Road Trip 2, Day 3 to Amarillo, TX

Thursday, Day 3 PM drive to Amarillo, TX 5/7/2010

With Celia packed within an inch of her life in Ned's backseat. We waved good-bye to Clay and set out for Amarillo.

(SIDENOTEs: If you didn't listen to the song at the end
of the last post, you should. George Strait does a fine
version of "Amarillo By Morning." Also, in Spanish
Amarillo means yellow.)

Celia was a good sport. Especially since she was crammed in the back, making us sandwiches, no control or say over the music or entertainment we were choosing, and she didn't really sign on to be a part of the NOLOG. (note to self, get a release from Celia...).










We headed out on I-40, just around rush hour. Which compared to what we've been living with in Los Angeles, was a breeze. Seriously, there was a little bit of a slow down getting on the freeway and that was it.

We started seeing flashing signs that said "Super Blitz." And sure enough, Smokey was everywhere busting ass.




Crossing into Texas. Look at this wasteland...

We have a whole day of this facing us tomorrow, too.




See, Celia doesn't like Texas, either...


Kind of hated leaving the Land of Enchantment, especially when we were trading it for Tex-Ass. Sorry, but we are not Texas fans. Now there are some great towns in Texas -- Dallas, Houston, Austin, to name a few. But most of this state is a sprawling ugly mess. Why this country isn't using this land to feed America or put up some wind turbines for alternate energy sources is beyond us. Oh, wait, then no single person or company would be making a profit. Of course.


NL smiling after having one of Celia's custom PB&J sandwiches. She puts the peanut butter and jelly in a plastic cup and stirs it all together. Then when it goes on the bread it's the perfect combo of the flavors. No jelly squishing out and running down your arm. Great for driving and chewing. Downside, the plastic cup with the brown sticky goo smeared all over it looks disgusting. Not going to go into the jokes we made about that. But it almost put us off our PB&J's.


Yes, please. On the rocks with salt.


The sun was setting behind us in our beloved West.


We shifted into night driving mode. And watched the landscape change...

Along the way we caught a great interview with Richard Gere on NPR. He was talking about being a Buddhist and the Dalai Lama.

Richard Gere headbutting His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

A Few of our favorite Richard Gere films:


The interview got us thinking about a faith and spirituality that doesn't judge or impose rules on others... Now that's just crazy! It was on the Diane Rehm Show out of WAMU in Washington, D.C. Someone was sitting in for Diane Rehm for the interview with Mr. Gene. Thankfully.

Diane Rehm

Diane speaks so slowly and with such awkward pacing
we looked for her all the way across the nation. Awesome.


We arrived at the Ambassador Hotel. We parked Ned, James & Tow-Tow in a long line of U-hauls, RVs, Trailers, and Trucks and told them to behave themselves.

It's a great old hotel. Check out the indoor pool.

No one swimming. Wonder why? Could it be that it sits in the center of the entire hotel - so everyone can watch you slosh around. Later some kids got in and got rowdy -- so it didn't go to waste.

There we also some ponds and fountains running through the lobby. It kind of made the place all steamy inside. No doubt preparing us for the humidity of Nola.

Our room was great. Celia and I put on our PJ's cracked our box of wine and settled into some late night TV. Paige decided to head down to the bar for a nightcap. The bar was in the Fridays restaurant that was part of the hotel. They were about to close up shop, but she spun a sob story about being on the road all the way from California. (sniff sniff) The sweet, beleaguered assistant manager was afraid his manager (whom he called a roaring bitch on a stick) would catch him. But the sob story worked and Paige got her night cap.

Also across the bar was sitting a group of three dudes. Now, seriously Siobhan, after you've been on the road for days and you've just gotten an almost purloined cocktail the last thing a girl wants to do is field the advances of some cocktailed traveling salesmen. "I really just wanted a smoke, a drink and a shower... and not with any of these fellahs. The bravest one came over and started with the usual questions. I gave him one word answers. Cordial but not engaging. Where was I headed? New Orleans.
He told me I had nice "guns."
Um... thanks.
Then he asked why we were moving to New Orleans. Ah geez, the question.
So I told him, "It's a secret." And wouldn't budge. "Really?"
"Yup... K Bye."
"Bye."

This was response number one in our Top Eleven List of responses to "Why are you moving to New Orleans?" We got sick of telling people the meandering truth.

1. It's a secret
2. We want to adopt a Katrina baby
3. Saints cheerleader try-outs
4. We didn't like Old Orleans as much
5. We didn't want our dogs raised in the Hollywood scene
6. No extradition in Louisiana
7. Within missile range of Texas
8. When we hock the Emmy we'll probably get a better price
9. Los Angeles 4 = New Orleans 8
10. Zombie Prom
11. Drive-thru daiquiris
    

All travelers sated and in pajamas, we placed our 7AM wake-up call and put the road behind us for the night...