J.P.

All Hail Texas.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I drove through Texas today as we continued west. Always on the lookout for wild weather, I was delighted to see storm clouds gathering ahead of us on Interstate 40 between McLean and Groom, Texas. There wasn’t a peep on the weather radio about any severe storm watches or warnings, but there was quite a bit of wind and lightning dancing across the sky.

As we made our way down the interstate, we ran into a downpour. It was raining quite hard and I had to actually turn the wipers on high (which I refer to as “hysterical”). It rained for a couple of miles and then the rain stopped, but the wind and the lightning continued.

Then we heard a “bam”, followed by another and then another until it sounded like popcorn was popping. We were being bombarded with hail and it was making quite a racket on the hood. At first Earl thought he could help hold the soft top in place until his hand was hit by a hail stone; then he decided the roof could fend for itself.

After a few miles of being pelted, we came upon an overpass which was very crowded with cars, motorcycles and tractor trailers. I pulled over to the left side and wedged myself the Jeep between a car and the middle bridge support. The cars were four wide underneath. It was then we discovered just how big the hail stones were.

We also discovered the ten or so new dents in the hood of the Jeep. Thank the universe the windshield survived. Others weren’t so lucky.

After the hail gave way to rain, we got off at the next exit for some much needed fuel. A family stopped in right behind us with a hail stone in a ziplock bag to put in the freezer for safe keeping.

The hail stone was larger than a softball. The locals said they had never seen one so large.

So while we didn’t get to experience a tornado while passing through the area, Mother Nature did give us a magnificent display of her power.

Earl and I have settled for the night at the Hampton Inn in Lebanon, Missouri. Earl had wrapped up his work obligations early, so we packed up the hotel room, jumped in the Jeep and headed west. Our original intention was to stop for the night in St. Louis, but since we were way ahead of schedule, we thought we’d keep on going until we got tired. We thought we’d make it to Springfield, Mo., another 200 or so miles beyond St. Louis. Well we made it as far as Lebanon, about 50 miles northeast of Springfield. It was getting a little foggy for driving, since neither of us have ever been on Interstate 44 in Central Missouri.

Earl snapped some pretty good pictures through St. Louis, he posted a really nice picture on his blog.

Mother Nature treated us to a couple of nice thunderstorms for the ride after St. Louis. She put on quite a lightning show and gave us some showers to slide around in. The weather kept me attentive to my driving but neither of us were nerved up or anything. I was able to enjoy the mild storm.

Now I’m going to plan out the route for the next couple of days and catching up on blogs. Tomorrow we hit the road fairly early, hoping to drive a bit and get our kicks on old Route 66.

The Louisville Zoo.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I kicked off our day in Louisville by going to the Louisville Zoo. I found it to be appropriately named since it’s in Louisville and there were a lot of animals there.

As far as zoos go, we found it to be quite nice. There weren’t a lot of people there at all, but the animals seemed happy and the various exhibits were interesting. I have a whole bunch of pictures of the animals that I’m going to post on the .Mac site when we get back home in a couple of weeks. It was good place to visit.

After the zoo, we drove up Bardstown Rd. through the “artsy” area of the city and stumbled upon the Karma Cafe. A wonderfully earthy type cafe, we had some lentil soup and grilled veggie sandwiches. It would have been perfect had it not been for the couple sitting near us with not one, but two very, very unhappy toddlers that were screaming their heads off. We did our best to ignore the ruckus, but we were unable to have a conversation because the screaming was too loud. The parents were content in letting their kids scream for a while until they noticed that every person in the restaurant was starting at them with disapproval. Then a woman, another customer, came up and offered to hold and walk the toddlers around to calm them down. I think that was the last straw, they asked for their food to go, paid the check and promptly left. I think there was applause after they left the building.

While we were having lunch it began raining like mad and continued throughout most of the afternoon. We had originally planned to walk around the area but since the weather wasn’t cooperating, we decided to check out the local mall and see what they offered. We ended up at the “Mall St. Matthews”, whih would have been considered top notch had it not been missing an Apple store. After doing a little research, there’s no Apple store in the entire state of Kentucky.

That’s just wrong.

Now we’re relaxing for just a bit before meeting up with Earl’s work associate for dinner and perhaps a trip to the casino on the Indiana side of the river. Tomorrow Earl has to attend a couple of meetings; I’ll be exploring the downtown area on foot. Tomorrow night, after Earl’s work commitments, we hit the road and head to St. Louis for an overnight stay.

Louisville, Ky.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Earl and I have settled in Louisville, Kentucky for the next couple of days. Earl has a trade show to attend on Sunday and Monday afternoons, so this was a good way to kick off our Jeep tour. Vacation is always more fun on an expense account.

After arriving around 3:00, we decided to walk around the downtown area and came across “Fourth Street Live”, a closed off section of Fourth Street with several clubs and shops, with the area partially covered from the elements. That was very convenient since there were passing showers.

We stopped for a couple of drinks at The Pub. We always enjoy hanging out at locally owned establishments (I certainly hope this one was locally owned!). And eavesdropping on surrounding conversations is an innocent way to enjoy the night in a strange city. Earl says he has a hard time eavesdropping because of the accent.

Afterwards we went to the waterfront where we had supper at “Joe’s Crab Shack”. There were quite a few boats on the river. I then discovered that the Canadian side of the river is actually Indiana. The things you find out in middle America!

I think we’re going to go out tonight and see what the nightlife is like. I’m staying awake while we’re out of town for a change. I think Earl finds the trend pleasant.

Earl and I hit the road this around 9:00 this morning. The drive south of Cleveland was your typical mid-Ohio drive along an interstate, with rolling hills and farmland as far as the eye could see. One interesting this I did see was just south of Columbus. It was a billboard that said “Hell Is Real.” Apparently the other half of the billboard, the part that said “You Are Here”, had fallen off in a recent storm or something.

Anyways, we were about 20 miles north of Cincinnati when our guts told us we needed to think about lunch. In an effort to eat at local establishments, we decided to check out a local chain of restaurants called Skyline Chili.

Skyline Chili is very casual in that you seat yourself and you pay at the front cash register as you’re leaving. The serving staff was very friendly and the atmosphere is very diner-ish.

What we found interesting was the chili itself. Apparently Cincinnati is famous for chili, at least according to the information on the back of the mneu. Having not had chili in a while, I was excited to try some of this famous chili.

Earl and I both ordered the “three-way” chili, which is chili served over spaghetti with cheese on top. To keep it healthy, we each ordered a salad as well.

When the chili was served, it looked a little different than any chili I’ve ever had. For some reason I was reminded of a scene from “To Tell The Truth” that they’ve played over and over again on “The Most Outrageous Moments on Television”.

It’s the scene where they trick Kitty Carlisle into eating dog food and she spits it back into the spoon she’s using.

Apparently chili in these parts is devoid of kidney beans and tomato sauce. While fairly tasty, it didn’t really taste like chili to me. It tasted more like a beef sauce, like something you’d find over egg noodles or something.

While the experience was pleasant over all, now I have a hankering for “real” chili. On the other hand, maybe I don’t know what “real” chili is. Maybe we’ll find something that fits the bill in Oklahoma or something.

Earl and I have settled in for the first night of “The Great Jeep Tour 2006”. We have installed ourselves in a Fairfield Inn in Willoughby, Ohio.

We hit the road this afternoon aroiund 4:30 p.m., hitting I-90 westbound. Our first destination is Louisville, Kentucky, which we’ll be visiting Saturday to Monday night. Earl has a trade show go to for work, which gave us a great headstart on our journey out west.

My supervisor at work reminded me that I had a little bit of extra comp time I hadn’t used, so I was able to leave a couple of hours early. It was the cap to a good week at work and reminded me why I appreciate the people I work for.

Since we were anxious to get out of New York State as quickly as possible, we settled on a quick supper at TGIF in Cheektowaga outside of Buffalo. Nothing kicks off vacation eating like a New York Strip with Jack Daniel’s sauce. I’m going to have to remember to keep healthy eating in the back of my mind so I can continue to fit into the clothes I packed for the trip!

Tomorrow, it’s Louisville.

Not to harp on a negative, but there is one negative aspect of going on vacation. It’s not the getting up early or the schedules or the packing or anything like that. No, it’s something a little closer to my heart.

I really don’t like relocating Tom for the time we are gone.

Our poor kitty cat. He absolutely hates riding in the car. He hates it. Anything that can come out of a cat generally will, he complains about the ride the entire time and he has a look in his eye that can only mildly be described as “pissed”. He glares at me through the holes of his cat carrier mile after mile, almost as if he’s begun some sort of vengeful plot to be carried out when we get home from fun in the sun.

What are parents to do? Since he obviously hates traveling, I don’t think he’d be comfortable for the 8,000 mile journey we are about to embark on. He’d be parallel parked in his “kennel cab” between a cooler and my laptop bag. I mean, while the PowerBook is quite beautiful (at least to me), is it really appropriate to be staring at that through metal bars as we drive through the desert? No, he’s much happier at his gramp’s with his two cousins that have no idea what to do when there’s a male cat in the house.

I have to admit that tonight it’s a little unusual in the house not to hear the patter of paws, the tickling of the ivories from his runs up the piano or the crashing of some random knick knack in a far corner of the house. He’s probably spending the evening looking surly and getting to know the two broads we’ve saddled him up with for the next two weeks.

I’m sure he’ll complain about the whole ordeal on his ride home when we get back.

As I busy myself getting the Jeep and my luggage ready for our trip tomorrow, I’m letting my mind wander a little bit. Being a proud geek, I’m thinking about geeky things and have decided to resurrect the camera in my cell phone for this trip. This means the moblog will be in full swing while we’re traveling.

So not only will I be snapping photos with my Sony digital camera and posting the pictures on Flickr, I’ll also be grabbing pictures with my cell phone and doing some videotaping along the way as well.

I love the thought of a multimedia vacation.