Since we had pushed on further the day before we were able to pass on the alarm and got up around 8. For our very first meal back in the United States we went to….. Taco Bell. Olivia wanted a breakfast burrito. Funny thing is that they usually don’t have burritos or hard shelled tacos in Mexico. It is all soft tacos with corn tortillas and tostadas.
We still had over 350 miles and at least 6 hours of driving to go so we couldn’t dally and quickly got back on the road. As we drove we marveled at how smooth the roads were and noted the lack of speed bumps everywhere. The weather was good, the sun was shining and the roads were wide, well-marked and we could read everything! There was no more need for the Mexican “lane and a half” where slower moving vehicles would drive mostly on the shoulder to allow cars to pass. No we were on a three lane in each direction highway, each car had its very own lane, no need to share. One downside was with how smooth, straight and easy the driving was is that after a few hours it can become monotonous and tiring in its own way.
For our second meal in Texas we had to get some Texas BBQ so we stopped for lunch at GM Fire BBQ in Refugio. This turned out to be disappointing as we got a box of forgettable BBQ and a corn dog for $26. After lunch, Holly decided she wanted to take a turn driving. She did not want to drive in Mexico and had not driven in over a year so she wanted to give it a try. She drove for a couple hours before passing the driving back to me. Maybe she will give it a try again next year.
We got to Benham by 4 PM, well ahead of our 7 PM appointment time. It turns out the vaccination site was drive through site at the county fairgrounds manned by a National Guard unit and Rover was a little big so they had us park and summoned a golf cart to take us through the drive through. There was a steady stream of cars but not much of a line and within a few minutes it was our turn to get our shots. The shot itself was anticlimactic, just like any other shot after which we got our vaccination cards and they had us sit in the golf cart for 15 minutes in case of adverse reaction and then we were back in Rover and on our way. As we gassed up for $2.47 a gallon, we marveled at how cheap the gas was compared to Mexico.
Our day was not over yet as we drove another hour to Houston to look for our third meal in the US which had to be Chinese. We went to Houston Chinatown and ate at Happy Lamb Hot pot restaurant. At $26 a person it was pricy but we decided to splurge and it was delicious. All you can eat thinly sliced Ribeye, American Kobe beef, pork belly, lamb from New Zealand and Australia, various veggies, tofu, meatballs, it was glorious and we stuffed ourselves silly before rolling ourselves back to Rover. We then drove to the nearest Cracker Barrel to spend the night.
