Texas Road Trip Stories

We drove 3,624 miles going to Texas and back... 

 

These are the stories from the drive...

 

We left Palm Springs and it was 85 degrees - 12 hours later we are driving through New Mexico and its a bone chilling 41 degrees

 

[for me that is bone chilling after 85 degrees so quit laughing]

 

Sam had a jacket on and his window half way down.  He said "The cold air is keeping me awake"  I was in the passenger seat freezing my ass off. I told him to take his jacket off and he told me "Put your jacket on!" I said very irritated and cold "I WOULD but its in the trailer soooo take YOUR jacket off!"

 

Suddenly we were distracted by a guy parked on the side of the highway.  He was taking a pee behind his car... FACING traffic! We both looked at each other as if to say "Did I just see what I think I saw?"

 

We busted up laughing... We also decided to get a hotel and go to sleep... It was 1am, freezing, and we were being cranky with each other... 

 

So we pulled over and checked into a hotel for the night...

I asked Sam to turn on the heater in our room... I was so cold...

Two hours later, I am really FREEZING because Sam turned on the air conditioner!  I coulda killed him!  WTH?

The next morning there was frost everywhere...

Where was my sunshine?

Where was my 85 degrees?

 

A few hours after we left the hotel we went through El Paso, Texas.  I use to spend summers in El Paso because my Mom had to work [Escrow Company] and her two sisters lived there.  My Aunt Shell, Uncle Joe, and two cousins Jeff, Gary lived there and so did my Aunt Eula.

 

[My Mother came from South Carolina...

Eula Mae, Bonnie Fae, Nila Merle, Isla Pearl - I could go on but I won't - you get the picture]

 

I had a great time during those summers.  My Aunt Shell spoiled me, she loved having a little girl in the house to shop with... she had two boys... Aunt Shell was a big Tupperware rep in El Paso. She was one of the top sellers. Everything in her house was Tupperware... even suitcases and toys! One time I went with my Aunt to a Sales Rep meeting where the top sellers have a chance to win an extra $150 for that month. It was a drawing... so my Aunt says "If I win, I am going to pull my wig off and twirl it around in the air"

She was so funny... she actually did win it but she didn't do it... I teased her in the car on the way home about it...

 

My other Aunt... Aunt Eula [U-la] ran a BIG Motel, RV park, Restaurant with a Matador Museum in it.  My Aunt would run bus tours to bullfights in Juarez, Mexico. One time she took me to a bullfight and the Matador came over and gave me the colored things they stick in a bull before the Matador kills the bull with a sword...  It was a huge honor to have those given to you.

 

As we are driving through El Paso I am telling Sam all these stories I had long forgotten when I noticed the Rio Grande River.  When I was a kid the Rio Grande was a HUGE river, but when we drove through El Paso it was nothing! You could have stepped over it! I was floored! I told Sam

"You know the Rio Grande River is why people use to call Mexican Illegals 'wet backs' - because they had to swim across that river into the USA. I guess now they would call them 'wet shoes' because you could walk across it" he laughed.  Sam was surprised El Paso was such a huge city, he thought it would be much smaller town.

 

That night was daylight savings time.   We pulled into a gas station, grill, mini mart and I heard my first Ya'all.

As in "Ya'all want something to eat"... Yup we were finally in Ya'all Country, Texas.  Then some lady lit up a cigarette in the mini mart,  that was so weird for me! I live in California where you can only smoke outside in designated areas only!!

It was 9pm for us [on California time] so I asked "Do you guys change your clocks tonight" "Yes, Mam" so it was suddenly 1am Texas time... weird... I also realized you could tell I was from California...

We say "You guys"

they say "Ya'all"...

 

The next day was Sunday and we noticed it seemed EVERYONE goes to church on Sunday's in Texas... Even the Cowboys! On the side of the road were these temporary tent buildings and they said Cowboy Church...

Now, I have been to a lot of Churches in my life but that is one Church I would like to check out! 

Cowboy church... full of cowboys... hhmmmm... sounds good to me!

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