Ooh-la-la!

It was an "international" day on the road today.

Day 2 rolling, and looking to cover miles.  We have a first destination of Denison, Iowa, and the opportunity to spend some time with my brother-in-law John.  It's been a while since we've seen him, and we need to correct that.  John was the male role-model I had when a kid.  He and Joan (my late sister) were a big influence on me.

So, since yesterday was a relatively short day, we knew we'd need to put in about 400 miles today to make up for that.  Our style so far has been to stay off the Interstates and run at a more relaxed pace... that really isn't possible in Texas, because even the ratty two-lane roads have a 70 mph speed limit.  To be fair, most drivers we encounter are not restricted by the whole speed limit thing - so, we find that most are wanting to do more than 80 mph, with a few sprinkled in that think 50 mph is way too fast.  We prefer to keep our speed in the 60 to 65 mph range (Honda's recommendation that you not tow the CR-V faster than 65).  Those 3 speed ranges do not mesh well.

Here are a few photos of us being passed on a double yellow line...

There were more that I didn't get photos of.  And the worst: we were passed on the right by a semi... yes, on a two-lane road!!  I had to cross the center line to give him room... in a construction zone... and, yes, I was doing the speed limit!  Unbelievable, but I do not have a photo to prove the stupidity - I was pretty busy with that whole driving thing and trying not to shit myself.

When I hear people say that the drivers in their state are the worst... most aggressive... least cordial, I have to laugh.  Don't get me wrong: it isn't EVERY driver in Texas - just enough of them to make it feel like it is every driver in Texas.

We were rolling up east central Texas today, heading north.  It isn't just flat prairies...

Music trivia: "Rumor spreadin' 'round.  In that Texas town.  'Bout that shack outside _________."  If you said La Grange, by ZZ Top, you get 50 bonus points.  Yes, it was that easy.

Joan kept a close watch on radar, hoping to keep us out of the worst of the rain.  "Hey, let's spend a bunch of time in road construction, waiting for a pilot car to lead us through a crappy road - yeah, that'll take some time!"  More reason why I am not crazy about the back roads in Texas, but it did waste enough time to mostly keep us out of the rain...

Mostly.

About that "international" thing mentioned above: we drove through the towns of Palestine, Athens, and Paris on our trek today...

Somehow, I don't think it's quite the same.  ;-)

We are down for the night in a small RV park north of Paris.  No, I didn't see an Eiffel Tower.