Day 7: Rest Day - Texarkana
Nau mai
Yesterday we had a day off in Texarkana.
Lavonda was parked outside Hampton Inn & Suites Texarkana when I awoke for my day of leisure. We were on the eastern edge of Texas in a city that sits astride the state’s border with Arkansas, enjoying the experience of seeing a geographic portmanteau in the flesh. Out the window were broad blue skies looking down on the sea of asphalt surrounded the bus, rippling under the bright morning light.
We had been accumulating fruit for a few days now thanks to some generous rider allocations and I decided it was time to make a dent in the overflowing fruit bowl. Into my plastic bowl I sliced a banana, a kiwi fruit, and several strawberries, and then scattered over a handful of blueberries. I then dished out several spoons of yoghurt and finished the dish with a generous sprinkle of granola.
There weren’t many exciting things to do in the hotel/retail/dining megaplex we were stranded in. Liz and I spied that there was a mall nearby and set out on a shopping expedition to pick up a few necessities for the bus. We began across the asphalt, one of those uncomfortable journeys through car-land where you have to awkwardly traverse several adjacent carparks and their grass berms and their access roads, as there are no pedestrian walkways.
Back at it with the candid selfie. I have since found out that to do a proper candid selfie you need to have a wide angle lens, which is not something my phone possesses. Just let them try and stop me.
It was a thrilling retail experience walking the concourse of the Texarkana Central Mall. If we had wanted custom grillz for our teeth, or huge buckets of candy, this would have been a fine place to fulfil those goals. We experienced the three department stores offered in the Texarkana Central Mall, the iconic J C Pennies, the slightly more upmarket Dillard’s and the cheap and not very cheerful Lilly Paige. We visited Jewellery Palace and the mobile phone cases store. We tried to find tea towels, but even the retail powerhouse that that is the Texarkana Central Mall could not provide us with this rare commodity.
Sunday evening in west Texarkana brought with it the opportunity for a group activity. Phoebe Rings and The Beths took the nearby Chili’s restaurant by storm, after a pleasant stroll traversing the megaplex across four or five carparks and their corresponding berms. Of the several mid-priced restaurant chains within walking distance of our bus Chili’s was the only one with the $6 “Wicked” (the musical) inspired margarita deal, and we were happy to wile away our evening beneath the many sport-presenting television screens of this cosy establishment.
