We planned to take a few long days and a few shorter days on the road. Today was 245 miles and without stops or traffic it would have been about 3 1/2 hours. We planed a stop in Royce City at one of our favorite places, Buc-ee’s. If you’ve never had the pleasure, allow me to fill you in. In the early years (2003 or so) we made trip from San Antonio to Shiner, Texas along I-10 where we discovered a gas station called Buc-ee’s whose claim to fame was “world’s cleanest bathrooms.”It did not disappoint. Not only were they clean, each stall was its own room with a closing and locking door, walls all the way to the top. There was an attendant keeping things clean and we were hooked.

When you walk out of the bathroom you realize you are in a superstore of interesting things. 30 types of fresh jerky, jellies, jams, salsa, pickled things, and of course Beaver Nuggets. Beaver Nuggets remind me of Sugar Pops cereal but bigger, crunchier, and sweeter. They also have them dipped in chocolate (milk, dark, or white), and they come in savory flavors such as white cheddar or habanero. We LOVE them all. There are about 80 soda fountains, big urns of freshly brewed coffee and iced tea, and there are hot foods such as barbecue brisket and pork that are served as tacos for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch or dinner. They branched out into wraps awhile back so our current favorite is Philly Cheesesteak.

Today we stopped, walked the dogs, hit the potties, loaded up on nuggets for friends and ourselves and grabbed a cheesesteak wrap. In addition to all the foodstuffs, there is MERCH. We probably each have 4-5 pieces of Buceewear and no less than 5 soft and squishy blankets or throws. We have 2 in the RV. We did not get any merch today but I was wearing a Buc-ee’s tie dye. They have 80 gas pumps so it is truly a convenience store.

After our 30 minute Buc-ee’s stop we hit the road again. There was fairly heavy traffic before Lake Ray Hubbard, and super heavy traffic through downtown Dallas. After that it was relatively smooth sailing to the Weatherford KOA Journey. Journeys are usually right off the highway and frequented by overnighters who need a safe place to sleep. Most of them are pretty good, this one has a lot of full time residents and is not exactly welcoming. Our space is pretty tight. The parks with long term residents make mobile home parks look nice. Yes, our next door neighbors have at least one Pit Bull on a lead rope staked in the ground. There was a 2nd dog but I didn’t see it. We are glad this is only an overnight.

We took a ride through downtown Weatherford as it had been awhile since I’d been there for the Parker County Peach Festival many years ago. It is celebrated every July, so we will miss it. We had dinner at a favorite taco place-Fuzzy’s and then went to a place called Antebellum Brewing. It started to rain but we sat outside under an umbrella. It was fairly busy and a musician started playing and singing country songs. He was ok, a bit pitchy and Clint says, “It’s not Nashville.” He was right. We stopped for groceries and called it a night. It is still raining but we think tomorrow should be clear. We have another short day and it should be nice. Until then….

-Cheryl