No squinting needed

We made it! Hard to get a good shot as we sped through downtown. Heading home for dinner!





The driver, happy to be so close to the destination.


Zach's new office in midtown.

-- L & Z & squintz

Almost home

Officially in the eastern time zone! We don't really qualify as visitors, but we missed the welcome to GA sign on the highway :)







-- L & Z & squintz

A clear view

The car has at least twenty of every kind of bug imaginable squished on it, and is looking forward to a good bath. Until then, the daily window wash has been necessary.



-- L & Z & squintz

Graceland

Before leaving Memphis this morning we toured the Graceland mansion. In addition to the house, visitors can view Elvis' car collection and massive amounts of paraphanalia from his life (including just about every piece of clothing he ever wore). There was an informative audio tour to listen to through the house to tell us a bit about the garish decor and how Elvis enjoyed his home.














Most all of the walls were mirrored. This staircase led us into the basement, where the tv and game room were.









Elvis had a tricycle too!

Moving on down the road we stopped for lunch at our favorite, Chick-fil-a, the first on the trip.


Love, L & Z & squintz

The mighty Mississippi

We are east of the Mississippi! Our Comfort Inn (which is indeed very comfy and nicer than we expected) is downtown, just a block off the river. It's good to stretch out after a long day in the car and a good meal. Zach is going through some literature, getting excited for out tour of Graceland tomorrow morning.





crossing over.


After dinner by the river.

Love, L & Z & squintz

The real deal

Memphis style BBQ, dry rubbed and smoked for hours, is the tastiest there is. We did some research and found one of the best spots in Memphis, certified by the crowd of locals. Central Barbecue was a couple miles east of downtown. The sun was still up so the outdoor seating, accompanied by a character playing his guitar, was a comfortable place to devour our slab of ribs. The best BBQ either of us has ever had, too bad the photos can't include the mouth-watering smells!





Before...


...and after.

Outdoor eating in warm weather, blues-y guitar music, and true southern grub...we must be getting close!

Sidenote: while we were eating, a girl walked in that looked just like one of the American Idol contestants from this year. (the teeny girl with blonde hair who's name we can't recall) turns out it was her, confirmed by all the people coming up to her to talk. Small town celebrity.



Love, L & Z & squintz

Rest stop

Somewhere between Little Rock and Memphis. It was nice to get out of the car to warm weather and the smell of the trees. It's starting to feel familiar...

Bathroom stops for today:
Zach - 5
Laura - 2
Must be another one of those sympathy pregnancy symptoms. Or the diet coke Zach drank to make sure he stays awake driving :)
It's a good thing we will be home tomorrow, we are starting to look a little ragged!




-- L & Z & squintz

Local eats

Braum's only has restaurants within a one day's drive from their warehouse. (to preserve fast food 'freshness') We stopped for lunch and an icecream before we got out of range. Very similar to the DQ. This one also had a small grocery inside for the locals to consolidate their errands. Squintz was craving pecan praline, Zach stuck with the classic - banana!

A good effort

The daily ice stop led us to find a cake too soaked to save. We had high hopes of getting the top of our weddig cake across the country with us for our first anniversary. Looks like we will have to bake our own replica instead, we had to leave the original in a small town in Oklahoma.


-- L & Z & squintz

Oklahoma, OK!

...Where the wind really does come rushing down the plains. It is hard to believe how hard the wind blows, and constantly. Uncle
Dick and Carol were gracious hosts to take us to dinner, give us a place to stay, and cook us breakfast. We had fun last night sharing photos, stories, and memories. Heather also joined us for dinner and afterward at home, it was a joy to see everyone. Now we just need to keep our word that we will try to stay in touch and get together more often! After a good meal to start the day, we are on the road to Memphis.




-- L & Z & squintz

Oklahoma City Memorial

What a sad place. We toured the museum at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, and saw the outdoor memorial. No detail of the event, the aftermath, or the investigation was missed. The whole museum is really well done though it's hard to read every bit. We were happy to see Dick and Carol's smiling faces shortly after finishing the tour to change the subject to a lighter mood. We are on our way now to meet Heather for dinner.






Each person lost in the tragedy has a chair with their name engraved in the glass base.

Everything's bigger in Texas

On the way to Oklahoma City. We just passed the 'largest cross in the Western hemisphere'. Not sure what the point of it is, but it figures that it would be in Texas. We are wondering where the largest cross is in the eastern hemisphere...

Goodbye down comforter

We traded in the posh bed linens for a motel complete with an empty ice machine, a casino in the front parking lot, and the whiz of the highway to lull us to sleep. For 49 bucks, we aren't complaining, plus there's a free breakfast that gets rave reviews from the old lady at the front desk. Just to be safe, and not tempt anyone, we unloaded the car into our room. It will give us a chance to reorganize a bit, just hoping we can fit it all back in. We are on the road again tomorrow morning to reach OK City by lunchtime.



All the puzle pieces.

Sweet dreams, Z,L, & "S"

Three wheelin'

Don't confuse this with a motorcycle. The chick on the back corrected the truckstop employees that it's a TRIcycle.
We were happy to see this contraption when we pulled into the parking lot to make a pit stop. It passed us on the highway and we couldn't get to the camera quick enough. Maybe one of the most ridiculous things we've seen lately.

A little more of Santa Fe

Our blog has been a bit slow on the uptake, so here are some extra photos.



Colorful paper flowers.



Admiring local art.



Laura and Squintz take a break.



Cafe Pasqual's, a cheerful lunch spot. Cold watermelon gazpacho, yum!



Laura's favorite Edward Curtis photo.

A day in Santa Fe

24 hours in a colorful and cultural town. We slept in until 10 and enjoyed a leisurely morning in our comfy room, much needed after our early morning on the previous day (and Zach's long day of driving). A cup of joe and a pastry and we were ready to wander the streets.


Strings of chiles hang everywhere.


Inside the cathedral of Saint Francis. The whole structure was undergoing a facelift, so the outside was covered in scaffolding. The inside was being touched up as well, but we were able to capture some really good shots with the SLR. We lit a prayer candle here for Squintz.






Mission San Miguel, the oldest church in the U.S. We bought a 'milagro' here, a small silver charm that represents a prayer intention. (a mexican tradition) Our charm was a boot, a prayer for our journey. The milagro will be hammered into the stand of the giant bell inside the chapel, where Squintz can one day return to see it in place.

We both enjoyed Santa Fe a lot and left with some great treasures. During our wandering we educated ourselves on turquoise and took stock of what we saw. We ended up buying a necklace from a Navajo Indian who made it. The Indians spread out their handmade jewelry and crafts every day in front of the Palace of the Governors. We learned through a local shop that the natives in this location were the ones to trust. A Pendleton wool throw also made it into our belongings after looking in a few shops at different designs. Luckily we have the same tastes and agreed on one we both really liked for our house.

The car is once again packed, and we are on our way to Amarillo. We will stay there long enough to sleep, and then move onto OK City tomorrow morning.

Local cuisine

Tonight we dined just around the corner from the inn at The Shed. There was a bit of a wait, but it was well worth the authentic southwest/Mexican cuisine. The restaurant grows it's own chiles and grinds them daily to create their dishes. We started with a green chile stew and the house salad, the rest of dinner was chicken adobo and blue corn tacos. Ofcourse there was dessert, a fresh raspberry sundae. Everything was delicious, and spicy!





There are two tacos under there. Needless to say, we left very full, and with very happy bellies.






A fun sculpture on the walk back.



This waterfall feature is just outside our room inside the inn, traveling down two floors. The hotel is great, they even folded all of our clothes when they came into turn down the sheets and bring Zach his cookies. (just like home!) The humidifier the staff set up is a nice relief for two kids new to the dry climate we've been traveling through.

We had a long day driving, and are looking forward to some fun here tomorrow and a short drive to Amarillo in the afternoon.

love, L & Z & squintz

At home

The driver kicks his feet up after a long day.



-- L & Z & squintz

Santa Fe

Final stop for the day. The Inn of the Anasazi will be home tonight, our 'treat' of the road trip. We are excited to explore the plaza, it's a beautiful day out.







Our room, great chair.


-- L & Z & squintz

Fried catfish sandwich

No road trip is official without eating at a Cracker Barrel.






Laura rocking, holding a bag of stick candy. A Cracker Barrel essential.


Dessert!

-- L & Z & squintz

Racing trains

We have been passing many colorful trains. these were just before leaving Arizona. we just crossed the line to New Mexico! Tee pees everywhere.






-- L & Z & squintz