The sun is out, the food is great and the Continental Divide is finally explained

The microwave clock at the Hampton in Kingman swears it is 12:52 AM but my body and brain are rtain it is almost 3:00 AM and they have a wrist watch to prove it. We started out finding the snooze function on my cell and sleeping in until 8:30. After showers and packing, not to mention the obligatory Venti No-Whip Mocha (hot until we get to warmer climes) we were on the road.

I watched the weather as CaDiva showered and it said there was a dense fog advisory with visibility down to a mile. A MILE???? seriously you call that dense. In the midwest we don't call it dense until you have to slice off hunks to see past your hood ornament. Well butter my butt and call me biscuit. Did you know fog could fall on you? I told  CaDiva it was raining on me, and she said no that's just the fog. Well to me, calling drops of water hitting you fog is like calling anything over a 3.5 an aftershock.

But I digress. We drove out of the western Texas plains just as the "fog" started to clear. And BOOM we were in the western Texas hills. I tell you the changing terrain in Texas is like the spring and dusk, they don't take long when they are ready. We drove into the welcome center of New Mexico just as the sun broke free and the temperature climbed into the high sixties. I got pictures of the reproduction of a dinosaur bone bit by a bigger dinosaur. And we got the name of a restaurant three miles down the road with a car museum and well recommended food. 

I'll post the pictures when I get to California, but the food was grand. CaDiva had chicken enchilada - spicy by her taste (of course I already told you she was a weenie) but still she finished every bite, with a significant amount of sour cream to cool the heat.  I had a mushroom Swiss burger and rings. YUM! I also had some of CaDiva's refried beans - oh goodness they were rich and wondrous tasting. 

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the views and the heat and the sun. But as the day drug on we realized how late we were going to be. This wore on us a bit but not so much that we stopped sight seeing. We pulled into the Continental Divide and historic Route 66 scenic view. Did you know that the Continental Divide means that rain fall on one side goes to the Pacific and on the other side goes to the Atlantic? Well I didn't either.

I'll tell you more tomorrow, but now, I'm going to collapse in a heap and sleep until, well until today.

Day two - Dunkin Donuts Coffee and Three More States Down

I'm stretched out on the bed at Hampton Inn in Amarillo...it was hard to find since Jillian thought it was on the other side of the underpass and turned out to be surrounded by one-way streets. That's the Hampton that was hard to find, I found the bed right off. But here we are at long last. The staff had the requested extra pillow and towels awaiting in the room when we arrived just a half hour ago. And even added a few little peppermints to our welcome bundle. It has been a long day but the drive was not bad at all.

This is not to say there weren't plenty of people who caused me minor annoyance during my turns driving. CaDiva's reminded me from time to time that the other drivers couldn't hear me yell at them from inside our car. Frankly I can understand that, given that a few of them seemed to practice contortion-isms displayed by keeping their heads and or thumbs up where they weren't of any particular use. I tried to solve that problem by using universal hand signals to explain the correct merge procedures and appropriate following distance, but she found that unacceptable as well.

Here I am, just trying to make the world a safer place by providing helpful hints to improve driving skills but you see the kind of grief I get. And all of this from a woman who sleeps under a pillow, while wearing ear plugs and wakes me up repeatedly with barely comprehensible demands to roll over. She seems to think I snore. Which is not true, occasionally my uvula will undulate and make a purring-like sound, but that is no call to wake me out of a sound sleep.

Speaking of helpful hints, to all road builders - east/west roads have a tendency to face a very bright orb at certain times of the day...consider canting them a bit to the north or south in the future. Oh, and when you  decide to fix a road by cutting four lanes of traffic down to two, separated only by yellow reflective disk covered concrete barriers, please remember that the drivers on the adverse side of the road will most likely not turn off their brights. So it may be a good idea to ban anyone who cannot prove he or she knows where the dim switch is from any road on which I'm driving while you fix it.

I finally found my picture.

I planned to post a lovely selection of photos but I am apparently not as smart as the camera I borrowed from my Niecelette. I took one darling picture of the new Dunkin Donuts in Overland Park - the mecca of all true coffee lovers. (After the DD employees  were good enough to give me both a thermos and mug of coffee with just the right amount of creme and sugar I had to accept one of their Cocoa Boston Kreme pastries, just to be polite you know.) But somehow that picture of the heart-warming orange, brown and white disk disappeared. Oddly though, the one of CaDiva standing in front of the bland green on white piece of plastic was still on the memory card. This was odd on several levels. First I took both snaps. And we drove about three hours out of KC after taking the first picture in front of Dunkin Donuts, not seeing either purveyor of caffeine again until we got well into Oklahoma. There we found the, you know, S word coffee shop, but no DD. Not to be unfair, I took a picture of CaDiva in front of that aforementioned plastic green on white emblem. And somehow my picture of DD disappeared.  Now I am not one to look for conspiracy theories where there isn't one but after the incident at the Dallas Fort Worth airport, I'm beginning to wonder.

CaDiva and her ubiquitous Venti Mocha (this time hot)

CaDiva stuck with hot versions of her mocha no whip as the weather was gray and cold all day. Well, colder than I wanted it to be. The snow that fell in Kansas didn't stick to anything and we weren't walking so I'm going to just enjoy the increasing Spring as we drive south and now west.

So far we have driven through Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, and now Texas. During the last hours of daylight I was trying to get snaps of Oklahoma red clay or oil wells but again, CaDiva refused to stop the car in the middle of the Interstate, even the one on old Route 66. We'll start up again tomorrow and be at In & Out Burger ... ah I mean Kingman Arizona tomorrow night.


Hey, HRH remind me to tell you about the two youngsters riding a luggage cart at the Pear Tree. Something not uncommonly seen with younger siblings apparently.

Getting on the Road and Custard Heartbreaks

It is vacation time at last. The last day of work was just as to be expected only slightly more heckish. Ok, it may not be a word but it wasn't exactly hellish either so we'll take the lesser of two evils and make up a word rather than resort to hyperbole.

I started out the day late because I couldn't find my office keys. When I got to the office my boss's boss, Herself, patiently listened to my tale of woe of lost keys. early spring snow storms and weather reports. I won't bore you with the details, Let's just say that CaDiva's report that the weather was clear from Muskogee on left me with that damn song running through my head and I'm going to have to sing three verses of Kung Fu Fighters to get rid of it.

I don't think Herself actually plots to tweak my day, but she has an unerring instinct about this sort of thing. So when she told me she had a brainstorm...I was afraid, very afraid.  I should have just closed my eyes and dreamed of long drives and good food but instead I looked her straight in the eye and smiled as she told me of giving 1/4 of my staff another manager for an untold period of time.

I hear ya, but I'm a good little soldier and I said I thought it would give the employee a great chance of development and enrich my entire unit. OH put your feet down, you can't step in that just reading a blog. Sheesh!

Well my day started late, in the snow with a Merle Haggard song in my head. It made perfect sense to give one of my staff her annual appraisal. Yeah, it went just as well as you expected. See, we are a new team, everyone needs to get the feel for each other, oh who am I kidding, I am a notorious hard ass manager and I broke her heart.

Well the day continued as days are wont to do and I find out that I don't have nearly enough hours to get the work done. Yeah, I know I should have seen that coming but it tends to just catch my attention at the odd moment. And the moments became odder still when I somehow confused my 12:00 meeting with a 2:00 meeting and I didn't know it until my 1:00 meeting started in the same room and only to find the 12:00 meeting was still there...AWKWARD.

What can I do but finish my 1:00 and go see my boss, Kettle, to tell her I broke my employee's heart and missed my meeting  and wouldn't be able to finish the approvals she assigned me before I left on my two week vacation.

This is the point at which we discover she was not aware she granted me two weeks, she thought I was only going to be gone a week.  The conversation went something like this...Oh no, dear Kettle, I am on two weeks vacation. I beg to differ, Ms Pot, she retorts, I only granted you one. Well that's going to be difficult because on Saturday I'm going to the Wedding and Sunday Whale Watching so a Monday start time is going to be nigh on to impossible. Well, Kettle replies, I hope CaDiva has a nice time at the wedding.

At this point I haul out the "I'm the one who is covering the Holidays because I'm so loyal and you asked me" card. And that seemed to solve the confusion.

The rest of the day was a paper storm of approvals and designations and time sheets but I was ready to go almost on time. CaDiva arrived near 5:00, had me mail a few letters, pour my coffee as she began a litany of her day of packing, loading the car, paying bills, doing laundry, and perhaps a few minor furniture adjustments.  There was something about weeping with fatigue, if we don't have it in this car we don't need it and amending the girl trip rules to cover one party doing all the packing and who has to drive during the dark, in the rain, and through mountains.

Well, for at least now, it was light and not raining. The snow even stopped.. BTW I found my keys, thank you for asking. All was right and we were on vacation. Onto 235 to west Mixmaster and south on 35. We drove about 50 miles before we needed to fill the tank and empty the bladders.We found the only gas station in 200 miles not charging $3.399 per gallon. Ah what's an extra dime a gallon on vacation, beside's along the drive I saw several hawks and one with a golden breast that I can't find in the pictures but I don't care, I just love driving through the Midwest..

We were on vacation, loving the early spring drive and we would be in Kansas City before bedtime which means only one thing...Sheridan's Frozen Custard. It used to mean two things, Backyard Burger and Sheridan's Frozen Custard. But things happen. Particularly favorite food places close or McBKize and break your heart. But I don't have to worry about that this time, no I'm going to get a five scoop cake cone chocolate custard.


Have you ever had frozen custard? You need to. I mean the first time I lapped a lip around that velvety smooth lusciousness I wondered why I wasted my life with ice cream. (sorry B&J but you know it is the truth).  Even when CaDiva asked me to take up the driving, in the dark and the fog and the mist...See amendment to girl trip rule regarding leaving your partner to pack for two weeks all on her lonesome...I knew I was on my way to a six inch high cool sweetness (did I say something about avoiding hyperbole?)

Understatement or Embellishment, it doesn't matter...a foodie's heart breaks the same when the uncaring corporate structure decides to "improve" something. But I was blissfully unaware of this as I drove through the misty darkness in Friday night KC traffic, the interior of the Highlander lit only by my loyal GPS device, Jillian, as I made a legal u-turn at my next opportunity only to see a devastating vision...a "Coming Soon" sign where my Sheridan's drive through should be...Unforked  Eats and Sweets, Sheridan's Frozen Custard...Yes, that's what I said, my Sheridan's Frozen Custard is becoming a healthful food choice targeting the new ecologically aware consumer...and they are three weeks late doing it.

After three and a half hour drive with nothing to eat except Bethany Country Kitchen's


Country Fried Steak & Eggs

Breaded, seasoned beef smothered in peppered country gravy. Served with two eggs any style, seasoned hash browns and your choice of fruit, toast, bagel, English muffin or two of The Best Pancakes in Town.™  

I took the pancakes but we didn't stop at the Russell Stover's outlet. And still I was to be denied my five scoop cake cone. Oh would the horror never end?

We limped back to the Pear Tree hotel for the night. The way young dark-haired desk clerk told me where there is another proper Sheridan's but ... alas, they don't open until 11:00 on Saturdays and we'll be well into the Kansas Turnpike by then.  Oh she also told us the KC Masterpiece closed too. What is this world coming to? This just proves what I have always said, Life is Uncertain, eat what you like first and don't tell your brother where you hid the last Ding Dong.

One day to go - I think I should pack

Tomorrow morning CaDiva will drive me to work. She'll pack the car and tend to the last chores, pick me up 4:30 (or as close to that as I can get out of the office) and then we are on VACATION.

The weather is turning nasty tomorrow and coming up from the south, I hope it passes before we are on the road, but come heck or high water, we are eating Sheridan's Frozen Custard by 8:30 tomorrow night. The good one too, at 119th and Metcalf, next to where Backyard Burger used to be before they went all McBk.

I am so ready for this vacation. Well not ready in the sense that the computer is packed and my clothes are folded or even that I know what shoes I should take, but the important stuff like OH Dear Lord in Heaven please don't let the world come to an end before 4:30 on Friday, thank You in advance for Your consideration. That kind of ready.

And this is to remind me when I wonder why I glow in certain light, all the "officials" assure me that the amount of Japanese radiation over California and Colorado is too small to worry about.  Of course they are officiating and not worrying someplace not California or Colorado.

I borrowed my niece's digital camera. The Easy Share served us well, but I'm just ready to try something with a few more chimes and tweets. I will keep you informed as we progress. See you all tomorrow, when my fingers will be sticky with chocolate soft serve and my eyes heavy with relaxation.

Getting Ready

Well, CaDiva started her packing list today.

But first she had to go to the post office to stop the mail
Then to the Register to stop the newpaper
And the dry cleaner so I would have something to wear to the wedding
The the drug store so I wouldn't sneeze all the way through Arizona
And the grocery store for travel snack food
Then the pet supply store to get food for the puppy/kitty sitter
But she won't do laundry until tomorrow.

I fed my cows on Facebook and, if I time it right, should be able to mention my vacation at two more staff meetings before we leave on Friday.

What? Did you think I was going to make her do it all?

It's beginning to look a lot like vacation...whoo hoo.

Big Brother's Wedding Road Trip and the Blog Begins Again

Ok so it has been a year or so since I wrote. There are reasons. But since reasons aren't required among friends let me fill you in on what has happened since 2009. We came home and our Mom decided she wanted to move into her own home. I took a new job and have my filing seasons less committed than they have been in 23 years. CaDiva started working with a temp agency. HRH became a grandma and so won't be traveling with us on this trip. This trip? Didn't I start with that?
So let's start there. CaDiva has two siblings she wasn't raised with since they were both from prior marriages and 11 years older than she is. But her BigBro has always been near and dear to her heart. He took that special place when he nicknamed her Hank but kept it when he married a charming elfin woman who presented her with two charming nieces and a dandy nephew. COPD took SIL from us all too soon. And now, after five years BigBro has found a new woman who has the stamp of approval of the afore mentioned nieces and nephew.
So we decided with my newly uncommitted March/April to drive out for the wedding.
The plan is to drive out of Des Moines on March 25th after work and spend the night in Kansas City. From there we'll drive to Amarillo and we had thought to stop in Williams AZ for the third night. But CaDiva found an In-&-Out Burger some miles past Williams so we'll probably find a hotel near that. Then up to Walnut Creek to visit with the nieces and roam CaDiva's old stomping grounds. Then down to Monterey for the Wedding and another whale watching cruise. Oh, we'll miss HRH for that but a niece and the nephew with grandniece will come, so we are planning a memorable day. We'll start the trip home on Monday and, provided the government stays open, stop by the South Rim of the Grand Canyon on the way home.
I plan to take the laptop and camera to keep you all informed as we move along. Hope you have as much fun as we plan too.