Sunday, December 30th, we woke up early after a restful night, especially with Lily in a crib. We had a few more miles to cover after the previous day’s setback, but we were still in good spirits. We had a hearty Southern breakfast where our only milk choices were 2% or whole. Lily’s kind of place!
I spotted this cowboy in a Princeton sweatshirt.
We were actually on the road “early” – by 9. The drive was pretty unremarkable, we did pull off to see some views in the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma. It was really pretty.
A little after noon, we reached the Texas state line. And there was snow…what a let down. I figured we’d be in shorts by then. We stopped at the very nice welcome center to stretch. The girls collected many color tri-fold brochures highlighting all kinds of attractions we could visit. We also shot Ella up with her antibiotics, admired their Christmas tree, and took our first family photo in Texas. Then we ran back to our car to warm up!
We made a lunch stop at In-N-Out Burger in Fort Worth so we could order off the secret menu. Luckily, we ate in the car on the move because we hit some construction traffic between Dallas/Ft. Worth and Austin that slowed us down a bit. Our apartment complex’s office closed at 5:00 and it was going to be close. As we made our way into Austin, we stopped at Loran’s office to pick up his car and some things we’d squirreled away for our first nights in Austin before our moving truck came. I blazed the trail to the apartment complex, my first solo drive in Austin. I rolled in at 4:58. The office manager insisted she was going to stay late to do paperwork anyway, but I’m sure she was happy to see us.
After signing many papers and getting keys to our new digs, we were then escorted to a guest suite where we’d be spending our first night. Our apartment had just been renovated and received new carpet, wood (laminate) flooring, granite counter tops and new appliances. But, the new appliances hadn’t arrived that day and were scheduled for installation the following morning. While we were excited to get set up in our new place, the guest suite was nice as it had furniture, dishes, and cable television. We would have air mattresses, paper plates, and our imaginations to contend with for the following days.
The girls loved the suite. Their imaginations were very busy. We enjoyed being able to sit around a table as a family and enjoy a meal. We were in a one bedroom suite. By suite, I mean furnished apartment, but they’re available for guests to rent and when they’re not rented out, they’re used to show potential renters. Since it was only one bedroom, we improvised with the girls a bit. We set them up in the walk in closet. Lily in her Pack n Play, Ella on a twin sized inflatable mattress. They thought this was amazing. They were so excited to sleep in their room. They giggled a lot and really enjoyed themselves. I’m glad they got a lot of enjoyment out of sleeping in a closet. Let’s hope it doesn’t become a habit.
So just like that, over the course of three days that definitely had its ups and downs, we became Texans. Early in the trip, Ella was in a sour mood and Lily came up with the saying, “We’re not sad in Texas, we’re going to be happy in Texas!” and it’s still being used, nearly a month later. Any time someone is a little down, we’re reminded by those sweet little voices that we’re going to be happy in Texas. Unless Lily is the one who is grumpy, then her own little mantra doesn’t stand and she’s going to be downright angry in Texas, Tennessee, North Dakota, Guam…wherever, whenever.
Our cats were also champion travellers. Especially our senior cat, Stollen. Each cat was positioned under a girl’s feet in their carriers. Stollen enjoyed his new carrier so much, he started sleeping in it when we weren’t travelling. Lola steered clear of hers at all costs.
Two adults, two children, two cats. 1,188 miles (all but 25 of those miles were traveled on I-35). 17.4 hours. Three days. Several burgers and fries. One new window. Snow. Rain. Sun. Wind. Two hotels. Two Target trips. 56 gallons of regular unleaded fuel (a few gallons of non-blended fuel…oops! weee!) Two meltdowns over automatic flush potties. Creating family memories: priceless.
Our Day in Email Updates
9:23 am - Last Day!
It is 9:15am and we are passing downtown Oklahoma City. We had a very restful night and a good morning.
Allowing for some stops we should arrive to our apartment complex at 4pm, a little ahead of their 5pm closing today.
12:13 pm – Welcome to Texas
We just crossed into Texas with a stop at the super nice Texas Welcome Center where the girls loaded up on free brochures. It's not warm yet. Warmer, but a cloudy, windy 43 degrees. The interesting part of traveling down here between Christmas and New Years is the number of MN snowbirds heading south with us. More MN plates on I-35 headed south than any other plate!
5:39 pm – We are Texans!
We have arrived at our apartment! We'll be in the guest suite tonight as our brand new appliances have not arrived in our apartment, but will tomorrow. Pretty easy drive today, some construction and a few rain drops. We rolled in at 4:58 ahead of the office's 5:00 close. Whew!
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