The miles do add up.

I just logged on to map quest for a mileage quote.
For our trip on Friday to my d#$m Granny's 80th birthday bash to where all of our Texas family lives, we will have to drive 6 hours and 8 minutes. If you are not from Texas, that means that I will be driving from the state line (which is about 10 miles from my house) of East Texas to some point far West, and I'll still be a bazillion and 3 miles from any portion of the West state line of this fair state.

It's like when your friend buys a house with a 10 acre yard, and they're so happy with themselves. Secretly, you're thinking, "HAHA!! You have to mow it! Not me!! WHHEEEE!!!"
I'm thinking when Texas signed the title/deed to the state; all the little states around us were like, "SUCKERRRRRR!!!" Well, lucky for us the western portion doesn't need so much mowing as dusting. In large part, I guess we have to thank Mr. Santa Anna for our independence. Were it not for his Napoleonic views of himself, he might actually have been allowed to be president of Mexico for more than a day or two. Still, I'm not sure who we have to thank for our Biggie Sized Borders? Mr. Austin? Mr. Houston? Kinky Friedman? Moses Rose? Blue Bell Ice Cream? No wait. That is what is responsible for my "big borders." Snicker, snicker.

Bottom line. I could arrive in Memphis, Tennessee faster than I could get to the tiny town where my grandmother lives. If I drove West for another 12 hours from her house, I MIGHT reach the state line of New Mexico. Thank ya, though. I'll not be going that far.

So, we've got lots of road running, doctor appointments, and errands to see to. I do know I'll be seeing my mom's surviving siblings during our visit. There are about 7; I'm thinking, and my 42 first cousins. That is not a made up number.
Lucky for us Texas is a large state, huh? Else I might have married kinfolk.

I'm looking for family/ancestral (hello...is THAT a real word?) information on this trip. I'll be sure and present a book report on my family tree to the class when I return.