roadtrip-day 10

alright, kids, we're in double digits now...

we got on the road way, WAY later than planned. WAY. I think we were shooting for 12 or so, knowing full well it would be 1230 at the earliest. SO not what happened.

we got up, started packing and then went to eat brunch with my granny at one of her very favorite places, first watch. it was, per usual, YUM. there's some bacado omelet thing that's bacon and avocado and tomatoes and mmmmmm. in her typical way she told us about stories of the past and we talked about granddad and how she loves it that I'm a KD and all sorts of warm fuzzies.

after we got home we began loading up the car. matt loaded while I packed things up. we needed to make sure that most of our luggage could just hang out in the car the whole time. so I had to combine our luggage that we needed, organize the rest so it would fit, etc. we also had two six packs of beer, the leftover liquor from the hotel after-parties and the beer from that, too, a shelf, two big plastic bins full of my old stuff and a bunch of odds and ends. MAN the car was FULL. We actually used the shelf compartments to hold different things.

It was when we were about 80% packed that my granny started trying to give me things--things that she had already designated as "mine." She also let me pick a single piece of green glass from her collection--I took a small footed bowl. There was some pink depression glass as well, AND I got to pick a snowglobe, so I got the one of Tulsa. They were all little pieces of no real "value" (and therefore if you're family and reading this and thinking "hey, that's not fair," please just let it go) but the sentiment was HUGE. I also was like "matt, we gotta make room for this. I have been eyeing some of these things for TWO DECADES. if she's up for me taking them then I am most certainly going to!"

Then we went to my mom's to collect my computer, grab the boulevard wheat and summer shandy that no one else drank and head out. As always, it is way sad to leave tulsa. I love it there. I still stand by not wanting to live there for many, many reasons, but my family is not one of them. Departing was made much easier because we were already running so far behind. :)

and then, the roadside america fun began.

first was a stop at the uss batfish, which the good folks of muskogee insisted they have. in theory it was a cool stop. in reality Jack took us the wrong way, it added 40 minutes to our time AND the gate was closed. we were both like "this is the first stop that we have really regretted making."

the next one was better though--a small town in arkansas is the spinach capital of the world. it is in alma. we had some fun with popeye and stopped for a snack at braums. and then it was back on the road.

and then, this was pretty remarkable. it's pugh's mill park, and it was AMAZING. it's a reproduction of an 1800s mill. it is ALL made of concrete. the guy who made it would mix things in the trunk of his car and wouldn't say how he did it. he was super secretive. and detailed--the trees he would make were so ornate you could actually tell the species of the tree from the way they looked. yeah. crazy. ALL of the things you see are concrete (well except for the water or plants, duh). but the bridge, all of the mill, etc. also, we saw a girl who looked like a princess. matt said it's something about in some hispanic or latino cultures they have a big to-do on a girl's 15th birthday, and we thought maybe that was this. she looked lovely. If you have kids and live near here I highly recommend you visit. There's also a nice lake nearby that made me think of swan lake but twice as big.

at this point we started worrying about getting to memphis in time to take pictures. yikes. we saw mccain mall (and genuinely hoped it had nothing to do with the man) and kept on chugging. we didn't make it there in time for the sun to be out, but we DID get pictures anyway. we saw america's largest pyramid and got attacked by gnats. I was so confused, too--my camera wouldn't auto focus. when I turned that off I got the picture of all the little dots. do you know what that was??? GNATS. gross gross gross.

we tried to take some pictures downtown (I figured I'd find a cool sign or something) but it was SKETCH-VILLE and after we saw the man without a shirt on and the people walking around I insisted that we go elsewhere. I DID NOT feel safe.

next was graceland. I think we listed to the paul simon song like ten times. matt had never heard it. (losing love is like a window in your heart). we parked and walked around the little area across from it and also saw the grounds proper. well, from a distance and through the gate, anyway. there were a couple of elvis' old cars, some restaurants and the like. it was late and we were tired, but that was okay.

we had one more little stop on the way to tupelo--graceland, too. after reading an article on the man who owner and operated the house we realized it would probably be best to NOT go in. seriously, the shortest tour he's ever given was more than two hours. plus it was late. and creepy looking. yikes. it is not pink anymore though. I was afraid that if he saw the flash he would come out and invite us in. geez.

tupelo was just an hour down the road, and we got to our hotel. it was NICE. and not sketchy. and clearly intended for business travelers--free internet, swank alarm clock and a do not disturb sign that had a man in a suit talking on the phone with the words "Deadline pending" splashed across the photo. it was SO good to sleep. SO. so. so.