It is amazing what can be accomplished when you GET UP! (insert me laughing).
8:26 AM – We are pulling on to I-10!! And we’ve had breakfast already! The Roadrunner Cafe at the Fort Stockton RV Park make wonderful homemade flaky melt in your mouth biscuits and gravy served with scrambled eggs and a large sausage patty, OJ and coffee. Total, tax and all = $10.24!
Caution: Show Chickens on Board -- I must Google “show chickens.”
Bright yellow flowers all along the highway and I cant get my driver to stop. Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’. I’m in Texas, my native state, and I can’t believe I don’t know what these yellow flowers are. Could be buttercups, but they don’t quite look big enough. Maybe they are mini-buttercups. :-)
What a beautiful morning. Clear skies right now and, still, a slight tailwind. Yeah, Father!!
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing!
What? 8:45 AM – Picnic area, no restrooms. He’s STOPPING?!!! Just for me to take pictures of the yellow flowers! My wonderful hubs got a kiss of that!
It’s the windmill ranch!
Windmills,
oil wells,
a home here and there,
power station…
there’s a lot going on out here in the middle of nowhere!
9:10 AM – wind has shifted to the south/southwest.
Now, that’s a different kind of yellow flower.
Sniff, sniff. I smell money. Smells very similar to oil.
9:14 AM - Another rest area. We’re stopping! This time, it’s for him, but I still get to take pictures of the other yellow wildflowers. They look like tiny daisies, about the size of a quarter. He loves me, he loves me not…. oh, yes, he loves me.
Nice clean restrooms. Still can’t figure out why Arizona closed their rest areas. What? They don’t want tourists?
And a rose outside the restrooms! (Are you actually surprised that I carried my camera into the restroom?)
A yucca blooming at the rest stop across the interstate.
Did I mention that it’s cold all of a sudden. 65 degrees and the wind has changed directions. I think it’s a Northern! We now have a blowing cloud cover.
9:25 AM – back on the highway.
GASP! I see red Indian paint brushes!! (insert sideways glance at my sweet husband.)
What area of Texas are we in? The Big Bend area, approaching the Texas Hill Country.
9:41 AM – Entering Crockett County. Wind has calmed, but Don says he can still feel it.
We are loving all the green we see! 
10:00 AM – Sun shining again and the yellow flowers are everywhere. 
Anyone else experience the optical illusion of going downhill, but the RPM’s tell you you are going up hill?
10:14 AM – First BLUEBONNET sighting!! 
10:25 AM – time to re-fuel in Ozona. 8 MPG confirms we’ve been bucking a headwind.
12:30 PM – exit I-10 to Texas 290.
WE have seen every color of flower on the road: yellow, orange, red, blue, various shades of purple, white. So pretty.
12:45 PM – Harper, Texas
Deer sighting!
This is goat, sheep and donkey country. And deer country
1:07 PM – Fredericksburg, Texas… a very busy tourist town. 
It’s too early to stop for the day. We’re headed to Grand Kids!!! Don has decided he doesn’t want to be pulling the Q on the road on his birthday, tomorrow. And, it is supposed to be even more windy tomorrow.
I’ve stopped trying to take pictures of the wildflowers along the road. They are so pretty and so many. It’s making me a little sick because I can’t just walk and take pictures. This is a wonderful time of year to be in the Hill Country. It’s so green and the wildflowers are so pretty. (sigh)
1:15 PM – Camel sighting.
1:31 PM – Buffalo herd sighting.
Creeks every few miles, with water running in them.
1:33 PM – Beautiful paint horse sighting.
1:45 PM – stopped for a burger at the DQ in Johnson City.
Don decided to to take I-35 through Austin for the last leg of our trip.
The Frost Bank Tower is a skyscraper in Downtown Austin, Texas. Standing 515 feet tall and containing 33 floors, it is the third tallest building in Austin. It was developed by Cousins Properties from November 2001 to December 2003. It was the first high-rise building to be constructed in the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks. The Frost Bank Tower was designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP and HKS, Inc. The silvery blue color glass facade was first used on the Reuters Building in New York City. Cousins sold the building in 2006 to Equity Office Properties Trust for $188 million. Equity Office Properties then later sold the building to Thomas Properties. 
Top of the Texas Capitol Building.
The University of Texas Frank Irwin Center… where, in 1992, youngest daughter LaNae played basketball for Kaufman High School in the state tournament. They didn’t win state, but it was a big thing for Kaufman to make it to the state final four for the first time in school history. LaNae did set a state tournament record for blocked shots in a game, girls or boys, and she was chosen for the all-tournament team. Fun times for us. That was eighteen years ago!! Wow. (Thanks for allowing me that trip down memory lane.)
3:30 PM – Arrived at Round Rock~! Leslie was still at work, but she clued us in to the fact that Camden and Lydia were over at the play area at the baseball park, so we surprised them.
Manchia Pizza was our chose for dinner, mainly because the kids love the play foosball, even though Camden can barely see over the side.
If you think it bothers him that he can barely see over the side, you would be wrong.
Emma is concentrating on her pizza.
“Nonni, could you put that camera down and eat your pizza?” Ok, big brown eyes, just for you.
Now that the day is done, I must report a praise: When we parked this afternoon, as I was putting down the board for Don to pull the Q onto for leveling purposes, I noticed cracks/splits on the side of the back tire of the left side. (I will take a picture tomorrow) So we began to check all the Q tires and each one is damaged, just not to the extent of the first one. When I went inside, I could smell the result of over heated rubber tires. Now I begin to think back about an hour, when we were on top of a single lane mix master, who knows how many feet in the air, in the wind. (white knuckles) Oh, thank You, Jesus, that we did not have a blow out! Another praise: tires are covered by warranty! We’re certainly wondering what could have caused the splitting of the tire rubber. It wasn’t caused by the heat in Arizona, because it was only hot for a little while last October while we were parked. And they have only been in freezing weather once or twice. Well, I did a little research and look what I found >>>>>> tire damage <<<<<<<<.
Sing to the Lord a new song,
and His praise from the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 42:10
