More driving. This time to Dallas. Amusing myself in the passenger seat by waving at truckies again, I also sang a pretty spectacular rendition of Adele’s ‘Hello’ putting real emphasis on “Hello from the other side, I must have called a thousand times.” I even made the ‘call me’ signal with my hand. Alas, no one called me.

We knew we had hit Texas when the gas station had bathroom doors that said Cowboys and Cowgirls. I feel like my new cowboy hat and boots are going to come in handy here.

Mum treated us to a fancy hotel for our last taste of luxury on this trip – I think she was sick of our seedy choices. No phone in the toilet this time but there was a tv screen on the bathroom mirror and special pink towels for removing make up. At a late dinner of steaks in the hotel restaurant, we quizzed the waiter about the fascination we had witnessed with knives. He said he preferred to carry a gun and the only time he hadn’t while going to a mall, there was a shooting.

This was followed by a visit to Cowboys Red River, a honky tonk bar frequented by a young crowd. The room was huge and in the middle was a wooden dance floor in an oval shape. The only way I can describe what I first saw is line dancing on speed. Unfortunately, there was no ‘Nutbush City Limits’ so I couldn’t join in. This soon changed to couples dancing around the circle in various versions of the two step. These people, mostly young, had real skill. There was dipping, twirling, shimmying and even a bit of dirty dancing. It was fascinating to watch. One older gentleman asked me for a spin around the floor which I was happy to oblige. My rendition of the two step was pretty bad but luckily Texan men like to lead. I asked how everyone got so good at it and he told me they all started as teenagers. I’ve never seen anything like the dancing at this bar.