Day four we drove from Farmington, New Mexico, to Lubbock, Texas. The first part of the drive was beautiful, similar in some ways to Southern Utah. Pretty red rocks, but then these mesa things that were really cool, too. Parts of it actually reminded me of Central Oregon. And they had some mountains. The further south we went, though, the flatter it became. The hardest part of the drive altogether were Idaho and Southern New Mexico because they were just flat, straight, and boring (which makes a driver sleepy at times). We saw LOTS of big semi trucks and not a lot of other people on the road.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got into Texas that things actually got more green. Really? Yes, really. And there were some rolling hills - maybe not mountains, but certainly rolling hills (bigger than I thought there would be). We stayed in the cute city of Lubbock. We arrived on a Wednesday, early evening - and in time to finally take a dip in the pool!
Hazel was napping when we went swimming (we just let her nap in her carseat while we took a dip!) but later when the kids were in bed, she woke up and so I gave her some of her own water time - her favorite, tubby time!
There's nothing I love more than a sweet, clean, wet baby fresh from tubby time. I usually put some baby lotion on her and give her a little massage and then get her pjs on and then cuddle up and just smell her and kiss her cheeks the rest of the night :)
I laugh often thinking about how when a baby is getting rather chubby, and losing their hair - we think they are delectable and cute as can be. Not so as we get older! Enjoy it, Hazel!
It was our best hotel yet. (I couldn't believe it was only $10 more than the nasty super 9 the night before!) We noticed right away - everyone in Texas was so nice and friendly. We got there on a Wednesday night and everyone asked if we were there for the game. (Texas Tech is in Lubbock). We also noticed right away how much everyone loves their football. Jacob and I don't pay attention to football at all, so in that way, I'm not sure how we'll fit in. But, in a strange way, once we crossed the border into Texas I felt like we were finally going home.
The last day was just under 7 hours. Again, I was surprised that the land was green and the drive was rather beautiful. Lots of farm land and oil drills. But pretty. We stopped at this tiny little town to get gas and found about the only place in town to eat lunch. It was a pharmacy/drugstore/soda fountain combined. It was easy to see it was the most happening place in town. It was old-fashioned-down-home and it both warmed my heart, welcomed me, and made us both feel like we were in some sort of movie (Steel Magnolias came to mind). They greeted us with southern drawls and I couldn't count how many times I heard "y'all". Instead of looking at us like we were crazy to have 3 little kids, they all ooohed and ahhhed about our lovely family. We had burgers, shakes, 'tots (yes, they served tater tots), and I had a cherry coke float. It was good, fatty, food! And hung all over around the place were signs about how they support their local football team (high school team). As I looked around and thought about it, it dawned on me that that's about the most exciting thing that would happen in a tiny town like that, so no wonder! They had "friday night lights" painted on the door, and specials for those who came in after a game. I don't think I could ever live in a little town like that, but it was kind of heartwarming and refreshing to know that they still exist.
The last hour of our trip was probably the hardest. We knew we were close - and it was the first time the kids started saying they were sick of being in the car. The "are we there yet" moment. And of course Hazel hit her limit. So we pulled over on the 2-lane highway and I got Hazel out to nurse her and the heat just hit me. It was around 100 degrees. But it felt good. It felt so good that suddenly I wanted to be there NOW as well. And jump into the pool! And see if our stuff made it okay! And see where we would live, as Jacob had seen it before and signed the lease but I had no idea what it looked like yet. I was at my ropes end, too. But we had to hold it together. So we played more look-out-the-window-and-what-do-you-see games until we FINALLY made it to our gated apartment community in Austin, Texas.
Whew.
We made it!
We made a big deal and all shouted HOORAY!
Our stuff hadn't been dropped off yet (they give a window of all day long). It was 4pm and a bunch of guys from our new church congregation (ward) were coming to help unload at 6:30pm. The driver ended up being stuck in traffic so he got there about an hour late - BUT we had time to get refreshments for our helpers, and to get to know them a bit. Our friend, Kelsey, stopped by with her 3 kids and brought us DINNER! What a sweetheart! She knew. She knew that we drove 5 days and about 50 hours with 3 kids in the back of our Honda Civic and that when we arrived we'd have no plates, no food, no nothing. And that we'd be so tired from our journey, and trying to coordinate with our helpers, that we wouldn't have time to eat. Maybe she didn't know that she saved me from a migraine by bringing food and water. But she did. She saved us! And that was just the first time!
Everyone has given us such a warm welcome. Texans really are that nice, and sincere, and genuinely friendly. It's refreshing. Maybe it has something to do with the weather? Not sure. But we made it and we were sure glad to finally be HOME.
We are now officially Texans!
And my kidlets are now waking from their naps so I am going to call this blog journey good and take them to the pool on this 104 degree day, y'all!
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