As the Song goes...

"On the road again..."

The grand plan is to spend some extended time in the Southwest which we so enjoyed a few years back. We are one day out from Wayne and Holly's home in Santa Fe and looking forward to seeing them.

We left Saint Simons Island on November 1st "in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout"... as the song goes. It was the weekend of the Georgia-Florida football game and the start of the 4th annual PGA McGladley Golf Classic. The island was hopping! A bitter sweet departure from our wonderful friends and our sweet little cottage. But the timing was right for an adventure so down the road we went.

 We stopped in Monteagle, Tennessee for the night, just up the I-24 Slide from Chattanooga. In the morning I took this Americana picture of sunrise over the Monteagle Super 8 and Waffle House. Yup, back on the road. Feeling good.

First stop, Nashville...

It was a short visit as it turned out to be the Annual Bourbon, Beer and Barbeque Festival, a rowdy scene... not our thing, but Connie was thrilled to meet Elvis.

 

At that point we were only 4 hours from Connie's brother, Mike, and family in Burlington, KY.  Rhonda and Mike were so gracious to invite us for an impromptu visit. And getting to see Molly, Chris, Meghan and Ashley was icing on the cake. Great time. Thanks ever so much...

 We gassed up on the way out of town. Another Kentucky bonus...

We headed down "The 46" on Tuesday morning and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful day driving through the Indiana farm country all the way to Saint Louis. The next day was a different story, rain and heavy truck traffic on "The 44". No fun, but the weather and the traffic cleared by Springfield and the Missouri farm country was just as scenic.

Wednesday night found us in El Reno Oklahoma where we hunkered down in a nice Best Western and where we enjoyed watching the 2013 Country Music Awards. No twerking, no obscenities, just fabulous music and decent human beings, a Subway turkey sandwich, a cold Yeungling and a good nights sleep. Perfect.

We lingered over the excellent TexMex breakfast buffet talking with an 80 year old woman named Ann Johnson from Kansas who was headed for the salt flats on a birding excursion and a big Okie roughneck headed for the oil fields. Americans are wonderful, genuine folks and everyone has a story they will tell with just a little encouragement. My amazing wife has a wonderful way of engaging people and getting them talking.

 

We drove by the exit for Foss, Oklahoma before doubling back at the next exit. Glad  we did. Here are some photos of the proud little broken down town.

 

 

Connie loved the cardinal... of course.

 

The community tornado shelter.

Main Street

And it wasn't just the Foss name we found in the cemetery...

The poor town struggled from 1900 to 1937 to get on it's feet. They were devastated over and over again, by a flood, by two major fires, by the dust bowl and finally by the closure of a nearby military base. Today there are no stores, no banks, no school, only a handful of homes and a Baptist church. I mean, we Fosses are tough, but holy cow, we also "know when to hold em and know when to fold em"... as the song goes.

"The 40" from Oklahoma City to New Mexico was fabulous; blue sky, bright sunshine, light traffic, 75 mph speed  limit, stunning high desert landscapes, 50 miles of majestic whirling wind machines, butes, canyons, washes, cows... Tonight we ate some incredible Mexican food at Del-reo's in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Our waitresses name was Stormy. She and Connie bonded... of course.

We're having a blast.