A very long day began in the Holiday Inn Express at Boone, NC, as Genetta and I awoke and hit the road to pick up Addison from his mountain outing with his friends. The road was quite windy but Genetta ably guided us. Having packed his stuff we hit the road once again at about 8:30a and headed down US-421 then US-64 to home. I took over driving duties in Winston-Salem just about as her “Boone” playlist had run its course. Claypool Lennon Delirium and Ghost of a Sabre Tooth Tiger provided the rest of the trip’s music as the three of us arrived right at noon.
We finished packing and did a quick bit of laundry. Genetta picked up Firehouse for all of us for lunch. Managed to leave the house right at 2p, arriving at the airport at 2:30p. Check-in was quite smooth (Southwest is generally pretty good about that) and the TSA agent was very friendly and chatty (Michelle later clued me in that it was likely because the screeners were backed up and he was regulating flow. Regardless, it was entertaining. He pointed towards me and said “They’re coming.” I had no idea who he was talking about, so looked behind me almost expecting Vikings or something coming down the terminal. Noticing my confusion, he said, “Phish. Your shirt.” Ah!
The 4:35p non-stop flight to Dallas was a bit lively. The head steward was quite funny, quipping jokes in the way that Southwest does (“Pull the cord, if that fails, use the breathing tube, if that fails then it just isn’t your day — kick, paddle, kick, paddle, kick, paddle” and of course the good ol’ “If you have more than one child then choose which has the brightest future and provide oxygen to them after you have seen to yourself”). The flight was packed with babies which wasn’t ideal, but by and large they were pretty well-behaved. A young girl on my row (I got aisle, thankfully, though the rest of the family filled a row a few rows up) was a first-time flyer and hearing her delight and commentary was great.
Southwest tail fins at RDU
Arrived at Dallas’ Love Field (another benefit of flying Southwest is you get to land at the smaller airports at major cities — Love Field instead of DFW, Midway instead of O’Hare, etc.) around 7p and uneventfully picked up our luggage and headed for the rental shuttle. The lady at Budget successfully up-sold us, which is irritating. Hopefully it is worth it. Hit the road to get out of Dallas as fast as possible, but it was already 8p. Dallas sure has a lot of confusing highways — stacked, express lanes with tolls (but +10 MPH speed limit), lots of feeders — but I managed to navigate us onto I-35E and out of Dallas proper. We crossed a reservoir and, as the road had settled down a bit, decided to stop for dinner. I was hoping for something nice, a family place, but none were had, so I settled for the next best thing — an “exotic” (meaning, not found in North Carolina) chain, preferably founded in the area.
Whataburger was founded in San Antonio, so close enough. I’d heard about it, of course, but had never seen one. It was very much like Hardees. Addison and I had patty melts (mine with a peppery sauce which had a little bite, Addison had his with onion rings), Genetta had fried chicken sandwich with fries, and Michelle had a grilled chicken sandwich. Genetta noted that in Texas it shouldn’t be Texas toast but just toast — she has a point there! Not great by any means but it did hit the spot so we could get back on the road.
Whataburger, a hamburger chain from San Antonio, Texas
By now night had fallen and we cruised up I-35E then I-35 across northern Texas. A rising bright moon reflected beautifully on the waters of the Red River as we crossed into our 48th state (well, 47th for the kids, but still…), Oklahoma. Immediately we passed an impressively large (though seemingly quite empty judging by the parking lot) casino. Further north we passed through an area that must have considerable scenic beauty — as we saw many signs and some overlooks (and even mention of a falls) for the Arbuckle Hills region. Next trip, maybe.
Arrived at Pauls Valley, Oklahoma’s Holiday Inn Express quite late, about midnight. The check-in guy was really nice but the room itself was a bit musty smelling. As we were exhausted and planning on heading out early we just tolerated it and collapsed.
Route for Thursday, June 28, 2018