We are on the fourth day of our journey to Texas.  I took lots of pictures yesterday, but sadly, last night while we were driving and I was tired, I accidentally erased all my new pictures off my camera.  So this is a no picture blog today.  I will write  what I wrote in my journal yesterday.

We stopped at the first quilt shop yesterday in Bovinia, MS. It had 9000 bolts of fabric.  We almost missed it as it was on a dead end road and we thought Miss Garmin had led us astray, but we kept going and there it was almost at the end of the road.  It had just about every quilt magazine you could think of, tons of patterns, quilt aides, sewing machines, long arm machines and much more.  The fabrics were beautiful and there was a large variety.  Of course I had to buy some.  When this trip is all over, I will show you my treasures.  This is part of the fun of traveling and seeing new businesses and quilt shops.

We passed through Vicksburg.   Many years ago we went to Vicksburg with my brother and his family and went through the Coca Cola museum.  We drove through the battlefield.  It was sad to see how many had died in the American Civil War.  And this was just one cemetery.

We went through Louisiana yesterday.  A little town called Tallulah.   The town had Christmas trees set up in a river all ready for the next Christmas season.  Metal trees with big colorful globes on them.

It was a sad looking  town.  Like many little towns we have gone through.   Storefronts boarded up.  A dusty little town, but they still wanted to decorate for Christmas.  The people who live there probably love their town, though, and stay there in hopes of something better.

Many towns centered around huge grain elevators and surrounded by fields already harvested.   I blinked and we drove through the town of Holly Ridge.  Remember Jan Karon’s book Holly Springs?  I saw a road sign pointing the way to it.  Father Tim was from there.

David and  I drove along sharing a banana and a small piece of peanut butter fudge.  Pure bliss.

Went through the town of Start, LA  I always wonder how towns got their names.  Perhaps someone was making a fresh start at this place.

Monroe, LA. An antique store mecca.  Everyone so nice.  Yes, I bought somethings.  I am trying to pace myself and not spend too much as we will be in Fredericksburg tomorrow and there are lots of stores there.  Also Wildseed Farms where I order my flower seeds from.  Can’t wait.

Hello, Shreveport.  Good-bye, Shreveport.  Just passing through

Finally, TEXAS!!!!  We have been in Texas a couple of times, but this is the first time we will spend several days in it.

Okay, I have to tell you about one of the worst places we have ever eaten.  We have eaten at some pretty bad places and some simply wonderful places in our travels.  I am not a buffet or cafeteria type person.  Unless we are eating at a fast food place where I know the food, I like to eat at a nice sit down restaurant and be served with delicious food.  This place was not it.  David likes buffets, so I reluctantly agreed to eat at McCay’s  Ranch House.  I knew it was bad when we went in and there was only one table with people sitting at it.  We should have turned around then, but we sat down.  I wanted to order the shrimp that they had on the menu, but the waitress just ran up to us and said, “Grab a plate and get your food.”  Just like that.  Well, I got a salad of huge lettuce leaves hardly cut up at all, black olives and a little dressing, a spoonful of pea salad and a spoonful of macaroni salad, which I usually love.  Yuck, yuck and yuck.  The entrees were no better.  The best part of the meal were the crackers that came with the salad. And how can you ruin a banana pudding?  I’m just telling you. Plus the waitress kept sticking her arm across our table to grab our plates before we were even done.  It wasn’t like she had a whole lot of other customers to wait on.   Don’t eat there.  I repeat.  Don’t eat there.  I told David this has turned me off of buffets for the rest of my life.

We started to see ranches and ranch gates with names of the ranches on them.  Passed antique shop after antique shop, but they were all closed as it was later in the day.  Boo.

Heading to Waco today to see the silos Joanna and Chip Gaines from the show Fixer Upper, have made into a store and offices.  Magnolia store.  Fredricksburg, here we come!!! Bye.