Amarillo's Peccadillo (Day 3)

The fun continued this morning in the "quaint" city of Amarillo.

Yes, I did get the computerized wake up call. In fact, I was up before that and ready to hit the road a half hour early. I was excited about having the opportunity to arrive in Springfield early.

So...I headed toward the first sign for I-40 East.

Apparently, they forgot to put the rest up as I drove around for little over half an hour trying to find my way out of that hellhole. Finally, I had to backtrack to the previous exit and get on the highway.

And you can forget about making a cell call for about 2 1/2 hours east of that city as all my attempts met with abject failure. I kept hoping that the truck carrying some unknown substance directly in front of me would end up spilling its contents and I would end up like Chevy Chase in Modern Problems...



...again, no luck there.

Then, I stopped at a travel center on the side of the road where I picked up two small steak soft tacos which I share with Jack.

Apparently Jack decided that they weren't for him since he threw them up 10 minutes later. Thankfully he did it on the plastic near the gear shift to make for an easy cleanup!

Later, I stopped to get some gas and needed to grab something from the back. What I didn't need to grab was the multitude of dog food pellets courtesy of the ripped bag! I'm glad that I had the foresight to put some in a plastic container up front before the trip so he wasn't totally out of luck.

And this was only about 3 1/2 hours into my trip, which, once again, was overseen by totally overcast skies!

After driving well into Oklahoma, I spied a sign that read "Authentic Cherokee Flutes--Next Exit". I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about the Cherokee people (other than the fact they make a hell of a cherry flavored soft drink), but it surprised me that they are a proud flautist nation! If I had more time, I would have purchased some for Christmas gifts. I was also curious about the CDs available since one rarely hears Cherokee flute music on the radio or even iTunes these days...

Then I heard Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" on my iPod rotation and suddenly I felt the urge to beat the hell out of Chuck Finley. (Most of you will have to really stretch to get that reference. ;) )

As I sipped the Diet Pepsi I purchased at the next gas station and crossed over into Missouri, two things hit me at once.

I wondered why I didn't notice that it was Diet Pepsi LIME. Maybe it was because the word "lime" was printed in very small lettering on the side. Sure, the label was slightly tinted green at the top, but florescent lights don't highlight that when inside the store.

I also welcomed anything the "Show Me" state could put on display for me. Unfortunately, it was buckets of rain, which was similar to every other state I've been in so far.

Add to that the fact that I didn't go far enough on my exit and, when about 10 minutes away from the hotel, I ended up having to backtrack an additional half hour because of a mistake. I take full responsibility because at that point, I think I was bouncing one profanity after another off the car's interior because of the monsoon moving through the area.

However, when I arrived, the people at the front desk were really nice and even suggested some places to eat. I opted for a place called Steak Out.

I'm always a tad leery of a place that specializes in take out of a food that doesn't really lend itself to delivery. I ordered a few things because I figured that if I didn't like one thing, another would probably satisfy me.

I have to tell everyone that if you are in an area where one of these places are nearby, do yourself a favor and order from them! Everything I had was hot and phenomenal! Of course I shared most of it with Jack since the poor little guy hadn't eaten since throwing up, but I enjoyed each and every morsel. Highly recommended (as is the La Quinta Inn here).

Now I'm just relaxing until I take Jack out for a walk before bedtime.

I wonder what awaits me tomorrow...I'm almost afraid!