North by Northwest
Now it was time to travel on down the road. We left north central Florida a bit reluctantly. The couple that we met at the Ocean Pond campground told us about some fantastic towns and springs to visit. It was tempting to spend a few more days in the area, but ultimately, we decided that we had to continue towards home.
I have family that lives in Mobile, Alabama. I have a cousin and an aunt that I’ve kept in touch with over the years. My aunt is 91 years old. She’s the last remaining sibling of my mom’s. There were originally 8 of them. Now it’s just her. She’s sharp as a tack. She stands straight and tall and is an inspiration.
I have a lot of fond memories that involve visiting Alabama as a child. One not so fond memory involves fire ants. For some reason, every time we went to visit this aunt of mine, I would end up sitting with my foot on a fire ant hill. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the pleasure of being bitten by them, but it’s a pain that sticks with you for a while. They are vicious little beasts. So, we walked up to my aunt’s front door and wouldn’t you know it, a fire aunt bit me right on my ankle. It hurt for about the first half hour of the visit, but I didn’t say a word so as not to make a scene. I guess it wouldn’t be Mobile for me without a fire ant encounter. It was great to see my aunt though. We had a very nice visit. I’m glad we made the time to stop in.
We Stayed at a Beachin’ Casino
When we left Mobile, we headed into Mississippi. We stayed across the road from the beach in a casino RV lot. The casino is the Silver Slipper Casino. If you join their players club, you get a free night stay at an RV site with full hook ups. It’s a pretty good deal. We had intended to stay 2 nights. It started to get windy though. The beach wasn’t as much fun in the wind, so we moved on after a night.
Everything’s Bigger in Texas
The next stop along our route was Houston. We spent the night at another Cracker Barrel. That has become our go to for quick one night pass throughs. We’ve rarely been disappointed. In the morning, we decided to check out the Houston Farmers Market before we left. It was amazing. It is this huge indoor space with row upon row of fresh produce, spices, herbs, and goods. We didn’t end up buying anything, but it was fun to just walk around.
No trip through Texas would be complete without cows, so here are some random roadside cow pics as we make our way to San Antonio.
The Voodoo That You Do
San Antonio was our next stopping point, and our last chance to pick up some Voodoo Donuts. If you are unfamiliar, they are funky donuts with clever ingredients and shapes. One of their signature donuts is the voodoo doll. It is, predictably, shaped like a voodoo doll. It is huge with a berry filling. For this reason, Maria couldn’t have any, so I had to eat it all by myself. Such a sacrifice! The line was out the door. It moved quickly, but I still had to wait about 20–30 minutes. We picked some up for friends because they are not available in Arizona. We thought we’d bring something exotic home.
Once we got home, we found out that they are opening a store here in Phoenix. Not so exotic, I guess.
After walking along the Riverwalk for a while, we were on our way again.
Land of Enchantment
From San Antonio, we headed to Las Cruces. We were finally out of Texas. There is a little town on the outskirts of Las Cruces that was very interesting. It is called Mesillas. It is a small town with a very “old Mexico” vibe. The town is very small with adobe style homes. There is a gazebo in the town plaza that sits across from the town church.
Our next stop was Deming. We found some beautiful murals around the town square. The parts of New Mexico that we have visited seem to have been successful at retaining the spirit of their rich history as a part of Mexico as well as the US. There is an energy here that I haven’t felt elsewhere.
Home Sweet Home
And with that, we were home again.
The girls were all unpacked.
And the sun set on another adventure.
