Neighborhood walk, 1.6 miles. Weather: 45°, sunny, cloudless blue sky. I realized two things while walking this morning. The first is that I feel like I’m living in a Wes Anderson movie set. The lack of human activity is decidedly eerie. The second is that what adds to this eerieness is the fact that people do not use fences to enclose their back yards; they use walls. There is this strange juxtaposition of enclosed spaces set amidst open land and sky that feels alien. Individual houses have a fortress vibe to them.

I passed a woman this morning who was out picking up garbage along the curb of the main boulevard. She seemed to be doing this of her own accord, as there was nothing about her equipment (a kitchen garbage bag and a picking stick) or her attire (sweats) that indicated any official or volunteer position. She was the only person I passed.

The route I took showed me a different way to arrive home rather than the way I was taking. I believe it’s a bit shorter and more direct. There are a number of dead ends and streets that don’t connect to other streets, so finding a direct path is not simple. But I am getting better driving around this week and getting my bearings. Now that we’re mostly settled in we have to start planning trips. Saguaro National Park and the Tombstone/Bisbee/Douglas route are the two easiest. We didn’t come here to sit around the house. We will, though, be watching the Bills/Ravens game. That’s going to be a challenging game for Buffalo.

As soon as I retired, I canceled any and every social media app I had. Facebook is - and always has been - an evil corporation run by a hollow, soulless human being. This article goes into great detail as to why Facebook is and always has been evil. Yes it’s long; a 23 minute read. But if you really want to know the unvarnished truth about Facebook, you should read it.

And if you still have a Facebook account, you should delete it. Full stop. No excuses. There are alternatives. Micro.blog is the best one. Email people. Create an email list of all your “friends” and email them from time to time. Call them up and talk to them. Text them (use Signal). Any paltry excuse you offer for remaining on Facebook just gives Suckerberg more power over you and your friends, and supports his MAGA agenda. Own your own digital life!

The Slop Society wheresyoured.at

A very short driving day. Only 4 hours on the road, all non-interstate. I thought we would be able to make it from our last stop to our destination, but AML wasn’t so sure and made me put in this short stop along the way. It was an interesting drive, in the sense that US 54 goes through some rather barren landscape, as well as a few run-down towns. Most of the towns we drove through felt semi-abandoned, relics of the 1960s. I don’t find the geography desolate, but once you get a look at the run-down nature of the region’s towns, “desolate” does spring to mind as an apt description. Our route took us past White Sands National Park, but we did not stop to see the Visitor’s Center, as we were listening to the Bills-Broncos game on XM Radio and didn’t want to stop listening.

The weather also added a certain mystique to the drive, as we drove through a few snow showers. Many of the mountain peaks we passed were capped in clouds, and the snow showers were thin enough that you could see through them as if they were light fog.

Tomorrow brings us to the end of our travels, and none too soon. At our age traveling has more of an effect on us physically that we were aware, and it might take two or three days until we are settled in and more relaxed. I did attempt one photo while driving through the White Sands area, but I’m sure it’s none too good.

A quick run from OKC across the Texas panhandle to Santa Rosa NM. The sky was deep blue, the roads pretty clear, and crusing at 78MPH was no problem. The view goes on for miles. No trees to be seen anywhere. The panhandle is peppered with windmills.

We had our first Buc-ee’s experience in Amarillo. A little much, I think, but I did have one of their brisket sandwiches, which was tasty enough. The Wal-Mart of convenience stores is how I would describe it. I don’t think we’ll be running into any more, but one was enough to scratch the itch.

As we drive alongside the old Rt. 66, I can’t help but imagine taking a trip on the CT 125 along the two-lane. I don’t think you can ride the entire Rt. 66 anymore without using some interstate (I-40 or 44), but it’s fun to imagine it. I’ve been this way a few times, the first with my family as we road-tripped across the USA in 1969. Many of the bypasses hadn’t been completed at that time, and the interstate technically went right through Tucumcari, Amarillo, and other cities along the way. Lots of changes since then, notably the condition of the roads. Amarillo, however, remains a city where I-40 cuts right through the town, and it’s still one of the ugliest cities I know of.

Santa Rosa is a small town of about 2800 people, maybe 5 Mexican restaurants, and travel centers like Pilot and Love’s. We ate at Chico’s, an underwhelming experience. Watched the two NFL wild card games, and hope to get to the next destination before the Bills game tomorrow.

Today was an off day - no driving. OKC was not as shut down as we expected, but AML and I spent the entire day languishing around the motel room. She actually slept quite a bit, taking a nap right after breakfast. We grabbed some extra food for a snack in the early evening, as we had planned to have our large meal at 3:30. We ate at a regional chain called Charleston’s, and it was very good - best meal we’ve had since being on the road. AML got a walnut chicken salad (she kept remarking about the high quality of the chicken), and I got a chicken-fried chicken cutlet - two, actually. Portions were very good, and I don’t mind paying the price for good quality - $39 for the two entrees. We looked for a grocery store or pharmacy to restock on distilled water, but we’re apparently in a pharmacy and grocery store desert. The rest and the meal will do us good for the next three days of driving.

It’s not a very good picture, I know, since it was taken out the hotel window. But it was a small reminder of how expansive sunsets can be out west. With the storm behind us we are looking forward to more sunshine and fall-like temperatures for the remainder of the trip.

We were up early this morning because we knew we were facing driving towards another winter storm. The area we traveled through in south central Missouri was really spectacular with the morning sun shining through all the ice clinging to the trees along the route. It made for quite a sight. I am not particularly good at documenting my travels or taking photos in general. When I drive, I am a little extra focused on making time and arriving at the destination. I take in sights as I go, but rarely stop to take photos. In this case, I was also trying to beat the storm predicted to hit Oklahoma City today. We didn’t quite get that accomplished, as we caught the storm on the section of I-44 between Tulsa and OKC. Honestly, I’ve driven in worse snowstorms in my life. The snow was not really accumulating on the road, and we were able to make decent time. There was probably about 2" of icy snow on the ground in OKC once we arrived - an annoyance but not crippling.

I had one minor mishap. While driving down a driveway into the street after going through a fast food drive-thru, the rack carrying my CT 125 hit the ground. The angle of the street runoff channel was a little too steep. The bike and rack are still there, but there may be a slight bend somewhere. I will have to look into that before we leave Sat. morning. We are staying in OKC for two nights so I could have a day off from driving (I do all of it). We had thought to travel around the city and see a sight or two, but the weather may preclude that. The city itself may be shut down somewhat due to weather.

Winter traveling has its drawbacks. Apart from the weather, the days are shorter, and since I don’t much care for driving in the dark anymore, we have to arrive at our destination before dark. Then, once it’s dark, the motivation to go out to eat is lost because we don’t truly know where we’re going. Our Grubhub experience was so bad in terms of price that we’re not doing that again. So today it looks like microwaved dinners bought from the hotel minimart in the lobby. The upside is no traffic and quiet hotels. We are trying not to be in a rush and stay relaxed, but the shorter days do add a little to the stress. Maybe there’s a good movie on TV.

We passed through the area where the ice storm took place this past Sunday. Ice still hangs from the trees.

We traveled about a one mile stretch over old Rt. 66 in MO, and the weight of the ice was seriously bending over many of the thick pines along the side of the road. We passed at least half a dozen overturned tractor-trailers still on the shoulders and medians of I-70 and I-44. In one location along I-70 in IL, there was a serious tractor-trailer accident involving at least three semis that was causing a 14-minute delay on the interstate. Google Maps routed us onto US 40 (the old National Road) and bypassed us past the crash scene, but we could still see it, as US 40 parallels I-70. Air temperature outside was around 25° for all of the trip. But the drive itself was smooth and even, despite the fact that I got too caught up ogling the Mississippi River and the St. Louis Arch and missed the turnoff for I-44. Bright sunshine was with us most of the day, and a few of the vistas gleaming with snow and ice were pretty awesome.

Thought for the day: what makes these aggressive lane-switching drivers think they have a right to drive as they do and put other people’s lives in danger? One guy today practically drove right off the right shoulder while trying to pass a truck, and another one tried to pass by using the extreme left shoulder!

AML Quote of the Day:

“If she’s going to talk basketball on ESPN then she shouldn’t have 3-inch fingernails painted yellow.”

UPDATE - We just had a free lasagna dinner at the Hampton Inn we’re staying at. We also had a free breakfast this morning at the Hampton Inn we stayed at last night. We skipped lunch. So $0.00 spent on food today!

Day 1 of the Journey West completed. There was a little lake effect snow to drive through but nothing too concerning. We only stopped once for lunch and gas, which is pretty astounding. The price of having food delivered is incredibly high - I don’t truly know how people do this. Next time we will order a dinner for one and split it. Taxes, tip and fees nearly double the price. And WTF Indiana - get your roads fixed already! I-70 is pretty terrible in places.

AML and I went to the chiropractor today for adjustments. I’ve never had much faith in chiropractors, as I think that once you start, you get hooked on them. This practice takes no insurances, and is a drop-in practice (no appointments). It’s actually pretty reasonable. They did an X-ray on me showing the congenital fusion in my coccyx, as well as the slight misalignment of my hips. I think the stage accident I had at Shakespeare in Delaware Park during Midsummer in 2022 may still be playing a role in my current discomfort. I did feel a little better once I left, but I had to put the motorcycle trailer onto the Venza earlier this afternoon, and may have re-tweaked it ever so slightly. I picked up a back brace at CVS and used it, and I think it helped keep the damage down to a minimum. I took a few Advil and am using the heating pad to keep things as loose as I can. My current karma is not exactly positive at the moment. I’ve still a lot of lifting and moving left to do. I bought a cervical butt pillow for the drive out, and I hope it gets here on time.