On the way to San Jose?

I've got that song going through my head..."Do you know the way to San Jose?...." Dionne Warwick, I think. Naw, we're not going to San Jose, we're heading through Texas to get to Carlsbad Caverns eventually! Our first stop tonight is going to be Junction, TX, on the west side of San Antonio...Eldy did great on the drive today..

We had a close call however, on I-10. Some idiot decided to come over into the lane we were changing into..We had our signal on W-A-A-Y ahead of time to signal the lane change, but that didn't stop the Chevy HHR from coming into our lane AT THE SAME TIME! We just missed colliding and the other driver didn't have a clue that we just missed hitting her. It happened too fast for Eldy to blow the air horn at her, and too fast for me to grab the "OH, SHIT!" handle on the passenger side. (The terminology for that handle comes from an excerpt in a funny book about a diva princess, high society girl who takes to the road with her husband and writes about her travels.) The name of the book is Queen of the Road. 

Me, sometimes I'm obliviously knitting, which can be a very good thing. I looked up at the last minute to see us just miss hitting her. Got a dishcloth done today by concentrating on my knitting and not on the road!

You know, there's a few things we've noticed about Texas that are just tidbits of stuff we like...I think whoever has a handle in designing the Texas highway system has done a pretty good job. We liked the "feeder" lanes that run alongside the highways...you've got a choice whether to get on the interstate running parallel to the feeder lanes at opportune times, or you can stay out in the feeder lanes and get to many different destinations for shopping, gas, etc. without ever having to hop on the interstate, but it's there if you need it. We also think the Texas bridges over interstates are beautifully designed. The bridges actually have what I call "inlay" designs of "waves" on the sides. Some of them have murals painted on them...Add the rest stops to that list as well.

ceiling in the bathroom, for heaven's sake!

ceiling in rest stop lobby! Look at the pulley system, cool!

We stopped at one rest stop today about 50 miles east of San Antonio on I-10. The woodworking inside was really something, the beam construction was gorgeous, and the restrooms had the same beautiful woodwork on the ceiling and blue mini mosaic tiled walls. There was a historical display about the "oxcart wars" and a cool hacienda facade with some information as well.  Impressive!

I actually took the time to read all the displays..free wifi at this rest stop as well. Texas really knows how to treat their guests!

Our first night away from Houston was Pecan Valley RV park, 22.00 a night, full hookup in Junction, TX off I-10....beautiful BIG open areas, hundreds of deer grazing in the woods next to the park, which was more like camping in somebody's backyard, BIG TEXAS style backyard. The owner had a house on the premises. They also had a salt lick for the deer and we were hoping to see them come out and feed in the big grassy area, but they were very skittish and didn't come in that night. The park is also on the grounds of a grove of pecan trees, and has funny little signs coming into the park. We didn't get any free pecans or specials on them, that would have been a nice touch if they did! Pecan Valley was a nice overnight stop even if there was no air card signal or antenna/TV signal for us. That was a different experience for us--no internet and no TV!  ...On the bottom photo, the camera focused on the fence not the deer, but you can see there were lots of them. On we go to an Escapees park near Carlsbad, 22 miles north. See you there!