Houston

This is the story of our harrowing adventure through Houston. We left Gulf Shores, AL, on a two day drive to Austin, TX, with a handful of Walmart addresses thinking we’d drive as far as we could and then boondock for the night. In hindsight, it would have been well worth the money to book a night at a KOA. We drove along passing most of the Walmarts on our list thinking we could go a little further. Then when we did decide to pull off, we missed the exit due to road construction. We had one store left on the list, but by now it was dark and it was becoming clear that we were getting way too close to Houston.

We pulled into the Walmart parking lot, but knew immediately we would not be staying long. It was all I could do to get Rich to stop for even five minutes so we could formulate a plan. We ended up going back the way we came remembering a nicer area about ten miles back. We stopped to get gas and thankfully some friends called so they prayed that we would find a place to stay for the night.

Our next move was to see if we could park at a hotel if we booked a room. “Sure” they said. But the reality is that a 42 foot rig plus a 20 foot minivan does not fit in a motel parking lot. We freaked out for a few minutes trying to find a place to turn around. Thankfully a large parking lot appeared before we drove into the night on a country road going who knows where. We drove by another hotel, but it was the same story. We were way too tired after driving way too long through rain and road construction.


We were getting to the end of our rope when out of nowhere we stumbled upon a Cracker Barrel. I jumped out to read the sign which said “Bus and RV Parking”! Praise God!!! I cannot tell you how relieved we were to find this safe haven – plus it was 9:30 pm, we hadn’t eaten, and they were still open. So we ate dinner and asked if we could stay overnight which we did.


What did we learn that night? Houston is a big scary city at night. Walmarts are iffy places to stay. Reservations are good. Winging it in the day is ok. Winging it at night is not. Driving the beast for six hours a day is more than enough. Driving at night is too much. Being tired and stressed is not a good combination. Rich reacts by moving into action. I react by wanting to sit down and make a plan. Through it all…God provides.