Over the course of the next few days we made our way slowly to Houston. It is a 14 hour drive from Orlando to Houston but we were not in any hurry so we only drove two to four hours a day. We generally did homeschooling in the mornings and drove in the afternoons. The first day out from Tallahassee we stopped early in Pensacola and spent an evening at Barnes and Noble before finding another Cracker Barrel for the night. The weather was turning cold and there was a huge winter storm barreling south. It was forecasted to bring snow as south as Atlanta but just cold and rain to the Gulf Coast.
The next day was cold, rainy and windy, not very good driving weather so drove just a little bit further west to Mobile, AL and spent the day at the Exploreum Science Center. This science museum was not too large but had plenty of exhibits and things to keep Olivia busy for the entire day. They even had a live science demonstration about gas pressure. That evening we went to a nearby Cracker Barrel for the night.
The following day we had a longer drive to New Orleans. Between homeschooling and driving we got to New Orleans late in the day so we just went directly to a Barnes and Noble to chill out for the evening. Afterwards for a change of pace we parked at the Boomtown Casino for the evening.
We were planning to take a look around New Orleans for a couple of days but the weather was iffy and Burbon Street is not exactly the most ideal place for kids so we decided to press on to Texas. We got to the border of Texas by lunchtime and of course we had to stop for BBQ at a small restaurant in Orange, TX called JB Barbeque. The BBQ was decent but I liked their potato salad so much I got an extra pint to go.
By late afternoon we were back in Houston and our first stop was the Katy Play Station where Olivia was able to get some exercise while Holly made dinner followed by a night at the nearby Cracker Barrel.