Our next stop was San Antonio. The eight our drive was really nice except for the flash flood warnings and TROPICAL storm we barreled through!!!  Soooooooo SCARY!!!

We finally arrived, went to the gym, and then hit the sack. Around midnight I got a call from the front desk asking me to come to the lobby. I almost went but I then called the front desk and they were confused. CREEPY!!! Regardless, we got a great nights sleep once we fell a sleep!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We woke up early to see the Alamo, the boot, and visit Paris Hatters Hatters. Unfortunately the storm we barreled through the day before was hovering over us. We had to hit the road by 10:30 to get to White Sands Monument Park to see the sunset, so we ended up having to miss seeing the boot. We took a photo from the car at the Alamo because their was no parking, but we did go to Paris Hatters and they ARE truly AWESOME!!! The owner picked out my hat and I love it so much. My daughter got a hat too, and we both got boots and jumped in the car and took off for the sunset.

I am looking forward to returning to San Antonio. I really liked it there. It was a nine and a half hour drive to the next destination!!! I-10 West is the longest road I have ever driven. The speed limit is 80….so of course you go close to 90. The air conditioner kept failing because it was 105 degrees. We had to roll down the windows and sun roof. By the fifth hour I got a lil figity, but then I saw a caution sign for rough roads. I was stumped about what that meant until all the sudden my 90 mile per hour started popping all over the road like popcorn. SCARY!!! My daughter has big beautiful blue eyes and those eyes just about popped out of her head in sheer terror. Man did that wake me up!!!

Then a bird decided to fly into my windshield. That bird and I had complete eye contact until it’s end.

I felt so bad for the bird. I got tears. My daughter had her head down so she did not see the calamity. She only heard me scream and get the tears. She could see the windshield remains. Terrible terrible sight it was.  For real too….  This is the truth. My daughter was laughing so hard because I got the tears. I just felt bad because of our eye contact. We stopped at a gas station in the middle of no where and I told the clerk I needed to clean my windshield because of what had happened. She said I was LUCKY. She said if it had been a buzzard it would have broken the windshield and landed in the car with us. She also said that BUZZARDS SMELL worse than a skunk. I was gratefully counting my blessings.

When We got back on the highway, I started getting movie of the mind. I was seeing movies of Buzzard hell and it took real discipline to make my mind STOP. It was just so scary.  I-10 west is definitely a mind game. Thankfully day two practice was the affirmation “I choose to see things differently” so that helped turn the scary movie off!!!

We finally made it to El Paso when a state trooper pulled up next to me. He then drifted back, then zoomed up again and just stared at us. The next thing I know his siren goes off and he points to us to pull over. He walked up to the car and I said “Sir, what have we done?”  He said your passenger doesn’t have her seat belt on properly.  He made Isabella get out of the car.  He started asking her all these questions, separated us, asked me questions. The Alanis Morrisette song “Ironic” started playing in my head. I hoped we didn’t drive all day to miss the sunset because of this smokey. He finally let us go and we did not get a ticket for the crooked seat belt. I was thrilled she had her first experience of being pulled over with me. Every mom and daughter should experience that together. Not sure why I feel this, but it was truly a bonding experience!!!  Two hours later we arrived in Alamogordo NM to see the most spectacular sun set in my life. If you get a chance to drive to White Sands Monument park, I would highly suggest the visit. Tomorrow is Santa Fe. Isabella and I have some spectacular images to paint and this is only the beginning.  So excited!!!