 |
| Juice comes out on the right, fiber comes out on the left. |
On my last major "Dogs and Mrs. Blue" road trip I brought my blender. This time I brought along my juicer to make energizing ginger juice for my drive. When you juice, all the fiber bits go into a separate container which you then throw out (or compost if you are at home). As I rinsed out my juicer in the tub and threw away the fiber bits in the trash, I realized that to a cleaning lady it would look as though an epic puke fest had occurred in my hotel room. If she was unfamiliar with the smell of fresh ginger as we might assume of a crocker Missouri cleaning lady, she might also believe the room smelled of wretched vomit.
I believe that our perceptions, whether true or false, are our reality. So if the cleaning lady perceives she is cleaning puke, she is cleaning puke even though it's just veggie and ginger bits. Cleaning puke is one my least favorite activities and I wouldn't wish it on anyone else. So I spent some extra time diminishing any evidence that a puke party had taken place in my hotel room before hitting the road.
After an hour or so I stopped at this fancy looking Missouri rest stop for a quick pee and dog walk.
 |
| This is clearly a sign for free mops and directions. |
As I walked into the rest stop I noticed this sign advertising free mops. I was eager to get back on the road but mops are not the kind of freebie you pass by. So I casually popped my head into the room where they were apparently giving away free mops to promote their travel stop. When the lady at the counter asked if she could help me I inquired about the free mops. "Yes we do!" she said as she handed me a map of Missouri. Ah, maps! That made more sense but was none the less disappointing.
 |
| Bill Scrapps relaxing in the only five minutes he was not on my lap |
Galena Kansas is located on the historic route 66. I believe it is the "get your kicks on route 66" route 66. In the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, two of the characters hail from Galena. Which reminds me, that I saw a ton of vineyards in Missouri, another road trip surprise. Who knew Missouri was silly with Vineyards. Galena is also "famous" for the murals on the Front Street Garage. Given these titillating attractions, and that Galena was only a fifteen minute detour from my route, I decided to Galena Kansas I would go.
 |
| Downtown Galena |
 |
| I didn't think Kansas was part of the wild west until I saw this building |
 |
| The "famous" Kan O Tex filling station. Unfortunately it was closed on Tuesdays squashing my french fry fantasies. |
 |
| The "famous" front street garage |
 |
| Dilapidated downtown buildings with colored doors |
 |
| I didn't get a good picture of the welcome to Kansas sign, so this will have to suffice. |
 |
| And then I was in Oklahoma |
I arrived at my 3rd grade best friend's house in Tulsa, Oklahoma around dinner time. Her daughter promptly made beds for the little Weiner dogs. After a delicious dinner of pesto macaroni and roasted cauliflower, we left the kids with their grandparents and did what adult friends who have children do for fun- attended a PTA meeting at the kid's school. While this activity may sound nightmarish to the average childless adult it was exciting to me for two reasons. 1. My friend has spent considerable time and energy adding green spaces to the school and she wanted to share this with me. As a fellow gardener and her personal proposal editor I was excited to see the fruits of her labors. 2. As a person without children I thought it might be interesting to see what being a parent feels like. And of course, as a friend to someone who has young children you have to be flexible and go with the flow.
 |
| Two dogs, one Einstein |
 |
| We've been posing glamorously in non glamorous places for 25 years. Actually this school courtyard is quite exquisite. |
 |
| Examining a job well done |
In addition to making her daughter's school more green she orchestrated the painting of this United States map. Fortunately none of the children have noticed that Delaware is missing. I found the PTA meeting itself very overwhelming. How do parents remember all this information about uniforms, field trips, and celebration days?? Fortunately for my friend she only has one child in school this year. I can't imagine having to coordinate all this stuff for two kids.
Then we went home and talked into the wee hours. Next post: Tulsa to Texas.
Comments
Post a Comment