Excerpts from my Colorado vacation – Day 2

19 July 2008
~7:20 am
Hickory, NC Cracker Barrel

I set my internal alarm clock for 4:30 am but my bladder was set for 3:30 am. Good thing, because we left at 4:37 am.

I napped some and read some before the sun rose. Car was a little cool so I wrapped up in the quilt from Kathy’s first husband’s family.

We smelled skunk, in passing, as we headed for the highway. Dad almost managed to miss the dead one on the road. That is an incredibly rancid smell. The van still has a whiff aobut. I suggested driving through tomato sauce. No one took me seriously.

We stopped at about 6:17 am to have breakfast. Our waitress’s name was Annette. I ordered hot tea and drank from my own supply.

9:43 am

Welcome to Tennessee. We stopped to get historic pamphlets for friends of Dad & Kathy. Hoowally homeschools his boys and they’re educational materials.

~11 am local time Crossville, TN
Lunch at McDonald’s – nuggets, diet coke, apples slices & 2 apple pies.

~12:30 pm CDT near River Bend?

Finished second round of snood. Kathy’s driving and Dad is listening to a Neil Diamond cd.
I finished Death in Holy Orders by PD James earlier. After lunch, but before I picked up my tatting. I hope to leave the book at our next stop [Bookcrossing.org].

1:47 pm CDT
Narrowly averted accident?

Saw a guy in big pickup pulling a large trailer; we smelled smoke. Then it’s obvious that the rear-most right tire is shredding. Kathy waited until a straightaway, hit her flashers, flashed her headlights and as we came even with the driver, she honked her horn as Dad gestured. Soon after, we saw the guy flip on his hazards and he slowed down. We were out of sight before he pulled off the road but we’re fairly certain that he did, soon afterwards.

[poem in pencil]

Summer sun, so much light
Reflects off chrome so bright.
Waves of heat from the road.
Rivers of asphalt that have flowed

From pens and pavers of DOT’s
Like streams to both seas.
Carrying travelers of business and pleasure
Vehicles of commerce and leisure.

Travelling west on vacation
No longer station to station
On the ribbons of steel.
Instead, motel and fast food meal.

The less direct route,
See what’s about
Road digressions along the way
Museums and parks and shopping, yay.

Time to talk.
Stop to walk.
History and stories of family and nation.
Take time for relaxation.

Take a look at scenery.
Admire the greenery.
Not just the goal, enjoy the journey.
It’s true, not just corny.

Truckers thread the states
Entire country, all the dates.
Like quilters who stitch
With lane, lines, median and ditch.

Patching the towns and days
Build community, a nation to raise.
From Manteo to Modesto, Key West to Point Hope,
The roads like threads, string, twine and rope.

4:23 pm CDT Memphis TN
La Quinta on Macon Cove, off Sycamore View Rd.
670 miles

~6 pm Corky’s on Poplar
BBQ ribs & so forth

***** Small dining room, great food, BBQ slightly sweet
Had BBQ (pulled pork of course) sandwich and banana pudding. Huge sandwich and rich dessert.

9:45 pm Almost in bed
Check two of my email accounts. Caught up on eTatters; released a book on bookcrossing; IM’d with Bill F; and briefly checked Facebook.

Dad and Kathy hit the pool. They came back as I was about to brush my teeth.

I am very tired. And I forgot my card reader. Unless I find another way, I will not be downloading my camera until I get home.

Tropical Storm Cristobal is hitting Eastern NC with rain. If it stays that way and followed the predicted path, it will be a good thing.

Poem for today
Crunch of frozen ground,
Frost-limned grass snap
Under trudging feet.
Monday workward bound,
Half-moon rising
Shares the sky
With the dawning sun.
Wintry air bites
At open skin
Nipping me awake.


Gaming most of the weekend. We did the next 2 parts of Greyhawk Ruins on Saturday. Then we took Diana out to supper for her birthday. The t-shirt was too small so I'm going to have to return it & order a size larger. Sunday it was Rosemary's home game. We had a short fight & Mike's character really pissed mine off. Note: Mike did not piss me off. Amber is mad at Dratsab.

tatting: I finally started Jane's Tat It & See. I got through Day 7. I don't think that it's an elephant because she's already done one, but it's distinctly elephant-shaped at this point.

I took a load of books to the Used Book Store. I picked up 4 with the store credit plus I bought Season 1 of Lois & Clark (since I didn't get it for Christmas). Now I need to get rid of the books that they didn't buy.

My copy of Witch Hunter still hasn't arrived. It looks like it won't ship until the company puts out their next product, which is supposed to be sometime this month.

books: I finished Accidental Vampire, read The River Knows and re-read Wait Until Midnight. The latter 2 are from the Used Bookstore.

I did a few more rows of the ribbon yard lattice scarf. It's starting to look like something. I'm still not 100% certain it's like a scarf.

clothes: t-shirts, jeans, tennis shoes & sweatshirts this weekend. Today it's white turtleneck, new dark red corduroy vest, black jeans, black suede shoes, black tatted earrings (the ones that I made), black stone ring, hematite ring, & black plastic bangle bracelet.