We left Fredericksburg by 6, so there weren't very many people driving in town. Gabriel shouted out at one point, "They are all going to work, and we are going to the beach!" Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
We had hoped the boys would fall back to sleep in the car, but they were just really grumpy. It was such a relief for all of us to reach San Antonio and go to breakfast at Taco Cabana. We sat on the patio and just let the boys run in the completely fenced off area while we enjoyed our breakfast tacos. It was at that stop that I realized that THIS is the way to travel on a long trip with kids. Just make sure they have some time to run around every two hours or so and they'll stay happy in the car.
One of the things I always look forward to on road trips is stopping for Chai at Starbucks. I don't usually treat myself at home because of time and expense. After breakfast Jav was sure we'd still see that beacon of a green and white sign while driving on the outskirts of San Antonio. After the houses started getting farther and farther apart, I gave him my Kevin face to let him know that I was worried he had been wrong. (Kevin, Steve Martin's oldest child in Parenthood, has anxiety issues and has this tormented look that he gets when his anxiousness reaches a peak level.) Finally we are driving through farmland again (thankfully, green farmland, making us think they had more rain between San Antonio and Corpus). But no Starbucks. Then through the outskirts of Corpus, where there are some really busy, fast food restaurant-filled exits, where Jav was certain there was a Starbucks. Nope. That was when my dream of Chai died.
We stopped at McDonald's for lunch, and they had a really cool play area with these giant instruments:
We hung out for an hour and a half. Plenty of stretch-your-legs time. It was between Corpus and Harlingen that Jav saw a huge orange and white bird fly right over the car. We determined later that it was a falcon. After the turn-off for Padre the trip really starts to liven up again. Jav and I had our annual argument over how long that stretch of the trip is. I thought it was around two hours, but he claimed it was only 45 minutes or so. He was right. (Man, does it seem longer!!!!) Gabriel loved going past the giant souvenir shop with the life-sized dinosaurs out front. The owners have now added a giant King Kong in the back. Somewhere on this stretch Joel, having exhausted all of his toys and patience, just yelled out his scariest roar sound out of pure boredom. The rest of us almost came out of the car!
Gabriel also surprised us by asking if "everyone else" would be there when we got to our room at the beach. We asked what he meant, and realized why he was confused. We had told him that we weren't going to have his big birthday party the weekend after his actual birthday because we were going to the beach instead. He thought that everyone we were inviting to the party was now joining us at the beach! He didn't seem too disappointed, though, when we told him it was just going to be the four of us. When we started across the giant bridge to the island, a pelican flew out of nowhere and we ended up following him all the way across the bridge. It was as if he was welcoming us back!
After we unpacked the car, we headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. After all that shopping we were hungry so we brought dinner back, ate, and then headed out to the beach. The temps for the first four days of our trip hovered around the upper 90's (ugh) still. So after dinner was a perfect time to go. Gabriel was so very excited to say hello to the ocean again. Joel wasn't sure. He would get really nervous and shake all over every time he could feel the undertow tugging him back out to sea.
We went back to the room and everyone slept really well. Even though I get nervous about it, I usually end up loving all of us sleeping in the same room. It's just so cozy and safe-feeling.
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