Sunday, April 26, 2009

Road trip, day 4.

So, my last day of the road trip was on April 17th. I woke up later than I intended, but considering I had driving through 2 time zones the previous day, I didn't do too bad. The first thing I saw when I woke up at the Amarillo Ashmore Inn was Fox News on the television in the continental breakfast room and this:


I was out of Texas by late morning, and on to Oklahoma. I am being completely serious when I say every building I went into when I was in Oklahoma (3 total) had one of these in it:

Oklahoma also had the most elaborate "welcome" signs of all of the states I drove through:

Especially when compared to Kansas (sorry Tom):

Kansas was very pretty and green, and exciting because it was the home stretch. Here is the first Kansas City sign I saw:

Right when I was reaching the 60 mile mark from Kansas City, I had my first car problem of the trip, and I blew a tire, in the middle of nowhere Kansas. I was really lucky, because a Kansas Highway patrol officer was driving behind me, and he pulled over, changed my tire and put on my spare, and then pumped up the spare with the bicycle pump I had packed in my car. I then drove 30 miles to Ottawa, Kansas where a nice young man at the Walmart sold me a new tire, and changed it for me. While I was wandering around the Walmart, I saw this:


In case you cant make it out, this is an entire aisle (both sides) of fake memorial flowers, right in the front of the store. Just memorial flowers, the regular fake flowers have their own aisle in the back of the store. Only in Kansas.

I finally made it to my apartment at about 9pm.

Flash forward, and I am writing this in the 3rd thunderstorm I have seen in Kansas City in the 6 total days I have lived here (I spent four since I moved in Albuquerque.) Lots of lighting, much more than in California.

Tomorrow is my first day at work. I will take pictures.

2 comments:

  1. Juliet, hope your first day is a good one and that you are meeting lots of interesting people. Regarding Walmart and fake memorials and thunder and lightening storms: truly welcome to the Midwest! Someday I will show you my photos from a northern Wisconsin cemetery full of fake flowers, animals, and a tombstone that only says, "I told you I was dying."

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  2. Girl... Kansas is WIIIIILD!!! I can't handle all them memorial flowers! I'd fucks with the thunderstorms though. haha. I saw one when I went with Nate to Idaho and we just sat in front of this huge window overlooking the town and the mountains in the horizon and we watched the thunderstorm for about a half hour. It was really cool. I hope work is going well! First week, DONE! (This is Sela)

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