Day Nine - Austin to Amarillo

Sleeping angels. Must wake them up to get to the cafe.

I woke up with my alarm. Failed to get up at that time. We did get up and in the car only an hour behind schedule. Schedule. Ha. We are on our own time. Breakfast at Boulin Creek Cafe was awesome. Read the food was awesome. Tiny bounced all over the place. Sorry for whoever needs salt at that tables next. I turned at some point to witness her making it her own salt lick. George wiped it off best he could. Girls had a blast in the bathroom drawing on the chalkboard stalls. It was the only time I have taken all the girls to the bathroom and not want to pull my hair out.

Even getting back to the hotel later than intended, girls swam for about an hour. Beach balls from the cousin's party the day before we left are awesome pool toys. And each girl has their own.

George loaded up the car and left out only what was needed to bath them after the pool. These girls are getting good at listening and following directions so bathing them is now a treat instead of a chore. And ice buckets hold the right amount of water to rinse conditioner from their hair. So much better then those flimsy plastic cups.

After baths, Tiny showed us how tiny she is and crawled under the bed with my phone. She documented her own adventure with a video which is pretty cute. And long. Biscuit joined in on the fun and interviewed the tot in a much shorter segament.

A quick rearrangement, trash cleared out, and on the road for Amarillo

Ahhh, almost like we are home

George announced that we could pick up more car bagels since we were in Austin. Bruegger's is important enough to look up locations when we left Raleigh. Loralea overheard bagels and it was all she wrote. We had to get some.
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George went in the bakery to secure more car provisions and Brogden used that time well nursing. Headed back on the road to find a Texas flag sticker for the roof top box. Internet said it was at a place appropriately named 'The Texas Store' at a mall on the way out of town. Mall map gave us exact location. Upper level outside Macy's. Found the perfect addition to the cargo carrier and a few more postcards. I desperately need to find a pen so the girls can send postcards to the grandparents. 

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Sharing sweetly

Taking the escalator for the child afraid of elevators brought a ice cream shop into view. Unnoticed by the girls, I brought it to their attention since this ice cream was made with liquid nitrogen. They each selected a popsicle, dug in, and stayed clean! Since they started cooler, they seemed to melt slower. A mother's dream.

Let's those sticks hold up

Bubble found that her shoes would fit under Biscuit's headrest. Finding shoes at stops is a PAIN. George put Tiny's in my headrest and Biscuit added hers to the Driver's seat. Now for a solution that I have been contemplating. The headphones. Oh, the headphones. First stored at each seat. Lost all the time. I have to turn them on and off each time they are used so I wanted them within my reach. George removed the headrest in front of me to clear my view. Added the headsets and it was golden. Until you barely knock one and they would all slide down. I wanted a pencil to fashion stops for each side where the headrest supports entered the seat. I can't find a pen, do you think I can find a pencil. I have looked for five days. Nothing. So I search the mall parking lot for a stick. Success. Time will tell if this problem is fully solved or if modifications are in order.

Biscuit studies ABCs

Back on the road. To literally cross the road. George wants to try dry ice in the coolers. The coolers stay cold but all the cold water is a pain to drain. Solid CO2 expands when melting. Each cooler came with warnings everywhere to not use dry ice. We are trying the drain plug out on the hard side cooler and the zipper not closed on the soft sided one. I also have the window cracked for the carbon dioxide to escape the enclosed car. Time will also tell.

I am not sure how George bribed Google Maps to stay off controlled access highways but the drive today has some pretty views. Pretty views and little cell signal. I couldn't work on the posts so I took pictures and we watched Frozen twice. Texas is so big that we are having to travel more hours in a day than we would like just to stay on the planned schedule.

I cannot explain how good these children are about being in the car. Brogden was fussy for a while but also produced a huge diaper and spit up quite a bit. I have been advised that it takes up to two weeks to clear the intolerance causing proteins from both of our systems. Each day gets a little better for him. I promise to never knowingly consume dairy and soy again.

​Bagels and leftover dinner from Trudy's filled the bellies of everyone in the car except myself. I settled with the leftover meat from Rouse's market.

Doesn't look too appealing like this but oh so good.

Spotless

I like to stop at regional grocery stores when traveling to see all the differences. And to buy food. Road tripping with a family is easier to me with a cooler in the car. Now, we just needed to restock it. Most of the time I find everyone is just as satisfied, maybe more satisfied, with sandwiches in a hotel room than the stress of locating a decent restaurant and children behaving well during the meal.

This is grocery store was clean. I mean clean. With trash cans st the end of every other aisle. There were fun leaf decorations above the produce section and a Starbucks. We did not purchase coffee (Insert shocked face) though it helps to gauge the community. I did pick up some lemon chia seed marshmallows and the makings of trail mix for snacking. Fancy I know. George got ham, three different cheeses, and bean chips.

Continued onto Amarillo singing George Strait every fifteen minutes. And lots of windmills. Windmills as far as the eye could see.

Made it to Amarillo by (1:23 am) morning.
Steps taken: 8,948
​Miles driven: 523.2