From Florida to California and Back: 6,169 Miles of Adventure in Our Jeep Gladiator There is something special about packing up the Jeep, pointing it west, and watching America unfold mile by mile through the windshield. What started as a road trip from Florida to…
Welcome Signs From Florida to California and Back One of the simple things I enjoyed about our 15-day, 6,169-mile road trip was watching the scenery change as we crossed from one state into another. We traveled through several states on our journey from Florida to…
Memories From 6,169 Miles on the Road After 15 days, 6,169 miles, and countless stops along the way, our California road trip eventually came to an end. We had seen beaches, historic towns, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, California, Route 66, and plenty of…
Our time in New Orleans was coming to an end Before we loaded up the Jeep Gladiator and continued the long drive back to Florida, I decided to head out on my own one more time. I wanted to pick up a few souvenirs and take some last-minute photos of the French…
Exploring One of New Orleans’ Most Historic Landmarks As our time in New Orleans was coming to an end, I headed out on my own for one more walk through the French Quarter. I wanted to pick up a few souvenirs and take some last-minute photos before we continued our…
After attending Saturday Vigil Mass at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, we got back on the road and continued our journey west toward Wichita Falls. What started as a fairly normal evening drive quickly turned into one of the most intense weather experiences of our entire road trip.
Leaving Forney, we worked our way through the busy Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex traffic. Even on a weekend evening, there was still plenty of congestion, construction, and constant lane changes to keep us alert behind the wheel of the Jeep Gladiator. Once we finally cleared the city, the drive became much more open and peaceful as we headed northwest through smaller Texas towns.
That peaceful drive did not last forever.
Somewhere between Bowie and Wichita Falls, the weather suddenly turned severe. Dark clouds rolled in fast, heavy rain started pounding the windshield, and Tornado Warnings began appearing directly on the Jeep Gladiator dashboard. Seeing tornado alerts pop up while driving through rural Texas at night definitely gets your attention.
The storm became intense with lightning flashing across the sky and visibility dropping quickly at times. It turned into one of those drives where both hands stay locked on the steering wheel and your full attention never leaves the road. Thankfully, traffic was fairly light, and we carefully pushed through the worst of it safely.
By the time we arrived in Wichita Falls, we were more than ready to stop for the night. We checked into the Best Western Plus University Inn & Suites, and it turned out to be a great choice after such a stressful drive. The hotel was clean, comfortable, and very welcoming after hours on the road and driving through severe weather.
One of the best parts was being able to simply walk over to McBride’s Steakhouse for dinner instead of getting back into the Jeep again. We enjoyed a Chicken Caesar Salad and a Blue Cheese Burger, both of which hit the spot after the long drive through the storm.
The evening also marked a small but meaningful moment for me personally. I had my first Michelob Ultra Zero since becoming alcohol free almost a year ago. I honestly did not know what to expect, but it was surprisingly good and felt like a nice way to relax and celebrate making it safely through another memorable day on the road.
Looking back, the drive from Forney to Wichita Falls had a little bit of everything — peaceful moments after Mass, big city traffic, dangerous Texas storms, and finally a quiet evening with good food and a comfortable hotel at the end of the night.
