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Day 2, Wednesday, 08/10
Enjoyed a "continental breakfast" at the Settle Inn. It appears that on this continent, breakfast is composed of waffles, biscuits & gravy, powdered donuts, blueberry muffins, bagels, three kinds of toast, and about a jillion spreads/jams/peanut butter/jelly to pour all over them. Folks on this continent all have cholesterol readings right off the chart.
Fashion Observation: When did it become acceptable to wander around motel lobbies in bare feet and checkered flannel PJ's?
Travelled across some Iowa, a piece of Nebraska, Kansas, and most of Oklahoma today. Check Engine light came on in Kansas. 45 tense minutes of driving with it on to get to Wichita. 2 hours, and $310 later, we pull out of the Toyota dealership. KA-CHING! Replaced a "Mass flow something-or-other" to do with the fuel system. I hate cars. At least they washed and vacuumed the car.
The maps lie. The tour books lie. The Tourist Information people lie. I-35 is not an interstate. It's not a highway. It's not even a road. It's a series of interconnected construction zones, peopled by guys in orange vests leaning on shovels.
Stopped for the night at the Days Inn in Paul's Valley, Oklahoma. Wanted to have dinner at a charming looking spot called Punkin's Barbeque and Catfish, but it was closed, so we tried for a meal at Bob's Barbeques Pig Store (on the recommendation of a gas jockey with three teeth and one-strap bib overalls), but it appears all the fine dining establishments in Paul's Valley close early. I don't think anyone knew how to work the electric lights.
Roadkill Observation: Are armadillos the stupidest animals on earth, or just incredibly slow moving? There can't be many left, based on how many we saw on the highway. I guess they haven't worked it out yet that while rolling up into a ball is good protection from a coyote, it don't work worth a damn with an 18 wheeler. Or maybe their lives are so unbearable that they're all suicides?
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