Day 7

July 26, 2008 – Saturday – Day 7

0625 Wake up, shower, start packing

0705 Wake kids up so they can get dressed and then I can finish packing

0740 Car is loaded. Time for breakfast.

0851 Leave the ranch… heading west again.

1054 Stop in Ozona, TX for gas. $3.95/gallon. We have driven approximately 2200 miles so far.

12:31 p.m. Ft. Stockton, TX for lunch at McD’s. As we were driving through town on the business loop, we saw an old man in an electric wheelchair driving along the road. Doesn’t look too safe to me!

1:07 p.m. Leave McD’s and get back on the road. Kids had a bit of a playtime at the playground. Hopefully they got enough wiggles out to get us all the way to El Paso.

2:48 p.m. – now 1:48 p.m. Time change to mountain time zone.

2:32 p.m. Sidetracked trains… I love it when I discover the origin of an expression! I talk about being sidetracked all the time. Today I saw those train cars sitting along a lower track to the side of the main track. What an a-ha moment. Those trains are “sidetracked”!!!

2:55 p.m. Out of gas! We have been in El Paso County for about 20 miles but this is the first gas station I have seen. Just as I’m looking over at the station trying to decide if I should stop there or keep going to another one closer to town, the gas light comes on. Decision made – we’re stopping here!!! Gas is $3.89/gallon.

4:00-ish Arrive at Shannon and Dana’s. I haven’t seen my brother in a year. He looks older and a touch heavier but otherwise still the same.

We grilled burgers and Dana made quesadillas for dinner. The kids (and the adults sort of, while talking) watched Evan Almighty and Surf’s Up.

9:00 p.m. In bed. The earliest bedtime we’ve had since hitting the road.