Encounters with the police, Muenster, and a birthday serenade

Tuesday, 20.05.2014

"There's no water!" - The next complaint to the reception, and that already today at 7:30 a.m.! Supposedly, it's a "city problem", but miraculously, 10 minutes after the complaint, the water is working again. So the birthday can begin after I made quite a mess with a bag of confetti...

At breakfast, we are glad that we went to Walmart yesterday. Because today there's only toast, but no coffee. However, there are two more guests who apparently have been waiting for it for quite some time. I go and look for the Indian receptionist. After ringing the reception bell a few times, he appears. Fortunately, we have our own rolls, cream cheese, radishes, and tomatoes. So we are self-sufficient in this inhospitable accommodation.

Now we're heading back towards Dallas. So, eastward. The 352-mile distance is quite a challenge, but here in Amarillo and its surroundings, it's not really tempting either. After 70 miles, the fields noticeably turn greener, and after 250 miles, there are forests, colorful meadows, and medians again. In the area of Wichita Falls, I get pulled over for speeding. Our great car unfortunately doesn't have cruise control, which, on stretches of 250 miles that only go straight, on almost deserted roads, can quickly lead to a speed frenzy... However, the police officer is really nice. He first asks how he is supposed to read my driver's license and how to pronounce my name. When it becomes clear that we are from Germany and his father is too, he tells us where we absolutely should go on the way to Lake Texoma. He tells us to visit Muenster for German sausages and also to go to Scotland because it's also German (you wouldn't necessarily expect that). His name is Moer, and he gives me a warning. He has entered my data into his computer, and I get away without having to pay a fine. That would have taken a lot of time because they never collect cash.

Not even 1.5 hours later, I get stopped again because I accelerated to 32mph in a school zone. I obviously saw the flashing lights, properly slowed down to 25mph, and then drove moderately faster again after the pedestrian crossing with the students. What I don't understand - and what I am now explained - is that there is a second flashing traffic light that indicates the end of the school zone. But it was easily 200 meters away from the school's pedestrian crossing. Well, I am the poorly English-speaking, helpless old and clueless German tourist, and today I actually have luck once again. Because this police officer doesn't take down my personal information. If he had entered them into his patrol car's computer, he would undoubtedly have seen that I had already been speeding shortly before. I would definitely have been in trouble. Phew!

In Muenster, we see German names, but the German Bakery is more like a gas station with typical US snacks.

I get a large coffee and we continue driving to reach our destination Grandpappy Point shortly before 5:00 p.m. We catch someone in the office just in time, who gives us the key to the cabin.

It is not very well furnished, the furniture is a bit worn, no table in front of the sofa, no nightstands, no wardrobe, not even hangers. A cabin for 4 people with 2 rooms, which has 1 spoon and 3 forks (1 of them a child's fork), is quite strange.

The small plastic plates are available in duplicates, but there are only 3 glasses and the same goes for coffee mugs. In front of the cabin, there are hundreds of cigarette butts between the pebbles around the seating area.

We grab the coffee machine's filter and drive to Denison for dinner, and afterwards, we buy a filter and coffee. Denison turns out to be a deserted, faceless city without anything worth eating. We roam the streets and highways to Sherman and thanks to the navigator find an Olive Garden. The food there is good, and we are served very nicely by Summer, who raves about her 3 months in Norway. "I didn't want to go back home, it was so peaceful." G. even gets a piece of cake with a candle and a serenade from the waiter. Really nice!

We go to an Aldi, buy the usually cheap cheese and coffee there. I quickly pop into Walmart to buy sparkling mineral water, and on the way back, I run over an animal that could well have been an armadillo. We arrive at the cabin at 10 p.m. and sit outside until 11 p.m. with a bottle of wine. At least you can't see the cigarette butts in the dark.