Winter Trip - 2010 #3

We left Vicksburg, MS on Wednesday, Jan 13th and continued our journey on I20. We finally found warmer weather 65 degrees (yeah). Jim has also finished finding new applications on his GPS so the ride is going quite smoothly. Our first stop in Texas was in Kilgore, TX. Jim's brother told him about a great BBQ place (Bodacious) (1st pic) right off I20 so we decided to check it out for lunch. It was difinitely worth the stop. The place was pretty big and the parking lot was full at noon time so we figured it must be pretty good and it was. We will definitely stop there again on our westward journeys. That evening we stayed in Dallas, TX at a Flying J. We met Jim's sister, Diana and her husband Sherman for dinner. They drove down from Denison, TX. Jim has this list of the top 15 privately owned steak restaurants in the US and one of those on the list was located in Dallas. It is called the III Forks Restaurant. It was beautiful and the food/service was wonderful. We had a wonderful visit with Sherman and Diana. (2nd pic). While were visiting with Diana and Sherman they both noticed a mole on Jim's cheek that I've been trying to get him to get checked. Both of them expressed a concern that he get it checked. The next morning, Jim received a phone call from Sherman offering to find him a Blue Cross Blue Shield participating dermatologist in the Dallas area and reiterated he should get it checked. So Jim decided he would do so. We were able to get an appointment at 9:50 am and they took him in right on the dot. Turns out that the mole is a Seborrheic Keratoses (KS) and is nothing to worry about. Doc says at some point if it gets too big or uncomfortable to shave around he can get it removed. So we're both glad he got it looked at and certainly both glad it's nothing to worry about. Just another old age thing!! Jim says he will have it removed when the girls quit looking at him on the beach! (Might have already happened!) It took us 3 days to get through Texas. It is the longest part of our trip. I was getting drowzy, and Linda agreed to spell me at the wheel for about a hundred miles, figuring that the traffic would be light in west Texas. She really drives the thing well, and I am very comfortable with her at the wheel. I did get about a 45 minute snooze and, you might know that she hit construction. One spot was quite narrow, only a couple of feet on each side between two jersey walls, at 60 mph! After some colorful language she got through it just fine but turned it back to me at the next rest area. The next night we spent at Wal Mart in Midland, TX. There we got caught up on some groceries and news. It sure is terrible what happened in Haiti. I can't imagine what those poor people are going through. We made it to Las Cruces, New Mexico on Friday. We are at a camp ground right off the interstate. We got here early Friday afternoon and have spent the afternoon doing laundry and emails and of course the blog. We're going to dinner downtown this evening. The last pic is of Charlie in his usual position. These trips make him pretty tired!!