Road Trip 1 Day 3 (Part Two)

PART TWO


Squidward made us stop at the DQ in Chillicothe, by chanting "Blizzard Blizzard Blizzard" for 20 miles. (Okay, maybe it was NL).
In case you need a point of reference for Chillicothe -- it's between Quanah and Vernon.

A word about Dairy Queen. In Los Angeles, there's a Starbucks on every corner. Across this nation, there's a DQ (and sometimes their competition Sonic.... mmmm cheese tots with and ice cold strawberry limeade... wait what were we talking about?) Oh right, there's one in every town. Seriously, they may not have anything else but a gas station and 25 churches, but there will be a DQ.

Paige had the chicken strips but not with honey mustard sauce, which as everyone knows is the universal dipping sauce for chicken strips, but... gravy. Yum squared. All creamy and peppery, gravy should be the universal dipping sauce for everything.




We talked to our counter girl -- she's kind of bummed that DQ has raised their prices and are now charging the employees for food. We agreed. So we tipped her, and she thought it was a mistake and we had left our change. God Bless her. Union! Union!




Good-bye to Chillicothe.
We hope all you guys and gals who want to get out and be "from there" instead of living there, make it.


Dust storm on I-40.
As long as there's not a funnel attached, we were okay. BTW storm season starts officially on April 4th. Time to clean out your cellars and lay in some water and Spam.



Can you say "Netty Pot?"



While we love our Squidward, there have been some awesome rides along the way. Lots of cool vintage trucks and cars. Cool, right?



White walls with red... pretty... (NL tried to get the whole car, but well...)



Ft. Worth skyline.
That's not some venerable university in the foreground, it's a La Quinta Inn.



Squidward finds his soulmate, but we don't have time to stop.
Sorry, Squidman.



Big D. This skyline has some interesting shapes.
Thinking of you. You know who you are.

At this point in time we missed our exit to catch 175 to the 20. We ended up on the streets of Dallas at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X Blvds. Not kidding. There was a big Saturday night parking lot BBQ party going on out in front of a boarded-up theater. The logo on the theater doors was a huge silhouette of an afro comb with a black panther fist on the top of it. We waved. They waved back and we wished we could stop for the BBQ. The aroma was intoxicating. Power to the People and good hair -- an excellent message for all.

We found our way once again by the power of the iPhone maps and the blue dot!


That's the Cotton Bowl and a really annoying tree.



Look at that sky. Come on, it's so perfect it looks fake.
Why do we think that? Is it because us city dwellers don't see enough real views? Food for thought. We started eating Pringles again while we pondered that.


Stopped for some gas... huh huh.
Loved this place. Gas, full liquor store, and I.T. help. I think we are glimpsing our future business. (note to self: they can help with computer, but not spelling)


It's Texas. They are serious about their beef jerky. Notice the "humidor" of the specialty strips.


Paige's kinfolk were also here picking up some supplies.


Texas Yard Art


Jim Hogg Rd. It was funnier to us on hour 9.



The crate actually says "Cat, The Other White Meat"


Back on the road as the sun was starting to dip in the West. (Fancy rear view mirror shot. NL meant to do that... kinda)

We were grateful to be out of the sere desert climes and be driving between rows of large green trees. The cicadas chirped in them as Squidward carried us onward.

We put away the cameras and started to search for a place for dinner. In Marshall, Texas, on the border of Louisiana we found another Applebees. Perhaps they should be sponsoring this blog... However, this Applebees was a let down. Not the food, always good. The service. We were spoiled by Val in Alberquerque, who was an excellent server and representative for the chain. Maybe we should be Applebees secret shoppers? New career path?

Then we crossed the Louisiana state line in the dark of night. Found a great radio show called the Art of Song. We listened to great musicians talking about and playing their music. It took us all the way to Natchitoches and the Hampton Inn.

So Squidward, Paige and NL hit the rack and called it a wrap on Day 3. Off to New Orleans today!

love to all!