We’re getting much more used to this travel thing now. This morning, we woke up early and were on the road by 7 AM. A beautiful sunrise greeted us as we left the park.

Our first order of the day was drive from Atlanta State Park (in Texas) to Texarkana to find a WiFi connection. We stopped at Wal-Mart SuperCenter in hopes of getting a signal for the WiFi. I got a positive reading from the WiFi finder, so we grabbed the laptop and sat on a bench outside the store.

For background, all you really need to know is that I loathe Wal-Mart with every ounce of my being. I don’t even like to go into them. And I haven’t been in one for maybe 6 or 7 years.

Right as we sat down, this middle-aged man with a cart came over to us and started telling us how his chicken was going to thaw and go bad. “Sweet Jesus!” He said. They didn’t know what they were doing to him.

Ok, fine. We’re dealing with someone who isn’t all there. No problem. We’ve all run into this before.

He explained that he had to take the bus because he couldn’t drive anymore. “It’s a sad monkey when I have to take the bus, but all I’ve been doing since my accident is praising the Lord. I had my helmet and went through the windshield, and now when I’m looking at you [meaning Nikki and Ashley], I can’t see him [meaning me].”

It was sad. Not in a “I feel sorry for him” kind of way, but actually sad. This guy’s had it rough. And you could see that one eye worked and one eye just didn’t.

“And that’s why my one leg is three inches shorter than the other.” He stood up straight and, sure enough, his left leg was shorter. “It’s a sad monkey.” He praised the Lord a few more times and then we told him that we had to go inside, I wasn’t getting a WiFi signal. He said that I was really cool because I had a laptop. He had a computer, but it had all these wires.

This whole situation was hilarious and just sad all at once. I can’t really do it justice.

We then went into Wal-Mart to see if the signal was stronger on the inside. Took ourselves to the back, near McDonalds. As we passed the countless isles of crap, I couldn’t believe that people actually shopped here. It just seemed to icky.

The ick factor was amped up when we finally got back to McDonalds. The entire place was packed. Every seat was taken and the isles surrounded the eatery were jammed full of carts, left by those eating. We couldn’t believe this. Every single patron was over 65. It was the old folks hang out. They were playing bingo. Bingo at 7:30 in the morning in a Wal-Mart in Texarkana. Just messed up.

We tried again to get a signal, but no luck. So we found the electronics department. The first person we talked to had no idea at all what we were talking about (which is the case in a lot of places). Then the younger, hipper guy asked if he could help.

“Yes, I’m looking for a WiFi connection.” I said.
“Do you need a PC or Mac card for that?” He replied.
“No,” I was trying to make myself clear, “I need to get on the internet.”
“We carry cards for desktops and laptops.”
“No. I have a laptop with me, I want to get on the internet with it. Does this Wal-Mart have a wireless internet connection?”
“Ohh, ok, let me show you what we have in stock.”

He led me to a few isles over, looked at me and said, “OK, what you are trying to do is warhammering and it’s against Wal-Mart’s policy. That’s why I took you away from the counter.” He thought I was trying to break into Wal-Mart’s internet connection. I thought that he was going to try to turn me in. I wasn’t trying to break into anything, I just wanted a legal normal everyday WiFi connection like the kind that have at truck stops and cafes all over America.

He explained that the South doesn’t have many WiFi hotspots yet and that any signal I’m getting is encrypted (which I knew). He then called around and found out that a local McDonalds has free WiFi. So we went there.

After that little bit of fun, we headed west down US Route 82, passing by countless small towns with countless water towers. The bigger the town, the bigger the water tank. Most of the towns were run down and depressed, much like Texarkana.

We had planned on passing through Paris, Texas, mostly because of the movie, which none of us have seen. But hey, it’s on the way. Well, on the way to Paris, we pass through a speck on the map called Detroit. It had only one store in it, but the line of old store fronts was what made me stop the car and wake everyone up. The shop, a supposed art gallery, but more of a junk/craft store, was pretty cool. Nikki picked up a plastic bobble-head armadillo with the words “Detroit, Texas” on it. It was 20 or 30 years old, from a time when they were trying to revitalize the town. That plan has long since been abandoned. The old fellow who ran the place, which used to be a bank (even the vault was still there!), told us that the vice-president under Monroe was born only a block away.

Paris was the next stop. It was a bigger town, but the downtown was still in shambles. Not as much as most of the other towns, but still, pretty bad. There were mostly antique and junk stores. There was an art gallery (with some pretty good work in it) and a pet store where the birds looks so unhealthy that it nearly brought us to tears. There was a black mama cat in a very small cage and you could tell that she had just given birth (where were her kittens??) and that she was very starved for attention. The woman behind the counter was unfriendly and yelled at us like we were grade school kids, “don’t put your fingers in the cages!” The thought of liberating these poor animals crossed all of our minds.

We walked around Paris, found a Subway, grabbed a bite to eat and drove on till we hit I-35. I was debating on taking US 77 right away, but it was Oklahoma, right? Nothing to see. The land was flat, just like Texas.

After about 20 miles, the land started taking on some hills. We saw a sign which read “Scenic Turnout,” so we turned out and it looked like any other view from the interstate. Confused, we rolled on, but took the next exit onto US 77. Nikki, half jokingly said, “It’ll probably be about as scenic as the ‘Scenic Turnout’ we just saw.”

Then the oddest thing happened. The Oklahoma land, which, up until now was flat and shapeless, suddenly became hilly, then mountainous. Steep drop offs, rocky rises, huge boulders. It was night and day. Where did this come from? We drove up a steep incline and saw a sign for “Turner Falls Overlook.” We pulled off and below us was a beautiful waterfall emptying out into a clear pool filled with happy bathers. To the right was a huge European style castle. We took some pictures and decided to take a swim. Why not? This was our vacation. We had no reservations for the night, so no need to be anywhere, really.

Nikki and Ashley got their hopes up high over swimming. Me, I was going to check out that castle. Ecstatically, we drove down the mountain side and turned the corner with the big “Turner Falls” sign. Then came the horror.

$8 per person. Just to see the falls! What robbery! It’s not like they made the falls themselves! How could they do this and sleep at night? How could they look themselves in the mirror?! $8?? They should be ashamed!

Disgusted, we down on.

We stayed on 77, passing through one broken down town after another. Davis, Pauls Valley and Purcell were the biggest. Pauls Valley afforded us some great pictures, though we didn’t get out of the car.

Ending the day, we pulled into the campsite at around 7pm. Norman, OK, only 15 miles away, provided some so-so Chinese food after we set up the tent. We finally settled in for sleep (and writing this) at 10pm.

Another long day on the road. These accounts seem almost robotic now. Please don’t think that. A lot happens when you cover this much ground, I’m only giving a brief overview. And tonight I’m pretty sleepy.

We’re camped in Thunderhead Lake State Park, outside of Norman, OK. It’s pretty nice, though our tent is on a slight slant. The crickets or whatever they are are ridiculously loud. Louder than Atlanta State Park in Texas. Just a few minutes ago, five or so owls let loose with hootting that lasted several minutes. It was cool at first, but then got kind of creepy. We’re all glad they stopped. Ah nature. We’re such wimps.

Tomorrow we hit Route 66. I am literally smiling just thinking about it.

Ok, enough from me, goodnight folks.

Stats
Miles traveled today: 401
Hours on the road: 12
Miles traveled in total: 2334

Pictures
Pictures from Eric’s Camera.
Pictures from Ashley’s Camera.

Where are we?
Map showing where we are today!
(Purple = where we’ve been. Red = where we traveled today.)