I am going to go back to each day's portion and do some enhancements, some further memories and stories and maybe a few more pics.  Check on the old posts for new stuff over the next few days.  I will make a new post at the end stating that the blog is a finished project!

Tennessee a big state.  Left Memphis and drove all day to get to Charlotte.

Alas, home.  Good to be here. 

I am going to be continuing to blog for awhile, shaping this up and editing and posting more content and pictures.  I would like to add some conclusions and some musings as well.

Back soon.

Let's see, breakfast in Oklahoma, lunch in Arkansas and supper in Memphis.  A day on the road on I-40 East.  I drove by the town that Woody Guthrie was born in, the town that Troy Aikman was born in, both of these towns in Oklahoma let you know it.  If you want to play video poker in the most locations, Oklahoma is your best bet. (get it?)  

Not to be outdone, Arkansas was bragging about 1st Runner Up in the Miss America pagent.  Bill Clinton had a billboard saying that term limits do not limit statesmanship.

Memphis has a lot of ribs and I partook of some particularly good ones at Neely's.

I was telling Sarah about the outstanding Arkansas welcome center and rest area.  She suggested I start blogging about rest areas.  (by the way all had soap but a single dreary one in California)

Maybe I can become the Harvey girl of rest areas.

Tomorrow, crossing Tennessee the opposite way of Davy Crockett.

Day of the big haul...

Left Buffalo Thunder this morning around eight.  BT is about 10 miles out of Santa Fe and Cindy (my GPS) routed me back to Santa Fe then north to a delighful two lane road for about an hour.  Beautiful country and I had the road to myself.   I had a sharp eye out for road runners, but I think they are farther south. 

Got back on I-40 to begin the long trek to Oklahoma City.   Was in a good old fashioned Texas dust storm outside Amarillo.  You can see it off to the north as the wind was rough nearly all day.

I had to drive like Junior all day, keeping the wheel left to counteract the wind.

I paralleled Route 66 most of the day.  Almost every little town was inviting me to drive through to see "Historic Route 66"  Nearly all of them had a museum and a bunch of abandonned buildings to go along with the old route.

The state of Texas got in the act with this rest area dedicated to Route 66.

Notice the Texas flag being whipped by the wind.  Also notice the size of the building and the playground.

In the steps leading up to the building were inlaid a history of Route 66...

I know you can't read it but suffice to say that half a million people used Route 66 in the thirtys alone to escape the Oklahoma dust bowl and the depression.  John Steinbeck (my patron saint right now) called it the Mother Road.

By the way, when mounting these steps, watch out for those pesky rattlers.

And just in case those winds started funneling....

Arrived OKC around sundown (Howdy Pardner) and after a slight hotel hassle and a fill up, I headed to the stockyards for some Cattleman's Cafe.  I couldn't help but think of my bro in law Cliff as I wolfed down a t-bone, (the favorite of George Bush when he goes to Cattleman's), Cliff loves a good steak and this was one of the best I've had.  I did not take any pictures, but you can visit Cattleman's on the web in a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives segment.

Tomorrow it is on to Memphis and a Rendezvous with some ribs.  (That is a great pun for those of you who have been to Memphis)!

Spent today in Santa Fe, NM.  This is the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.  The church sits on the site of the original mission in 1610.  Think of the history, Jamestown was founded in 1607 by the British, Quebec founded in 1608 by the French and Santa Fe in 1610 by the Spanish. 

Here is St. Francis.

Old town Santa Fe is an amazing place.  All of the architecture is relevant to southwestern styles.  It is filled with small shops and galleries. 

Some are a little more laid back.

This is the front of the Governor's Palace.  Native Americans are selling wares off of blankets in the portico.

Public art is everywhere not always serious.

The New Mexico Museum of Art.

Spent the evening at Rolling Thunder Casino outside Santa Fe.  Tomorrow a big chunk as I drive from here to Oklahoma City.

Hokey I know but here I am standing in Pacific Ocean in San Diego.  Remember water obsures the beauty of the feet.

Sunset on Friday, Torry Pines Reserve, San Diego

Sunset out the windshield  over the mountains leading to San Diego.

Am now sitting in breakfast area, Hampton Inn, Albuquerque. Old fashioned architecture, doors to the outside.

Sedona was very cool, stayed at Sky Ranch up the mountain from town, the sunset and sunrise were great. At about 12:30AM was awakened from sleep by howling coyotes! Just the night before, I was listening to car horns and sirens.

Got up early to view sunrise from a peak nearby. There are four vortexes in Sedona, and by chance I was staying only half a mile from one. So I watched the sunrise in the middle of a vortex.

I spent the morning amongst the cliffs, went into town and got a deli sandwich and went back to a cliff for lunch. While there I could here a native flute and drum ceremony. What a great lunch!

Hit the road for Albuquerque on I-40. I drove through Winslow, AZ on Route 66. They have a statue of a guy "standing on a corner in Winslow, AZ. When I have more musing time, I will comment on Route 66.

On way to spend day in Santa Fe. Looking forward to Old Sante Fe and exploring the state capital.

Sunset in Sedona

Haven't posted in awhile, in Vegas for two nights and was not going to pay 13.95 for internet access.  Have a lot to post but wanted to give update as to whereabouts.

Friday afternoon was at the Torrey Pines Reserve in San Diego at around sunset, spent the night in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach.  Saturday spent in LA/Hollywood, and took off for Las Vegas.  Arrived about dark in Las Vegas, staying at Bally's.  Spent two nights there.

Tonight, I am in Sedona, AZ.

The sixth floor window at the Texas Book Depository.

Jeff at Dealy Plaza.

The Vicksburg cemetary.

General Pemberton, Commander of the Confederate forces at Vicksburg and General Grant commander of the Union forces.

For our Spanish speakers out there...

Kind of amazing that you have to watch out for rattlers at rest area in New Mexico.  The attendant told us that in the summer you have to keep your eyes open.  Jeff is making sure on a cold Thursday morning right outside of  Los Cruces.

Wednesday

What an eye opening and remembrance day. We started off for Dealy Plaza and got there before the Sixth Floor museum opened. We looked at every angle we could about the plaza including the picket fence, the grassy knoll and were able between traffic lights to walk on the road and look back to the sixth floor.

We thought Dealy Plaza looked small. I suppose that a big event makes the venue seem larger. There is a marker there denoting it as place of historical significance which occurred there.

This is the marker I referred to above. 

The picture at the top of this post is a plaque on the front wall of the book depository.  If you look closely at the bottom of the marker you will see where people over the years have tried to scratch out the work allegedly in the narrative.  Remember there was no conviction in the crime.

I suppose we could go for paragraphs about the assassination and whether there was a conspiracy or not.  For all of the theories that abound, I think that emotion and not fact still rules here.  One commenter said this about the day... put everything on a simple balance scale.  When you put the power of the presidency, the good it represents, the hope of youth and the future; and try to balance against the lone assassin, the scales tip so wildly that it cries out for a theory or explanation.ss

I was on Bus 202 when I heard about the assassination.

I had a poem published about the day.  I will post that when I get a chance.

We lined up to tour the museum when it opened. There is a multi-media tour. I found the interviews with witnesses to be enlightening.  In addition is a complete model of the plaza as it appeared that day.  The signage is as it was as well as all the details.  There are strings that trace the bullets' path and the vehicles.

We, like everyone else saw it all unfold that weekend on television.  What the tour reminded us was the tremendous outpouring of greif that was felt throughout the world.

More to come, time to hit the road.

Tuesday

Breakfast in Mississippi, lunch in Louisiana, supper in Texas. Today was moving day.

After leaving the hotel we were quickly in Mississippi. We stopped in Jackson to see the state capital and see if we could find MCI world headquarters. (We do have a telecommunications professional after all.

After traversing almost all of the state we stopped at the Vicksburg battlefield. Vicksburg was the biggest Confederate fort on the Mississippi River and controlled traffic up and down river thus blocking Union trade down the river and military advances up the river. Lincoln called it the key to the war.

The Confederates controlled the heights and were under siege from all sides. We saw a number of monuments from the states involved with Ohio having enough statuary to start a Greek revival. And we are not talking plaques either, immense obelisks; pyramids and huge statue form a twelve-mile path.

Our favorite was Grant, Davis and Pemberton.

Leaving Vicksburg, we made a beeline to Louisiana crossing the mighty Mississippi and imaging what it must have been like to man the ramparts dodging fire from land and river. We stopped for a quick bite there. BK for breakfast, Popeye’s for lunch. Today, it is expediency versus culinary discovery.

Shreveport, LA was eye opening as the casinos have built huge edifices in downtown. Three huge edifices dominate the skyline.

Soon we were entering Texas. We both have visited Dallas, Jeff to Houston but neither of us have driven in from the east. It was getting dark but we had to press on to Dallas.

All tucked in Tuscaloosa. The drive down was uneventful, as both of us have been up and down 85 to Atlanta many more times than we can count. So the day was spent in conversation and bragging, as only brothers can do. I picked Jeff up this morning and we made very good time. Lot of construction on 20 West.

Birmingham has really grown since my last visit. A number of gentrified areas can be seen from 20 along with the requisite Starbucks and Talbot’s, Moe’s and others.

One note upon coming into Tuscaloosa city limits is the new Mercedes plant that North Carolina lost to Alabama. It is huge, but alas we couldn’t find the outlet store.

We saw the big Adecco client, JVC when we stopped at the wrong hotel location. Back on the highway, we quickly got to the hotel.

After a quick drop off of stuff, (see George Carlin), we headed to see Bryant-Denny stadium as two boys always will. Alabama has made a great addition to the stadium; the walkway to the front gate is lined with the names of all the players and teams having won a national championship. To the side are statues of every coach having won a national championship. They have already engraved the Nick Saban site with this years championship!

As most of you know I am a DKE. The Alabama house was razed to build this football area. The university moved the fraternity across the street and aided with construction on the best DKE house I have ever seen. My young brothers here are lucky indeed.

After driving everywhere we could on campus, we programmed Cindy to direct us to Dreamland Barbecue (highly recommended by Joyce), the finest cue in all of Alabama. After some smoky pork, we toured the restaurant for pictures of all the famous diners there. Since I am headed to Vegas, I found Penn and Teller and we both found Jim Nabors. (Obscure references, Eh?)

Had we not been through Spartanburg too early, we would have hit for the cycle and stopped at the Beacon.

Back to the hotel to prepare for the hike to Dallas. The Monty Python troupe performing Spamalot are staying here, so perhaps the hotel will get rowdy after the show.

On to Dallas to study some history and find some brisket.

In the spirit of Steinbeck, Kerouac, and Clark Griswold, we hit the road tomorrow for a cross country journey to see US.  Brother Jeff will accompany me to Tucson, and I will continue to the Pacific from there.  First stop, Tuscaloosa, AL as we get on the road.

I did not do a great deal of prep for the trip, I did fill up the car at Costco, took my golf clubs out of the trunk, and packed a suitcase.  I had a general idea of where I wanted to go, but I didn't mark a map but rather just put two pins in Google maps to get a feel for drive times.  I went ahead and prepaid two nights in hotels in Tuscaloosa and Dallas.  That set up a Wednesday morning tour of Dealy Plaza.  I also set an appointment in San Diego on Friday and went ahead and prepaid for a night in Sedona on Monday.  This set the general parameters of the trip.

Jeff got a pretty good rate for a flight from Tucson, so that gave us an aiming point for the first couple of days travel.

I will probably put this in a slightly different way in a conclusion statement, but travel, particularly by car on the interstate system, has devolved into a get in the car and go.  With internet access readily available, GPS, cell phones all make travel pretty straight forward.  I would have enjoyed a wireless card for the computer or a smart phone, as I could have gotten information quicker and could have posted blogs more often.  A twitter account might have been cool too.  (Put these on the checklist for next time.)

I was talking to sister in law Mari the other day, and I told her I remember her telling of cross country trips with her family.  Her father would call AAA and get an itinerary with a flip book arrangement with maps and other helps.

That said, there is the backside time, but in a zenlike way, it is the journey and not the destination that makes a cross country car trip the value that it is.