I’m pretty sure because we crossed the Oklahoma line, yesterday, that we’re officially in the Wild West. Yee-haw! I can’t imagine traveling this terrain with horses and a covered wagon, but I get a vague idea just by dragging a covered wagon, called an Airstream, across the hilly, bumpy roads. We lack any horse manure, but each time we stop and I check the inside of the Airstream, it looks like a group of rowdy teens broke into the camper and had a wild party. Cushions, pillows and dishes all akimbo and a roll of toilet paper streamed down the aisle (I forgot to put it away in the cupboard 🤦🏼♀️).
All kidding aside, we’re traveling along the iconic Route 66, which is a pretty cool throw-back in time. The landscape definitely feels a lot less tropical and more plainsy, rolly hilly, than Florida. And it’s gosh darn HOT. I thought Florida was hot but nothing like Oklahoma. We pulled into our KOA campground late afternoon Thursday, to set up in 107° temps. 🥵 No wonder it took the Airstream, as well as the fridge and freezer 6+ hours to cool down.
Pepper survived her first day without Charlie and Bailey and if I’m not mistaken, I kinda think she enjoys being the center of our universe. She’s managed to expand and stretch her little body to take up all the space Charlie and Bailey previously occupied, before we left them behind to vacation at the lake with Noni and Pop-pop.
Pepper hasn’t voiced her opinion yet about ditching the two troublemakers, but as far as I can see the only thing Pepper really misses are the extra potential meals. However, I have faith that she’ll survive on the extra scraps careless people have dropped and thrown on the grassy knolls at the Pilot and Flying J truck stops we’ve been hitting. So far she’s found a chicken bone, a half-eaten chicken nugget and two ant-covered pickle slices. She’s on cloud nine with all the little rotting treasures she finds. She has a cast iron stomach, so absolutely no concerns that she’ll be burping up any of her treasures.
I’m sad to report that we’ve now had our second memorial service at a campground. The tater tot memorial was a tough one for me, back in Chattahoochee, but those limp things just weren’t going to make to the next oven warming. Now Ben has experienced his own great loss. I guess I’m partly to blame. I was really trying to have less clutter in the 50 sq ft that we share, so I invested in a couple of highly rated, silicone toothbrush holders, off Amazon. Stick those suckers to the wall, where you want ‘em and DONE. Easy peasy. The holder works perfectly for my plain Jane toothbrush. Fair warning to all you fancy toothbrush owners though! If your toothbrush has the weight of a tiny battery in it, HUGE failure!
I just happened to be standing in the tiny hallway, as Ben was scratching his head and pondering something. His toothbrush was no longer in the fancy silicone holder. So, there are only a few places a toothbrush can go in a dinky bathroom. Sink (your best hope). Nope. The corner of the counter? Nope. There HAD to be a magnet at the base of the toilet that just called out to Ben’s toothbrush, because that’s where it found a new home. Almost like Ben’s toothbrush felt the base of the toilet needed a good scrubbing. 🤢 Hence, the second memorial service of our journey and a newly acquired, non-fancy toothbrush.
We’re now in northern Texas, on our way to Albuquerque, NM, with four hours left to roll in this horse-less wagon. I stopped counting windmills when I got to 587. There are literally MILLIONS between Oklahoma and New Mexico! Kept me entertained until my coffee finally kicked in. Now that I’m done writing for a bit, it’s time to find an interesting topic of conversation to have with Ben. I’m desperately trying to avoid receiving more about the ins and outs of windmill production/operation or oil rig bits and pieces, which he used to manage producing. 🥴 Note to self… don’t ask technical questions about a thingy majig on a windmill or oil rig. The answers he gives are ENDLESS, especially after he’s had four cups of coffee! 😆
Its all an adventure! Hoping to stop in and surprise a few of our Mather relatives in Santa Fe, once we get the Airstream plugged in and started cooling!
TaterTotTales 