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A good day for driving – Day 38

Posted in Uncategorized on October 17, 2010| 2 Comments »

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Day 38 was all about covering ground – getting across Montana, to be specific. It is one long state. More than 500 miles. I will never again complain about Pennsylvania when driving to Gram’s in West Virginia. I used to think that was the longest state. Ha!

Montana is a beautiful state, with so much changing scenery and way more mountains than I’d imagined – I thought it would be all flat for some reason.  I wanted to stop to take pictures all the time, but knew it would take forever if I did.  I’d intended to stop in Bozeman and Missoula at the recommendation of Jeff and Lisa, and I did but only very briefly for gas and food as it was raining. They did look like nice places to visit, places with real character and history – more places to go back to.

It was actually the perfect day for just driving: mainly drizzling, so just enough rain that you don’t want to be outside, but not downpours that make driving dangerous. For the first time I put the heated seat on (it’s cold!), listened to a book on my ipod (Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner – it’s really good so far, I’m about halfway through), and just drove.

I did have an ultimate destination (Couer D’Alene, ID), unlike most nights when I’ve just driven until I’ve found somewhere to stop. I took several friends’ advice and tried Priceline.com. This is the second time and it really does work! Both times it’s beat both the coupon book rates and the AAA price. I’ll definitely try it again, although there are some cons to it, too, like not being able to just stop and stay somewhere when you’re tired or see somewhere cute or being sure that the place will have free parking and free internet access. But it’s nice having a definitive address to give Aidan and having a firm destination in mind to count down to. Less than 500 miles, less than 6 hours, less than 400 miles, less than 5 hours, less than…

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Getting back on track (mentally and physically) via Oklahoma’s Route 66 on Day 32

Posted in Alone, Country, Dating, Home, Planning, Road trip, Uncategorized on October 11, 2010| 2 Comments »

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For more reasons than I can list – or even understand myself – I haven’t been able to really write much for the last week, other than the couple of times I absolutely forced myself and had something concrete to say. That hasn’t been enough for some of my faithful readers, and I apologize. Several of you have written or called to ask what’s going on and one of those readers – my dad – told me straight out last night that it wasn’t fair to those who check in on my blog daily. He reminded me that everything (everyone) has ups and downs and if this is going to be authentic, I should include it all. Well, I think ALL might be going a bit far (maybe in the book – we’ll see…) but I did scribble some things in my notebook this week (as did Lilly, Jason’s youngest daughter, but I can still read my words through the crayon), especially yesterday, so the following is some of that to fill you in. And for those who really just want the travel stuff, skip to the Arcadia, Day 32 section, and check out the Oklahoma Route 66 pics above. And thanks, Dad…

(Day 30, on way back to Holdenville from Oklahoma City and Choctaw) Live, Laugh, Love. Sitting at a stoplight in the middle of Oklahoma, feeling a little bit sorry for myself, I glanced to my left. There it was. ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ – the name of the store next to me. It happened to be the last thing I saw in my aunt and uncle’s house as I left tonight, too. It was on a small plaque hanging over their dining room table: ‘Live, Laugh, Love.’ Those also were the words I wrote in my high school yearbook nearly 20 years ago. I’ve always tried to live by that saying. Why am I having such a hard time doing it now? Part of me came to Oklahoma to do more than just catch up with friends and family. I think deep down I was looking and hoping for more, only for so very many reasons it didn’t turn out that way and now I’m feeling a little lost about what to do and where to go next. What I did do in Oklahoma was renew a couple of old friendships and made some new ones – including the four most wonderful new little friends a girl could ask for! Now I need to find a way to be a good example for them and demonstrate that favorite saying of mine: Live, Laugh, Love…

(At the football field, Day 31) Life in a small town. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody knows everybody’s business. Everybody knows everybody’s family – or is part of their family, in one way or another. There’s history and rivalry, love and feuds. The boy plays football on the same field as his dad played, and his father before him.  There’s something special about walking the same streets as your ancestors – it’s like they’re always with you. I have moved more times than I can count. When I was young we lived at the family farm with my grandparents. I loved it so much. Years after it was sold, I did exactly as Miranda Lambert does in her song ‘The House that Built Me’ and went and knocked on the door. But the people had changed it so much that the feeling I was looking for just wasn’t there anymore. It led me to the conclusion that it’s not the place, it’s the people. Home is where your family is. If they’ve all stayed in one place for generations, it’s much easier to find and go home again…

(On the road, Day 32) I’m leaving. I won’t stay anywhere this long again. You get too into the family and daily life and it’s too hard to leave. You also worry that you’re messing up their normal routine and feel like you’re in the way. A few days anywhere is more than enough. Honestly, I feel more lost than ever. And a bit jealous of the family life and stability – and the hugs from little ones, especially now that mine is grown and away at school. (Need to get back to my goddaughters – Tina, thank you again for sharing!!!) I just don’t know where I  belong, and hate the feeling of not being needed somewhere – I’ve just never not had somewhere to be or someone to help…

I guess I’m getting more than I bargained for on this road trip. I’m learning a lot about myself, more than I am about geography (since I leave most of that to Aidan). Or is this really what I set out to do? If it is, I’m crazy – think I might be happier going back to my mile-a-minute, always busy, chaotic life. Sometimes it’s better not to have so much thinking time. There’s too much of that alone on the road! So what is my latest lesson? Well, I’ve always prided myself on being this strong, independent woman, who doesn’t need a man, never wants to marry again, hates depending on anyone, blah, blah, blah. I think having Nick has been a shield, in a way. As long as I had him at home, needing me, I really didn’t need anything (or anyone) else. I won’t go as far to say I actually need someone, but I will say it would be nice to have a partner in crime. But not just anyone…

(Arcadia, OK, Route 66, Day 32) Okay, I feel a bit better. It’s amazing what a dose of family and laughter can do! I just met my aunt and uncle at Pops, a great (fairly new) gas station/hamburger joint/gift shop, right on Route 66 by the Old Round Barn and the Biker’s Shak in Arcadia. They have a zillion (well, more than 400) different types of soda pop, and the thickest shakes I’ve ever had – it’s basically like trying to drink ice cream. Lunch with them at such a fun venue was just what I needed to kick off the next leg of my road trip.

A bit about Oklahoma as I make my way out of the state:

  • It is the home of several country music stars including Toby Keith, Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton and Carrie Underwood.
  • While Oklahoma has the longest drivable stretch of the original Route 66 of any state, it is not at all easy to follow. You’ll be driving and it will just disappear – a few times I hopped on the highway and caught back up with it further west. If you’re ever going to really try to stick solely with Route 66, make sure you map out your journey ahead of time on the computer because most maps and GPS’s aren’t very helpful…
  • The shopping cart was invented in Oklahoma. (Didn’t know that, did you? Ah, the things you learn by reading billboards.)

The sky suddenly got very dark and there’s major lightning in the distance. Which leads me to think that it’s not always good to listen to satellite radio – you don’t get the local weather and warnings. I’m wondering exactly what you’re supposed to do if you’re driving and you just see a tornado coming at you? Maybe I should find out, and maybe I should start listening to local radio stations…

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The Oklahoma concert crowd – Day 29

Posted in Uncategorized on October 8, 2010| 5 Comments »

Last night – Day 29 – Jason and I went to see Sugarland and Little Big Town at the Zoo Amphitheater in Oklahoma City. (He drove Holly,  but refused to use Aidan, claiming he could get by just fine without him. I felt a little bad for Aidan, but Jason was right and we did get there. He also determined Holly is definitely a girl’s car – not enough get up and go for him – but agreed she is comfortable and good for me.)

The concert: it was incredible, of course! Sugarland and Little Big Town are two of the most talented acts in 1music today. (I’m afraid we missed the opening act – sorry Randy Montana! I’m sure you were fabulous, too, and hope to see you somewhere soon) Their voices are exactly the same live acoustically as they are on the radio. The tone of their voices, their harmonies, they’re just so soothing and smooth. I could listen to both forever. And they are both very generous bands. They donated signed guitars to help raise money for the families of two girls who were in a car crash on the way to a concert at the amphitheater a few months ago. Sugarland also surprised the audience by right in the middle of the show signing a guitar and walking into the audience and handing it to a random person. So cool!

We were in an outdoor amphitheater, much like the Comcast Center (I think that’s the current name – formerly Tweeter Center, formerly Great Woods – Massachusetts people know what I mean), with the lawn seats, only there are ONLY lawn seats here and it’s more rustic. There are rock stairs (not concrete or wood) that you need to be careful not to trip over because you never know when one will be there, and there isn’t much lighting to be able to see them (except from the stage of course). We did see one guy go flying but he had a pretty good buzz going so laughed it off. Anyone who’s been to concerts with me knows I prefer the lawn seats, so this was great. And we had the most beautiful night for it, too.

So it wasn’t the show or the venue that surprised me – it was the crowd. They weren’t rowdy. No, they weren’t sitting down and just politely watching like they did at some of the London shows, but they also didn’t have nearly the energy that you feel and see at the New England shows. The entire crowd wasn’t singing at the top of their lungs so you could barely hear the performers. They weren’t all on their feet dancing and bumping into each other, laughing and smiling and taking pictures of each other. (Camera’s weren’t allowed – yes, I was very disappointed – and didn’t have much luck with the one on my phone.) They also weren’t falling over drunk and puking. I’m not saying I missed all those things, it was just strange. I’ve been to so many concerts, it was almost as interesting crowd watching as it was listening to the show.

People always seem so surprised that we like country music in the northeast. Maybe it’s because we have only really gotten the acts to start coming up there in the last fifteen years or so (and finally have two great country music stations – Cat Country 98.1 and Country 102.5 which draw in the big names), but I think we seem to show our love of the music, excitement and appreciation even more. No, not the drunk puking, but the constant dancing and singing from start to finish of the show – the absolute ‘I love this music’ vibe that even continues into the parking lot after the show with people singing and the music blasting from the cars. Believe it or not, we were out of the parking lot in a matter of minutes – that definitely wouldn’t happen back home!

I used to think that when so many artists told us at the New England shows that they love us (the crowd) so much, it was just something they said at every show. But now I’m thinking it’s not. I think they can see the difference as much as I did last night. I think I need to test this theory more on the road. I’ll have to do some searching to see what other concerts are in my path in the coming months…

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