We bid farewell to our furry companions and departed from our housesit at 8 am.

Thankfully, the weather was cooler today, around 35 degrees with 93 percent humidity. The overcast sky prevented it from getting too scorching, although it was still pretty hot, just bearable.

We made a pit stop at Buccees, a well-known service station chain in Texas. Even though we’d already filled up our tank, we couldn’t resist trying their famed brisket sandwiches.

The Buccees we visited was packed, so we quickly grabbed our pre-made sandwiches wrapped in foil and made our way out. I also snagged some Beaver nuggets, a local treat, to give them a shot.

Back in our van, we dug into our service station sandwiches, not expecting much. But to our surprise, they weren’t your typical cold sandwiches on bread. They came on a warm brioche burger bun.

Mike tried the pulled pork, and it was deliciously smoky and moist. I opted for the brisket, which also turned out to be quite tasty. Stay tuned for our video to hear about the beaver nuggets.

Today, we only drove for three hours before stopping at Davy Crockett National Forest. It was a beautiful spot for camping, but the heat and humidity were intense. We plugged in our rear air conditioner and took a nap in the afternoon to escape the sweltering weather.

Around 6 pm, we ventured out again, this time on our bikes. We explored the forest and stumbled upon a delightful swimming spot. Despite the presence of water snakes and alligators, a large family was enjoying swimming and kayaking.

Feeling adventurous, I decided to take a dip fully clothed, but the water felt like a warm bath. They said it was 33 degrees, but it felt warmer to me. Realizing it wasn’t worth feeling sticky afterward, we biked back to our van and had a simple salad wrap for dinner.

I made a miscalculation regarding our timeframe to reach Connecticut. I thought we had six weeks, forgetting that our housesit had been extended, leaving us with only four weeks to cover about 4000 kilometers. We’ll have to skip some planned stops and opt for longer driving days. Perhaps next time, we’ll skip housesitting as it feels quite limiting.