Texas 2021:
Day 2 - Dallas

	Saturday, January 23, 2021: Our night at the southbound St. Clair rest area had been very pleasant. A little loud, but our little RV stayed toasty warm. We found some frost buildup behind our windshield cover when we got ready to leave.
	There were several other cars that had parked for the night too.
	We felt pretty lucky that we had a rolling studio apartment to provide our comfortable night's sleep. And look! It fit perfectly into a normal parking space.
	We had started a mushroom growing kit a few days earlier, so we had to take it on the road with us since it needed lots of water. We had gotten it as a Christmas gift from our daughter and it was great fun to watch it grow every day.
	Visit Meramec Caverns. But not now, because we were still in a pandemic, and this van wasn't stopping for anything that involved an indoor activity.
	Well, maybe it could stop so Tom can run in and get meals to go. The Ocho is too tall for most drive-through lanes, so sometimes, we have to go inside to pick up food.
	Not only is Missouri kind enough to allow overnight sleeping in their rest areas, they post friendly signs the encourage you to stay awake.
	We had seen these the night before and were happy to pull over when we did.
	According to this sign, we were on the Purple Heart Trail, which we later discovered reaches all the way to south Texas.
	Gas station stops are a good time to grab some snacks, but we rarely went into gas station stores because we have lots of food and a bathroom conveniently located in our own vehicle. This did give us a chance to buy a half gallon of milk, which turned out to be a wonderful thing to have with meals, but also provided us with the perfect size container to mix up a batch of powdered milk once the real stuff ran out.
	Lunch was fast food again - this time, Wendy's. With more the 45 minutes of packing/planning for future trips, we'll be able to eat all of our meals in The Ocho.
	It was after 1:00 PM when we rolled into Oklahoma - state six for The Ocho. (No counting states for us - we both hit 50 states in 2012.)
	We recently acquired a K-TAG transponder, which means we were able to fly through Oklahoma's toll plazas with ease. K-TAG is a Kansas-based toll system that is compatible with toll roads in Oklahoma and Texas, and that came in very handy on this trip.
	We checked this statue off our list of Roadside America attractions.
	Ooooooohhhhhhhh-klahoma where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain!
	We caught glimpses of blue sky occasionally.
	Tom noticed that Oklahoma's Carl's Jr. stores are paired with Green Burrito, as opposed to our Hardee's/Red Burrito pairings back home.
	It's always fun to see retro signs, especially if they have Tom's name on them!
	We spotted a couple of fields of Texas Longhorns but weren't quick enough to get a picture. But this trailer came flying by and we got a quick shot from a distance. Imagine being stuck in a trailer with this guy and his matching head weapons.
	Scenery.
	Here's a variation of the common truck crossing sign.
	We passed the Castle of Muskogee, or at least the front façade.
	Here's Eufaula Lake.
	The mushrooms, collectively nicknamed "Annette Fungicello" by now, were enjoying the ride, held in place in the sink by jugs of water.
	These are some of the coolest clouds we've ever seen. They're perfectly straight lines of various shades of grey. Look at the larger version of this picture to get a better look.
	We reached the border of Texas around 6:00 PM: The Ocho's seventh state.
	Blurry or not, this photo of a Top Golf in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is immediately recognizable.
	Despite having some great friends in Dallas, it was still a pandemic so we couldn't see them. But we did get some takeout from the last open Black-eyed Pea in the world outside of Colorado. This was the restaurant where we had dinner with our friend John three years earlier.
	In addition to two perfect entrees and a bag full of the Black-eyed Pea's delicious cornbread and rolls, we ordered five additional various side dishes to be tucked in the fridge and enjoyed for the next couple of days.
	Ah, bliss! Dinner in a mall parking lot, served in the best dinette on wheels! We drove another hour south, and spent the night parked in a beautiful Texas rest area> with no other vehicles around us. Day 3 >