Flagstaff, AZ

The last two days have been spent seeing the desert and entering canyon country. Wednesday we drove from Amarillo to Santa Fe, and then yesterday from Santa Fe to Flagstaff, Arizona. Texas is flat. Flat flat flat. At times you can see so far in all directions that it feels like you can see the Earth's curve. The landscape starts to change closer to New Mexico. Mesas and canyons start to appear.

We had a rest at the New Mexico welcome center. For those traveling with livestock, they are kind enough to provide corrals.

We arrived in Santa Fe in early Wednesday afternoon, but didn't do anything touristy because we needed to do laundry and get the oil changed on the car. We stayed in a little hotel in the middle of the historic district of town, which is pretty with all of the adobe architecture. But it's the off-season, so everything is deader than disco. We walked a couple of blocks into town to get some dinner and passed one other couple -- and this was in the most touristy area of town. Nothing but galleries and jewelry stores and restaurants.

I liked Santa Fe, but I've never enjoyed desert climates. I hate feeling constantly dehydrated, with dried out skin and parched eyes. I also have regained my morning sickness and insomnia, so I spend alot of time nauseated and exhausted. All of that came to a head Wednesday afternoon, when I had a big fat pregnant lady melt-down. I picked a stupid fight with Jason and then spent the next 2 hours crying. Pretty pathetic. But I'm feeling better now, at least emotionally.

Yesterday morning we got up and had a very tasty but outrageously expensive breakfast, and then headed north of Santa Fe to Bandelier National Monument, to see the ancient Pueblo cliff dwellings. It was incredibly interesting to see these tiny caves in the sides of cliffs where people lived, and the ruins of the communities they built.

After that, we hit the road and started the trip to Flagstaff, about 350 miles away. The landscape in western New Mexico and eastern Arizona is so spectacular. We've had great weather this entire trip, and the air is so clear out here that you can see miles and miles into the distance. Jason and I sometimes pick out a landmark way off in the distance and then count the mile markers to see how far we could see. On the road, it was usually between 10 and 15 miles.

We took a little detour at Petrified Forest National Park about 30 miles over the Arizona
border, and there were spots where we could see Flagstaff, 120 miles away. In the park, we drove around and looked at the Painted Desert, which really does look painted. We were there at about 6pm, just as the sun was starting to set, and everything was pink and purple and white and brown. This is such a beautiful country.

Today we are off to see the Grand Canyon. I am so excited I can barely stand it -- I've never seen it.

Amarillo, TX

What I thought would be a boring day in the car ended up being really fun and interesting. We crossed into Oklahoma at the start of the day, determined to get through the state by the end of the day.

We saw lots of trees that showed the wear and tear of tornadoes. Miles and miles of scraggy looking trees that seemed to have had their tops chewed up by a weed-whacker.

We stopped in Checotah, Oklahoma, to look at a Civil War battle site, where the Battle of Honey Springs was fought. Checotah is also the home of American Idol Carrie Underwood. She even has a sign on the I-40!

Checotah is a small, scrubby looking town. We drove out towards the battlefield (which is actually in Rentiesville), and saw farms with cattle, horses, and even oil derricks.

Checotah also has the Oklahoma Odd Fellows home, which I think was an orphanage or something.

The battlefield wasn't much to look at, but it was interesting to learn about a battle I'd never heard of. Max romped around in the mud and enjoyed being cleaned off by Jason.

Back on the highway, we were surprised to see fields of enormous wind turbines in the heart of oil country.

We stopped in Oklahoma City to see the memorial at the Murrah Federal Building. It was incredibly moving -- I cried, of course.


Back on I-40, we stopped at a rest area to walk Max and use the facilities. It had a dog walking area with separate sections for country dogs and city dogs. The city dog area has a fire hydrant, whereas the country dog area just has grass and trees. Max is a city dog.

Finally, we crossed into Texas. We've covered 1200 miles since leaving Atlanta.

The highlight of the day was dinner at The Big Texan, home of the 72 oz. surloin. If you can finish it in less than an hour (plus the baked potato, roll and shrimp cocktail), it's free. The place is all done up like a saloon, with guys strolling around playing Yellow Rose of Texas and San Antonio Rose. We stuck with regular sized meals. But our waitress told us about some customers that regularly come through the restaurant on their way to their summer home in Florida. It's a husband and wife couple, both skinny, and the husband can finish almost 2 72 oz. steaks in less than an hour, and the wife can finish one. This steak is the size of an entire dinner plate, and it's over an inch thick. I can't even imagine eating it. Even Jason thought it was too much.

Now we're back at the Baymont Inn & Suites, rapidly becoming our favorite chain because of the high speed wireless internet access and their welcoming attitude towards pets. Tomorrow, we're off to Santa Fe.

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Today was a day of pilgrimmage. Specifically, we visited Graceland and Sun Studios in Memphis. I've always liked Elvis's music, but never really got the crazy obsessiveness that he seems to foster in some of his fans. But honestly, I was kind of feeling the love today. As tacky and over the top as Graceland is, it did make me appreciate how huge Elvis was and what a larger-than-life presence he was. He was good to his momma and served his country with pride and gave back to his community -- in addition to loving the pills and the gold-plated faucets and the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I was a little farklempt standing at his graveside, I won't lie to you.

*sniff*

standing in front of the "Lisa Marie"

The weird thing about Graceland is that it's in a crappy part of town, surrounded by strip malls. I expected it to be tucked away in the lush countryside or something. It was disconcerting.

These are Elvis's neighbors. Can you imagine having Graceland over your back fence? Neither can I.

Sun Studios was wonderful. It's a short tour -- all you see is a museum and then the studio itself, which is full of instruments and still has the original acoustic tiles on the walls and ceiling. There's an "x" on the floor where Sam Phillips had his singers stand, and it's where Elvis stood when recording his early hits. It almost felt like the place was full of ghosts. Thanks go out to Rich and Chris and Mindy, who gave Sun Studios such an enthusiastic recommendation.

standing in Elvis's spot

Jason channels the King

The Million Dollar Quartet: Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis and Johnny Cash

I'm Marion, Sam Phillips's secretary (the one who met and heard Elvis first)

We spent the rest of the day driving through Arkansas. The first part is really flat and boring, but then the mountains start and there were beautiful lakes and hills and it was a lovely drive. We're now at a Days Inn in Fort Smith, Arkansas, a place that I had only previously heard of in a Steve Earle song. The proprietor of the hotel is Indian. I'm dying to ask him how he ended up here. It's just so random and in the middle of nowhere.

Crossing over the Mighty Mississippi into Arkansas

Pimp My Kennel

With Max at a scenic overlook, watching the sunset

Tomorrow will be a big day in the car. We're going to try to blow through Oklahoma and Texas as quickly as possible, so that we can spend some quality time in New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. I need the rest. I'm exhausted. I'm feeling pretty good -- no more morning sickness -- but I'm so tired all the time. So Jason gets to drive, and I get to sleep.

Memphis: end of day 1

A little photo essay of our ride today...

The Birmingham skyline:




The Alabama-Mississippi border:



Jason driving through Mississippi:

The Mississippi-Tennessee border:

Max takes in the sights and smells on the outskirts of Memphis:

Jason and Max chill at the Baymont Inn & Suites:

It was a pretty, easy drive. Clear skies, no traffic. Max settled into his space in the backseat -- in his kennel with his dogbed inside. He has more legroom than either Jason or I will have the entire trip. He hangs out, looks around, sleeps, eats treats. The roughest part of his day was when we went to get some dinner after checking into the hotel. We left Max in the room with his bed and the TV on, but he was completely terrified. When we got back he was barking and shaking and freaking out. So, lesson learned. We won't leave him in a strange room again. Tomorrow we want to go tour Graceland and Sun Studios (I'm hoping to see someone crying at Elvis's grave), so we'll leave him in the car with the window cracked. He seems perfectly happy in the car, and it's cold enough that he won't be in any danger. For now, he's passed out on the bed with Jason, happier than a pig in shit.

It's exciting to be en route. It was hard to say goodbye to everybody, but after a few hours I calmed down and started enjoying the ride. Jason and I listen to music and shoot the breeze about everything and nothing. Every couple of hours we stop for some water and to take Max for a little walk. It's fun.

The journey begins

Now this is fucking cool. I am sitting in the car (Jason is driving), 9 miles from the Georgia/Alabama border, connected to the internet via my new Sprint wireless broadband card, blogging. We left Kathleen & Rich's almost an hour ago, and it was, as expected, a teary goodbye. Last night there was another goodbye get-together where I said farewell to Karen and Mindy, and I did plenty of weeping then. But not as much as when Kathleen and I said goodbye. Her 3-year old daughter ran out to give me a hug and a kiss, and that's when the waterworks started. She's such a muffin, and we've had fun the last few days, taking the dogs for walks, going to the playground, playing Candyland. I think Kathleen and I were trying to put off the final hug for as long as possible, under the pretense of checking the house to make sure we hadn't left anything.

But then it had to be done. We clung to each other for a couple of minutes. I really love her, and feel closer to her than any friend I've had in my life. I loved her from the minute I met her at my second job interview with Charlie. I had already met with him and Julie, and he wanted me to meet the other associates in the firm, so we had dinner at Pricci, a really nice Italian restaurant in town. Kathleen had been out drinking the night before with my predecessor, and was nursing a monster hangover. She sat down and said, "Motherfucker, I've got a headache. I need some water." And that was it. I've adored her ever since, and in the ensuing almost 8 years, we've become bestest buds. Leaving her is the hardest thing about leaving Atlanta. But we will talk and email and see each other and be friends forever.

So now we're on the road, heading to Memphis. We just passed over the Alabama line. The adventure has begun.

homeless

We moved out of our house yesterday. We closed on Tuesday, the movers came Wednesday, and yesterday we donated the rest of our stuff to The Salvation Army, got junk haulers to take out the rest, packed up the car (badly), cleaned the house, and drove away. Even writing about it makes me choke up. As I walked around the house finishing everything up, I cried and cried. Partly because I was exhausted, party because I'm pregnant and hormonal (hey, look at that -- I buried the lede!!), but mostly because I really loved that house and I'm going to miss it. It was my home for almost 8 years, the place where I really grew up. So driving away just felt weird. Like one minute I had a house and then I didn't.

We're staying this weekend with my friend Kathleen and her family. It's so lovely to be with them and hang out before we hit the road on Sunday. Her little girls clamor for my and Jason's attention, and so far we've played Candyland, blocks, gone to the park with the dogs, watched Dora the Explorer, and read books. But I still feel homeless. It's very strange to be a guest in someone's house but not have anywhere else to go to make yourself a not-guest. I feel unsettled and uneasy.

I'm sure I sound very whiny right now. It'll pass. I think once we start the road-trip, I'll get more excited. Right now I just feel tired and nauseated and anxious.