After a bit of a letdown last night, we woke up around 8:30, trying to figure out how to spend our day... It looked like Tropical Storm Nick was sticking around, which was giving me the grumpies. Which, of course, I hated. I kind of groused around as we packed up, checked out, and loaded up the car, after a big ol' hug from Hubs to cheer me up.

It was too late for a McDonald's sausage biscuit, so we set out to find donuts. The first place we found looked like a place women got raped, so we bypassed that one altogether. The second place looked a little better - really trashy, but in a "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" kind of trashy, so we parked. As we walked up to the door, though, a tiny little hand threw up a "Drive Thru Only" sign... like, fuck you, gringo, no donuts for you!, so we skipped that one too (we certainly didn't feel very welcome after that). The third place we tried was literally non-existent. It probably used to be there, and just hasn't fallen out of Garmin's Points of Interest yet...

All of this is adding to the grumpies, so we said fuck it, let's just get the hell out of Channelview and go to Galveston anyway! I had the final say, and I told Hubby that when I started bitching about this later tonight - how long the drive was, how late it was, how tired I was - that I was okay with decision and I couldn't complain.

We drove back down to Galveston, among drizzle and actual rain. We found a Buc-ee's, that sadly, had no grab-and-go breakfast left, but we picked up some brownies (icky! Do they put coffee in their brownies? Ewww!). I also picked up a large fountain lemonade for later (I stashed it in the backseat cup holder).

Ironically, we weren't even supposed to be here today! (iykyk)

We continued on, watching the weather clear as we headed southwest (the storm was moving east), finally making it to Magic Carpet Golf, another true goofy golf course.

Looking across the Galveston Seawall from Magic Carpet Golf

Tee up, let's go

There's always a cave at mini-golf courses...

Unfortunately, the Jungle Course side was closed, but we were able to play the other course. It was most definitely better than Monster Mini-Golf, and more goofy than Peter Pan.

Weather was gorgeous (considering), and we had the course to ourselves

We hopped across the street and down the Galveston Seawall for a pit stop in the Gulf of Mexico. Sure, it's the same Gulf of Mexico that laps 770 miles of Florida coastline, but it's still neat to say I entered the Gulf in a different state, right?

Love this man

Nick must have churned the Gulf up pretty good, the water's a little icky

He took this with his cell phone, but it's one of my favorites from this trip!

Random waves photo

Obligatory partner selfie!

Hey Nick, how ya doin' over there?

Leaving Galveston

We headed back north along Highway 146, driving past various chemical manufacturers or steel suppliers and stopped for gas in Texas City, at an Oasis gas station. Never heard of them, so we of course had to check it out and see what foodie treasures we could find. Inside was clean as a whistle, and we scored 3 bags of truly Mexican snacks - Cheeros (Cheetos), Churrumais (Doritos), and Fritos. I was excited to bring home some truly new-to-us snacks to try! (I'll link to our tasting videos when I get around to uploading them)

Cheeros, Churrumais, Fritos

After grabbing some uninspiring McDonald's for lunch in LaPorte, we caught up with Interstate 10 in Baytown, and settled in for an easy drive through the rest of Texas. It rained on and off, and then mostly on. At one point, Hubby said he thought that something fell off the windshield wiper. I couldn't see anything amiss, but we stopped at a rest area outside of Winnie to check, and yeah... the end cap had broken off, so the actual rubber part of the wiper was falling out.

Baytown Harbour Bridge over Tabbs Bay, outside LaPorte, TX

(Stock Image to show what piece flew off)

I asked the attendant at the rest stop if there was anything he could do to assist, but the best he could do was tell us to drive into Winnie and go to the O'Reilly Auto Parts Store there. (Technically, we should have called Avis Roadside Service, but I didn't want to have to wait forever for someone to come out to change a wiper, when I could just get one myself and get reimbursed later.)

We haven't gotten very far today...

This rest area is very pretty (and empty)

Thankfully, the employees at O'Reilly were extremely helpful, even when I kind of went into Frantic "Karen Mode" on them, and we were out of there in less than 20 minutes with a brand new $25 wiper blade. And it's a good thing, too, because just 10 minutes after we got back on the road, the sky completely opened up on us!

Thank you, O'Reilly's employee whose name I forgot!

Finally, though, we eventually made it out of Texas (after being there for what felt like forever), and crossed over into Louisiana. You can see what type of weather we were dealing with in the picture below, now that we'd caught up to Tropical Storm Nick. We had to deal with all of this until we got through the Lake Charles, Louisiana area.

I'm pretty sure that is the "Welcome to Louisiana" sign

After passing Baton Rouge (I'd estimate it was already 6pm or later), we deviated north to avoid New Orleans (they had amazingly stupid Covid restrictions in place, so fuck them), to go to a Café du Monde north of the city instead, in Covington. We drove over some cool swampland (I think this was actually The Atchafalaya Swamp, which is fun to say).

Horrible photo of the swampy area

Before leaving for this trip, when I put all the addresses in the Garmin, I put in two different Café Du Monde locations, because one closed an hour later than the other. Unfortunately, I put them in without noting which one closed when, so when we got to the first one (in Mandeville), they were already closed. I was pissed, but then remembered the other one was still open, so we hopped back in the car and high-tailed it to Covington. We got there with about 30 minutes to spare, and I could finally finally eat those glorious fried pieces of heaven.

That's the face of a fat chick getting some fried dough

Inside, there was only one other couple, lounging in a corner, and thankfully, no one in the entire place was wearing a mask. We picked up a 3pc order, two sodas, and a can of Chicory coffee for the friend that was feeding our cat - all for $15!

Within mere minutes, the fluffy pillows of pleasure were in front of me. Hubby waited while I took my first bite with a smile on his face, and he was rewarded with a low moan of pleasure... these were absolutely amazing. Dense, but not heavy. Chewy, but airy, and completely heavenly. They were SO worth the hassle of the detour north of New Orleans. Hubby enjoyed half of one, but left the rest for me to eat because - as he told me later - he knew how much I was looking forward to them, and he wanted me to enjoy as much as possible (awww... though I could have gone up for another order).

Look at 'em, they're so pretty

So fluffy, so covered in sugar

We made small chit-chat with the couple in the corner when they asked if I'd ever had them before, and if I liked them. But after 15 minutes, we headed out. We found a Petro with the Garmin, but it turned out not to be a truck-stop type Petro, but a tiny gas station (called Gator's Quick Stop Exxon). It was out in the middle of nowhere, and in the dark, looked like there was nothing in the vicinity. I popped in, looking for a Louisiana magnet, but never did get one (I think LA was the only state for which I didn't get a magnet). Back in the car, Hubby asked if I wanted to search anywhere else, but no... I just wanted to go to bed!

Unfortunately, there was one more adventure to be had... We were driving in silence at this point, my mind just kind of wandering, when I saw out of the corner of my eye that there was a lane closed on the left up ahead. With very little traffic on the road, it wasn't an issue, until I saw a guy in an SUV almost slam right into them! What the hell, man, you needed to merge! I kept my eye on him as he continued to driver really badly, and I chose to slow down to stay out of his way. After a few minutes, both of us realized he was weaving, drifting over the dotted lines, or drifting over the solid right lines. We new then that there was something wrong with this guy... he was either drunk or drowsy. At some point, I'm pretty sure he clipped the guardrail, but he didn't stop. This led me to think that he was drunk. We wondered how we could report this guy - we hadn't seen a cop for hours, and hadn't seen any signs, similar to what Florida has, where you can dial a specific number (like *FHP, in FL). Yes, I feel stupid writing this now, in hindsight, because calling 911 would have been the very obvious solution, but remember, we were both exhausted! We followed him for a while, as did a few other drivers who boxed him in to keep him in his lane and slow him down. But then, THEN, he threw a damn tire, oh fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCKFUCKFUCK, don't hit it!! It was close, but we were able to miss it... and this guy was still driving!

An absolutely horrendous "Welcome to Mississippi" photo

We got off at the Mississippi Welcome Center exit to find a cop, but damn if we couldn't find the Mississippi Welcome Center building; everything was dark, and all we saw was something about Infinity Science Center... (we wondered later if the Welcome Center was inside the ISC, but it wasn't, we just didn't drive far enough). So we got back on the road, hopeful that the driver had made it somewhere safe and didn't hurt anyone. We never saw any accidents or wrecks, so I'm still hopeful.

Fifteen minutes from our exit, the SUVs gas light came on... oh give me a break! Fuck it, let's keep going. I ain't stopping until we get to our mother-fucking hotel! God I'm so tired.

And then it happened. After 44 years on this planet, almost 30 of them as a driver... An armadillo came out of nowhere, and I just couldn't swerve to avoid him. Blammo, first official roadkill of my life (that I know of, I suppose...).

What color eyes did that armadillo have?
Blue... 1 blew left, 1 blew right.

But I digress...

Finally (finally), we made it to the hotel. I stumbled inside to check in, then pulled over to a side entrance to park. Hubby went to the back to unpack the suitcases, while I started grabbing stuff from the backseat. I put my Buc-ee's lemonade (remember that, from like 16 hours ago?) on top of the SUV and the DAMN THING FELL OVER. I stood there, in an exhausted stupor, as 44 ounces of tart lemony goodness flowed down the side of the SUV and all over the ground. I just stood there, staring at it. I had nothing to say at this point. Hubby poked his head around the side of the SUV to make sure I was okay, and I just started laughing. The only other option was screaming and punching things... I think I chose well.

We headed in to the hotel and up to the 5th floor, looking for our room. Using the directional signs, we head to the left. Nope, it's not there. So we go right... nope, not there either. We walk back to the elevator, and wouldn't you know it... our room was right there across from the damn elevator. We wasted 5 minutes looking for the room that was right... fucking... there.

But finally (finally) we were in the room, and I just threw my bags and purse and shoes and backpack everywhere. Didn't care where it landed... I was just done.

I unpacked the bare minimum, drew the hottest bath I could stand and just... submerged... myself until I felt like a boiled lobster and I couldn't stay in any longer. Feeling a little better, I hit the hay and slept the sleep of the dead.

But you want to know the funniest part of all this? When I went back and reviewed the planned itinerary for our pitstop in Biloxi: