Harry Potter, where are you?

Barnes & Noble gave it to UPS. UPS brought it to Peachtree City. In Peachtree City, The Deathly Hallows has gone missing. I may never learn what happens to Harry.

Naturism, nudism or just being weird

Without too much detail, I went out into nature and got natural. It was refreshing and fun. Everyone should try it once. It's how you come into the world, so why not spend more time that way?

Day 19 - 4 July 2007

On the way to Oklahoma City, we traveled the fabled and revered Route 66 that is now mostly covered by Interstate 40. Through the wonder of Apple technology, my iPod played a version of "Route 66" by Chuck Barry from the Cars soundtrack when we were leaving New Mexico and heading into Texas.* There were so many interesting old buildings and as many run-down decayed towns that had been forgotten with the advent of the Interstate. Page and Marie loved observing the Americana and the open road across so many states. This scrap book is going to take forever to complete.

*Another technological quirk, on Day 21 when we were heading into Georgia on I-20 from Alabama, we heard "Love Shack" by the B-52's on a Birmingham radio station. We sang out loud down the "Atlanta highway" on our way home.

Day 20 - 5 July 2007

Upon arriving in Memphis, we quickly checked into the Quality Inn near Graceland, then headed downtown to Beale Street for dinner. After a couple of wrong turns, we found ourselves in front of Sun Records. We decided to park, go inside and take the $10 tour. Wow! Seeing the memorabilia of a bygone era of rock & roll, standing in the studio where Elvis, BB King, Johny Cash and even U2 recorded--we were in awe.

After the tour, we made our way to Beale Street and stumbled into BB King's Blues Club. We had a great Southern (read "fried") dinner with SWEET TEA and live blues music. Page and Marie were all smiles and had a great time and stuffed themselves: the former on chicken tenders and hush puppies, the latter on mac & cheese and French fries. By the time we were back at the hotel, all we could do was talk about how exciting it was to be in the Sun recording studio and to walk the Beale.

Day 18 - 3 July 2007

We rose early and rolled out of Henderson after 3 days with my Mom to head to the Grand Canyon. My daughter had been complaining of her stomach hurting, but I put it off to her not really wanting to pack up and leave as she was having a good time visiting her family that usually she never sees.

HOWEVER, in Arizona, only an hour away from the Grand Canyon, she again complained that her stomach hurt. I asked her to specify whether she meant pain or nausea. She said she felt both. Just as I looked for a place to pull over, she belched and puked in her hands, lap, on the seat, on the floor, out the window, down the door. The good news: we were right in front of a little gas station/laundromat in Williams, AZ. It was a Mustang gas station, but I'd already fueled up just a mile or so earlier in town. Still, they were very nice and filled jugs with water and gave me paper towels to help clean up the car and Marie. In their restroom, Marie changed out of the soiled clothes. With the coins in the console of the Kia, I was able to wash and dry the blanket from the car, Marie's clothes and the laundry we were carrying from my mother's house. In all, we were there in Williams about an hour and a half. The people we greeted and who helped us were friendly and kind. It was the best place for Marie to get sick. At least when it was over, Marie felt better.

Finally, we made it to the Grand Canyon. We looked over the South Rim for about 30 minutes, marveling at the awesome magnitude of it all. It's too bad that the time spent cleaning up vomit couldn't have been spent seeing more of this natural wonder.