On to McKinney

Today was a travel day, but we started out by finishing cleaning the roof with Tide. Then we biked around the park for the last time, enjoying our last views of the lake and the sounds of the birds before setting out for McKinney, TX. It's just a layover point, but we took advantage of the opportunity to stop in at Lowe's and make a return.

We also went into Target and bought yet another instant read digital thermometer. I seem to be death on those things. I've melted several by leaving them in the food in the oven, so when I was in Bethesda visiting Terri and saw her thermometer with a probe on a wire that can be left in the oven, I bought one. It worked great! Unfortunately, I knocked it off the side of my microwave, where it was hanging magnetically, and it didn't survive the fall. Now I have number two, and I hope it lasts a bit longer.

We are spending the night in a Walmart parking lot, something we've done twice before in our three and a half years on the road. This one is far enough from both I-75 and Hwy 380 to be relatively quiet.

It also has the most unusual parking lot and grounds of any Walmart we have ever seen. As we walked around, we came to several signs explaining the features of this "experimental Wal-mart," one of only two in the world, dedicated to conservation of resources. Below are several images--all of them taken in and around the parking lot. We also read that the interior of the building is designed to reduce energy use. One example is the use of LED lighting in the freezer cases.

We were impressed by Wal-mart's efforts, even though some of the experiments may not have been completely successful.

Tonight we watched an episode of All Creatures Great and Small. For dinner we had salad, spaghetti, and yellow squash and onion saute, with mixed fruit, angel food cubes, and whipped topping for dessert.