Our trip
to Canton, Texas, for the "First Monday Trade Days", started out a bit behind
schedule, but that's more the norm for any trip Bonnie and I take. When
Marian is a part of our fun, she has learned that we never seem to
be ready at the time we've chosen. She's timely- - -we're not always. Thankfully, she's patient with us.
We thought the trip would take about 9
hours, so leaving at 11:30 a.m. instead of the planned departure time of 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. would still
put us in the Dallas area at a decent time. . .PLUS we would definitely be missing rush hour in
that town!
After we had loaded
Bonnie's car with only the "bare necessities" each of us needed for a six
day trip, we realized there wasn't too much room left for hauling loot
home. :) That was just fine. . . we were going on our long-awaited journey to CANTON!
Car doors slammed, seat belts on and we were off!
* * * * * * * *
Our chosen route of travel was I-35 from Kansas City, Missouri, to the Dallas area. Then we would pick up 635 and loop East and South around Dallas
to either highway 80 or 20. (We weren't certain which road at that point. . . but both would take us to Terrell where our motel room would be waiting!).
Easy Peasy.
* * * * * * * *
We had decided we would eat as
healthy as possible on our trip. Marian, one of the best cooks I know, was in charge of "snacks". As part of that assignment she had prepared each of us a little goody bag filled with
walnuts, crunchy cereal, dark chocolate Easter Candy and other delights---all were yummy and good for us!!!
Thirty minutes into our trip, we had tackled the wild and woolly highway system of South Kansas City, Missouri, and connected with I-35, just across the state line in Olathe, Kansas.
We were officially OFF. That's when we got into our snack bags!!! :)
We were FINALLY on the
road - - - snacking and jabbering. The only bad thing was the WIND!!! Oh
my, trying to hold Bonnie's Yukon on the highway was a challenge, but
it was a challenge worth making cuz we were heading to CANTON!!!
We traveled until
we reached the town of Emporia, Kansas, (I think that was about two
hours away from home). We decided it was time to stretch our legs, make a pit stop,
find a place to have lunch and visit the local Wal Mart for other
necessities we'd forgotten.
We had
brought lunch supplies (remember. . . we were going to eat healthy!) so
we got off the highway and started looking for a park or a picnic area.
We were in luck!
We spied concrete tables and benches beneath big old trees in an
area that looked like a park, but a sign read "Water
Treatment Plant". Now I'm going to experiment with a link I just
found where you can actually SEE the road we took up to that little park
(opposite the treatment facility) and scroll around until you see the
bench we sat on! OMG, isn't technology amazing!!! Click HERE!
Anyway, we spread out our healthy lunch of turkey and
Weight Watcher's Cheese and skinny bread and celery and carrots and
strawberries!!! It was wonderful, cept for the . . . . .
WIND!!!!! We had to hold on to our food, as big gusts would come along and send items sailing! It was also chilly in the shade beneath those big old
trees at the Water Treatment Plant!
We didn't linger over lunch that
day. Nope we wolfed it down and headed for Wal Mart!! :)
We decided our lunch and Wal Mart stops took up about an
hour (hey, we weren't watching a clock...this was a ROAD TRIP!!!).
Back on the interstate again, our
next big city landmark was Wichita, Kansas.
It was getting late, so we decided
it might be a good idea to take the 235 loop around Wichita instead of
going through the town on I 35. . . thinking that route might keep us out of
heavy (rush hour) traffic.
At this point was that we weren't working with a typical road map of Kansas. Nope we had a tiny little Atlas page of the state, so
the 235 loop was a bit deceiving. We took the loop exit and kept
driving and driving and driving. I kept looking at the directional on
the rear view mirror and saw that we were going west and north, which
would have been correct...... we eventually did see east and finally
reconnected with I-35. Strangely, once we were back on I-35, we all thought that stretch of the highway looked "familiar".
On our trip home, I'd located an actual Kansas map in
Bonnie's car and got a real look at the "loop". It was then that I
realized we'd probably gotten off on the second exit and basically
looped around the city the wrong way and didn't accomplish anything cept
seeing parts of Kansas we'd never seen before! Plus, I-35 didn't go
"through" the city like we thought it did, but instead is located on the
south-east side of town as part of "the loop"! :)
We'll know better
the NEXT time we head to Wichita!!
Did I tell you our Road Trips are never boring? :)
Once we had loop-dee-looped around
Wichita, Kansas, and were back on I-35, we headed south to Oklahoma AND Texas!!!
Yee Haw!
* * * * * * * *
Lordy, it was turning into a looooooong and windy drive.
Our first Oklahoma stop was in Blackwell at a Shell Station to gas up. Marian reminded me about the "roaring winds" at that place. They were so strong Bonnie was nearly blown over, plus we couldn't easily talk to each other! That should have told us how very powerful they were!
That location was also the spot where I STUPIDLY pulled my envelope of cash out of my fanny pack (to get money to pay for a drink) and left it on a counter. THANKFULLY, a gentleman quickly spotted it and asked if one of us had left it there! There ARE good folks left!!
* * * * * * * *
Our next spot for another "stretch" was what looked like a rest stop......we
saw a convenience store and gas pumps. After we parked the vehicle and approached the building, we saw that it was the WASHITA
GAMING CENTER (casino) in Paoli, OK.
The above picture was taken off the Oklahoma Gaming website and I couldn't enlarge it. By the time we reached that
spot, I didn't care too much about taking photos. I was very tired and
thirsty and stiff! :)
This was a gambling establishment
with a convenience store attached and it was very, very smokey, too.
(hack, hack). However, we didn't care at that point. We found
refreshments and the map rack. I wanted to see in more detail where we
were and how close we were to Texas! I would have purchased the map,
but they wanted $5.00 for them, so we just "peeked" and got the general
idea that we were still pretty far away!
In a few minutes, we were back in the car and returning to I 35. After a bit, we pulled out the healthy snacks- - -one more time!
After a while. . . we finally entered TEXAS, but . . . .
we were still a very long way
from our destination point.
We had reserved a room in a Terrell, Texas, motel. That town is east and a bit south of Dallas. . . we weren't totally
sure about WHERE our motel was in Terrell. We figured we'd get the exact location and directions later, when we were closer to the town.
* * * * * * * *
By the time we hit the 635 loop (the map below is
from TourTexas.com )
that would take us East and South to either highway 80 or 20, it was
dark. Actually, it had been dark quite a while. . . .rush hour traffic
definitely was not an issue.
I was behind the wheel as we hit that
loop. . . .I just remember seeing lots of brightly lit lanes (LOTS of
lanes) and a network of overpasses that resembled something out of The
Jetsons (that was Marian's comment. . . . and she was right on!). Plus, we were getting low on gas!
As we shot East on the loop, then South, we saw signs telling us that both of the highways we were looking
for were coming up . . . and we weren't certain at that point which one we
needed (they both took us to the town of Terrell). PLUS, we were also not
sure we would find a gas station once we did get on the exit we decided
upon. . . .so we got off 635 in an area that had what looked like a place for a gas station.
Problem. . . no gas station, just shops that were closed.! Gulp.
There we were driving around, trying to figure
out what do do. I think we ended up getting on an overpass that took us
to the other side of the highway (I was pretty foggy by that time and my recollection of the details isn't as sharp as the first few hours of the trip) and happened upon a gas station. We
were worried about the "part" of town we were in (it was late and we were from MISSOURI !!), but
when we saw that a little restaurant was attached to the station
and it looked neat and tidy (it was closed, but lit up) and we saw
someone actually CLEANING the glass door that led into the pay area of
the gas station. . . PLUS we all really needed the ladies room by then. . . .we pulled right in!
That station was so clean. . . they
even had a little yellow towel on the toilet tank (like a scarf) with a vase of FLOWERS sitting on it!!! This place received two gold
starts for cleanliness from us! It was called the Town Center Texaco in
Mesquite, Texas! (I just checked my charge slip!). Anyway, when we
asked for directions, two gentlemen patiently explained how to find
highway 80 which took us into Terrell. Bonnie had also called the motel
to get directions for locating it. We were on our way again!!!!
We were almost there!
It was about
10:30 p.m..
* * * * * * * *
We were, at last, headed
toward Terrell, looking for a couple of street names in the dark. . . in a strange town. We
approached an exit with a sign that pointed toward "Terrell" and I took
it.
Wrong move.
It took us through areas that again didn't look so
great. . . .and we couldn't find the street/s the hotel clerk had given
Bonnie.
After driving a bit, turning around,
driving a bit, turning around. . . .we stumbled upon what we assumed was
the road that would take us to highway 20, which is where our motel was
located. Thinking we were home free when we saw the illuminated sign
of our motel in the distance, we soon realized we couldn't find the street
that actually took us there. It appeared to be on an access road that
went one way and we couldn't figure out how to get on it. So, we did what three really tired Road Trip Gals would do. . . .we got on highway 20, heading toward Dallas,
so we could get off, take an overpass to the other side of the highway and get on the access road. . .which went the right way in front of our motel!
As we traveled closer to our motel, we were so thrilled when we saw that there was an OUTLET MALL that we missed the road we needed to turn
on!!!!!
Mercifully, we somehow stumbled upon another road that actually went BEHIND a shopping area and came around
to the front of our hotel, then out onto the access road.
It was 11:30 p.m.. Twelve long hours
after we had pulled out of Independence, Missouri. . . .on our trip to
Canton, Texas. We had arrived at our motel!
* * * * * * * *
We unloaded the car and headed up to our room. When we opened the door, it was like a little bit of heaven. Two queen beds and a fold out sofa (which actually seemed to be comfortable.....Marian took that. Hey, she's YOUNG!!!). The place was clean, clean, clean!!! We were so happy.
We slept in the next morning. . . . missing our free continental breakfast. Fortunately, there was an I-HOP next door!!! Oh happy day!!!!!!
We enjoyed an awesome meal and decided to go ahead and head for Canton, even though the sale didn't officially start until the next day. We wanted to get a "feel" of the town and find out where to park. We knew the place was HUGE and so would be the crowds!
Oh, and the exit and entrance to our motel appeared much clearer in the light of day- - - and after a good night's sleep !!!!!
* * * * * * * *
I will share lots more about our actual time in Canton on a later post. Today, I wanted to document bits and pieces of our actual trip to Texas. . . mainly so the three of us could hold on to some of those memories a bit longer.
I will tell you, however, there is something you HAVE to have when you visit a flea market/antique and decorating sale as huge as Canton. You need something in which to carry your finds!
I brought the silver one on the left with us, then Marian and I purchased the blue one at a booth in Canton (folks sell them all over the place). The blue one is bigger. . . and heavier, but it has wheels on the front, too. So, if you're in an area with a fairly smooth surface, you can push the cart, and it isn't quite so bad.
We also purchased nifty plastic bags to go in the carts. . . just in case it started to rain. We didn't want our purchases to get wet!!!!
So now that I've bored you senseless with this account of our trip to the south, I'll show you the second item we purchased.
Yep, we bit the dust and bought ourselves PINK COWGIRL HATS!! Actually, Bonnie (on the right) and I bought hats. . . . Marian doesn't like hats on herself, so she didn't get one.
HOWEVER. . . . .
she was a good sport and posed in a PINK hat. . . . just for you Pink Saturday folks!!!
I think she looks great in a hat, don't you?
We'll have to keep working on her!
Twiggy was especially fond of my PINK hat. . . THE STONE RABBIT thought it was a bit too large for him to borrow, however, he really liked the . . . . .
cart on wheels!!! He and his fellow concrete yard buddies have had a lot of fun pushing each other around since I returned home !!!
If you want to have a lot of fun, just visit Beverly at HOW SWEET THE SOUND. She will have a long list of other bloggers with great PINKS to share with you on another PINK SATURDAY!!!
Thank you, Beverly, for all of your work to keep PINK SATURDAY rolling along!!
DANA
