In an attempt to avoid such lengthy delays in posting, we're blogging from the road this time. Part 1 of the big Road Trip 2009 took us from Chicago to St. Louis in around 4.5 hours, thanks to Speed Racer AKA Matt. We got in 11:00pm and found a Holiday Inn Express (free wireless and breakfast!!).
In the middle of the night Matt woke up, which woke me up and he asked "did you remember the baseball tickets?" Me: "Crap crap crap crap crap!!" - which is shorthand for "you mean the tickets that have been on my bulletin board in the office for 6 weeks? Those baseball tickets? The ones that were $75 each? The ones that are now 4.5 hours away in the opposite direction we're going? Those baseball tickets? No, as a matter of fact I don't". And that's how both of us lost a night's sleep, annoyed with ourselves and wondering how to fix this costly little kink in our vacation plans.
Luckily, Matt was able to access the email with the confirmation number and called the box office the next day to explain that we "didn't have the tickets with us". Which wasn't a lie. But if they chose to think it was because the tickets never quite made it to us in the mail, well, that was fine. Blame the mail system in Chicago, they mess up enough of our mail anyway, they have it coming. So long story short, we can pick up reprinted tickets before the game. Whew!
Next stop Carthage, MO because we MUST see the Precious Moments Chapel and Museum. If you plan to go, just be aware - there are signs about every 20 feet along the highway, but once you take the specified exit, there's not a sign in sight telling you how to find this mecca of adorableness. Serioiusly, they make a big deal of it for miles, then nothing. Thanks to the miracle that is the iPhone (at this point, Apple owes me big for all these iPhone mentions) and the Google Maps, we found it.
Now I was all prepared to be cynical and mocking - it should come as no surprise that neither Matt nor myself are Precious Moments collectors. But apparently a lot of people take it very seriously and at some point it just felt mean to make fun. Plus, it is a chapel, so a certain amount of reverence is called for. But that was just me - Matt was happy to let his snark flag fly. More than once I moved a few steps away, lest I wind up suffering collateral damage from the lightening bolt that was sure to come flying at him any moment.
Me (to Matt who is crouching down on the floor): What are you doing?
Matt: I'm trying to get a picture of the little Indians in the canoe in the same frame as the message at the top of the display. It says "Will you be ready when Jesus comes" and I think all the other little figures will be, but not the Indians. They don't believe in Jesus so they'll go to Hell."
Me (stepping away): Well, at least they'll have you there to keep them company.
The chapel is pretty impressive in a slightly strange way. I suppose if you're into PM, it's not so disturbing, but there's something about the paintings depicting stories from the Bible with PM figures that I find disconcerting:
Here's a bunch of other pictures:
I did not leave without making a purchase. I felt the need to make amends for Matt's disparaging comments. I am now the proud owner of a Precious Moments Santa Christmas ornament. This should not be mistaken for a sudden appreciation for and need to collect Precious Moments, so please don't start buying me those things for gifts.
Next we headed for Tulsa, OK, which seemed like a good place to camp out for the night. And by "camp" I mean "find another Holiday Inn Express (free wireless internet access! Free cinnamon rolls for breakfast!)". After a much-needed nap (who knew Precious Moments would be so exhausting?) we looked for a place for dinner. The latest issue of "Oklahoma" magazine was helpfully placed in our room and it was the "Best Of" edition. There was an article for a Mexican place called Elote' Cafe which immediately caught my eye. Matt kept suggesting other places and finally I had to say "Dude, how many times to I have to repeat MARGARITA'S and PUFFY TACOS? Do you really think we're going anywhere else tonight? Why do you so seem to hate a place we've never been?" And then I realized the article had talked about the cafe's mission to use organic, sustainable, local sourced ingredients, and the food is healthy, which Matt thinks is code for "dirty liberal Democrat hippies and yucky food". I'm pretty sure he's afraid the "hippies" will immediately smell his Conservative Republican "I hate the environment" vibe and contaminate his food with liberal love. Or at least that's what I told him he was afraid of. He, of course, denies it all. But we did go to the Elote Cafe and it was fabulous, even he had to admit. It's one of those places where everyone is super-friendly, lot's of local folks who are obviously regulars and our waitress Heidi was cute as a bug. Yes, I had puffy tacos (how can you resist any food called "puffy", I ask you?). We tried to order a hot & spicy ice cream sandwich for dessert, but Heidi came back to our table - "Bad news bears. We're out of the ice cream sandwich." So we had the baked apples with home made vanilla ice cream topped with home made pecan granola and honey. Which Heidi informed us was the "healthiest" dessert! I'm pretty sure that balanced out the margarita and puffy tacos.
Tomorrow we head for Dallas/Fort Worth! More to come when we get another free wireless connection, but I'll make little posts on Facebook if anything interesting happens.
