Today is Thursday, February 19, 2009-- we are in Shawnee, Oklahoma--but I am backing up to fill you in on the last 7 days!
We left off on Feb 12, with Sue clutching her pocketbook (she still is, by the way)--
February 13, Friday
We did the Fredericksburg, TX, shops which were too cute . We ate at the local restaurant on the corner--chicken and dumplins, cornbread and german sausage-- big German influence here in this town.
In some of the shops, we saw a few pillows that looked like they were made out of Fawn hide-- brown with white spots--- they were gorgeous! ( well, city slicker Sue was SURE they were fake-- I disagreed)--and I felt awful that some poor little baby deer got hisself skinned :*(
In one of the shops, we asked the lady if they were real-- she said "OH YES"-- we looked at her in horror, and asked if they were fawn hides--
"Oh no, they are AXIS DEER--- they are spotted their whole lives"-- well, we certainly felt better that a baby critter didn't end up laying on a sofa with a rich bitches backside squashing it ( they were about $150 a pillow) and I personally was sorry they were so expensive-- they would have looked so cute in my house!--
We headed west to Abilene, TX--along the way we saw GIANT windmill farms-- thousands of them , just twirling quietly - We called our "in house" tour guide ( Karen Sabrsula, of Simonton, TX, who, if you remember, was busy hiding under her sofa when she thought we might POP IN)--She told us they were a project of Ole T. Boone Pickens--
There were many, many dead skunks along the way--- Sue could focus, as we sped by, on the features of the squashed, dead skunk---
"nice markings" she'd say
" Oh, that one had a handsome coat" she'd state as the black and white blob blurred by--
we also saw quite a few of the "Axis Deer" dead along the highway--- the thought crossed my mind to have Sue get out and skin a hunk off--- she generally will do most anything you ask her to :*)-- but she didn't seem willing to do this ---
There are a few oil wells pumping all over the place--- My cousin John D, said that the pumps we see are just pumps-- those giant tower things are used when they are DRILLING for oil--
The dirt here is DEEP DEEP red-- I'm not sure if it's clay or dirt-- can't tell whilst whizzing by at 80 MPH--by the way, here the speed limit signs are posted: White sign on top: 70MPH ( some places it's been 80 ! )-and then right under it a Black sign with white writing : 65 MPH-- Day and night speed limits
The land here looks just like the plains did that John Wayne rode his horse around in---scruffy bushes, red clay/dirt and a few buttes-- ( a raised mountain looking thing with a FLAT top)
Sue pointed out the butte: " Oh, look ! there's some buttes---"
"Oh , Yeah," I said glancing over
"or mesas", she added
"WHAT???"
" Well, "she said, deep in thought, they look like buttes, but they may be MESAS"
AA--RR--GG---HH---
Here we go again, Miss" is it a hawk or a falcon"
There are tons of black cattle, which keeps Sue occupied with deep bovine thoughts--
We got to Abilene--We ate at a place called Lytles Cattle House--- we had chicken fried steak with white gravy--the place was sorta like Outback, but Texas BBQ style--
There are a bazillion , bazillion pick up trucks here--- vehicle of choice, but I'm thinking there are an inordinate number of RED ones--- zillions of them--- could be that the red ones just stick out, but tons of them , none the less--
a few days ago, we did have another toilet blowing up episode--We had just checked in and we hadn't even gotten all the suitcases in--- Sue came running out of the bathroom saying water was spouting out everywhere--We got our room changed AGAIN--
I suggested Sue stop eating all that fruit and stick to cookies and fudge, like I'm doing--
In our stash of food we've brought, I have some absolutely deee-lishious SOFT dried bananas--Sue had never seen them, so I offered the bag to her--- she raised her eyeglasses to her forehead ( s***t-- how do you spell forehead?) and stuck her face on the ingredient label and said, horrified, " It has SUGAR and artificial banana flavoring!!!"
"Yeah??? Point???" I replied
So she pulled out HER bananas she brought--- they were in a package like proscuitto comes in--- they looked like ROADKILL in a package-- you had to peel the slices off
She presented them to me PROUDLY-- "here! try mine--- they are all natural---"
( they are called "NOTHING BUT BANANAS, FLATTENED" )--
well, I peeled off a slice--- no easy feat--- got goo under my nails-- I took a bite, which again was no easy task--- it was like jerky--- that's what this crap is like---BANANA JERKY!-- I chewed and chewed and chewed trying to soften this "all natural stuff " up- I swallowed a giant knot of banana and decided I'll stick with my Sam's club delicacy.
well, gotta hit the road---
Later~~
Mar
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday February 12, 2009-we're in OIL COUNTRY
Thursday, Feb 12, 2009 left Geddings TX
Our new destination is the cute town of Fredericksburg, TX--along the route we started seeing oil wells, just pumping away all by their lonesome out in a field-- We came across an antique mall in Johnsonville, TX--home of Lyndon B. Johnson--
We ate lunch at the Circle K Cafe-hey we're growing girls, YA KNOW--- if we grow anymore we're gonna have to go over to the walmart and get some stretchy pants--anyway--
this place was WONDERFUL!!!-- we had homemade chicken salad with pecans ( big pecan area) and pineapple over a fruit salad with her "secret" poppy seed dressing-- it was purple and very thick--Sue says it's the best she's ever had!!! We asked the waitress if she knew what was in it and she said the chef/owner would NEVER tell-- so we asked if they sold the dressing?
"Oh, YES! " she answered, excitedly, "it's $5.95 for about a container this big." and she took her hands and showed us HOW BIG-- we were so excited!-- Sue, the "HUMAN food taster/recipe figure outter", said we could see the ingredients on the bottle and she could probably figure out how to make it--- we were PSYCHED! The waitress came out and told us it would be a few minutes, the owner was making a new batch!!
OH JOY!!! fresh salad dressing!-- we started to drool just thinking about it~~fruit salads galore! fruit salad for EVERYBODY with the special secret salad dressing-- our friends and family will DIE when they eat this stuff--we will be culinary QUEENS~~~
and then. . .the waitress comes out holding 2 big plastic cups with the flimsiest lids you ever did see--purple stuff drippping down the inside--
"here ya go", she says happily, "she just made it fresh!"
"well, " I stammered, "do you think I might have a zip loc bag to keep it in? we're traveling"
"sure thing" she says, "can I get y'all anything else?"
and she brings out ONE zip loc--so Sue has it tucked neatly under her seat for the journey.
Speaking of Sue's seat: for over 3000 miles, she has traveled with her pocketbook on her lap--perched upright, right in front of the glove compartment. Now when I was a kid, we had a lady in town, called Nettie Hazelwood--- she was the wife of a local real estate agent and we considered her "noveau riche" -- they made some money,(called "new money") so she thought she was hot stuff. when ever she came to a party ,or any social thing, at anybody's house, she would always carry her pocketbook around--- NO MATTER WHAT--now we lived in the boondocks FOR SURE, so everybody knew everybody-- all the women always put their pocketbooks down for the duration of the social event--ALWAYS-- not NETTIE-- she struggled with food, drinks, even a bridge game, all the while wrestling with that pocketbook--
At the beginning of our trip, I told her to put it on the console---"Nope, I'm alright, " she said
another 1000 miles into the trip--
"Sue, that's GOT to be uncomfortable, just set it down on the floor"
"No, I'm fine-- it's not bothering me in the least", she answers happily
O.K. Nettie---~~whatever~~~wonder what's in there she doesn't want to spill out? hmmmmm
We arrived in Fredericksburg, made the rounds in a few shops, checked into a hotel, and went to the grocery store and got beer, wings, and ribs and went back to our room and had a feast--
I havent been able to drink much on this trip since I have to drive
anyway, it's late, and I'm ALMOST caught up to date
Later~~
Mar
Our new destination is the cute town of Fredericksburg, TX--along the route we started seeing oil wells, just pumping away all by their lonesome out in a field-- We came across an antique mall in Johnsonville, TX--home of Lyndon B. Johnson--
We ate lunch at the Circle K Cafe-hey we're growing girls, YA KNOW--- if we grow anymore we're gonna have to go over to the walmart and get some stretchy pants--anyway--
this place was WONDERFUL!!!-- we had homemade chicken salad with pecans ( big pecan area) and pineapple over a fruit salad with her "secret" poppy seed dressing-- it was purple and very thick--Sue says it's the best she's ever had!!! We asked the waitress if she knew what was in it and she said the chef/owner would NEVER tell-- so we asked if they sold the dressing?
"Oh, YES! " she answered, excitedly, "it's $5.95 for about a container this big." and she took her hands and showed us HOW BIG-- we were so excited!-- Sue, the "HUMAN food taster/recipe figure outter", said we could see the ingredients on the bottle and she could probably figure out how to make it--- we were PSYCHED! The waitress came out and told us it would be a few minutes, the owner was making a new batch!!
OH JOY!!! fresh salad dressing!-- we started to drool just thinking about it~~fruit salads galore! fruit salad for EVERYBODY with the special secret salad dressing-- our friends and family will DIE when they eat this stuff--we will be culinary QUEENS~~~
and then. . .the waitress comes out holding 2 big plastic cups with the flimsiest lids you ever did see--purple stuff drippping down the inside--
"here ya go", she says happily, "she just made it fresh!"
"well, " I stammered, "do you think I might have a zip loc bag to keep it in? we're traveling"
"sure thing" she says, "can I get y'all anything else?"
and she brings out ONE zip loc--so Sue has it tucked neatly under her seat for the journey.
Speaking of Sue's seat: for over 3000 miles, she has traveled with her pocketbook on her lap--perched upright, right in front of the glove compartment. Now when I was a kid, we had a lady in town, called Nettie Hazelwood--- she was the wife of a local real estate agent and we considered her "noveau riche" -- they made some money,(called "new money") so she thought she was hot stuff. when ever she came to a party ,or any social thing, at anybody's house, she would always carry her pocketbook around--- NO MATTER WHAT--now we lived in the boondocks FOR SURE, so everybody knew everybody-- all the women always put their pocketbooks down for the duration of the social event--ALWAYS-- not NETTIE-- she struggled with food, drinks, even a bridge game, all the while wrestling with that pocketbook--
At the beginning of our trip, I told her to put it on the console---"Nope, I'm alright, " she said
another 1000 miles into the trip--
"Sue, that's GOT to be uncomfortable, just set it down on the floor"
"No, I'm fine-- it's not bothering me in the least", she answers happily
O.K. Nettie---~~whatever~~~wonder what's in there she doesn't want to spill out? hmmmmm
We arrived in Fredericksburg, made the rounds in a few shops, checked into a hotel, and went to the grocery store and got beer, wings, and ribs and went back to our room and had a feast--
I havent been able to drink much on this trip since I have to drive
anyway, it's late, and I'm ALMOST caught up to date
Later~~
Mar
The Devastation Tour, Feb 11, Wednesday
Wednesday, Feb 11, 2009
We got to Galveston and Gilchrist, TX-- Gilchrist was COMPLETEY wiped out by Hurricane Ike--imagine if you will, ANY beachfront community--the Hamptons, Virginia Beach, Seaside, etc~~just wiped off the earth-- it was so so sad-- there were house pilings left standing in some places, cars still overturned, and some people had spray painted their address on the side of their house-- many years ago when we had gone to Galveston on a tour, they told us that in the HURRICANE of 1913 , houses were lifted up and redeposited in somebody elses yard-- some houses were butt up against another house--- so I guess that people anticipated that their house may be moved--?--
we took a ferry into Galveston, and found that MOST, if not all, of the magnificent houses there had been flooded--- but work was being done on almost all of them--most looked like they were fine on the outside, but you could see that they had been damaged, in some way. Windows were boarded up, roofs were torn up, and water damage was evident from the outside--- lawns and shrubs were dead from the floods--Many stores were boarded up -- Ike hit there on Sept 13--5 months ago--the clean up just seems so overwhelming--
the elevation there was -20!--that's MINUS 20-- (20 feet BELOW sea level)
But, fiddle dee dee--- let's EAT!
so we found a cute place in town called "The Mosquito Cafe" ~~"one bite is all it takes"-- We shared a turkey, brie, lettuce, and apple sandwich with garlic mayo and cranberry slaw-- we had a lemon square for dessert, and then we hit the road towards Round Top Texas-- We have read about the giant antiques market there ( not this time of year, sadly)-- and thought MAYBE there would be some residual juicy stuff there---NOT--
so we poked around a few shops along the road on the way to Round Top
We got to Round Top in the dark ( population 77)-- now, I wonder. . .if somebody DIES or is BORN, do they go up and cross out the number like they do on TV?--I mean, it was one of those green road-type signs, so they probably have to send it to the Road Department, or something-
-
anyway, Round Top was tucked in for the night so we decided to move on-- We had called my friend Karen who lives in Simonton, to do the POP IN, but she was on a client call ( OR she had caller ID and was runnin for the hills?)--We finally got ahold of her and she had all kinds of helpful info, like how to pronounce LUBBOCK--can you guess??? give it your best shot!-
-I said LOO---BOCK--"nope," she said, helpfully, ''you'll get your ass kicked if you say LOO--BOCK---it's LUB---BUCK"-----Isn't this FUN how I tell y'all how to PRO--NOUNCE everything???????
So we've reached Round Top, Round Top is sleeping, so we move on toward Fredericksburg, TX (where we got a HOT TIP that there were many many shops and antiques and a really cute town) and my GPS says there's ONE hotel between here and there--I call the hotel to make reservations and then totally rely on her to get us there, through winding , dark, dark, darkest, backroads, er, I mean tertiary roads--
HOW DOES ANYBODY GET ANYWHERE WITHOUT ONE OF THESE THINGS??? We were just exclaiming ( how exactly does one EXCLAIM?) about how UN--FUN this trip would be if you had to have your head in the map all the time--- Heck , Sue wouldn't have been able to see the cows, the cows "doing it", the dead skunks, the DEAD cow, the HAWKS (or falcons?)
one note on my GPS-- My portable one is nicknamed MEGGIE ( she's a Garmin, but her predecessor was a Megellan and had the name Meggie), but she's out of date, ( by a month or 2) and the one built into my car is named Ditsy Daisy-- 'cause she's unreliable ( she keeps giving me locations 1000 miles away, won't let me program her whilst moving ( stupid when you have another person in car), but she DOES track the trail I've been on so I can get back from somewhere AND she's up to date). I also have a talking radar detector--when they all get to talking Sue thinks it's pretty noisy in there??? Especially when my alarm clock went off in the way back , buried beneath all the stuff-- no way to get to it--maddening!
Sue has taken on a NEW wildlife interest---SKUNKS! we come across a squashed one every 25 miles or so--she's never seen so many, she says--"oh what nice stripes that one has", she clucks--I ask her if she wants to pull over--- I have a really sharp knife and she could skin it--- I also have some gloves in the way back--she wasn't really interested in that--While Sue was studying the cows, yet again, she saw a dead one --- just laying in the field??? hope it wasn't one of them MAD COWS
We stayed in Geddings, TX tonight-- mileage : 2518
no toilet trouble tonight
Later~
Mar
We got to Galveston and Gilchrist, TX-- Gilchrist was COMPLETEY wiped out by Hurricane Ike--imagine if you will, ANY beachfront community--the Hamptons, Virginia Beach, Seaside, etc~~just wiped off the earth-- it was so so sad-- there were house pilings left standing in some places, cars still overturned, and some people had spray painted their address on the side of their house-- many years ago when we had gone to Galveston on a tour, they told us that in the HURRICANE of 1913 , houses were lifted up and redeposited in somebody elses yard-- some houses were butt up against another house--- so I guess that people anticipated that their house may be moved--?--
we took a ferry into Galveston, and found that MOST, if not all, of the magnificent houses there had been flooded--- but work was being done on almost all of them--most looked like they were fine on the outside, but you could see that they had been damaged, in some way. Windows were boarded up, roofs were torn up, and water damage was evident from the outside--- lawns and shrubs were dead from the floods--Many stores were boarded up -- Ike hit there on Sept 13--5 months ago--the clean up just seems so overwhelming--
the elevation there was -20!--that's MINUS 20-- (20 feet BELOW sea level)
But, fiddle dee dee--- let's EAT!
so we found a cute place in town called "The Mosquito Cafe" ~~"one bite is all it takes"-- We shared a turkey, brie, lettuce, and apple sandwich with garlic mayo and cranberry slaw-- we had a lemon square for dessert, and then we hit the road towards Round Top Texas-- We have read about the giant antiques market there ( not this time of year, sadly)-- and thought MAYBE there would be some residual juicy stuff there---NOT--
so we poked around a few shops along the road on the way to Round Top
We got to Round Top in the dark ( population 77)-- now, I wonder. . .if somebody DIES or is BORN, do they go up and cross out the number like they do on TV?--I mean, it was one of those green road-type signs, so they probably have to send it to the Road Department, or something-
-
anyway, Round Top was tucked in for the night so we decided to move on-- We had called my friend Karen who lives in Simonton, to do the POP IN, but she was on a client call ( OR she had caller ID and was runnin for the hills?)--We finally got ahold of her and she had all kinds of helpful info, like how to pronounce LUBBOCK--can you guess??? give it your best shot!-
-I said LOO---BOCK--"nope," she said, helpfully, ''you'll get your ass kicked if you say LOO--BOCK---it's LUB---BUCK"-----Isn't this FUN how I tell y'all how to PRO--NOUNCE everything???????
So we've reached Round Top, Round Top is sleeping, so we move on toward Fredericksburg, TX (where we got a HOT TIP that there were many many shops and antiques and a really cute town) and my GPS says there's ONE hotel between here and there--I call the hotel to make reservations and then totally rely on her to get us there, through winding , dark, dark, darkest, backroads, er, I mean tertiary roads--
HOW DOES ANYBODY GET ANYWHERE WITHOUT ONE OF THESE THINGS??? We were just exclaiming ( how exactly does one EXCLAIM?) about how UN--FUN this trip would be if you had to have your head in the map all the time--- Heck , Sue wouldn't have been able to see the cows, the cows "doing it", the dead skunks, the DEAD cow, the HAWKS (or falcons?)
one note on my GPS-- My portable one is nicknamed MEGGIE ( she's a Garmin, but her predecessor was a Megellan and had the name Meggie), but she's out of date, ( by a month or 2) and the one built into my car is named Ditsy Daisy-- 'cause she's unreliable ( she keeps giving me locations 1000 miles away, won't let me program her whilst moving ( stupid when you have another person in car), but she DOES track the trail I've been on so I can get back from somewhere AND she's up to date). I also have a talking radar detector--when they all get to talking Sue thinks it's pretty noisy in there??? Especially when my alarm clock went off in the way back , buried beneath all the stuff-- no way to get to it--maddening!
Sue has taken on a NEW wildlife interest---SKUNKS! we come across a squashed one every 25 miles or so--she's never seen so many, she says--"oh what nice stripes that one has", she clucks--I ask her if she wants to pull over--- I have a really sharp knife and she could skin it--- I also have some gloves in the way back--she wasn't really interested in that--While Sue was studying the cows, yet again, she saw a dead one --- just laying in the field??? hope it wasn't one of them MAD COWS
We stayed in Geddings, TX tonight-- mileage : 2518
no toilet trouble tonight
Later~
Mar
Today we're doing "The Turnaround"
Today is February 16,2009
Today we are at the halfway mark of our journey and we are doing "THE TURN AROUND"--We got as far west as Amarillo, Texas, touched "base" so to speak and turned east and now we're heading toward home. We have traveled 3300 miles to date--(It is approximately 3000 miles from New York to California--for a reference)
But first , let me catch you up from where we left off on the previous post as I'm sure y'all are sitting by your computers waiting to read where Sue and I have eaten and shopped for the last 6 or so days. The last y'all read we had eaten at Rockefellers--Miss Paula Deen had her picture taken there--they showed us that, they did--
a note on our journey into Ponchatoula from New Orleans on Feb 9: When we left New Orleans to get to Ponchatoula, we had to cross a GIGANTIC swamp---the roadway was raised over the swamp and it was , I think , 37 miles long!! and there was NO warning on the New Orleans side that there was NO GAS for a bazillion miles---Thank God we had a full tank of gas, but it made us aware that we should not let the gas get down to below 1/2 a tank-
Feb 9 was also our first situation with a TOILET PLUNGER being delivered to us by the front desk--
"no thanks", said we, and we had our room moved-- I certainly don't mind PLUNGING a toilet, but not after we'd been in the room for only 10 minutes and ONE FLUSH-- that looked like a dangerous situation where something might have crawled back OUT of the sewer pipes from previous guests---A`~a~a~a~r~r~g~g~h~h~
February 10, 2009 Tuesday
Today we "antiqued" in town (Ponchatoula LA )-- there were quite a few shops closed-- Everybody in town told us we absolutely HAD HAD HAD to see the alligator in town-- we found him in a cage down by the RR tracks-- He musta been a young alligator because he wasn't very big, but his growth may have been stunted from living in a cage--I'm pretty sure he must be deaf because the train whistle was the loudest thing ever-- a train came by every hour or so (they were the old fashioned freight trains, with box cars, freight cars, and oil cars ( sue said)). It would take about 5-7 minutes for them to get past the cage, blowing the whistle at full throttle-- He had pennies all over his back from people throwing them into the water in his cement cage . There was rabbit wire lining the cage now, so things hadn't been thrown in for a while, so I guess the pennies had been on his back for a while--- He probably thought he had the finest "coat" in town. He couldn't hear what people really thought because he's deaf.. He didn't have a name but was an advertisement for KYLEE'S SWAMP AND ALLIGATOR TOUR. ~~KYLEE should be shot. poor little deaf, tacky 'gator. :*(
Before we hit the road, Sue and I ate at the Strawberry Patch Cafe---(God forbid we missed a meal)--- we shared a Reuban sandwich and had the BEST BEST BEST Strawberry Beignets--They made tiny beignets and filled (injected) them with a "runny" homemade strawberry preserves. Sue wanted me to tell y'all they were filled with COULIS (pronounced COO-LIE) to impress y'all, but I'm pretty sure NOBODY in PONCHATOULA , LOUISIANA knows what the hell a COULIS is?
We left town in early afternoon and made it to Denham Springs LA where we found GOBS and GOBS of antique places -- we shopped til they closed and then hit the road again heading WEST-
We stopped for the night in Sulphur LA at a MICROTEL--it was GROSS-- it had ants,--Sue got all nervous and scritchy~~ scratched~~ all night--
~~scitchy ~~scratch~~scritchy~~~scratch~~~
February 11, 2009, Wednesday-- the temp is 55*--YEAH~~
In the morning I discovered a "bulletproof" glass, in the lobby doors where they lock the main hotel doors and have a window kinda like a drive up window at the bank for you to slip your credit card in to register at night--~~YIKES!!~~--Sue is delighted for me to spray the rooms down with Lysol, now.
Sue is still looking at the birds on the wire-- She'll say, "there's a HAWK," and then she'll immediately say, everytime, every single, solitary time, "or a falcon"--like, I'd know the difference--- they all look like pigeons to me--
Stay tuned for the next adventure--the "devastation tour"
Later~
Mar
Today we are at the halfway mark of our journey and we are doing "THE TURN AROUND"--We got as far west as Amarillo, Texas, touched "base" so to speak and turned east and now we're heading toward home. We have traveled 3300 miles to date--(It is approximately 3000 miles from New York to California--for a reference)
But first , let me catch you up from where we left off on the previous post as I'm sure y'all are sitting by your computers waiting to read where Sue and I have eaten and shopped for the last 6 or so days. The last y'all read we had eaten at Rockefellers--Miss Paula Deen had her picture taken there--they showed us that, they did--
a note on our journey into Ponchatoula from New Orleans on Feb 9: When we left New Orleans to get to Ponchatoula, we had to cross a GIGANTIC swamp---the roadway was raised over the swamp and it was , I think , 37 miles long!! and there was NO warning on the New Orleans side that there was NO GAS for a bazillion miles---Thank God we had a full tank of gas, but it made us aware that we should not let the gas get down to below 1/2 a tank-
Feb 9 was also our first situation with a TOILET PLUNGER being delivered to us by the front desk--
"no thanks", said we, and we had our room moved-- I certainly don't mind PLUNGING a toilet, but not after we'd been in the room for only 10 minutes and ONE FLUSH-- that looked like a dangerous situation where something might have crawled back OUT of the sewer pipes from previous guests---A`~a~a~a~r~r~g~g~h~h~
February 10, 2009 Tuesday
Today we "antiqued" in town (Ponchatoula LA )-- there were quite a few shops closed-- Everybody in town told us we absolutely HAD HAD HAD to see the alligator in town-- we found him in a cage down by the RR tracks-- He musta been a young alligator because he wasn't very big, but his growth may have been stunted from living in a cage--I'm pretty sure he must be deaf because the train whistle was the loudest thing ever-- a train came by every hour or so (they were the old fashioned freight trains, with box cars, freight cars, and oil cars ( sue said)). It would take about 5-7 minutes for them to get past the cage, blowing the whistle at full throttle-- He had pennies all over his back from people throwing them into the water in his cement cage . There was rabbit wire lining the cage now, so things hadn't been thrown in for a while, so I guess the pennies had been on his back for a while--- He probably thought he had the finest "coat" in town. He couldn't hear what people really thought because he's deaf.. He didn't have a name but was an advertisement for KYLEE'S SWAMP AND ALLIGATOR TOUR. ~~KYLEE should be shot. poor little deaf, tacky 'gator. :*(
Before we hit the road, Sue and I ate at the Strawberry Patch Cafe---(God forbid we missed a meal)--- we shared a Reuban sandwich and had the BEST BEST BEST Strawberry Beignets--They made tiny beignets and filled (injected) them with a "runny" homemade strawberry preserves. Sue wanted me to tell y'all they were filled with COULIS (pronounced COO-LIE) to impress y'all, but I'm pretty sure NOBODY in PONCHATOULA , LOUISIANA knows what the hell a COULIS is?
We left town in early afternoon and made it to Denham Springs LA where we found GOBS and GOBS of antique places -- we shopped til they closed and then hit the road again heading WEST-
We stopped for the night in Sulphur LA at a MICROTEL--it was GROSS-- it had ants,--Sue got all nervous and scritchy~~ scratched~~ all night--
~~scitchy ~~scratch~~scritchy~~~scratch~~~
February 11, 2009, Wednesday-- the temp is 55*--YEAH~~
In the morning I discovered a "bulletproof" glass, in the lobby doors where they lock the main hotel doors and have a window kinda like a drive up window at the bank for you to slip your credit card in to register at night--~~YIKES!!~~--Sue is delighted for me to spray the rooms down with Lysol, now.
Sue is still looking at the birds on the wire-- She'll say, "there's a HAWK," and then she'll immediately say, everytime, every single, solitary time, "or a falcon"--like, I'd know the difference--- they all look like pigeons to me--
Stay tuned for the next adventure--the "devastation tour"
Later~
Mar
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Day 11--- we're still KICKIN"!
Today is Feb 12, 2009 and we're in TEXAS--- but let me back up and catch up on the last 8 days--How do I know what we did for the last 8 days , you ask?-- "Cause we're keeping a diary-- well, I 'm keeping a diary, Sue's keeping a journal-- we're gonna compare them at the end and see if we were on the same trip---
anyway, Friday, Feb 6, found us trucking down the road from ALABAMA with the destination of Apalachiacola, Florida-- we spent quite a while discussing how to pronounce this goofy word-- I pronounced it Apalachia--cola (like the mountains with a cola on the end)--
Sue, who's Aunt Pitty Pat directed us there, said it was Apa--LATCH-a-cola--
yes!!!
now y'all know what fascinating conversations are going on as we were speeding down the highway. We found signs for Tupelo Apiaries so figured we'd get some honey-- we ended up getting it off the guys front porch-- he had a box with a slot in it and a big sign that a camera was watching us-- Sue pulled out her $$ and waved it around all over the porch because she wasn't sure where the camera was focused and she didn't want to be dragged onto the ground, strip searched and appear on the show COPS--( which is filmed there in Florida, ya know)--for snitching honey from some bees that live in a tupelo tree which we never found, by the way.
We had lunch on the water and walked the cute town and looked in shops--it was a really old town with lots of old buildings-- apparently every store/building in town was having door knob problems. Every single door we went in had a note taped to the door to tell us how to open it--"turn knob and push"or "turn knob, push up and pull" or "knob doesn't turn, give it your best shot and kick it"--We were thinking that Sue should move there and go in the door knob replacement business--surprised nobody in that town has thought of it yet.
We finished up in Apalachiacola so early that I called my cousin Sophia (pronounced SOF--YA) who lives in Shalimar FLORIDA and told her we were on our way-- she lives about 1 1/2 hours away so off we went---"WESTWARD HO !"
We arrived at Sophia and John D's house (colonel--airforce--retired :*) ) , that evening, and she had arranged for her daughter Mary Beth and family to bring over dinner-- so we feasted on fried chicken, mashed potatoes and all the fixin's--we caught up on family gossip, played/fixed her computer and hit the sack at 3:00 am (ET)--2 am CENTRAL TIME-- we have crossed a time zone here.
The next day, February 7, 2009, we accompanied Sophia and John D on their weekly get together at McDonald's-- they picked up their friend Nelly (aged 80 +) at the retirement home for Air Force widows/widowers, and we met another couple, Patty and John (aged 80+ ?) and Sophia's daughter Mary Beth, her hubber Scott and their kids there, -- they apparently have "THEIR TABLE" and nobody else better sit there or else-- kinda like when somebody sits in your pew at church--they were all firing up their "stink eye" in case it was needed---another little ole lady showed up with her cell phone tied around her neck like a necklace--- they all had stories of how their "sons' or "daughters" had gotten them cell phones, in case they fell ---and none of them knew how to use them--other than making phone calls-- it was great fun-, and for all they cared they were at the finest country club-- they were happy as larks.
Then we visited Mary Beth's house..Believe it or not, right after that, we all met again at a seafood restaurant and had a gigantic LUNCH-- and from there her sister Kate took us on a tour of the area--We visited SEASIDE, a resort town in Florida---here the houses ALL have to have names and picket fences and each picket fence has to be different-- cute town--and the smallest post office in the country is here--
Miss Kate took us to a place called , MISS LUCILLE'S GOSSIP PARLOR--where you could sit down in her "parlor" and have tea, scones, cakes and read the latest issue of The Enquirer, The Globe or any of those things--- too funny--
we toured the area all afternoon and GUESS WHAT??? we all met again at Mary Beth's house to have a Chinese BUFFET--- just roll us home--- I don't think Sue has seen so much sugar and fried food in the last decade!
Sophia , John D, and her Kids were the BEST hosts EVER-- we felt so welcome and comfortable there-- and they would not let us pay for a thing--- oh wait a minute, maybe they did want us pay and we just didn't offer--uh oh, that would make us the guests from Hell--
Sunday, February 8, 2009
We hit the road today, and headed toward Mississippi-- we found red clay roads that were obviously state maintained, but were not paved--they had stop signs and speed limit signs! We drove around in the REAL boondocks for a while-- By nightfall, we had made it to New Orleans-- our hotel for the night was right in the heart of the city--
Sue seemed extremely nervous-- don't know exactly what she was anticipating, but when we drove right smack into town past BOURBON street, and were stopped at a light, she nearly tore the door handle off the car when she saw some drunk kid humping the car in front of us--and her TERROR continued when we actually walked down bourbon street with all the drunks, nekked pictures of lesbos, girls, and transvestites hanging outta every window.
My cousin Kate told us that if you wanted to show your boobs ( that's what you do in New Orleans--- you flash your boobs and you get mardi gras beads) that we should find the biggest boobed woman and stand next to her and nobody would notice us and we could get some "pity beads"--that Kate, she KNOWS everything :*)
The next day Monday February 9, we walked New Orleans, had Beignets at Cafe du Monde, visited the French market, cute shops and antique stores --discovered an artist named JAMIE HAYES who made "friendly voo doo dolls:, wrote 2 books--cute-- and has a line of dolls called BIG LIPS-- they are precious-- go to his website
We then drove around to see the devastation in New Orleans--it is heartbreaking-- especially seeing the spray paint symbols on the houses--DOG CHAINED ON PORCH---DOA--where we drove around, the 9th ward, I would say it was 85% abandoned-- a waiter told us that the state cannot find the owners and they cannot demolish these houses until they do--- so they are trying to pass a law that after 4 years ! the state can go in and demolish them--they are a danger-- falling down, rotting, etc-- so sad
We arrived in Ponchatoula LA -- the strawberry and antique capital of the country ( they think they are, anyway)--had a fantastic dinner of several oyster hors d'oeurves (lightly fried on toast rounds with canadian bacon and hollandaise, and the other with crabmeat) and a hamburger with sausage meat and blue cheese--we split these for those of you who are keeping track---
dessert was a strawberry "shortcake" of fried angelfood cake, sitting on strawberry cream cheese, fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
Sue is still really interested in those cows-- I glanced over at the pasture as we were zooming by, and exclaimed-- "WOA--look at all those cowpies!" (the ground was PEPPERED)
"Cowpies?" she asked
"YEA-- you know what cowpies are don't you?" I asked her
"Well, sure,-- cow poop" , but I didn't think those were cowpies", she said, distracted
"Well, what did you think they were?, I asked
"well, I thought they were "tufts" of grass" she said, twirling her hairs
"HUH?'
then she told me (getting back to that cows/cattle dilemma) that only male cows are used for beef, and in fact, she added, most of the chicken we eat is ROOSTER meat--
I suggested that she start an organization like PETA to SAVE THE MALES (could be the sister organization of SAVE THE WHALES)--this was total discrimination and she should make it her CAUSE-- !!!
I'm tellin ya, I had NO IDEA Sue was such a farm girl--I wonder if she's been secretly studying animal husbandry or something---what a wealth of information on the lives of farm stock!!!
well, I'm almost caught up to date, but have to hit the hay-- have a big day of shopping, walking, and eating ahead
Later~
Martha
anyway, Friday, Feb 6, found us trucking down the road from ALABAMA with the destination of Apalachiacola, Florida-- we spent quite a while discussing how to pronounce this goofy word-- I pronounced it Apalachia--cola (like the mountains with a cola on the end)--
Sue, who's Aunt Pitty Pat directed us there, said it was Apa--LATCH-a-cola--
yes!!!
now y'all know what fascinating conversations are going on as we were speeding down the highway. We found signs for Tupelo Apiaries so figured we'd get some honey-- we ended up getting it off the guys front porch-- he had a box with a slot in it and a big sign that a camera was watching us-- Sue pulled out her $$ and waved it around all over the porch because she wasn't sure where the camera was focused and she didn't want to be dragged onto the ground, strip searched and appear on the show COPS--( which is filmed there in Florida, ya know)--for snitching honey from some bees that live in a tupelo tree which we never found, by the way.
We had lunch on the water and walked the cute town and looked in shops--it was a really old town with lots of old buildings-- apparently every store/building in town was having door knob problems. Every single door we went in had a note taped to the door to tell us how to open it--"turn knob and push"or "turn knob, push up and pull" or "knob doesn't turn, give it your best shot and kick it"--We were thinking that Sue should move there and go in the door knob replacement business--surprised nobody in that town has thought of it yet.
We finished up in Apalachiacola so early that I called my cousin Sophia (pronounced SOF--YA) who lives in Shalimar FLORIDA and told her we were on our way-- she lives about 1 1/2 hours away so off we went---"WESTWARD HO !"
We arrived at Sophia and John D's house (colonel--airforce--retired :*) ) , that evening, and she had arranged for her daughter Mary Beth and family to bring over dinner-- so we feasted on fried chicken, mashed potatoes and all the fixin's--we caught up on family gossip, played/fixed her computer and hit the sack at 3:00 am (ET)--2 am CENTRAL TIME-- we have crossed a time zone here.
The next day, February 7, 2009, we accompanied Sophia and John D on their weekly get together at McDonald's-- they picked up their friend Nelly (aged 80 +) at the retirement home for Air Force widows/widowers, and we met another couple, Patty and John (aged 80+ ?) and Sophia's daughter Mary Beth, her hubber Scott and their kids there, -- they apparently have "THEIR TABLE" and nobody else better sit there or else-- kinda like when somebody sits in your pew at church--they were all firing up their "stink eye" in case it was needed---another little ole lady showed up with her cell phone tied around her neck like a necklace--- they all had stories of how their "sons' or "daughters" had gotten them cell phones, in case they fell ---and none of them knew how to use them--other than making phone calls-- it was great fun-, and for all they cared they were at the finest country club-- they were happy as larks.
Then we visited Mary Beth's house..Believe it or not, right after that, we all met again at a seafood restaurant and had a gigantic LUNCH-- and from there her sister Kate took us on a tour of the area--We visited SEASIDE, a resort town in Florida---here the houses ALL have to have names and picket fences and each picket fence has to be different-- cute town--and the smallest post office in the country is here--
Miss Kate took us to a place called , MISS LUCILLE'S GOSSIP PARLOR--where you could sit down in her "parlor" and have tea, scones, cakes and read the latest issue of The Enquirer, The Globe or any of those things--- too funny--
we toured the area all afternoon and GUESS WHAT??? we all met again at Mary Beth's house to have a Chinese BUFFET--- just roll us home--- I don't think Sue has seen so much sugar and fried food in the last decade!
Sophia , John D, and her Kids were the BEST hosts EVER-- we felt so welcome and comfortable there-- and they would not let us pay for a thing--- oh wait a minute, maybe they did want us pay and we just didn't offer--uh oh, that would make us the guests from Hell--
Sunday, February 8, 2009
We hit the road today, and headed toward Mississippi-- we found red clay roads that were obviously state maintained, but were not paved--they had stop signs and speed limit signs! We drove around in the REAL boondocks for a while-- By nightfall, we had made it to New Orleans-- our hotel for the night was right in the heart of the city--
Sue seemed extremely nervous-- don't know exactly what she was anticipating, but when we drove right smack into town past BOURBON street, and were stopped at a light, she nearly tore the door handle off the car when she saw some drunk kid humping the car in front of us--and her TERROR continued when we actually walked down bourbon street with all the drunks, nekked pictures of lesbos, girls, and transvestites hanging outta every window.
My cousin Kate told us that if you wanted to show your boobs ( that's what you do in New Orleans--- you flash your boobs and you get mardi gras beads) that we should find the biggest boobed woman and stand next to her and nobody would notice us and we could get some "pity beads"--that Kate, she KNOWS everything :*)
The next day Monday February 9, we walked New Orleans, had Beignets at Cafe du Monde, visited the French market, cute shops and antique stores --discovered an artist named JAMIE HAYES who made "friendly voo doo dolls:, wrote 2 books--cute-- and has a line of dolls called BIG LIPS-- they are precious-- go to his website
We then drove around to see the devastation in New Orleans--it is heartbreaking-- especially seeing the spray paint symbols on the houses--DOG CHAINED ON PORCH---DOA--where we drove around, the 9th ward, I would say it was 85% abandoned-- a waiter told us that the state cannot find the owners and they cannot demolish these houses until they do--- so they are trying to pass a law that after 4 years ! the state can go in and demolish them--they are a danger-- falling down, rotting, etc-- so sad
We arrived in Ponchatoula LA -- the strawberry and antique capital of the country ( they think they are, anyway)--had a fantastic dinner of several oyster hors d'oeurves (lightly fried on toast rounds with canadian bacon and hollandaise, and the other with crabmeat) and a hamburger with sausage meat and blue cheese--we split these for those of you who are keeping track---
dessert was a strawberry "shortcake" of fried angelfood cake, sitting on strawberry cream cheese, fresh strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
Sue is still really interested in those cows-- I glanced over at the pasture as we were zooming by, and exclaimed-- "WOA--look at all those cowpies!" (the ground was PEPPERED)
"Cowpies?" she asked
"YEA-- you know what cowpies are don't you?" I asked her
"Well, sure,-- cow poop" , but I didn't think those were cowpies", she said, distracted
"Well, what did you think they were?, I asked
"well, I thought they were "tufts" of grass" she said, twirling her hairs
"HUH?'
then she told me (getting back to that cows/cattle dilemma) that only male cows are used for beef, and in fact, she added, most of the chicken we eat is ROOSTER meat--
I suggested that she start an organization like PETA to SAVE THE MALES (could be the sister organization of SAVE THE WHALES)--this was total discrimination and she should make it her CAUSE-- !!!
I'm tellin ya, I had NO IDEA Sue was such a farm girl--I wonder if she's been secretly studying animal husbandry or something---what a wealth of information on the lives of farm stock!!!
well, I'm almost caught up to date, but have to hit the hay-- have a big day of shopping, walking, and eating ahead
Later~
Martha
Monday, February 9, 2009
It's our ONE WEEK benchmark!
Today is Monday, Feb 9, 2009-- We have been on the road for one full week, it's a full moon and we have not killed each other ------YET
I have quite the "catch up " to do since I couldn't figure how to get into this blog---duh
on Feb. 3, Tuesday, IT IS COLD---SNOW EVERYWHERE!
we traveled from West VA to Strasburg VA, nestled in the Shenandoah Valley under the Blue Ridge Mountains--- My mother was born there and I showed Sue the "NABE"- my Aunt Tanty's house and Aunt Speck's house--
then it was on to Staunton Va, where we visited my niece, Amanda and her hubber, Steve, and baby Lily . We poked around in Staunton at some cute shops ---crap!!! now the LINE is stuck on here and I do not know how to get it off---
We stopped in Statesville NC (?) and had BBQ again,--- brisket, corn fritters, sweet potato sticks ( from SYSCO, we were told)
Wednesday, Feb 4, we went to Hickory NC to the furniture mart-- HOLY MOLY-- enormous---
From there we headed south west to Ashville NC--- CUTE TOWN-- but a lot of the stores were closed because the weather people told everybody to stay home because of the snow--- yes!!!!
SNOW--- it was 18*
We ate at a CUTE cafe called the Tupelo Honey Cafe (pronounced Too-Pa--LOW)-- we had EGGS CRAWLY ( poached eggs with crabcake on top, asparagus and hollandaise), fried green tomatoes, and candied ginger cornbread (muffin) with peach butter. We discovered Tupelo honey -- honey gathered from the tupelo tree--- we don't know what they look like so we don't know if we've seen one--
We bypassed HOTLANTA and stayed outside in the burbs--
Thursday Feb 5
WE hit the road still heading south and ventured off the main highway into a town called West Point, GA--it was 2 miles from the Alabama border---really cute shops here----the stores had names like Southern Shadows, Twisted Daisy, and Sweet Georgia Brown--
It was in the same area as WARM SPRINGS where FDR had his little White House-- we were directed to Heart of the South for lunch which was all HOMEMADE food on a buffet ( 'cause good grief, we NEED more food on this trip!)--they had stuff like string beans, butter beans, brunswick stew, beef and noodles, spinach salad, pineapple casserole, cornbread salad, buttermilk pie and chessman banana pudding--we were so excited to find out she had a cookbook of her stuff--- so we each got one-- the owner told us that Miss Paula Deen took some liberties with HER recipes--- "just look at the date on MY cook book and when Paula started out", she sniffed
We antiqued the rest of the day in Alabama----I found an antique Steiff Jack Russell--saw a little red "tutu" looking skirt that had "built in " music that played the can can
The trees along the highway are LOADED with mistletoe, and fat little brown birds are plentiful sitting on the wires watching the cars go by. . at night deer were EVERYWHERE so I was a bit nervous about driving--- 18 wheelers are everywhere on the main highways so we try to take the back roads as often as we can.
Sue has spotted hawks, and loves to say shit like tertiary and swath-- "I love this tertiary road," she says,
"Why don't we get on the tertiary road up here?"
or, "These tertiary roads might not show up on your GPS"
or
"What a lovely swath of grass over there"
so finally I asked her what the hell tertiary meant--- to rephrase it for the layman, so to speak--
she looked at me like I was crazy--
"It means "SECONDARY", she says, surprised I would ask
'SECONDARY?????" you mean BACK ??? BACK ROADS????-- why don't you just say BACK ROADS???"
"because I thought you liked to hear me say TERTIARY", she says wickedly, "so I was trying to say it as much as possible"
Cattle are everywhere too, and Sue seems really really concerned whether they are DAIRY COWS or CATTLE--
"I don't know, "she mutters, "they must be cattle, because I don't see them getting milked'
"well, I don't think they milk them out in the field, " says I-
"I know, " she says rather worried sounding, " but they are not going back to the barn"
"WELL, it's 2 O'CLOCK in the afternoon-- it aint time for milking!!!!:"
So as she studied the grazing CATTLE/COWS/DAIRY COWS, trying to figure out their purpose in life, she caught a couple of them having a rather private BOVINE moment--in PUBLIC--- THAT shut her up about the cows for the next hundred miles or so.
When we get to our hotel room, the first thing I do is spray down the whole room with lysol--- I spray the light switches, the phone, the lamps, the toilet, the faucets, door handles, the bed, and the remote---
Sue comes in GASPING and choking and saying she's gonna die from the fumes before the germs get her
and we sure we are some kinda glad to have our bottle of POO-POURRI--one spritz of POO, before # 2 !
Its late and I need to get some shut eye before heading across the state of LOUISIANA into Texas
Later~~~
Mar
I have quite the "catch up " to do since I couldn't figure how to get into this blog---duh
on Feb. 3, Tuesday, IT IS COLD---SNOW EVERYWHERE!
we traveled from West VA to Strasburg VA, nestled in the Shenandoah Valley under the Blue Ridge Mountains--- My mother was born there and I showed Sue the "NABE"- my Aunt Tanty's house and Aunt Speck's house--
then it was on to Staunton Va, where we visited my niece, Amanda and her hubber, Steve, and baby Lily . We poked around in Staunton at some cute shops ---crap!!! now the LINE is stuck on here and I do not know how to get it off---
We stopped in Statesville NC (?) and had BBQ again,--- brisket, corn fritters, sweet potato sticks ( from SYSCO, we were told)
Wednesday, Feb 4, we went to Hickory NC to the furniture mart-- HOLY MOLY-- enormous---
From there we headed south west to Ashville NC--- CUTE TOWN-- but a lot of the stores were closed because the weather people told everybody to stay home because of the snow--- yes!!!!
SNOW--- it was 18*
We ate at a CUTE cafe called the Tupelo Honey Cafe (pronounced Too-Pa--LOW)-- we had EGGS CRAWLY ( poached eggs with crabcake on top, asparagus and hollandaise), fried green tomatoes, and candied ginger cornbread (muffin) with peach butter. We discovered Tupelo honey -- honey gathered from the tupelo tree--- we don't know what they look like so we don't know if we've seen one--
We bypassed HOTLANTA and stayed outside in the burbs--
Thursday Feb 5
WE hit the road still heading south and ventured off the main highway into a town called West Point, GA--it was 2 miles from the Alabama border---really cute shops here----the stores had names like Southern Shadows, Twisted Daisy, and Sweet Georgia Brown--
It was in the same area as WARM SPRINGS where FDR had his little White House-- we were directed to Heart of the South for lunch which was all HOMEMADE food on a buffet ( 'cause good grief, we NEED more food on this trip!)--they had stuff like string beans, butter beans, brunswick stew, beef and noodles, spinach salad, pineapple casserole, cornbread salad, buttermilk pie and chessman banana pudding--we were so excited to find out she had a cookbook of her stuff--- so we each got one-- the owner told us that Miss Paula Deen took some liberties with HER recipes--- "just look at the date on MY cook book and when Paula started out", she sniffed
We antiqued the rest of the day in Alabama----I found an antique Steiff Jack Russell--saw a little red "tutu" looking skirt that had "built in " music that played the can can
The trees along the highway are LOADED with mistletoe, and fat little brown birds are plentiful sitting on the wires watching the cars go by. . at night deer were EVERYWHERE so I was a bit nervous about driving--- 18 wheelers are everywhere on the main highways so we try to take the back roads as often as we can.
Sue has spotted hawks, and loves to say shit like tertiary and swath-- "I love this tertiary road," she says,
"Why don't we get on the tertiary road up here?"
or, "These tertiary roads might not show up on your GPS"
or
"What a lovely swath of grass over there"
so finally I asked her what the hell tertiary meant--- to rephrase it for the layman, so to speak--
she looked at me like I was crazy--
"It means "SECONDARY", she says, surprised I would ask
'SECONDARY?????" you mean BACK ??? BACK ROADS????-- why don't you just say BACK ROADS???"
"because I thought you liked to hear me say TERTIARY", she says wickedly, "so I was trying to say it as much as possible"
Cattle are everywhere too, and Sue seems really really concerned whether they are DAIRY COWS or CATTLE--
"I don't know, "she mutters, "they must be cattle, because I don't see them getting milked'
"well, I don't think they milk them out in the field, " says I-
"I know, " she says rather worried sounding, " but they are not going back to the barn"
"WELL, it's 2 O'CLOCK in the afternoon-- it aint time for milking!!!!:"
So as she studied the grazing CATTLE/COWS/DAIRY COWS, trying to figure out their purpose in life, she caught a couple of them having a rather private BOVINE moment--in PUBLIC--- THAT shut her up about the cows for the next hundred miles or so.
When we get to our hotel room, the first thing I do is spray down the whole room with lysol--- I spray the light switches, the phone, the lamps, the toilet, the faucets, door handles, the bed, and the remote---
Sue comes in GASPING and choking and saying she's gonna die from the fumes before the germs get her
and we sure we are some kinda glad to have our bottle of POO-POURRI--one spritz of POO, before # 2 !
Its late and I need to get some shut eye before heading across the state of LOUISIANA into Texas
Later~~~
Mar
Monday, February 2, 2009
and we're OFF!
Today is Monday, Feb 2---Pauxatauny Phil saw his shadow. While Pauxy was getting yanked outta his warm groundhog hole, I was running around the house, finishing packing, loading the car and trying to organize the MOTHER SHIP so things could be found easily when we stopped for the night--hahaha--Our estimated time of departure was 9 am--- NO PROB, until 7:30 am rolled around and then the first phone call was made to my friend-- how about we leave at 10?
"GREAT!" she exclaims happily
then the 10:30 phone call---" am leaving in 15 minutes, just loading the car" (SOME MORE)--
"GREAT GREAT " she replies joyfully
at 11:30 I arrive at her house to load up her stuff-- and we're OFF!
I have only GLANCED at a map to get a general idea of what direction to head in (SOUTH)--we begin the journey---
we stopped at a place called RITAS DESSERTS and tasted some of her famous, awesome, decadent desserts ( HER WORDS-- they were NOT)
We went through Frederick Maryland and stopped to see "THE BRIDGE" by (arteeeest) Cochran-- the weather dropped about 20 degrees since we left home--- I thought it was supposed to get HOTTER when you headed SOUTH???
we ate at the BLACK PIG BBQ place and then headed off to find a motel--- It started snowing like crazy and there seemed to be no motels anywhere--- we put "LODGING" into the GPS (herein called "MEGGIE) and all she would show was hotels 40 miles back-- we finally found a comfort inn in WEST VA and decided to call it a night----
"GREAT!" she exclaims happily
then the 10:30 phone call---" am leaving in 15 minutes, just loading the car" (SOME MORE)--
"GREAT GREAT " she replies joyfully
at 11:30 I arrive at her house to load up her stuff-- and we're OFF!
I have only GLANCED at a map to get a general idea of what direction to head in (SOUTH)--we begin the journey---
we stopped at a place called RITAS DESSERTS and tasted some of her famous, awesome, decadent desserts ( HER WORDS-- they were NOT)
We went through Frederick Maryland and stopped to see "THE BRIDGE" by (arteeeest) Cochran-- the weather dropped about 20 degrees since we left home--- I thought it was supposed to get HOTTER when you headed SOUTH???
we ate at the BLACK PIG BBQ place and then headed off to find a motel--- It started snowing like crazy and there seemed to be no motels anywhere--- we put "LODGING" into the GPS (herein called "MEGGIE) and all she would show was hotels 40 miles back-- we finally found a comfort inn in WEST VA and decided to call it a night----
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