I DON'T KNOW HOW WE DID IT, BUT WE DROVE FROM CA TO AL

In 2007 we embarked on my first ever cross country journey. My wife had
done it going from Texas to California, but not this direction and on this
route. Route 40 following ever so close to the famous Route 66.

We ended up leaving LA early Sunday morning and ended up in Flagstaff Sunday
night. Then we ended up getting up really early the next morning and
hitting the road for Amarillo. That's what I hate about cross country road
trips, all the getting up early, driving all day, and then getting to bed
late just to turn around and do it again the next day. You don't even get
to really enjoy the amazing things your seeing.

The picture above is from when we drove through New Mexico just after
Albuquerque. We hit this huge sudden downpour of hail and lightning and all
kinds of stuff we don't usually see in Southern Cal. We had just left an
AWFUL Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque, by the way. It was so bad, I
didn't even tip, and I ALWAYS TIP!

So finally at the end of the day we reached Amarillo where we stayed the
night and the next morning I began hearing accents! As I ate a waffle
shaped like Texas in the hotel lobby, I heard all around me words and
pronunciations I seldom heard in my coastal California town. This
only increased as we flew through Oklahoma and then Arkansas where we stayed
the night just inside the city limits of Little Rock one of the worst
hotels I have ever stayed at!

The entrance to our hotel room was a few feet away from an indoor swimming
pool. The room smelled of chlorine. Not to mention the hotel had people
staying there who were "permanent." Just a bizarre place. The next morning
I went out to get Starbucks for my wife who was putting on her make-up and
the barista told me she too was from California in the general area that I
was from . That made me feel good and let me know the finger prints of my
state could be seen everywhere.

That day saw us go through Memphis, Tennessee, into Mississippi, then
through Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The history I was passing through! In
Muscle Shoals some of my favorite tunes had been recorded. Then it was an
hour to Huntsville and green, green grass and trees and lovely humidity.
Then the beginning of our new life that would last EXACTLY two years!

More on that on the way as well as a new crazy podcast! Check back soon!