Short Texas Road Trip
This was one of those quick runs that doesn’t feel like it should count as a “trip” even though the odometer would strongly disagree. About 1,200 miles in two days, a blur of highway, weather, coffee stops, and the dog sleeping around in the backseat. For this trip only Bronya came with me.
On the way down, I stopped again in Guthrie, Oklahoma. I’ve passed through there enough times that it usually ends up being a quick stretch and go stop, but this time I finally got to hit a coffee shop that’s never been open when I’ve driven through before. It had a really nice atmosphere. Hoboken coffee rosters was one of those places that makes you wish you had more time to sit and actually take it in. Storms were rolling in while I was there. Lightning and thunder rolling across the sky. I’m so thankful my dogs are chill with thunder. But with the rain I didn’t stay long so what was going to be a long stop was just a small pause in the middle of the long road.
From there, the drive stretched out longer than expected because of the weather. Slower traffic, heavier skies, and several wrecks. Eventually, I made it down to my best friend’s ranch.
It was good just to be there. No big plans, nothing structured just catching up after not seeing her since last year. She has a screened-in porch she recently put in, and it ended up being the perfect place to sit while storms moved through the area. We stayed out there for a while just talking and watching the weather roll in and out across the landscape.
At sunset, everything shifted into a strange purple light to the east. A rainbow stretched across it. that’s two things I had never seen before a full purple sky and a rainbow at sunset. I turned around and the opposite direction was completely different. The sunset breaking through on the western horizon was all orange and gold. It was bright enough to feel like a different day was happening in that direction.
The next morning, I went out and took a few photos of my best friend on an old Chevy truck sitting out in her pasture. It ended up being the closest thing to a birthday gift I could manage since I had missed the actual day. Well, not exactly missed it, just managed to forget what month it was when I was thinking about it. It was still a good morning for it. Simple and quiet, just taking photos and letting the day start slowly.
After that, I grabbed some Texas jalapeño sausage kolaches form Moody Donuts and headed north again and picked up my daughter in Dallas. From there we made one more stop in Norman, Oklahoma at Bison Witches. It’s a sandwich shop during the day and turns into a bar with live music at night. Good food, good energy, and another solid pause before getting back on the road.
By the time we were heading back into Kansas, the storms were still following us with big cloud systems rolling across the sky. We finally made it home later that night.
Just a short Texas trip. Just over 1,200 miles in two days. A few good stops and a lot of weather.
MERC