Journaling: Carlsbad to Joplin**

We took US 285 from Carlsbad which took us at eventide to Stockton, Texas.  But on the way we stopped briefly in the quaint town of Pecos where Judge Roy Bean once held court.  The putative courthouse in which he dispensed justice stands beside the highway.  The town itself is really quite

 attractive-- for a West Texas town.  The buildings are old, mostly early twentieth century, but the people seem to take some pride in their surroundings.  So far as commerce, though, the place is in a state of torpor.

in Ft.  Stockton, we stayed at Comancheland RV Park.  $10/night anytime, full hookup.  The monthly rate is $210.00.  The facility is nor bad though it is right next to the highway.  Traffic didn't bother us.  The following morning, if we had seen you, we would have wished you a Happy Halloween!  We traveled via US 67 toward the northeast.  Well, you see, without going into any of the detail or discussion regarding this decision, we opted to forget New Orleans and head for home after all.

At a town called Big Lake, we stopped for about 45 minutes.  A Dollar General, an antique store, and not much more.  A little later we stopped at a Historical Marker on the roadside at what was called Tennyson, though nothing more than a single residence appeared to the naked eye.  Here Jo fixed lunch and we enjoyed the balmy breezes as we ate.  In the evening, we stopped at a campground in Seymour, Texas.  You didn't think one could drive through Texas in a day, did you?  Campsite $15 and a nice visit with the owners was at no extra cost.  We had considered hanging around for the weekend since it was now Friday evening, but when we asked the people what was the most interesting thing to do in Seymour over the weekend, Pa answered, "Leave."  These people raised

dogs and had kennels behind the camp area where were caged upwards of thirty dogs.  Strangely, they got yappy only when someone visited them.  Jo Ann wanted the runt in one cage of little poodles and both Cookie and I were averse to the idea.

On the morning of November First, we drove out of Texas and caught the Oklahoma Turnpike system at Lawton.  Since this was the most direct route homeward, we anted up the about-five-cents per mile and rode on through Oklahoma.  A few miles east of Joplin, Missouri and about seven miles west of Sarcoxie, we stopped at a really nice campground.  $13