3:58 PM Mountain

Crossed into New Mexico a few miles back — we are now in I-40. We let
out of the hotel at about 9:30 this morning, with the intention of hitting
an IHOP (Int’l House of Pancakes), an eatery neither of us had had the
pleasure of frequenting. Might I say — they do have tasty pancakes. I
had some “Country Griddle Cakes”, which were essentially normally pancakes
with Cream of Wheat in them. Wow. Tasty stuff, that. With strawberries
and whipped topping, well….

I really hadn’t remembered Oklahoma City for the bombing 7 years ago
(exactly 2 weeks and a day past seven years today), but Kelly asked “are
we going to see the memorial?”, and so we did. Oklahoma City is
remarkably easy to navigate, as there isn’t much to the city. Flatty
McFlat, it is. Anyway, we got off I-235 to visit the memorial, and it is
quite striking. Two walls stand on either side of a constantly moving,
yet still, lake of water. The left wall is marked 9:01, the right, 9:03.
The bomb went off at 9:02, ending the lives of 168 men, women and
children. The memorial is set between what is left of the foundation of
the now-gone Murrow Federal Building, one side of the foundation showing
rebar and cracked concrete. If you stand on the spot where the van was
parked, behind you is a single, gnarled tree. This gnarled tree has
become the symbol of the memorial, its stylized outline the official logo.
On the sides of the memorial are tacked innumerable tributes to the
victims, friends and family lost in the attack. Some of the tributes are
quite moving — poetry, pictures, etc. Some are bizarre. This is just
me, but “Hello Kitty” paraphenilia just shouldn’t be there. Kelly and I
took pictures, and then we hit I-235 to I-40 and got the hell out of
Dodge.

I drove the stretch between Oklahoma City and Amarillo. In the space of a
couple of a hundred miles, the land goes from somewhat flat to
awe-inducing flat. The sky opens up and the clouds part. The wind in
Texas is quite possibly insane. Also, there are signs mentioning that
“Hitchhikers may be escaping inmates”. Note to self: if in OKC prison,
break out, but make sure you hitchhike BEFORE THE SIGNS.

Exit 112, I-40, Groom, TX. The Western Hemispheres tallest cross. You
can see this thing for miles. However, in Texas, you can see EVERYTHING
for miles. This cross is huge, though. 5 stories or something. Whee.

Also, whilst moseying through Texas, we kept seeing signs for “FREE 72oz
STEAK!”. 72oz = 4.5 lbs. Thats a LOT of steak. As we neared “The Big
Texan” restaurant (which lies in Amarillo), the signs clarified that in
fact, you had to eat the whole thing in an hour to get it for free. How
many men must die to satisfy the Big Texan?! The Big Texan is a horrid,
horrid and yet alluring restaurant. Giant fiberglass cattle perch outside
– stoic guardians of their own beef. The restaurant itself is BRIGHT
yellow, and dolled up like a two dollar whore. Lassos, boots, ten-gallon
hats are par for the course on that one.

The driving switch off occurred in a little town called Vega, Texas. It’s
the halfway point on Route 66 (which I44 and I40 are part of), by the way.
We pull into the local Dairy Queen (a serendipitous happening, no less),
and had some lunch. Everything in the store is “TexaSized”. The medium
drinks are larges back home. Dairy Queen apparently has a Texas only
menu. They served TACOS here. TACOS at a DAIRY QUEEN. Genius. Mad, mad
genius. The wind is blowing very hard. Kelly and I sit on a guardrail
and watch as quite possibly the most beautiful sky i’ve ever seen roll
overhead. The locals milled about, talking about the weather and other
things, and it occured to Kelly that this was, in fact, yet another
X-Files town. Must… leave….

The driving switch done, we head back out on the road. It only took 4
hours from OKC to Vega, which is excellent time. We will be passing
through Tucumcari, NM on our way to Albuquerque. Apparently, there is a
very good art museum there with quite an O’Keefe collection. Sounds good
to me (and David, thanks for the tip!)

We are about a day ahead of our “schedule”, so we may take an alternate
route home, as Oklahoma sucked so bad. At least Texas is pretty, and New
Mexico has nice rocks. Oklahoma just sucks.

So far, we’ve covered about 1400 mis on our journey across the US. This
is really a blast, even if we are in the car a lot.

Oh, and if my mother should read this — when i mentioned “i hope to find
some $25-$30 hotels to stay at”, and the entire extended family erupted in
laughter at my ASSUMED naivete, well IN YOUR FACE, BUHRMANS! We stayed at
a comfy $30 Travelodge last night, and the hotel in Albuquerque shall
prove the same! Yes, the hotel in St. Louis was $50, but there was a big
soccer tourney in town.

9:25PM Red Roof Inn, I-40 exit 155, Albuquerque NM

Papa johns pizza in bed. ahhh.. the sky is nothing short of HUGE out
here. Albuquerque is on the otherside of a picturesque little range of
mountains on I-40. Shrouded in a little big of haze because of some fires
burning out in the plains, though. Again, we have found a $35 hotel room.
This time — two queen beds! Well, i can deal with that!

Tomorrow – Albuquerque Museums, Grand Canyon

2:28 PM CST

As i type this, we are whizzing along US60, between Billings and
Marionville. We are on our way to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The trip down from
St. Louis went pretty quick — our average speed, 72 mph. The speed limit
is 70 on parts of I-44 from St. Louis to Springfield, which is nice.
Traffic is light. There seem to be a lot of farms dealing in exotic
animals out here. Zebras, camels, dromedary, llamas. Perhaps it is just
to supply Branson, MO which is to the south. A couple of disturbing
roadsigns for the “Shoji Show with Christina and Donna”. Shoji is Shoji
the Entertainer, but looks more like Emo Phillips, except of Asian
heritage. Also, we attempted to find the “Hempatorium”, apparently some
sort of gigantic store of hemp goods (located right next to a Wal-Mart).
Our attempts failed, and hopefully we can find it on the way back.

We just passed the Marionville city limit — population 2,417. I should
mention that we had already been through Marionville, but headed back to
Billings to get something to eat. Not surprisingly, the eatery of choice
is Dairy Queen.

I would like to point out that normally, i don’t get seasick in cars, but
the combination of typing, and the REALLY, REALLY hilly roads of MO T
(missouri route T, they seem to use some sort of non-sequential alpha
numeric system here), are getting me a little ill. It is seriously like
some sort of amusement ride. Whee! BLLLLLAAARG! Jesus, it just doesn’t
stop. And, in western tradition, the endless ribbon of road stretches out
before you, except all you see is crest after crest of vomit inducing
road. Please, Poseidon, end this interminable sickness.

Okay, so earlier we went to Marionville. Marionville is a perfect small
little town. A tiny little center, and a little tiny post office. (I’d
like to note that we just turned left off of MO T, and somehow, despite
our 90 degree turn to the left, the road continues on it’s Six-Flagsian
crest and valley adventure. The chicken in my stomach has had about
enough. I just burped up Chicken Jimmy Hoffa, and he says they are about
to walk out). So, on with Marionville. Plenty of little cross-streets,
and a spattering of White Squirrel-themed adverts and businesses. Even
the Marionville Wellness Clinic has the stoic visage of a white squirrel.
I really wanted the “Heart of Fire” Baptist Church with a little squirrel
with a crown of thorns or something. I didn’t get it. Onto our squirrel
hunt. We drove around for about 1/2 hour looking for these little
buggers. We drove on South Street, Fiske, Washington, and North Streets.
The Middle School. The High School. Few squirrels to be found. Then –
squirrel strike! Damn, only a normal squirrel. We pose in front of
“White Squirrel Hollow”, which appears to be a bed and breakfast, or your
crazy old grandmothers house. Kelly poses in front of the sign. No
squirrels attack. Kelly notes that this looks like a town out of the X
Files. I remember that episode where people worship this little worm that
is their “god”, but lives in the neck of a sacrifical human. I really
wanted the mayor of the town to be chosen by the squirrels, and whomever
was “chosen” by these “squirrels” would be inhabited by no less than three
squirrels. Sort of giant-robot/Voltron/Gundam style. One listens (“the
information officer”), one speaks and drives (“the captain”) and the other
one keeps the heart beating (“the engineer”). A squirrelish mayor,
controlling the meek and scared townsfolk. Yeah.

So, back to the squirrel hunt. As we pulled up to the Middle School, we
struck white squirrel gold. Huzzah! Our search has not been in vain.
Kelly leaps from the car, a little too excitedly — the squirrel bolts,
and as much as you could imagine kelly “bolting”, she does. The squirrel,
treed, realizes it must escape to warn it’s white brethren. We snap a few
sasquatch-esque photos, and move on.

Driving along these little streets, it makes me pine for the days when i
lived in the sticks. Plenty of open spaces, well manicured lawns. Old
retirees on the porch, talking of the weather. Cursing the day when the
white squirrel overlords came to town. Too old to fight back. An old man
asks us for safe passage to anywhere but there. Eyeing our car he wonders
if it’s fast enough to evade the squirrels. “Fast enough for you — OLD
MAN! She made the escape from Voleville in 1/2 an hour!”

As we turned onto another street, off in the distance, I noticed a
smattering of white moving on a manicured lawn. Kelly — ready your
mount! Slowly, as if the squirrel doesn’t notice the huge black car
inching alongside, we roll up to the squirrel. With cat-like precision
and grace, Kelly stalks the squirrel. I snap photos from the waiting
getaway car. The squirrel, posing as if on the front cover of GQ, flashes
a little of the bling-bling servitude we’ve been clamoring for. An old
man, reminiscing his days of freedom, eyes Kelly with the scorn of years
of torment. The squirrel eludes our documentation by slipping through a
fence. We move on, digital and analog pictures in hand.

We decide to check out the rest of town, which really isn’t much. A
little tiny “downtown” is about all we get. Kelly points out that she is
a little disappointed with the squirrel population in Marionville. I
point out that it isn’t about the squirrels, never was, never will be.
The trek — the adventure of it all. Somehow, i’d much rather say that
i’ve been to Marionville than to St. Louis. Fewer people have experienced
Marionville. Not to be elitist, but living in a “city” for most of my
life has only made me appreciate the small towns all the more.

We stopped into the post office to mail some postcards. I love small-town
post offices. You’ve got to wonder if the guy behind the counter realizes
that we’re from out of town. “Hey there Miss Linda”. “Later Betty”.
“CITY SLICKERS!” Hee-hee. Sitting in front of the post office, i try to
think of it when it was built in 1962. How things must have changed. I’m
sure it was more bustling than it is now. There is a good little cluster
of buildings down-town, but they have dilapidated to the point of
crumbling. Old farms along the roads look as if they would fall down if
it weren’t for the ivy and moss growing on them. There are a lot of farms
out here, but none look to e all that active, this being spring and all.

We just hit 700 miles on our trip total — we may make it to OKC this
evening, which would put us ahead of our hastily writtten schedule.

Random sign: Have a Taco, Gringo!

3:42PM CST

Miami, OK – just inside the border, about 3 hours outside of Oklahoma
City.

A flat land, little cover. In fact, the cows here jostle for space under
or behind shade-bearing objects such as signs and trees. We whizz past a
sign noting that we are on the “auto-tour” of the Trail of Tears.
Somehow, i feel a little odd about that. Kelly notes: “We screwed them
over pretty good, didn’t we?” Yep.

11:41 CST

Whew. Lots of uploading of stuff tonight. We pulled into Oklahoma City
about 7PM or so, set up camp in a Travelodge and set out to forage for
food. After going the wrong way, and having to drive about 12 miles for a
mexican restaurant, we found Las Palomas — a tasty Mexican restaurant.
Good stuff, that. Looking forward to Amarillo and possibly Albuquerque
tomorrow. Gonna go see the OKC Murrow Building memorial tomorow, too.

After a restful night, off we go to the Arch, the gateway to western
expansion. The doorway to the massacre and oppresion of tribal and
indigenous people! we headed downtown from our suburbian enclave
hotel, zipping along i44 up to i70 to the downtown, all of which
took about 20 minutes or so in light traffic. So far, i’m loving
this town. It’s easy to navigate, and easy to drive. the weather
today was/is beautiful, a little chilly and windy, but the clouds in
the sky are rare. At first glance, relative to the buildings in
front of the arch, the arch it self doesn’t seem so impressive.
However, once you get down to it, the sheer beauty and
gravity-defying design of the structure really takes hold. It offers
a number of things when viewed — motion sickness, if viewed from
directly below, but mostly awe and wonder. Each direction, each
step to the left or the right seems to bend the arch to the eye.
Often, you can stand in its thin shadow, imagine it as some sort of
kubrickian monolith, the sun peeking out from the side.

The park surrounding the arch is sculpted, with two small fowl-laden
lakes on each side. and while it was indeed beautiful, it almost
seemed a little antiseptic. It lacked life — i half expected “keep
off the grass” signs. There were no people flying kites (today was
an excellent kite day), no people playing frisbee, no picknickers.
Oh well, it was pretty.

Underneath the arch is a museum, and the entrance to the tram rides
up to the top (which, at first, kelly feared). There was a bit of a
wait to pass through the security checkpoint. Now, i had heard of
extra “shoe security” since the Moo-saw-wee thing a while back, and
it was definitely here in full-force. if you “beeped” through the
metal detector, they immediately went to the shoes. Nevermind the
bomb-hat or the bomb-coat. Women with flat shoes on were even
asked. It was a little bizarre. Note to self: research bomb-hats.

We meandered through the museum and the shops there, and i noticed
that the exhibits were pretty Native American friendly, something
that put a smile on my face. Rather than the exhibits of old were
they were viewed as happy-go-lucky plainspeople embracing the
frontiersman, the disturbing anamatronic chief noted that “the words
on paper do not mean much”.

The tram ride — oh, the tram ride. as if being 630 feet in the air
wasn’t enough to scare most folks, the tram ride up — or, actually,
the tram cars were enough to freak you out. They fit five people,
and were completely white on the inside. And by fitting five, i
mean CRAMMING five. Heads bent, we squeezed through the
doggie-door-like entrances, and where whisked away, and up. bumped
heads were often observed, as the curved white surface left little
to the sense of depth-perception.
once atop the arch, it was like being inside a jumbo-jet. The
constant whir of air conditioning, and the occasional sway of the
arch. the east-side view was pretty unremarkable, as east st. louis
and cahokia are on the other side of the river.
east st. louis and cahokia are these bizzarre little industrial
towns, but without the industry. it’s like bombed-out dresden in a
lot of those cities, and one has to wonder why they are that way.
St. Louis is a pretty good sized city, and the other side of the
river looks like Hannibal’s elephants ran through it and had salted
the earth. Many pictures were taken, (see the gallery — i have
some neat panoramic photos), and in 3 minutes we were back on the
ground.

Walking to get something to eat, we passed by my main impetus for
coming to St. Louis, the National Coin-Op and Arcade Machine Museum,
which i had visited some 7 years ago. It was really neat at that
time, with plenty of old games and quarters to be had. now, however,
it is a vacant space open for rent. surprisingly, as i think it had
shut down about 5 years ago, the sign was still out front, and the
front counter was still installed. the entire Laclede Landing
(where that is situated) is like that — a bit depressed, but most
likely with lots of rent :(

We ate in a little food-court thingy, where a chatty chinese woman
wondered if i liked a lot of vegetables in my Chicken w/ garlic
sauce. I said “sure, why not”, and later wished that i had opted
for ALL vegetables and no chicken, as the chicken was less than
good. the $4.36 total should’ve tipped me off.

Then we headed back into town to the St. Louis Science Center.
Really quite neat. Lots of interactive exhibits, which mostly all
worked (yay!) Of course, lots of interesting arch-related ballyhoo,
including a foam “build your own arch”, which was way too tall for
small children. HAHAHA. Suckers. Part of the museum went over
the highway. It was neat. Also, it was free. Free==Good. Yay.

On our way back, kelly wanted to stop at the local shopping malls,
etc. “Sure” i said. So, we hit a store which i’ve never seen or
heard of before — perhaps you have, it’s called “target”. They
have a whole “target” theme. red and white. red and white. Whee.
Oh, kelly says they have Targets in louisville. Wha? Oh,
apparently we registered there for our wedding.

Now, onto the real meat of the story — World Market. Imagine Pier
One, except “cooler and cheaper” (according to kelly), and cheaper
and better. Why isn’t there one in Louisville? I don’t know, but
all i know is that there should be one. We got candles and presents
and such. It was good. Also, we went to the “Supermarket of
Shoes”. Remember Kelly’s “mmaaaaahhhhlll” mantra of last February’s
sojourn to Baltimore? Now, it’s “sshoooooo”. The Supermarket of
Shoes disappointed, tho, and Kelly was heard to say “it displeases
me greatly”. Ooh well.

For dinner, we tried to track down “Nachomamma”, which was a good
name for a tasty restaurant. Nachomamma! Nachomamma! Weeeeee! We
found Nachomamma, but mamma wasn’t home — being a sunday, it was
closed. No abra. So, instead we went to Steak n’ Shake, and were
greeted with a lovely time. Then! Well, we came back here, and are
currently watching Adult Swim (specifically: Sealab 2021 — which is
kicking my butt at the moment… hilarious)

tomorrow: Marionville, Illinois, disputed “mecca of albino
squirrels”, and on thru to Oklahoma City. Later, doods!

Driving to St. Louis — originally, we were to stop in Olney, Illinois,
the “Albino Squirrel” capital of the world, however
we decided to drive on through to St. Louis to get a room. The
soundtrack: Foo Fighters, “Foo Fighters”.

Rain, rain, rain most of the way. We made the trip in about 5 hours or so
(which includes checking into the hotel, stopping to eat, etc). However,
not before we stopped in Collinsville, Illinois, the home of the WORLDS
LARGEST CATSUP bottle. We got off the exit to Collinsville, and I
remembered that I didn’t get an address to the catsup bottle, but
considering it was the “WORLD’S LARGEST”, it couldn’t be that hard to
find. As we rounded a corner, i told Kelly “keep your eyes peeled for a
GIANT CATSUP BOTTLE!”, a lo, the heavens parted, and THAR SHE BLOWS! Right
in the middle of “downtown” is a big catsup bottle. Huge, and TANGY!
Pictures were taken.

Navigating St. Louis so far has proven quite easy. At least, easier than
Chicago, which was my first real “big city” driving experience. Chicago
is like some sort of horrible boot camp for driving. They might as well
have been firing live rounds over the highway, because the road itself
seemed to have bomb craters in it. If only the toll-booth operators
would have spit tobacco juice on your shoe and said “Looks like you need a
shine, son!”, but i digress.

We managed to make our way up to University City, to get a little dinner,
and just browse the “cool” section of town. At first, that “cool”
designation was called into question. Allow me to pontificate.

The main drag in University City is Delmar Street. We hit the main
section of University City, and saw this really neat looking building, and
I said “ooooh” and kelly said “aahhh”. And then we both went “ooooh” like
we just saw someone fall off a bike. Turns out, that “really cool”
building was a huge Church of Scientology! It was massive and
office-looking. In fact, the sign out front looked like the entrance to a
mini-mall, or at least an office park. Note to self: if your church looks
like there should be cubicles in it, or they are playing Muzak in hallways
– GET OUT. That goes for you, John Travolta.

Now, the “cool” was restored by the VERY NEXT BUILDING. The University
City City Hall was awesome. It was just a big, round cylinder. Weee! A
neo Hall of Justice.

Kelly wanted to checked out “Iron Age”, a piercing/tatoo shop. It was
quite awesome, the entire seciton of town was
quite neat. It was a little like downtown Charleston, tho’, I must admit
that Bardstown Rd. has it beat. Aaaanyway. Kelly got her nose pierced
again, and it took about 10 minutes in-the-door/out-the-door. Later, we
found the “Thai Country Cafe” – a little Thai restaurant. Wow. Finally,
an honest to goodness Thairestaurant. Kelly had the vegetarian pad-thai,
and the vegetarian spring rolls, and i had the Chicken Satay and the Yum
Gai (Thai Chicken Salad). Washed down with a Singha beer (Thai Budweiser,
i think). A cool little restaurant all done up like a Thai tea house or
somesuch.

After dinner (which was tasty and cheap), we walked on down the road
aways, and in only about a block, the hip part of town turned into the
“get accosted by homeless folks” area, and it lived up to its name. I
don’t remember the guys name, but he showed me his ID, and i guessed his
age at 50 (i was right on). His mother had apparently just died, yada
yada. I don’t mean to sound shallow, but when someone comes up to me with
a pre-planned speech, replete with props, it’s a little hard to believe.
I feel for the guy, but damn. I gave him $.50, and he was on his way. I
really hate that shit. Not that I hate homeless people, but I hate having
to brush people off like that. I’m sure he has seen some hard times, but
I’m not the one to pull him out of the gutter, and how is my dollar going
to do that? Yar.

Anyway, later on the ride home, we jammed to the new Wilco (“Yankee Hotel
Foxtrot”), and it rained and rained, so hard, in fact that the road looked
like it had waves in it. Sheet after sheet of rain. And despite all
that, it was ten times easier driving than on a sunny day in Chicago. So
far, so good.

Alrighty, off to see the sites ’round town — the National Coin-op and
Video Game Museum (does it still exist?!), the arch, the Anheuser Busch
Tour, the Kids Museum, etc. Tomorrow — checkout and on the way to
Oklahoma City (and Marionville, Illinois).

Gallery:
Honeymoon Day #1

so, uh, we got married (kelly and i). We are on our href="/content/pages/honeymoon.php">honeymoon. Read the href="/content/pages/honeymoon.php">trip log! View the href="/gallery/honeymoon">galleries!

eve has a bunch of wedding pics in
her galleries
. I’ve put up my wedding pics in the wedding
gallery