Road trip: Missouri to Texas

It is a 6.5-hour drive from my house in Missouri to my Parents’ in Texas. Only the first few hours are interstate so there are not the typical highway rest stops along the way. I left early enough that the Oklahoma welcome center on I44 was not open yet (doesn’t open until 8:30 AM) so my first rest stop was the Will Rodgers rest stop along the turnpike; I also bought gas there (thrilled that it was below $4/gallon). It is not my favorite place since the rest rooms always seem crowded and not very clean.

The second stop was a McDonalds for a breakfast burrito – my favorite road trip breakfast – which I ate rather clumsily going down the road (cheese dribbled on my lap!).

The third stop was another toll road plaza. None of the three rest stops were visually appealing. Fortunately, the Texas Welcome Center on US 75 just across the Red River has some interesting plantings. I did some macro photography.

I noticed that Oklahoma was greener than Missouri. They must have gotten more rain recently than we have in Southwestern Missouri. The day got hotter and hotter as I drove…passing 100 degrees at 11:42 PM.

A lesson learned from this trip: the back of my car with the slopped hatchback is not cooled very much by the air conditioner; I’ll place my luggage in the back seat rather than the far back when I am driving on a hot day.