I got two tacos, one with eggs, cheese, bacon, potatoes, and another with eggs, cheese, potatoes, and refried beans, along with a Horchata(sp) for $5. Food was good, and they had real salsa, which was pretty spicy. We got back to the house around 4 PM, and I gathered my stuff together to prepare for departure. Hugged Monica, said bye to the other folks, and hit the road around 5 PM. My first stop was to HEB, which is the local grocery store which was wisely abbreviated instead of being called Harry Butz Groceries. That's the funniest store name I've heard in awhile...
I got 3 gallons of water, some packages of pasta, some cans of tomato sauce, beans, film, and hit the road. I took I-35 N, up to Waco, where I got off and drove around for awhile. I wanted to see the Dr. Pepper Museum, as per Kevin's advice, but couldn't find it. I also figured it would be closed on a Sunday, especially this late. Waco seemed very dead, lots of boarded-up buildings and nothing going on. It was a little freaky, so I hit the road. I wanted to find the little local diner Kevin mentioned previously in one of his many stories, but I had no idea where to look.
Here are two shots I got of Waco, just to show I was there. First is
the fine Waco Hippodrome.
Here's a Waco building of my middle name. Couldn't pass it up.
I took 35N again, up to Dallas. Got off and drove around downtown
Dallas looking for nothing in particular. Unfortunately, I didn't find
it. Here's a shot of downtown Dallas from my car as I was drivin' in.
Here was a building that looked alot cooler in real-life than in this
photo. It's some giant hoobajube built in Dallas, and the sky through
the steel latticework was pretty cool. See it here:
I got outta there, and took 75N intending to get to Oklahoma by nightfall. I got off at 121, where a sign advertised fresh fudge. Got some fudge, and a Dr. Pepper slushee, and then followed 121 up to my old friend, 82, but this time I was going East, not West. Took this to Paris, Texas, where I was hoping to find a small diner and/or miniature Eiffel Tower. Drove about aimlessly, then wound up on 7th St, and hit alot of traffic. The street, was seemingly in the middle of nowhere, went past a baseball park, with all the lights turned off, with about 100 cars parked alongside, with young black folks drinking beers and playing loud hip-hop out of their cars. I was hoping to get onward, and hoped that 7th St. didn't dead end, as it seemed like getting out of the jumble of cars would be hell. As I got further, I could see the road kept going, so I followed it out, back to the highway, after getting slightly lost after that. It was about 11 PM when I got back on 82, and I was looking for 271 N to take me into Oklahoma.
I passed the first of what would later turn out to be many 'historical markers' on the side of the road. This, being the first I saw, seemed interesting, but there didn't seem to be anything by the side of the road. Oh well. Eventually I came to the town of Hugo sooner tthan I expected, but no "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign greeted me, so I felt a little let down. Got on the Indian Nation Turnpike, and took it one exit to Rt. 3, where the toll woman told me I could camp out at McGee State Park, about 13 miles down Rt. 3.
Got there, hoping it wouldn't be locked at night. Stopped by the closed visitor's center and grabbed a map, then went down the road to one of the indicated camping areas. Saw lots of RV's set up, so I parked and set up my tent for the first time in many days. It was way too hot, so I dismantled the rain fly, and finally after much tossing and turning, was I able to fall asleep.
| Location | McGee State Park, OK |
| Odometer | 132,456.3 Miles Total 3702.6 Miles On Trip 392.5 Miles Today |
| Coordinates | 34° 17.764' N 95° 52.526' W |