Day 7 to Day 10

October 14th: Mornroe, Louisiana to Tyler, Texas
October 15th: Tyler, Texas to Lampasas, Texas
October 16th: Lampasas, Texas to Eagle Pass, Texas
October 17th: Eagle Pass, Texas

On the 14th we left from Monroe, Louisiana. We drove along a lot of swampland once again. I was quite upset that through all our travels we didn't see any swamp creatures! Not one single alligator!

Halfway to Texas we ran into a truck driver at a small CB shop who was pleased to show off a large fishhook that doubled as a nose ring, and responded to just about every question with a lengthy southern-drawled "shiiiiiiiiiiit". When we got across to Texas we decided to stop for a quick drink at Dairy Queen. Lucky for us it was "happy hour" and we could get any size drink for just 74 cents. Well, being so thristy from the long drive, we decided a large drink would be in order. We were mighty surprised when we got our "Texas-sized" cups! I could only muster up enough energy to finish half a cup, and even then it was a stretch! The Tyler Holiday Inn had a great heated outdoor pool complete a nice little hot tub outside as well, which was super after riding around on the weapons-of-ass-destruction for so long. Unfortunately our suite came complete with a little army of ants which decided to take residence in my helmet. Not stellar for someone that has an ear-phobia.

Next we headed South on the 281, which was a great drive. Our motel in Lampasas was a little outdated but had a nice little outdoor pool. We decided to relax and have a beer out there, which turned out to be a big mistake for me. I dropped my beer all over my lap and had to do the 'walk of shame' back to the hotel room looking like I had a bit of an "accident"...how humiliating! To add insult to injury, that night I had a slight run in with the law when the woman working at the local convenience store Skinny's (which, I can guarantee you, she was anything but) called the State Police on me because she thought I was shoplifting. I talked to the police officer for a few minutes, quite angrily answering his questions.....such as "Do you have a receipt for your purchase?" (yes, officer, I always make it a habit to get a receipt for $3 worth of snack foods....sheesh). After showing him the contents of my bag and assuring him my pockets were empty I was on my not-so-merry way again. Our next day's journey brought us to Eagle Pass, Texas. What a long haul! We drove past San Antonio assuming we would find a small town just after where we could stop for a drink. We ended up driving almost 90 miles with not a single thing in site except ranch entrace gates with roads behind that led miles away into the distance with not a single building or person apparently off of the roads. It was what we should have expected in the desert I suppose.

PICTURES:

From Left to Right:

• A nice little house in Louisiana just before Texas.
• Lampasas, Texas
• After 90 miles of driving we came across a tiny town. This picture was taken at gas station (which doubled as a grocery store/snack bar/gift shop and local hangout)