Thursday, July 31, 2008
May cause shortness of breath...
Today, we went to Pikes Peak. It was such an amazing day. The mountain drive was fun and it was absolutely beautiful!!! Then we enjoyed a picnic on the side of the mountain. We were both at a lost for words so much of the day because we are still in awe of how spectacular the landscape is out here. Will write more later...right now Nancy and I are really tired and we are going to take a quick cat nap. Then its out to dinner!!!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Life on the road
Nancy and I left Salina Kansas this morning and headed west. We had a lot of fun along the way. We sang our favorite songs and talked...we even called a few places to see about horseback riding for while we are out here. The trip is coming along nicely and the experience is most definitely shaping up to be a memorable one. Between stopping and eating Dairy Queen in a very quiet Hays Kansas to hopping next door and eating a BBQ sandwich from "Bar B Cutie" restaurant the trip has been very flavorful. She and I are really not opposed to making this trip a driving tour of the United State's Dairy Queens...but then we would probably not fit in the car after about hot fudge sundae Ohio #35.
We did however make it here to CO. and we are truly overjoyed. The hotel is great and the mac and cheese we made here in the hotel room's kitchenette was good thanks to the "borrowed" butter and milk from the Kansas hotel's continental breakfast that we put on ice this morning. Nancy and I are pinching our pennies as much as possible and we are having a ball doing it.
On a totally different note, I personally find it so interesting when you look back to the events in your life with observant eyes. You look not at the point A to point B events in your childhood or lifetime but you look at the road which you took to get there. There are so many little details, incidental conversations, funny stories, small gestures, mindless even habitual routines...yet it is the combination of all of these things that allows us to get from one truly memorable experience to the next. Today, we took 70W for such a long time. Then finally we got on US Hwy 24. What a change of pace?! It was so much more laid back and scenic. Every turn expanded on something we had already gotten a chance to take in...it wasn't like a busy interstate where you skip from one exit to the next. This road allowed us to process what we were looking at while driving on it. The slower speed limit and calm nature of the drive allowed the farms to unfold their stories to us. We could get a feel for the little towns as we drove through them, and as we drove closer and closer to the mountains we began to understand why we worked so hard to get here in the first place.
The sky again tonight was radiant. The beautiful colors in the sky provided a perfect backdrop for the clouds and the mountains were the most perfect welcoming skyline we've seen so far. I do not find it odd at all that we've traveled so many major routes to get here and this last little drive on a scenic road is the one that will be forever in my memory.
Life on the road is often a phrase to describe a phase of moving around a lot, or being able to pick up and go, but tonight after traveling like we have...I think of it so differently. Life is whatever we make it to be. We carry it with us and of course there are things out of our control, so we do the best we can with what we've got, and the added clause to that sentence is: We also work endlessly until we get what we need. All of the little things get us from one place to the next. Here Nancy and I have worked so hard to get here and we are here. All of our friends and both of our families have worked, donated, and prayed to get us here and here we are. Nancy and I carry with us all of the love, memories, experiences, and life with us. Now, we are adding to it. Another chapter...another connection for our life stories...found right here on this road.
We did however make it here to CO. and we are truly overjoyed. The hotel is great and the mac and cheese we made here in the hotel room's kitchenette was good thanks to the "borrowed" butter and milk from the Kansas hotel's continental breakfast that we put on ice this morning. Nancy and I are pinching our pennies as much as possible and we are having a ball doing it.
On a totally different note, I personally find it so interesting when you look back to the events in your life with observant eyes. You look not at the point A to point B events in your childhood or lifetime but you look at the road which you took to get there. There are so many little details, incidental conversations, funny stories, small gestures, mindless even habitual routines...yet it is the combination of all of these things that allows us to get from one truly memorable experience to the next. Today, we took 70W for such a long time. Then finally we got on US Hwy 24. What a change of pace?! It was so much more laid back and scenic. Every turn expanded on something we had already gotten a chance to take in...it wasn't like a busy interstate where you skip from one exit to the next. This road allowed us to process what we were looking at while driving on it. The slower speed limit and calm nature of the drive allowed the farms to unfold their stories to us. We could get a feel for the little towns as we drove through them, and as we drove closer and closer to the mountains we began to understand why we worked so hard to get here in the first place.
The sky again tonight was radiant. The beautiful colors in the sky provided a perfect backdrop for the clouds and the mountains were the most perfect welcoming skyline we've seen so far. I do not find it odd at all that we've traveled so many major routes to get here and this last little drive on a scenic road is the one that will be forever in my memory.
Life on the road is often a phrase to describe a phase of moving around a lot, or being able to pick up and go, but tonight after traveling like we have...I think of it so differently. Life is whatever we make it to be. We carry it with us and of course there are things out of our control, so we do the best we can with what we've got, and the added clause to that sentence is: We also work endlessly until we get what we need. All of the little things get us from one place to the next. Here Nancy and I have worked so hard to get here and we are here. All of our friends and both of our families have worked, donated, and prayed to get us here and here we are. Nancy and I carry with us all of the love, memories, experiences, and life with us. Now, we are adding to it. Another chapter...another connection for our life stories...found right here on this road.
Land of the WHAT!?
America is known as the Land of the Free. We are all in agreement. Well Nancy and I would like to inform you that Kansas is the Land of the Prairie Dogs. YES. Prairie Dogs. While traveling on 70W we kept seeing signs for Come see prairie dogs!!! Come see the world's largest prairie dog!!! We have an 8000 pound prairie dog!!!! So, like any adventure seeking animal lover slightly hesitant roadtrippers we got off the federally funded interstate and went to Prairie Dog Land. We walked in to a little house where a man informed us that we could take pictures and we could buy a bag of food to feed the animals and he said "have fun"...so we went out the door to the backyard. The sandy fenced in field was home to bundles of little furry very noisy prairie dogs. Watch your step now...because you will fall into the burrows that cover the yard thanks to the impeccable digging skills of the p-dogs. Nancy and I carefully crept around the "prairie" with cameras in hand and snagged a few photos of the sometimes very stately looking rodents. I would guess the advertisement for the 8000 pound prairie dog was true...there was a plasticy statue of a rodent on its hind legs...and if I had to guess it looked to be about 20 ft tall...8000 pounds...dreamy brown eyes...Well you get the idea. You know? It is never a dull moment with the two of us and the journey to CO has already been very memorable very exciting very fun and very prairie.
American dream: Cute house with a white picket fence out front with a dog in the back.
Kansas reality: Little House on the Prairie with dogs all around.
I'd say...its the best 12.50 admission that Nancy has ever paid.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Oh Yes we KAN!
The night will be spent in Kansas. Nancy and I made it safely to the hotel and she and I made tuna salad for dinner. If we were on Food TV right now...we would most definitely have our own show called: Dont Forget the Can Opener
After gathering everything together for our night's stay and for our "save money dinners" we realized we forgot one tiiiiiinnnyyy little novelty of mechanical genius. We call it the can opener....or shall we say KAN-opener?!? Anyways, we borrowed the hotel's can opener an we made tuna sandwiches in our room...thanks to the gifted brought from home relish...technically stolen mayonnaise packets from Nancy's work and ChickFilA and the tuna we brought from home too. They were delicious.
Kansas is flat.
Tomorrow, off to CO!!!!!
No matter what comes your way in life always bring a can opener with you and remember whether you are in KANsas or not... YOU KAN DO IT!!!
After gathering everything together for our night's stay and for our "save money dinners" we realized we forgot one tiiiiiinnnyyy little novelty of mechanical genius. We call it the can opener....or shall we say KAN-opener?!? Anyways, we borrowed the hotel's can opener an we made tuna sandwiches in our room...thanks to the gifted brought from home relish...technically stolen mayonnaise packets from Nancy's work and ChickFilA and the tuna we brought from home too. They were delicious.
Kansas is flat.
Tomorrow, off to CO!!!!!
No matter what comes your way in life always bring a can opener with you and remember whether you are in KANsas or not... YOU KAN DO IT!!!
Cat on a hot tin engine
Right meow i will post a pic of the engine and you can see the little kitty down in there!!! haha. Goodness gracious.
CaT AtTaCk!!!!
This morning Nancy and I woke up and got ready for breakfast. Mr and Mrs Callahan were so kind as to not only extend their kindness and allow us to stay in their home but they took us out to breakfast in one of the suburbs of St Louis. Nancy enjoyed a trifecta of breakfast goodies which included a Belgian waffle, bacon, and eggs. I on the other hand decided to be daring and play a little game of breakfast comparison. I tried the Midwest's version of biscuits and gravy. While delicious, it was no Biscuit Box. Nancy and I continually comment on how nice the Callahans are and we hope to go back and visit! Now, of course as we mentioned before, they need to come visit the ATL and maybe even take them to Athens...which is in the North Eastern part of GA not the South Western. (I am glad we got all of that straight/I am the navigator...cough cough Nancy) So on to crossing the state of Missouri. It was a very pretty drive and we were excited to go over some hills and see the different farms along the way. Nancy got really excited when she noticed we were on the official trail of Lewis and Clark and that began the deluge of facts she knows due to a report she did on them this past school year. Of course, we cannot mention going through Missouri without mentioning two other things: 1. Oregon Trail Windows made for Computer AWESOME game and 2. Waiting for Guffman aka movie spectaculare! We definitely spent a good time on 70W discussing our memories of the Oregon Trail game...I confessed it was sort of funny when my characters wouldn't make it and we would have to leave one of them behind on a farm or something...or Nancy reminisced that she would check the water levels and make her horses ford the river with her wagon crew. So, as our Honda as our wagon we traveled back in time to the days of Windows 95 and we head west. Even now, we are right here at Kansas City and we passed through Independence Missouri where if you made it there you were practically home free. We are not home...and nothing is free...but we are sippin on some drinks enjoying the technology of free wi-fi!!! So, we are off to western Kansas.
NOOW the long awaited Cat story. As this entry name suggests, there was a cat...and there was an attack.
Let the record show that family friends have commented on how "I bring out the wildlife" cough cough Bruce. Anyways, Nancy and I were in Warrenton Missouri which is on I 70...this was about 11 this morning and we stopped at a gas station, Kroger, a dollar store, and the post office (you know the usual) and while we were at the Phillips 66 gas station we had an encounter with mother nature. By that I mean...a wild very ferocious sweaty tooth killer of a cat jumped up into our car's engine. On second thought...before I "ask for it" let me straighten out that story. A cuddly little scared kitty sought shelter and nestled itself in Nancy's front fender. We along with some local Missourians put our brave faces on, wore our animal lover hearts on our sleeves, and we rallied together to save the kitty. Thanks to a couple of...cat lover locals we got the kitty out by all of the following: A ski glove, a screwdriver, wet cat food, dry cat food, elbow grease, prayers to the kitty gods, and an abundance of "Here Kitty Kitties!!!!" Look closely to the tail hanging down to the right of the tire...yup...thats our furry intruder.
Nancy and I are just a couple of "roll with the punches" type people and now we can add "Roll with the hairballs" to our resumes too.
We look forward to maybe another post tonight in Western Kansas...and then tomorrow!!!! CO!
Our love grows for each other. Our appreciation for kindness grows and our hearts are reminded that human generosity does not have to be a rarity. It can be found in the suburbs of St Louis...in animal lover's heart's at a gas station, and of course all of our families and friends back home who have helped make this trip possible. The next turn is up ahead in that road and we intend on seeing where it takes us. Until next time...hope yall have a puurrrrrfect afternoon and evening!
Monday, July 28, 2008
On the Road Again
Day one
Nancy and I left a very toasty GA to head north into TN. We winded our way up to Nashville where we toured the Willie Nelson Museum...aka a southern hillbilly deluxe touristy shop where the "not on sale...full price...high quality items" are t-shirts with half naked ladies on them and of course the dime a dozen but somehow sentimentally dear YOUR BEST SHOT IN NASHVILLE shot glass and of course we will not exclude the racoon skin hat (that made Nancy's blue eyes sparkle). Anyways, the Grand Ole Opry was a fleeting moment in the tour but a good one and she and I oooohed and awed over all of the memories that have been made there...all of the memories that will be made there and we somehow felt a little closer to all of the stars that have performed there and I must confess my heart beat a little faster knowing that I was right where so many dreams had been fulfilled. Country music means so much to Nancy and me and even though there was no "Lunch in Nashville" we did however experience the heat, the southern twang, and the American by birth but Southern by the grace of God mentality. In other words, these two GA peaches were right at home listening to Willie while looking at the home of country music.
Then it was on to Kentucky. Wait no. I forgot a very important detail. In case anyone NEEDS to know. There IS a Dairy Queen in Clarksville TN. They are open on Mondays...and their Hot Fudge Sundaes and Chocolate Extreme blizzards are delish.
So now on to the Bluegrass State. We would have gotten a picture of the state sign...however...Nancy drove up the Truck Entrance side of the rest stop where very suddenly our sedan felt like the Monopoly car...so we did not pass go...or collect 200 dollars (which would have paid for 3 gallons of gas btw) instead we JETTED on interstate 24.
Kentucky was beautiful. The sky was a beautiful blue and the rolling grassy hills were breathtaking and inspiring for us Equestrians. So after Kentucky we entered Illinois and stopped at a rest stop. There was a wooden cutout of superman's body and you could have your picture taken as an Illinois superman. Well....I said to myself....no wonder they are inspiring passerbys with super heroes...you need to have powers to endure the states that are more and more shall we say corn fed.
Moving on
One of the highlights of the trip was a magnificent sunset when we entered Missouri. The St Louis Arch was neat to see as well. The sky was so radiant though. It served as a promise somehow to Nancy and me that everything will come together and it has. We are staying with family friends...we are safe and having so much fun and we ate Jimmy Johns for supper.
Day One was great. Here we are at the GATEWAY TO THE WEST! YEee haw. Today we drove. Tonight we will rest and tomorrow....well....tomorrow is another whole adventure
The life I love is making music with my friends and I can't wait to get on the road again...
All my love,
Cason
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