Evening, Day 12 - Texas

Day 12
October 28
Texas

Dear Miss Smith,
    I don’t have much time to write as it is quite late, nearly eleven-thirty, but I wanted to just drop you a few lines in case Levi didn’t tell you everything. He said he told you about the XIT museum so I won’t retell about it. You should see what he got you though. But since it will only be a little over a week before you get it, I will refrain from mentioning what it is.
    The boys are quite delightful travel companions and both dogs have taken to them. I can see the tip of Timber’s tail hanging over the edge of the “upper deck” where the boys are sleeping. Somehow Joseph and Levi managed to fit themselves and both dogs up in that small space for the night. Amy is already in bed and I must join her soon.
    Today was the longest drive we’ve had on this trip so far. It took us over seven hours to drive to San Angelo. We made several stops to stretch our legs and let the dogs out for runs. Since Amy couldn’t drive and neither Joseph nor Levi is old enough for a driver’s license, I was behind the wheel the entire trip. Being that long in the vehicle can cause you to either grow terribly bored and cranky or it can cause you to grow creative. We chose the latter and I was quite amazed with what the boys came up with. Each one had picked up a road map of Texas at one of our stops. (You really should try this game sometime, Miss Smith. Even if you are not on a road trip. Call Bekah and some of her friends over and give it a try.) Each person needs a road map. They must all be of the same state or the game would be as much of a failure as my upside-down-almond-spice-banana-coconut cake was this summer. Along with the road map, each player requires a paper and a pen. The timer is set for sixty seconds and as rapidly as possible each person finds and writes down as many strange town names as they can. When the timer goes off each person takes a turn reading a name off their list. If they are the only one to have that name down, they receive five points. If one other person had it they receive three points and if everyone had it, no points. Oh the laughter this brought us. Even though Amy can’t write with her usual left hand, she did manage to write with her right, so don’t be surprised if you receive a letter from her. There were such a lot of strange names that if I were to attempt to list them all it would take me until daylight. However, of all of them, my favorite was the town of Oatmeal. I wonder, how do towns and cities come up with some of these names?
    The boys also discovered our thirteen knot rope and had great fun with that.

    Oh dear, I simply cannot stop yawning. I must end this. Tomorrow we visit Fort Concho and then head to Longhorn Cavern State Park.

Off to bed,
~ Priscilla