and haul all of her stored apartment stuff back to Texas. It rained on us at least 50% of the time I was behind the wheel for the entire trip. This was my choice since we opted to take the husband's truck that drives more like my bigger SUV than her little one. The truck has a cover on the bed and gave us more room to haul home things like way too many shoes and a pricey mattress pad the coed refused to part with even though she had to sit on the bed cover to get it to close with that sucker stuffed atop everything else.

I have a greater appreciation for folks who have to drive on our interstate system for a living. I'd have to use all of my fingers and toes to count up the number of wrecks or tire squealing close calls we witnessed along the way. We back the blue, so I was glad to see them out in full force - sheriff, local police and state troopers - working to keep the roads safe and assist travelers. 

We ate some tasty meals, most of them at places on a country road off the interstate. The daughter is usually pretty good at sussing out the locally owned eateries for us to try. 

 

 

My favorite meal was at a cajun seafood restaurant in my old stomping grounds of Beaumont. I told the coed that our one hour lunch break in southeast Texas wouldn't be complete without a dessert from Rao's Bakery, so that was our final stop on the way back to Interstate 10.

Our only goof on accommodations was a terribly overpriced hotel in Gulfport, MS. It was one of the places that had consistently decent reviews, but obviously that must have been relative to what else was available. The lamp in our room was missing its shade. We had conditioner, but no shampoo. Our TV screen was all of 12 inches, and every surface was sticky. We hoped that was disinfectant residue of some sort rather than something gross that we didn't want to contemplate. 

I'm not sure how it happened, but it became apparent I picked up pink eye within the first 24 hours of our road trip. I woke up at the above referenced marginally clean hotel the first morning on the road with one set of eyelids glued shut with yellow gunk. After I used a warm wash cloth to get it open, it looked as if I had been socked in the eye. That forced us to make a run through our local pharmacy on the way back to the interstate to get some over the counter drops to try and clear it up since I didn't have time for a pit stop at a local doc in the box. 

One of these things is not like the other... thank goodness! I was able to keep the infection to just my right eye and it's looking much better today.

We got the truck unloaded with all of her belongings today, and the coed has already started shopping for some new things to decorate her Austin apartment when she moves in next month. She's excited about new places, faces and adventures this fall, and we continue to feel so blessed that she'll be attending university here in Texas as a Longhorn.