Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 5

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAX!!

7:30 am. We're awake! Maybe because its 9:30 am in Omaha. I don't know that we're going to be moving any faster this morning, but it was a great night's sleep. The mattress was perfect for me - soft and a little beat up.



8:45 am. We're off! Here is a picture of the Wigwam as we drove away. Max has some really cool pics that will go up on his Flickr account next week.



9:11 am. First stop. Jack Rabbit Trading Post. This is a classic from Route 66. I actually bought some junk in here.

We are surrounded by Indian reservations. The alcoholism that is prevalent among them is probably one of the saddest things I've ever seen. All along the interstate from New Mexico on, we have seen signs that give a number for you to call if you see a drunk driver - and in Tucumcari, there was a building that was specifically for dealing with DWI. While we were at the Jack Rabbit, a young man came in to purchase a bottle of Jack Daniels. The owner reminded him (as quietly and politely as she could) that this was the only bottle he could buy today. Oh my ... that was at 9:15 in the morning.



10:09 am. Winslow, Arizona. We had to drive through to get a picture of Max standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona. There is a great store across the street from this pic that has nothing but Eagles memorabilia. Directly across from Max is a statue of a singer with a guitar - in a little park that was dedicated to the song.



They even have a flatbed Ford that sits there. There's more to the story than what you know. In Winslow's heyday - it was a hootin' and hollerin' Western town filled with 'young ladies.' The men would get themselves all dolled up - even buying things at "The Store for Men." Then, the women would cruise by and if they saw a man they wanted to spend time with, he was chosen.

What a great addition to the story! I loved this place. It is really great. And this is what Route 66 is all about - memories ... whether from the late 1800s, the 1940s and



11:33 am. Meteor Crater Road. There's a sign that says "Slow Down. Baby Calves on roadway." Ummm ... what? Oh, I see. This is an open range! But, we didn't see any cattle.

Before we left Winslow, I decided I was done with the whole - not shopping thing. We stopped at an Indian Art store. Absolutely gorgeous, beautiful stuff. The owner hovered over me trying to talk up all of the artwork that he had. He handles quite a few artists. Showing all of the intricacies and pieces ... I bought quite a bit of stuff from him and felt a little sick that I was spending so much money. But, in hindsight, I should have bought more - you'll see why in a bit.

Oh ... and a traveling tip. My credit card was declined here. Fuhreaked me out! Fortunately, I had another one. I called my bank to check my balance (it's my debit card). Everything was as it should be, but she went a few steps further to help me. Turns out, it was declined because the zip code didn't match. I didn't know that I was supposed to call my credit card company to let them know that I was traveling. She gave me the number, I made the call and the very helpful woman put a note on my account regarding the states that I would be traveling through and the dates that I needed to have open access to the card. Who knew? Well, I do now - and so do you! I was doing fine as long as each transaction was under $100. Yikes.

Meteor Crater. Ok, I didn't go up to see this. Max walked up the 150 gazillion steps to the top of the meteor (and paid $15 to do it). He took a few pictures and then let me know that I missed a 'big hole in the ground.' Nope, not feeling too bad about that. But, hey ... cool, right?



2:15 pm. We're heading north off I-40 to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at the Anasazi Inn. Navajo Frybread. Ummm ... its bread, it's fried. Diane was in heaven. Since we're in the middle of the Navajo nation, there is a ton of stuff for sale. This place had some beautiful rugs. I checked the price - mostly because I'm a masochist and I needed to know whether the guy in Winslow had ripped me off. Ummm ... nope. These people want $1700.00 for a rug the size that I purchased. Good heavenly days! Oh my, oh my, oh my. I wanted to go back to Winslow and buy more.

2:42 pm. We're getting closer to the Grand Canyon. All of a sudden I see this stuff happening. Ths is the Little Colorado River Gorge. Amazing. I shot these out of the car window. We didn't realize what we were seeing until we'd flown by the scenic overlook.



3:15 pm. We're here. The first glimpse I had was as we were driving to one of the lookout points. All of a sudden, there it was. And I began to sob. We drove into the first lookout point, parked and I couldn't even get out of the car. I just cried and cried and cried. There were a lot of people around. I finally put my sunglasses on and walked out to see the amazing vista.

Happy Birthday, Max. Here you are!



I think that most of us who have never seen this, accept it as a glorious sight - maybe someday we'll get a chance to experience it, but we don't think about it again. The moment that I saw the canyon, I was overtaken by the immensity, the grandeur, the majesty of it. And it became very personal to me. Here I was, in the glory of God's creation, standing next to one of the most stunning things I will ever experience. The feeling of awe gives you a sense of how big the world around us really is.



I had no idea what to expect regarding visitor access to the canyon, but there are many opportunities to stop on the side of the road and take it all in. As long as Leica was on leash, she wandered with me. At one point, I just sat down on a few rocks and stared while Max was taking photographs of it.

We saw people from all over the world, Buddhist monks, Germans, French, Indians, Japanese ... and all would stand in silence the first time they saw it. As they walked back to their cars, conversations would begin again, yet not necessarily about what they had just experienced. As if they wanted to treasure that moment alone.



By the sixth or seventh time we had pulled over to stop, I was able to collect myself enough to do some writing and not just stare into the vast landscape.



6:00 pm. We've checked into our hotel and are driving back into the Grand Canyon National Park. Max wanted to get a few shots of the canyon at sunset. But, that also means that we are getting shots at sunrise tomorrow. Yikes! I need to close this up and get a shower and get to sleep.

I'm not supposed to tell you that we ate at McDonald's tonight, but honestly ... we both are still a bit unhappy with the return of the Mexican food from yesterday. All we wanted was a salad and all we wanted was to eat in our room. How ashamed am I? Oh, a little bit, but I'll get over it.

While he was shooting the canyon, I was seeing this glorious sunset happen. Good night!

Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 4 Update

9:25 am. We'reoff. We got an extra hour by crossing into the Mountain Time Zone. For a couple of night people - what a blessing.

9:35 am. 24 miles of 1 lane at 45 mph. Sheesh. Gotta love it. Guess I have some quality time with Max ahead of me.

9:38 am. I'm complainin about construction and I look up as the Interstate cuts through a mesa. It's stunning. Shut up, Diane! If you are going slow, you have more time to enjoy the beauty.

I am filled with wonder at the majesty of God's creation. My eyes fill with tears as I am overcome with this incredible beauty. It's not often that I am exposed to brand-new visual experiences as grand as this, I am a little overwhelmed (and I was so overwhelmed, that it didn't occur to me to take pictures out the window of the car!)

10:27 am. Went under an overpass which was gorgeous. Yup, the overpass. Done in the yellow sandstone and painted with Indian symbols. My ears are popping. We're gaining altitude.

10:55 am. Rest area. Much needed potty break. Whoops. Are you kidding? There's a historical marker here. Cool!



11:08 am. It just occurred to me. I don't need to go to Santa Fe to shop. I can just go online and have things shipped. Ok, not funny? Yes, it is if you know me.

11:24 am. Turned north to Santa Fe. Hilarious! We were going to stop at Cline's Corner - a huge trading post, off-interstate junk place, but it is just west of the exit. I can't get to it. That's a hoot. No shopping for me!

Huh! Weird flash. We're listening to tons of 70s music. "Brandy by Looking Glass just came on and I had a quick flash to me driving in Sigourney in the 70s singing along with the radio on this song.

The air is getting thin as we achieve higher elevation. Max just turned up the fan so that we had more air blowing around in here.

11:35 am. I can stand it no longer. I made Max pull over and shoot some pictures. This is amazing. Sangro di Cristo Mountains., clouds, huge vistas ... oh my! (Max's pictures will be up on Flickr next week. Our internet connections have been awful and don't allow him to upload those huge files.)





12:25 pm. Approaching Santa Fe. Ok, I know this isn't new information, but watching the color palette change is pretty wild. Dusty rose in the earth, pastel yellow, sage green in the brush, light purple hues everywhere.

2:42 pm. Leaving Santa Fe. Guess what. I'm not a shopper. I should have known better when I didn't go shopping in Estes Park last summer. Fran, this is SO a place you would adore. We started driving down the small streets and found ourselves in a crush of people and cars and activity and I couldn't breathe. The idea of wandering from store to store looking for stuff that I don't need quickly became a bad idea.

We found an authentic Mexican restaurant. Run by Mexicans, the menu was in Spanish with the English translation as an aside, filled with Mexicans. Amazing food. And we both know that were going to pay for this.

Traveling back down I-25 to grab I-40 in Albuquerque. We have a long drive ahead of us to get to Holbrook, AZ. Off we go.

4:36 pm. Scenic overlook (nothing there - really). The local Indians have set up stalls at these overlooks and sell their wares. Sometimes they're filled, other times, one lone man stands in a booth hoping to catch a tourist.


5:28 pm. Prewitt, NM. Red cliffs are replacing the yellow mesas. Beautiful!





6:23 pm. Jut left Gallup, NM. Yup, we were too late. The stores had closed. Tons of Indian shops. It figures. No shopping for me.

6:00 pm. We just gained another hour by driving into Arizona. But, the sun is setting anyway. Arizona messes with Daylight Savings - so, for six months out of the year, they are on Pacific time and the other 6 they are on Mountain time.



6:00 pm. Arrive at the Wigwam motel (pictures in the next blog). What a great idea! Difficult to drag into the 21st century. No phone in the room, no internet, but beautifully kept up ... rustic furnishings. Lots of old cars parked in front of the wigwams. Awesome.

7:30 pm. Looking for a place to eat supper. We ended up at a little dive attached to a different motel. Total dive. Run by an Indian ... no one else was in there the entire time Max and I ate. We decided to eat at the counter and make it easy on the old guy. The Mexican food was starting to catch up to us and all we wanted was something light and bland. Tuna salad sandwich for me (that he made from scratch while I waited) and hot beef/potatoes for Max.

Back to the room. I hardly know what to do with myself with no internet access to keep up with you all. I read a book and went to sleep.

Good night!

Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 4

Doggone it! I left my notes back at the Wigwam. Yes, Max and I are in a wigwam tonight. With no internet.

I'm sitting in front of the Best Western - stealing theirs. I had to get my Pour Out a Blessing blog out. It's only 8:30 in Arizona - it's 10:30 in Omaha. My body is very confused. We're exhausted. Today was a very long day - mostly driving, not a lot of sight-seeing.

I did get some beautiful shots out the window of our car as we were driving, but we had a lot of miles to cover today. Poor Max is totally wiped out. He's back at the Wigwam with the dog.

I will have him shoot pictures of the place in the morning - it was much too dark when we came in tonight. It's a total riot.

You will get two blogs tomorrow, I promise. But, since I'm pretty much wiped out AND I forgot all of my notes from the day ... you get this apology blog, with two pictures.

The first is the VW van that was outside our motel room at the Blue Swallow and the second is the gorgeous sunset in Eastern Arizona.




Good night all!

Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 3

Fran and I were talking tonight and decided that this should have been titled "Two Geeks on the Road." Oh well ...

7:30 am. Yes, I heard the motorcycle parked next to our Jeep fire up and leave. No, I'm not waking up.

8:45 am. We're moving. Slowly but surely. Even after the late night, we're up a bit earlier. Yea!

9:20 am. On the road. Where's Route 66? You have to get off the freeway (I-40). I can see the freeway less than 2 miles south of us, but we are on an old bumpy road and my hand can't make contact with the page very well. Route 66 pretty much parallels I-40.

The first thing we saw as we drove out of El Reno was a Historical Marker. We had to stop. And this was it: (Civil War)



9:38 am. My husband is a freak! We are driving on a road that was built in 1932. He says to me, "Oh ... people would have driven to California on this road during the dust bowl!" Fine. I'm cool with the historical memories. But, he couldn't stop himself. "Field of FSA. Out of the shadows come FSA photographers - Dorothea Lange, Arthur Rothstein ..." Yes, this is the man I live with.

9:50 am. Drove out of our way (kinda) to traverse a bridge with 38 spans. When the bridge was built there was no equipment that could lift a span large enough, so they made do with the size they could lift and this bridge required 38 of them!



9:56 am. Really rough road. A large cow was wandering in the ditch and decided that it wanted to cross the road in front of us. For a moment, none of us were sure who would be stopping. Finally, the cow stopped. We went on.

10:20 am. One of many ways to send your wife into a tailspin: ignore her when she says, "Get gas here." Fumes in the gas tank make her very nervous.

11:35 am. I guess we are the heathens in a holy state. Everything is closed. The only restaurants that remain open are chain fast food. The National Route 66 Museum is even closed. Too bad, so sad. The entire museum complex is as much kitsch as anything else on the road. Oh ... WalMart is open.

Max tried to get in ... he failed.





Poor Leica came hopping back to the car from a quick run in the grass. What's wrong? I immediately figured she had pulled something from the way she was holding her back leg. I picked her up, put her in the front seat and saw a burr on her foot. Nasty. I took it out. She still wouldn't relax. Oh, sheesh! Another one right in the pad. When I pulled that one out, she got mad at me for hurting her and is sulking in the back seat.

12:10 pm. Rest area just east of Erick, OK. Max says it must be from the pleiostene era. Scary, creepy, old. The women's handicap stall hd a shower curtain instead of a door! Not using that one!

Max is feeling less adventurous today. Thank goodness. More freeway - less trying to find a nonexistent road. I'm totally fine with this.

12:20 pm. Texas. Well, this is another state I've never been to before. Whee! Hmmm ... "Proud home of President George Bush." Sometimes you forget that people like that are really from some place.

12:45 pm. Shamrock, Texas. We tried to eat at the U-Drop Inn, but I'm guessing that Texas is just as holy as Oklahoma. Not open. Max got a great picture of the old Conoco station with the U-Drop Inn restaurant. All spruced up - looking good. This is better than many of the other sites along Route 66 ... much deterioration. We ended up eating at Mitchell's Family Dining. Wonderful food - scary people. Mostly because I was quite out of place. I'm from the midwest ... not Texas. My face isn't lined, we don't wear cowboy boots and I'm not dressed like a dolled-up ... well ... I'm just not.

Absolutely wonderful food though. Baked steak, homemade (real) mashed potatoes, real homemade french fries - the steak came out with fried onions and mushrooms on top. Enough to keep us going for the day. But, with Max not eating carbs ... it was embarrassing to leave potatoes and fries on our plates - especially with the hearty appetites of the people in that place!

We are taking Leonard's "Scooby Doo" with us on the trip - Max thought it would be funny to take a picture of him bellying up to the plate - this is one of Leonard's favorite meals. But, I figured that we might get shot or at least a good talkin' to - the picture wasn't going to happen.



2:00 pm. McLean, Texas. One of the saddest things I've seen. Lots of boarded up buildings and deserted sites. This Phillips 66 is deserted, but has been beautifully painted. It was wonderful!



2:37 pm. Leaning Tower of Texas. This picture doesn't do the "LEAN" justice. It was built to lean - simply to draw people off of Route 66 and into town. Awesome.



2:42 pm. We're driving by (the picture is taken out the front window) the 'largest cross in the western hemisphere.' And a gift shop is being built around this. Good for them!



3:15 pm. Amarillo, TX. Huh. A friend from my high school (lo, those many years ago) was trying to reach me today to get me to stop. Since I can only send, but not receive, I missed that message. But, this was an entertaining stop for us. The stupid Garmin ... no, I take that back ... it was the Google placemarkers that were stupid took us into the heart of a bad area of Amarillo to see Cadillac Ranch. Max got annoyed and announced that we were just leaving. Ok ... whatever. On the way out, we stopped for pictures at The Big Texan Steakhouse. Too bad we had already eaten ... this could have been fun (to watch Max attempt). It's a staple of Route 66 now. I loved the hotel right next to it. Each room (outside) was painted a different color. Just awesome!





4:08 pm. I wasn't going to let the Cadillac Ranch get away from us. Since I can get Wikipedia on my Kindle, I looked it up quickly and found the actual coordinates. Punched those into the Garmin and we were off again. This place is just great. Just off the road, people are encouraged to spray paint the cars. Here are 5 of the 10 that were planted.



It is freakin 85 degrees in Texas. October 19!!!! Are you kidding me with this? I'm never living here. I'd be a mean woman ... all the time.

4:45 pm. Midpoint on Route 66. Adrian, Texas. Had to mark that!





5:06 pm. Nearly out of Texas. All of a sudden the landscape changes radically. Mesas are simply amazing! And the brush is so funky. I'm loving this!



Time Change - now I have no idea what time it is. We are in New Mexico and have come in to Tucumcari. Max has been talking about this motel (Blue Swallow Motel) forever! There are 15 units and each has a garage. However, our Jeep isn't going to fit. This was built in the 40s or 50s when cars were much smaller.



This is the sweetest motel. Almost like a bed and breakfast (except no breakfast). I can't believe it! It's just wonderful! This is why I like staying in these strip motels. I lay my head down on the bed and I knew that the quilt (look! it's really a quilt!) was clean - I could smell the dryer sheet. Though this is a really old hotel, they have done a lot of work in restoring and cleaning it up. I'm happy that we got a chance to experience this.

Poor Leica got ANOTHER burr in the pad of her paw outside the hotel. I feel like I should tie leather pads to her feet! She's a city dog that lives inside! This kind of pain is a bit startling.





Max and I had a great dinner in Tucumcari and then drove around the city a bit. Back to the hotel and we're relaxing. I should be asleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We're headed to Santa Fe for shopping and then we'll be in Holbrook, AZ tomorrow night at the Wigwam Motel. I can hardly wait!

Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 2

The day went something like this:

6:10 am. I heard "I'll be back. Gotta let the dog out." And then he came back in the room and went back to sleep. Hmmm. We're not leaving early today!

8:46 am. He heard, "Get up, Max. You went to sleep way before I did. You have to start first." He got up.

9:37 am. We're in the car. Max is setting up his iPod again. It's Beach Music to get us going in the morning! And ... we're off!

9:43 am. Max says, "Liftgate open." I say, "Alright. Pull over. I'll shut it." GoodNESS we have the hardest time moving in the morning.

10:22 am. Did you know that pecans are a major source of income for this part of Missouri? I had no idea. And I missed every freakin' store.

11:19 am. We're in Carthage. No, we didn't go to the Precious Moments extravaganza. And we didn't find the Marlin Perkins statue. There were hundreds and hundreds of people in town for their Maple Leaf Festival. We drove in just as the parade was ending and traffic was insane! We drove right back out again. And headed for the 66 Drive-In Theatre. So cool. It's closed for the season, but this has been really kept up nicely.





12:05 pm. Carterville, MO. Oh, so sad. The Route 66 Welcome Center is for sale. The Route 66 Diner here is for sale. There is so much of this highway's history that is deteriorating and then, so much that is coming back. People are passionate about the National Highway!

12:20 pm. Driving down the highway and we see this long quote - it seemed interesting, but unreadable at 65 mph. I got the author's name and Max got the first couple of words ... so, I found it on Wikipedia: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity, then embrace” by Alexander Pope. See? Interesting stuff.

12:23 pm. We just paid $2.38/gallon for gas. (Later input - the cheapest gas we saw was in Oklahoma - $2.25/gallon)

12:25 pm. Max just saw a 1963 2-door Impala hardtop driving down Route 66. That just made him happy.

12:45 pm. Drove into Galena. Saw a bunch of great old buildings. We pulled into a parking lot and Max started to check things out. He came rushing back to the Jeep, beckoning to me. I HAD to come see this. 4 Women on the Route Gas station and home of Tow-Tater, the inspiration for Tow-Mater in the movie "Cars." She made sure that we knew he was the authentic inspiration. There was much documentation and there was also a wonderful gift shop with a little 3 tabletop diner. We got lunch, stuff and a bunch of pictures. Probably the best stop of the trip so far. So much fun. Check out their website (click on the name). She is a passionate woman about Route 66 and is investing much time and money in restoration of buildings and the road itself. (and yes, Scooby got to hang out on Tow-Mater for a picture)



2:47 pm - Miami, OK (pronounced Mi-am-uh). We stopped at the Coleman Theater for pictures - amazing old theater. Gorgeous stuff. Max will be posting pics on Flickr as soon as we get decent upload. (not tonight). Off to Baxter Springs, KS and in to Oklahoma. Commerce, OK -Mickey Mantle Blvd and a soon to be built Mickey Mantle museum. No pics ... of what? the street signs? (hehe)

3:36 pm. World's Largest McDonald's. You have to know that I had to get off of Route 66 and pay a toll to get this picture. And that's all we did there - drive in, take a picture ... oh, and let Leica out for a quick run. Back off the toll road and onto Route 66 again.



3:49 pm. Just off the toll road. Back onto Route 66 and there's is a HUGE Indian standing there.



4:50 pm. World's Largest Totem Pole. Ok, just because we are in Cherokee, Sac and Fox country does not mean that these Indians make totem poles. Some guy in 1948 thought this would be a great way to use his talent. And there is a park filled with these weird painted totem poles.



5:15 pm. Blue Whale, Catoosa, OK. It's a big blue whale in a little pond. This is prime Route 66 Kitsch. It has slides into the water and ladders to come out. I think one of the big hotel chains is restoring it. Uh huh ... We have lots of pictures of this. The woman we spoke to in Galena said that she was surprised to see us traveling Route 66 because it is so late - the season is over. Well, she doesn't know me well. This is perfect. There was absolutely no one at the Blue Whale and we had the run of the park. Very nice.



7:40 pm. Davenport, OK. Great pic of a very old Phillips 66 sign. But, by golly, they managed to update it to 2008. Even Route 66 kitsch isn't exempt from politics. Are they kidding me with this?



We've decided to skip the Round Barn in Arcadia and head on in to Oklahoma City, but we discovered a couple of treasures along the way. First off, as I came around a bend in the highway there was an immense, lit cross which marked the "Successful Word Church." Yup, I just whipped off the highway to get a picture of that!



8:32 pm. I had a guy (or two) tailing me pretty hard and it was driving me crazy. I was looking for a place to just get off and let them pass me. Route 66 has a great reputation as a highway that is good for Mustangs and other cars that handle banking turns well. An old lady in a Jeep in the dark on an unknown highway does not handle those turns well. I was going as fast as my heart could take it - 55 mph was it.

As I was looking for a place to pull off, we saw this huge, lit soda bottle! It's just awesome. I probably should have put the camera in movie mode. The colors changed through the spectrum. It was a burger joint, gas station and NEW kitsch on the Route. Pops, just outside of Arcadia. Absolutely awesome.



I hadn't originally intended to go to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I knew what my reaction would be. But, as we got closer and closer, I discovered that I needed to do this. We were running out of day, but I called the hotel and told them we'd be in late. We also sacrificed a decent dinner so that we could spend time here. Really wasn't a sacrifice - this was a wonderful stop.

As we drove up to the entrance and read the words overhead, I felt my throat constrict and recognized that tears were only moments away. Night had fallen, the lights of the city surrounded us and I felt deep sorrow. We drove around the memorial, wanting to see things from the outside first. We parked across the street. Since we were there so late, there were only a few people wandering the grounds.



Max and I walked to the reflecting pool and took it all in. The horror of that day in 1995 stands in vivid contrast to the peace of this evening. As Max photographed the space, I sat and waited. I wept and was thankful for the darkness that hid my flowing tears. 9:01 am, April 19, 1995 - everything was normal. 9:03 am, April 19, 1995 - everything had changed. The world was a different place.



It was another great day. I love traveling with my husband. We saw everything from the insane to the beautiful. I'm totally exhausted now. Max and Leica are already asleep. Tomorrow is another day!

Max & Diane's Adventure - Day 1

Packing and cleaning and calming a small dog preceded the start of our trip. Max worked until 2 and then hurried home with lunch so that we could get outta town!

Priorities:
Max: get the iPod hooked up and running
Leica: in the car, in the car, in the car, in the car ...
Diane: is everything packed? Do we have everything? Let me take a picture.



3:14 pm - GO! Oh. stop. We need gas. Alright, now. GO!!!!



Max changed the voice on the Garmin (GPS) to an Australian named Keith. He is much nicer to listen to than the female voice that was the default. I nearly killed her. However, nicer to listen to doesn't mean much when the Garmin is lost. More about that later.

3:35 pm - I love my Garmin! I spent a lot of time on Google maps building place markers of the locations we wanted to see - including our hotels. All I had to do was touch the place marker on the Garmin and then press 'Go.' Keith began giving us directions. Awesome! (again, later in the narrative this original thought becomes hilarious.)

3:50 pm - Oops - doggie pitstop. We are just barely out of town, directly east of Bellevue on I-29. We're going ... slowly.

Oh. Boz Scaggs - Lido Shuffle. On the iPod. Max told me to listen to the lyrics. It's not a 'clean' song. Good heavens, I've been singing this thing for 25+ years and had no idea. I'm not going to tell you what it's about, but yikes! But, there's a guy ... and he's trying to make some money and ... well ... sheesh! That made it past the censors.

We are definitely living in the electronic age:



Max and I are traveling with a Garmin, iPod, Kindle, 2 cell phones, 2 digital cameras and a laptop. I have two power plugs in the Jeep and power converters for both of them (AC/USB + car charger). What a riot!

4:14 pm - Mile 10 (Iowa). Stupid Sapp Bros. coffeepot breaking up the skyline. Ok, I'm heading for 50s Kitsch on Route 66. We just keep creating more and more, don't we?

5:27 pm - St. Joseph, MO. We thought we might stop here at the Bob Evans, but the Garmin says there is one in Kansas City (this begins the breakdown of my trust in this machine). I love this restaurant and can't find one in Omaha. When we head to Ohio to visit Max's family, I always beg for one Bob Evans stop. Yes, I know it's just another Perkins/Village Inn, but I do like it!

Riding in a car with Max and his music gives a person quite an education. Did you know Eric Clapton stole George Harrison's wife (Patty Boyd)? Layla ... its actually about her.

The Garmin told us to take an exit ... but it didn't make sense. As I soon discovered, the stupid thing wanted us to exit and then re-enter at the same area. Ummm ... what?

6:00 pm - The Garmin says that there is a Bob Evans at this location. I don't see a roadside sign for it, but we'll give it a shot. And this is what we found:



No, no, no, no, no!!! Back on the road for us. We're not that hungry anyway. We can wait.

And then ... the Garmin (Keith) made us a little crazy. We headed for downtown, I couldn't imagine why we were doing the trip this way, but hey ... I'm not the one with a map in my brain. All of a sudden, Max realized that he had programmed the Garmin to go the shortest route, not the fastest route. Yikes! I reset the programming and the Garmin decided to recalculate the entire trip. Whew! I'm glad he caught that before we got too much further!

6:54 pm - Ohmygosh! There's a Bob Evans (yes, I have been obsessing about this today). I figured that I wasn't going to get it and there it is in all of it's red and yellow glory. (it was too dark to take a picture) Breakfast and real sweet tea. Jennie - I had biscuits and Bob Evans sausage gravy. Ah ha! And I didn't need the freakin' Garmin to get me there.

7:45 pm - Alright, we are way south of Kansas City on Highway 71 now. It's time to head for the motel. The Garmin says 15 miles. Off we go.

Let's just say that the machine is full of ... ummmm ... crap. We followed the directions (at least it was in Harrisonville) and drove and drove. It took us off the highway, through town to another highway and then out in the country. Errr .. what? I'm looking at farms here. When it told me that we were .6 miles from the hotel, I got a little nervous. I had a picture of us in a rundown motel out in the middle of nowhere and men with axes and hatchets showing up in the middle of the night to make mincemeat out of us.

I breathed. And pulled out my paper copies of our locations. Plugged the actual address into the Garmin and we proceeded to retrace our steps and make our way to our home for the evening. A wonderful little strip motel - just off Highway 71 (where it should be). The room is really clean, there is fast wifi internet, a great place to walk the dog and Max is outside right now, shooting a picture of the moon. I think I will wait to post this blog until he comes back in and I can finish with that.



This has been a great day. We're excited about tomorrow. Lots of weird and wonderful things to see and do on our way.

Sensitive!

My dog is highly sensitive. The poor thing has been freaking out for the last week as I've been packing things up. She knows something is going on, but since she can't identify it, she just shivers at me. The only time she is really calm is when I'm asleep. At that point, she knows I'm not leaving her forever.

I've written before about her shredding boxes and things when we put her in the middle bedroom. Last night, we were going out to dinner with Fran & Leonard and since she was curled up so nicely in the study, I thought maybe we could give that a try. Max pulled the door shut and off we went.

Bad idea. She tore into the trash and then at a stack of books that I have right beside my desk. I had purchased these books to follow along with Matthew for a couple of his classes in college. She chewed the freakin' corners off the Old Testament Survey book. I can laugh about it now, but I was pissed off last night and I yelled at her (no spanking, just yelling). She took one look at me picking up the book and began to cower. I told her what a bad girl she was and then told her that I was mad at her.

She ran! Away! She took off and went downstairs to curl up on the couch. It took about half an hour before she had the courage to come back upstairs. The one thing I know about discipline is that holding onto anger after the initial conflict is craziness. So, I was fine with her - told her I loved her and snuggled her for a bit.

Well, this morning I caught her in the bedroom trying to dig into something she didn't need to be into. I snapped at her and told her to stop it. She ran away again! Back downstairs to the sofa. Goodness, I wasn't even mad, I just needed her to stop. It only took her a few minutes to come back to me and curl up in her bed.

Crazy, sensitive dog! Now I really have to be careful of using my angry voice.

Funny story - a year or so ago, Max and I went to Colorado with Soul Seekers. One night, at the hotel, she had done something bad and I scolded her. I think I even spanked her bottom. Oh! I suspect she was barking at someone and I had repeatedly told her to stop. She was paying no attention, so I gave her a swat. That made her quite angry with me. She stalked away from me to Max's bed (2 queen beds? I get my own) and refused to sleep with me that night (she sleeps with me every night!). She curled up against him and looked at me as if to tell me that I was going to be punished for that swat.

Max and I just laughed.

So, today, I have to keep packing and figure out how to avoid freaking my dog out. She dosn't understand that of course she is going with us.

AARP / Navy?

Max turns 50 next week. He'll be sleeping in a wigwam. Pretty cool, eh? (hehe)

Anyway. On October 1st, he received his AARP information. We laughed.

I called him today at work. He received a promotional packet from the US Navy encouraging him to join up!

He wanted to know what a 50 year old man with 'old man butt' (yup, Jim ... you killed him with that one) is going to do in the Navy!

Travelogue - Part 4

It's 6 am on Thursday. We don't actually leave until Friday afternoon. But, there's a lot of anticipation around here. Remember. We haven't done this before as a couple.

Max is heading into work early today and tomorrow so that he can get home and do whatever to get us ready to get out of here. Funny thing? We're only driving 3 1/2 hours tomorrow night. HAH. That's awesome.

I'll wrap everything up today - I have some cleaning to do and some final things to get into containers/bags. I'm taking a bunch of blankets and pillows. Because I can! Gotta figure out which ones are going. We'll totally pack the vehicle tonight - except for the cameras and anything else that's worth anything. If someone steals the car, though ... I'm seriously SOL. All of our clothes will be in there! (hehe) Yup, we own about 10 days worth of clothing. That's it.

I need to get several more days' studies written for the Pour Out a Blessing blog. I don't want to mess that up while I'm traipsing around.

Max started running a fever last night. He took a nap when he got home from work and then came into the studied and shivered for awhile (I made him put on a sweatshirt - the house was cold!). He went to bed early to try to drive it away. And then, proceeded to tell me that this happened to him every time he went on a trip. I've heard all about his trips before, but never this part! If I would have been his mother, I'd have killed him! No getting deathly ill before leaving. He managed to be sick the first couple of days of every vacation they took. Guhreat. Maybe I'll just leave him home. (ummm ... yah ... sure).

Hehe - Leica is running back and forth from the study to the bedroom - that outta wake him up this morning! It's time to ask how he's doing. Yea! He's doing better.

As soon as he's gone, I'm going to grab another couple hours of sleep and then get started.

Off we go, into the wild, blue yonder ...

Tagged

I have been tagged by Tena at Gleaming Goat. (I guess I should ask about that Blog title.)

Rules for tagging:

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Facts about me.
1. I graduated from high school in 1977 - right in the middle of some of the best rock and roll years EVER!

2. I met my husband online in 1994. He wasn't the first guy I had dated after meeting them online - in fact, I met someone as far back as 1987! (Yup, I'm old and that was pre-internet as you know it.) My brother decided that I needed to be aware of this cool thing (online chatting), so he hooked me up and got me started. I began with a 1200 baud modem. I started just as the world was transitioning from 300 baud to 1200 baud. Pretty speedy, eh?

3. My grandmother (mom's mom) rejected 3 full scholarships to Harvard University for us three kids. She thought that her friends (he was the treasurer of Harvard) were offering charity. They probably were. However, I wouldn't be the woman I am now if she had said yes. God knows what He is doing.

4. I can't watch horror/slasher movies. Even the silly, black and white "Night of the Living Dead" from 1968 makes me cry in terror.

5. I once stood six hours in line for Kenny Rogers tickets. Oh ... I need to hide my head in shame for that.

6. I have a desire to visit the Presidential Libraries. I've been to three (Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower). That made me want to see more. Max has taught me to utterly love history.

7. I don't read, I consume books. However, the Bible is the only book that I am absolutely passionate about. I will learn Greek and Hebrew, study hermeneutics and exegesis so that I can help others to love and understand the amazing depths of God's Word.

I don't have 7 people to tag (some of my friends really need to be blogging - hint hint!!!), but I will get:

Tracy
Jim
Cayla
Cody

Distractions

I find myself easily distracted. I really am trying to focus on writing. I have a lot to work on. But, my mind keeps flying off on tangents that make no sense to me, and pretty soon I find myself clipping my fingernails, cleaning bits of paper off my desk, adjusting my glasses, reading related, but not really, websites or even just losing myself in fuzzy thoughts.

I was feeling so productive at 3:00 this morning. And now ... my brain is mush. I know. I know. Go to sleep earlier. Ain't gonna happen.

Focus, Diane, Focus!

Diane is in big trouble

Well, I put the fear of God into some of my best friend's hearts this morning. It's certainly nice to know you are loved, but it's not fair ... what I did. Fully unintentional.

I'm upstairs - haven't been up all that long. I went to bed last night at 5:00 am (I got a LOT of writing done!), so I turned my phone off. I woke up about 11:20 - 11:30, still wasn't enough sleep, but, oh well. I came upstairs and began sorting through the stuff on my computer. At noon, I heard the back door slam and then heard Max coming through the house. He got to the steps and called my name, "Diane?" "Yes?"

And then he came flying up the steps, stood in the door panting, trying to tell me something - that I was supposed to have been at lunch and when I didn't show up, Julie and Jen worried. Jen tried to call me and then Max tried to call me (of course I heard nothing - remember? the phone is on silent). Everyone was moving this way to ensure I was still alive.

Poor Max. He stood in the doorway of the study as I called Jen to apologize and assure her that I was fine. I actually had emailed Julie in the middle of the night to tell her I was bailing on lunch, but she's afraid it went to her junk mail box. I thought I had ... well, I hadn't. (ok, I did email, but I obviously hadn't taken care of this as well as I should have!)

After the call, I had to hold my poor husband! He began to cry! And then he began to express his fears over losing me and what had happened in his mind. I had to hold the poor man while he regained his sanity.

Here's the deal ... if I'm not where I'm supposed to be and I'm not answering the phone - email me or Facebook me. Within 5 minutes one of those will get to me. When I turned the phone to silent last night, I just KNEW I was going to forget to turn the sound back on when I woke up. I did ... I forgot.

But, mostly ... I'm so sorry! I don't mean to put my friends into a panic. I certainly don't mean to ever scare the life out of my poor husband.

I did have to giggle at him a little ... in his stammering, in a panic vocalizing at me, as he tried to tell me how important I was to him ... he told me I was his only wife. I'm glad about that.

He did realize what he'd said and that it made no sense and was able then to tell me that I was his life. For that, I just needed to hold on and let him know that I was ok and he would be.

Diane failed at the girl thing.

I thought I would try ... but ... life doesn't always allow for deep thoughts and profound moments.

Right now I'm laughing at myself.

I ordered a new purse last week from Amazon. (It's a Girl Thing. Or a Diane Thing) I've been really excited about it and could hardly wait for it to show up. I was upstairs when my UPS driver showed up at my back door with the box. I gathered up a bunch of stuff that I wanted to take downstairs, let the dog out and brought the box inside.

The box was a bit smaller than I expected, but, it's a canvas bag ... that's fine. I opened it, pulled off the packing material. Hmmm ... this is smaller than I expected, but maybe it's folded in half.

Ummm ... no.

Really! It's cute. (I'm not a 'cute' person).



I removed the stupid coin purse on the front of the purse. But I truly thought that it was a bit bigger than this. This is the picture I based my purchase on. For heaven's sake, is this a mannequin of an 8 year old girl with boobs? Puhleeze!



I've decided to enjoy the purse. It is big enough to hold my wallet, phone, keys AND my Kindle. And really, that's all I need. If anyone tells me this is 'cute,' I might hurl on them. And poor Max will have to suffer through the fact that this is still not the perfect bag.

Wow ... doggone it, I'm going to have keep shopping! And for me ... that's a happy thing.

Pooped Out

Yes, I'm still awake - but I won't be after I send the Pour Out a Blessing blogpost off (midnight). I had a wonderful day, but it wore me out! That's what happens when 1) you have no more stress in your life and 2) you have no more stress in your life. When stress comes, it wears your butt out!

Today was good stress. SingOmaha (singomaha.com) had fall concerts today. Mid-afternoon concert for Sono Via (K-6) with Harmonia (9-12 girls) and evening concert with Harmonia and Canticum (adult choir). I played for all groups and thought I'm never terribly worried about things, I always build a sense of fear and anticipation into myself. It makes me concentrate.

The concerts were fabulous and if you weren't there, you really missed something. I'm just saying. Mark your calendar for the Christmas concert - December 7th. It will also be held at Faith-Westwood.

After the evening concert, my family hooked up at Famous Dave's. We are an absolute riot! I can not imagine having more fun with any other group of people. The kids are old enough to totally participate in the action. We run at 'no holds barred.' Ok, I take that back. It's always very loving and always respectful. I'm glad that we have this going on in our lives. The safest place to be is with people that you totally trust and let me tell you, if you can trust your family - they know EVERYTHING about you.

I was very excited that Matt (my nephew) was able to join SingOmaha this fall. It's been wonderful having him go to rehearsal with me every week. He had a great experience at the concert this evening and it was awesome that his whole family could be there too. He even got a chance to see his girlfriend.

So ... it's only 11:45. I have another 15 minutes before the pumpkin returns to take me to Neverland (yup, mixed my movies there ... deal).

Maybe I'll be a little more pithy tomorrow.

Watched some movies today

While Max was watching football, I popped a few movies in and watched them.

"The Bucket List." Just finished it. I'm still thinking about it. I've been putting a lot of thought into the reality of getting old. not so much on dying, but that's right up there. Do I have a bucket list? No. I've never done that. I guess I'm too pragmatic. If there is something I really want to do, I'll find a way to do it. If it's not possible, then, I guess I don't need to be attempting it.

The trip to the Grand Canyon takes care of something I've wanted to do for a very long time. The other sight I want to see someday is the Northern Lights (wow ... that's a sentence that needs some help). I'll get there. And I really am looking forward to that.

"Freedom Writers." A true story. Just about the time that I believe we are in a basket that is headed straight for hell, I see a story like this and am encouraged. I'm angered by the fact that more people see things as Margaret Campbell does rather than as Erin Gruwell. Wars happen on our streets and throughout the world. Will this change anything? Not on a global scale. Maybe not even on the scale of a small city like Omaha ... but, teachers that reach into the hearts of their students are pretty incredible..

I began my movie watching today with "Cloverfield." Interesting movie. Interesting concept. I liked it. I can't believe I did. My expectations were pretty low for this movie. I was startled when the head of the Statue of Liberty rolled onto the street. I giggled with the sound of the 'monster.' Are you kidding me? That's the sound you chose to represent that hideous thing? But, it was entertaining.

So ... now it's 7:30 pm. Max is off at a friends house doing something. Darkness has fallen across the city and it's actually pretty quiet out there. I spent a lot of the day converting books so that I can read them on my Kindle. (because I can't just watch a movie - I have to be doing something else at the same time.) I got the placemarkers for the trip onto the GPS. Hmmm ... now what?

Travelogue ... Part Three

I'm obsessed with this trip. I had to take time off from it today to get some writing done for the Pour Out a Blessing blog. But, while I was trying to recuperate from the writing episodes, I designed 2 trips to the East Coast, each of which could take about the same amount of time and would be great fun. I showed them to Max when he got home and he just shook his head.

I must give off the impression that I am an impulsive sort, given to flights of fancy or something like that. My friends don't know how freakin' anal I can be - given the right set of circumstances. This trip has brought out all of my father's trip organizing skills (he was a madman at this stuff). I have a highly detailed list with every item we are going to need - typed out in an organized structure. It's so detailed that there are lines in front of each item so that I can check them off as they enter the container they will travel in. There is another section with the containers that will be checked off as those enter the vehicle.

I do have a sketch of how these containers will go into the Jeep, so that things will be accessible when and where we need them.

There is a full-blown itinerary, complete with hotel information and probable stops along the route. I have been creating my map of the trip in Google maps and have place markers for all of the sights we might want to see along the trip, as well as place markers for each of the hotels. I have a folder sitting beside me on the desk with printouts of hotel confirmations, etc. The Google map will not only be logged into the Garmin GPS, but will be printed out and placed in the travel folder.

I've made reservations at hotels for the entire trip except the last two nights. Max and I still aren't sure whether we're heading home via I-76 to I-80 out of Denver, or whether we'll head up I-25 to Cheyenne.

The first part of the trip is going to be insane. Lots of sightseeing along Route 66. The Grand Canyon will be the turning point. After that we are heading to Monticello, UT and will spend three nights there. We'll roam the area - I actually have no place markers for these three days. Everything will slow down, we will relax and Max will have plenty of time to shoot photographs. These are the days I'm most looking forward to. The insanity of travel will be complete and we'll get a chance to experience the wonder and majesty of God's creation.

A friend asked if I would post a travel blog with photos. Yup ... I think that every hotel we will be staying in has internet access (can you imagine I would choose anything else? Well, I almost did.). I suspect we will experience everything from the sublime to the ridiculous.

I can't wait.

It's a Girl Thing. Or a Diane Thing.

My husband thinks I'm obsessed with bags (purses). He might be right. I am 10 days away from leaving for a vacation and I've decided that I need a purse.

So. It's 2:00 am and I'm at my computer looking through Amazon.com's handbags. At this point, I've scanned over 1200 bags. I have to find just the right one. I've decided that my requirements are insane. I can't find anything.

I don't want a purse shaped like an armadillo (yup, saw it), or a glass of beer (I'm not kidding) or even a Genie's lamp. I'm not that hard to please. Or am I?

Here are my requirements in the middle of the night.

1. Amazon Prime. That means free shipping and it also means that I can have it here by Monday - guaranteed. That's important.
2. Less than $50.00. I'm not interested in doing a 'quick shop' for the purse of my dreams. If I'm going to spend more than $50 for a purse, I want to spend some time dreaming about it (yup, obsessed. Don't harass me.).
3. Lightweight, contemporary looking (no old lady purses for this old lady)
4. Can carry a bunch of stuff. (shut up!)

I know what I want. But, when I find it, it either costs $595.00 or it will take an extra 4 days to process. Hello!!! I'm an internet shopper. I do not have time to wait for you all.

Here's the deal. I'm pretty sure I will find exactly what I want in 3 weeks. I'll click on Amazon.com and they will have it on my front page as a recommendation.

Sigh ... oh well. I think I found something I can tolerate. It's only $19.99 with free shipping. It will be here Monday (oops, maybe Tuesday). I managed to get through another 300 purses before closing this post. Alright, already. I'm obsessed.

Travelogue - An update

HAH. I finally gave up. We are not staying in Elk City, Oklahoma. We'll stay in El Reno, OK, just outside of Oklahoma City.

But, I did get the reservations made for the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, NM and the Wigwam in Holbrook, AZ. Those were Max's two requests. Historic Route 66 hotels. Each of the rooms at the Wigwam are shaped as a ... you guessed it ... wigwam. We'll be there for Max's birthday.

I thought I was being clever and found this beautiful lodge near the Grand Canyon. Not terribly priced, but guaranteed beauty. Ummm ... as I placed it on my map (I have place markers on Google Maps for everything we want to see and do), I discovered that it will require a 3 hour trip to get there and another 3 hour trip to get back on the road. Doggone ...

My brother thinks I should just hit the road and hope for the best with hotels. The worst we could do is sleep in the car. Thank you very much, Jim ... ummm ... no.

We're really looking forward to this. The first 5 days will be complete tourist crap. Traveling Route 66 and seeing all of the sites we can possibly see. Things like the blue whale and the world's largest totem pole. Then, there's the world's largest McDonald's and Cadillac Ranch (yup, old cadillacs - buried in the ground). Should be an absolute riot!

The last half of the trip will be nature exploration. While I will enjoy the Route 66 fun, I'm really looking forward to this part of the trip. I can't wait to see Canyonlands and the Arches, Castle Valley and Monument Valley. I have to say that I saw the Grand Canyon, and I'm certain that it will be glorious ... but the further away I can get from tourists, the better.

Now ... if we can just get my Google Map placemarkers onto our Garmin GPS ... we'll be set! Max????

Travelogue ... a beginning?

I decided that today was the day to begin making reservations for hotels for our vacation.

We have planned to head south and pick up Historic Route 66 in Joplin, Missouri and drive as much of that as possible to Arizona.

So ... with my Skype headset on and the internet at my fingertips, along with some planning that I had put in several weeks ago, I began making phone calls to hotels.

You probably need to know that this vacation is an adventure for both Max and myself. We aren't intending to spend a lot of money on the hotels, in fact, we prefer the strip hotels that you see in small towns. We are also not the type of people that spend much time in a hotel, so why spend money for much more than a clean bed, right? Right.

First off: The Slumber Inn in Harrisonville, Missouri. I called. A young man answered. Obviously English is not his first language, but he was helpful, polite and I managed to make a reservation for Friday night. Cool. This is a good start.

Second night: I hope to stay in Elk City, Oklahoma. I don't want to stay in Oklahoma City, this doesn't get us far enough along the road, so ... let's see what options I have.

I had originally settled on a Ramada. It's not a great looking hotel, prices are reasonable and they take pets. Can I book this online? Hmmm, there are no rooms available. Weird. Ok. Keep looking. The Flamingo Hotel - right on Historic Route 66. A couple of reviews like it, but the latest wasn't too promising. I called Max. He agreed. It's more adventurous to try something a little weird. Go for it.

I called the hotel. A voice mail system with a decidedly southern drawl. Interesting. Press '0' for the operator. I pressed '0'. Nothing. The system returned after a few minutes. Press '0' for the operator. I pressed '0'. Nothing. I began to giggle. The system returned again. Press '0' for the operator. I pressed '0' and waited. Still giggling. A young woman came on the line and again, spoke very little English. I told her I wanted to make a reservation. She offered me a room with one bed. I told her I wanted two beds. She explained that I would have to take non-smoking, they were beginning to fill up. I explained to HER that I didn't want this room until October 18. She laughed. I hung up. That scared me a little more than I can explain.

I searched and searched. I can stay at the Holiday Inn for $115.00 - $140.00. Other hotels start at $95.00. In Elk City, Oklahoma? Really? We can do better than this.

So, off again to the internet. Hmmm. Red Carpet Inn. Part of their website tells me that they take pets, the next part says 'no pets.' Ok, you know what? I'm just going to call. No answer. No answer at all. It rang and rang and rang and was still ringing as I began this blog. I finally decided to give up. I'm back to the internet.

Actually, I think I will make the next two night's reservations. Those are going to be at places that should be much more interesting. The Blue Swallow Inn in Tucumcari, NM and the WigWam in Holbrook, AZ. Those are the historic Route 66 hotels we WANT to stay in. Oh, please let this be less painful!

A thought spoken ...

The middle English definition of 'word' is 'a thought spoken.' How beautiful is that?

According to the Global Language Monitor, the English Language adds a new word every 98 minutes and in April of 2009, we will reach one million words.

Great article at the Smithsonian site on how lexicographers decide which words are really deserving of being in dictionaries and qualify as words that people use in their daily language.