Falling in love with Texas. Again.

As we headed down highway 69 in Oklahoma towards Texas, I noticed that we were going to pass very close to Independence, Kansas…wait a minute!  How did that happen?  It must have been another day but the story will have to be told here in Oklahoma.  Whatever day it happened to be that we were in Kansas, I noticed that we were going to pass very close to Independence, Kansas, a place we’d thought of heading towards on the many occasions we’ve been in Kansas.  It is located in the extreme southeast corner of the state though, and there is really very little around it, and we never managed to make it there.  We couldn’t pass this opportunity up and decided to make the stop this time.  We were a little shocked to find that there was only ONE reference to the Ingalls in town – a restaurant called “Half Pint” but the kids weren’t hungry enough to eat at that point.  I know, call the authorities.  Starving the kids once again.

We’ve listened to all of the Little House series of books and have been to some of the Ingals museums but it was extra special to walk along the paths that Laura and Mary did and visit the creek where they contracted “fever and egue” (malaria).  We spent a good couple hours there and headed down the road.

We got into Temple rather late in the afternoon and as soon as I got us checked in, I gathered up the kids and we headed out on my planned run route.  Unfortunately, we never found the parks I’d thought I’d seen on Google Earth and the streets were devoid of sidewalks and full of traffic.  I finally got us back to the hotel long after dark and we headed to Denny’s for dinner – lucky to hit them on a night that Sissy and Ellen’s meals were free.  After Sissy’s steak at the Copan restaurant, she was expecting another steak, but for a free meal she had to order from the kids menu.  She wasn’t wowed by the meal, but everyone really enjoyed the peppermint hot chocolate I ordered for dessert.

We were headed this day to rendezvous with Jody and family who had offered lodgings for the holiday while they visited family.  We decided to stay off the interstate this day, not only in preference for the backroads but also in avoidance of the holiday traffic.  We fell in love with Gonzales, Texas and had such a good lunch in Cuero, at The Barbecue Station, that we bought another complete dinner for Turkey day, wherever we might end up.  We had a GREAT stay with Jody, Bill, the boys and Miss Mia and I even managed to accidentally run six miles one day (thinking I was having a lousy 4 mile run).  We can’t thank Jody and her family enough for such wonderful hospitality and comfortable lodgings.  We then headed down to South Padre Island, where we currently sit, basking in the sun and sea and watching the myriad of birds and flying creatures.  Kilo is very happy to be back on the beach, all of us are LOVING the hotel and hottub and it is looking like we’re going to have trouble leaving here – not just due to the luxury of the La Quinta, but also due to the adults falling ill with some fever/aches/sore throat thingie.