Day two? or morning one?

1:46 – We are in the Day’s Inn at Sulfur Springs. That’s as far as we got but that’s OK. Pretty tired so after we both do this internet thing we’ll call it a night. We are both looking forward to taking a shower in the morning. It will be the first real shower either of us has had since we came to Texas. Cherie said that Craig Graves from Graves plumbing stopped by the house. He had been trying to call us for a while but the number he was dialing was one off from ours so there was no answer. It wouldn’t surprise me if I gave the wrong number to Pastor Dave. Just to fill in some of this Dave had given our number to Mr. Graves when he heard we did not have a hot water heater to see if he could help us. He will.

So it’s two in the morning and we should get some sleep. I had to mess with Cherie’s computer cause it wouldn’t go online with the hotel Wi Fi set up. She went to bed while I played with it. Now I suppose I should also.

That was a great nights sleep. Five hours of refreshment but the sleep was nothing compared to a SHOWER. WHOOOHOO. OH YEAH, there’s some parts of my body that haven’t seen water since we moved here. Washed my hair three times and scrubbed hard on the rest of me. Didn’t want to get out. Cherie was of the same ecstatic mind as me. It has been a challenge living at the farm without hot water but that’s ok, there is allot of good that comes with any hardship. It makes you stronger, feeding that spirit that exemplifies what we admire in America. No, I’m not claiming to come close to those who have endured true hardships in the founding, settling, and protection of this country, just saying that living a pampered life weakens one but hardships are like good exercise, toning you up and making you more able to overcome future trials.

We went to get the “Free” breakfast at this Day’s Inn. Walked in the room and walked out. Just plain crappy. There was a burned waffle sitting in a waffle maker, some unknown drinks in Styrofoam cups with aluminum foil wrapped on the tops, obviously prepared hours before, and…we walked out. The manager in his business suit had proudly pointed to the dining room when he saw us looking for it. He was still out there sixty seconds later when we left and looked at us, perhaps surprised we didn’t stay. “That sucks” I bluntly told him, pointing back to where we had just come from, and kept walking back to our room. It is 8:00 in the morning and room service is busily working down the hall. She keyed a door and cracking it open yells “Room service”. I hear a frantic voice inside saying “Don’t come in, we’re not ready”. Well the shower was great but we will be glad to hit the road. Of course I’ll have a few choice words when I check out. You know me, I say what I think. I’m sure there’s a McDonalds or something nearby. Time to got moving folks. I’ll check back in when it’s convenient.

Migraines are not good for driving, not fun at all. We made it out of Texas and are maybe a hundred miles from Little Rock. Stopped at a Love’s truck stop for some coffee, candy, and pills for the headache and acid stomach. Also good to get out and stretch the legs. Cherie has been fighting a sinus infection thing for about four days now so she has been a little rough. She’s a trooper though and hanging tough. Only a thousand miles to go so it’s push time. Here’s some pictures Cherie snapped while we were still in West Texas. There’s trees where we are now. Always nice to see trees. See ya nest time.

We just stopped at a rest area to stretch our legs and enjoy this perfectly nice day. Come to find out we have been at this roadside stop before. I always enjoy it when my memory works. Of course significant things help bring the memories up. In this case it was this huge burl. I don’t know what kind of tree it is but I’m glad I don’t have the chainsaw with me because I would be real tempted to cut this sucker right off the side of the tree. That’s about a thousand dollars worth of burl depending on what you find under the surface.

We are so enjoying just spending the hours together in this truck. As we explore the radio stations we find so many of the “Oldies” we like. Hard to believe much of this is considered “Oldies”. I guess we aren’t young anymore. Anyway the point is, in our reminiscing the question comes up “What would the last twenty years have been like if we had stayed together?” It’s a question I hesitate to ask because I know that Cherie carries a load of guilt and blames herself for the divorce. She has come to terms with that, at least to a point. The song “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers came on. You know, I never thought much about these love songs, their meaning was lost on me. Now they have come to life and express the depths of feelings we share. It is good to be in love. As we talked of this I told Cherie “I know we missed a lot but the years we lost make the time we have with each other now more precious”. I say again, it is good to be in love.

Don’t know how far we will get. Toledo is about ten hours away and if I drive straight through it will be about two in the morning when we get there. Not sure I want to do that. Hate to spend another sixty or seventy bucks on a hotel room but waking up Wayne at two in the morning so we can come in and sleep would be pretty inconsiderate. I think we will stop someplace before we get to Toledo.

So we made it to Sikeston, Missouri. I decided to not push further because Cherie is tired and fighting off whatever is ailing her. Besides that I don’t have what it will take to push on to Toledo on top of not wanting to arrive there at two in the morning. So we are at the Days Inn here at 8:30. Watching Ben Hur on the TV. Never seen it before and neither has Cherie. She will probably fall asleep before it ends. It’s a fascinating movie so I’ll watch it now. Be back later.