I had a grand adventure this past weekend. My sister and I took a road trip through Oklahoma and Arkansas to Texas. We drove over 1600 miles in three days. While we had business in Goliad, Texas, we decided to have fun along the way and after everything was concluded.
Goliad State Park & Historic Site is home to a Spanish Mission, which is why I was so excited to visit the city. Mission Espíritu Santo was restored by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and I am so glad they they restored for everyone to enjoy. There still a few original walls from when the mission was built in 1758, which are now enclosed for preservation. Here’s a photo I took of those walls. If only they could talk.
There are other things to do at the park, which even includes fishing, but we were only interested in touring the mission and museum this time. My inner archaeologist was standing up and dancing at the site of all of the amazing artifacts and replicas. (I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was a little girl.) I’m afraid I spent so long in the museum learning about everyday mission life in 1700s that we didn’t arrive at our next destination until quite late.
Admission to Goliad State Park & Historic Site is only $4.00 per person per day. Here’s a link to their website for you to learn more about it if you are so inclined: https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/goliad. If you are planning to be anywhere near Goliad, I recommend checking it out.
We ate some wonderful BBQ in Elgin, Texas at a place called Meyer’s. My sister promised I’d love it, and she wasn’t wrong. I liked it enough that I brought home some of their summer sausage. The prices are reasonable, and the staff is friendly.
A surprise during our trip occurred when she insisted we stop at HEB Plus, a grocery store, to buy food to cook for dinner the last night of our trip. I’m afraid I overdid things, and we were forced to buy an additional cooler to bring all of our groceries home. I bought the biggest Envy apples I’ve ever seen, two kinds of dragon fruit, three beautiful prickly pears, kale salad, and many other fabulous things that are rarely, if ever, seen around here.
We did have one giant scare. We were cruising down the highway at 70 miles per hour in a 70 miles per hour speed zone. Thank goodness we weren’t going any faster. There was an intersection that crossed all four lanes of the divided highway. I noticed a large white pickup at the stop sign, but thought nothing of it because we had the right of way. As we were nearly to the intersection, the driver of the truck gunned his engine and shot across. He was rushing across, but we were already there! That’s when I learned what an awesome ninja of a driver my sister is.
She spun the wheel while laying on the horn. She made a 90 degree turn with incredible speed, and we took the corner sideways, dodging a street sign, avoiding a fence, jumping a ditch, and coming to rest on a field access strip of gravel. I absolutely couldn’t believe she’d managed to avoid him. I’m going to be honest here – I would have hit him, and we’d be in a world of hurt if not dead right now.
The driver of the truck had slammed on his brakes, but he was going so fast that it took him longer and several more yards to stop than us. Once halted, the driver leapt out of the vehicle and started toward us making signs of apology, remorse and fear obvious in his expression. After assuring him we were fine, we continued on our journey.
Our last stops were in Broken Bow, Oklahoma. We visited two gift shops with Bigfoot statues out front. Broknbo Vintage Market and Janet’s Treasure Chest were both full of cool merchandise, and the photo ops outside were icing on the cake. I now have fun photos of myself standing next to Bigfoot.
Our road trip was full of wonderful sister time, great shopping, and a good dose of adventure. As usual, I forgot to pack some important things, but I was able to obtain everything I needed in Texas because my sister knows where to shop. I remembered my walking shoes this time, so I was able to keep up with her seemingly endless energy. In my defense, I am the older sister.
Family is important, and tomorrow isn’t promised. My sister/sister road trip was planned in a hurry, but I can’t imagine enjoying myself any more if we’d spent a year hammering out the details. This is a weekend I will always treasure.
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