Some dude we had met told us that driving the length of Texas would feel reallllly loooong. I’m sure that’s true if you’re trying to drive it straight, or if you’re just trying to make it to the other side, but we’re all “Life’s About the Journey” over here, so it wasn’t bad!
AND, to make a great journey even better… we came across our first In-N-Out on the trip!!!!!
Priorities, guys
Yummmm
With our stomachs (too) full, we headed west!
Did you know that almost all Walmarts allow free overnight parking for trucks and RVs? It’s pretty sweet. We hadn’t taken advantage of it yet, but this was the perfect time since there wasn’t anything near Ft. Stockton that we wanted to see for a week, and we had also come up with a new plan to make it to San Diego for Christmas, so we sort of needed to get moving.
Well, it all started out fine.
A few other RVs had the same idea
We found a good spot and went in to stock up and grab an easy (because we were running on generator power) and healthy (because we were running on fast food burgers) dinner.
Stretching those legs
Once it started to get dark though, the whole vibe seemed to change from populated, cheery parking lot into creepville. Some people pulled up RIGHT beside the Jeep that was still attached to the bus, and started to freak us out with their erratic behavior (what on earth they were hiding in their car, we’ll never know). As it got later and their behavior got weird-er (like seriously, get away from the Jeep!), we decided we weren’t going to sleep very well and it was better to just move on and find another spot for the night.
The campgrounds were all closed for the night, but there were several truck stops nearby, so we decided to try those. The first one didn’t have any open spots, and the second one only had one tight squeeze that we would’ve had to unhitch the Jeep in order to get into, so we passed. I was beginning to get a little concerned just because it was almost midnight and we were tired, with no interest in driving to the next town.
We spotted a gas station near the interstate and decided to give it a try. Billy went inside to ask if it was okay to park overnight, and the lady directed us to the gravel lot behind the gas station, which also wasn’t great because we’d have to unhitch to get into said lot. There was some space by the curb next to the diesel pumps, so we inched forward and I jumped out to get a look at the signage that was posted and lo and behold….
OMG!!! We couldn’t believe it!!
We parked it and had the bed unfolded and pajamas on in under five minutes. I’m sure all Walmarts are different, but we were super happy with our move and ambiance upgrade. Yes I just used ambiance to describe a gas station parking lot. I don’t care, I just know that we slept like babies! See ya on the flipside, Walmart!