Missouri and Oklahoma

By far this sign was the best part of Missouri AND Oklahoma. That and listening to "Okee from Muskogee" by Merle Haggard while in Muskogee. Other than that, these places were not eventfull.

Because of a winter storm, I had to spend the night in Branson, Missouri. I haven't been this frightened since I went to Las Vegas after spending a week in the National Parks. Yakov Smirnov has a show here, as does almost every D-List country music performer I've never heard of. Dick Clark also has a theater there. Are you getting the picture yet?

I also saw the hometown of Carrie Underwood from American Idol. How awesome.

Graceland

On my recent journey to the south, I managed to get to Graceland. I'm more of a Beatles girl, but I appreciate Elvis all the same. "Suspcious Minds" happens to be one of my favorite songs ever.

My first thought upon entering Graceland was that the house was alot smaller than I had always pictured it in my mind. I liked that they keep the second floor private since Elvis never let people up there when he was alive. I also loved the jungle room with the shag carpet on the ceiling. Somehow, I found myself wondering what Elivs would've done to the place if he had lived past the 1970's, and being glad that the house was stuck in a time warp.

It was neat to see his records, stage costumes, and to know that he loved raquetball.

I was sad that I hadn't planned on going to Graceland that day. If I had, I would've brought a flower to lay at his gravesite.

I didn't get a snowglobe as my lovely friend Taryn had bought me one for my birthday this year.

Below are some pics I took:

Exterior:



Personal Phone



Fuzzy Bed with Stereo Installed in It (from his dressing room)



His microphone



If you've made it this far into the post, you're in for a treat. Waiting for me in the parking lot after the Graceland tour was none other than the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile!

Front View:



Kick ass license plate:

Texarkana, Texas

I should begin by saying that I was very excited to travel to Texarkana. Mostly because I really like the R.E.M. song of the same title. I was suprised to learn that Texarkana borders Arkansas so closely, that the right side of main street is Arkansas, and the left side is Texas. Half of the office building I visited was located in Arkansas, and the other half was in Texas. Weird!

The best thing about Texarkana was the Dixie Diner. I asked our server if their meatloaf was good, and she said "if you like stewed tomatoes, green peppers, and onions, it is". That was all she had to say. The meatloaf arrived on a plate. It was the size of the plate. It weighed 1.5 pounds, easy. It was smothered in wonderfully sweet stewed tomatoes. I cannot tell you how amazing this tasted. It came with green beans and bacon and mashed potatoes. I ate all of it. Then, I had a piece of chocolate pie with a generous heaping of whipped cream on top. And all for about nine dollars. Amazing.

So, if you're travelling to Texarkana, do not drive past Dixie Diner without stopping in...at least for some pie.

The Greatest Song of All Time?

According to the listeners of WTMD, the greatest song of all time is "Imagine" by John Lennon.

Really? I can't believe that this is the song that got the most votes. I disagree. I also disagree with alot of those in the top 50 (Mainly "Hotel California", which is on my list of songs I never want to hear ever again).

Bob Dylan has a bunch of songs in the top 50. So that's nice.

See the list for yourself here.

On (and off) the Needles

This weekend, I finally finished my friend's second mitten. I hope she likes it! The hat and mitten set were my first forays into the wild knitting world of fair isle.

This weekend, I started a hooded cardigan with cables. I'm knitting it in Thaki Charles donegal tweed. So far, everything is looking good. here's some pics:



close up:

Travels - Arkansas Edition

Arkansas, Arkansas, what can I say about Arkansas? I went to Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, and Little Rock (and drove throught the towns in between, of course).

Arkansas is the birthplace and childhood home of President Clinton. I happened to see both towns. The Duck and Rice Capitol of the World is located in Stuttgart. Interesting place. Lots of snow geese there this time of year. And when I say lots, I mean that the fields were white...with birds. The drive from there to Pine Bluff smelled horrifically like sewer gas(aka swampland) and was not pleasant. That night, we stayed in the Pine Bluff Mall. The Holiday Inn Express was located in the mall parking lot. Very strange.

The food in Arkansas is not good. Maybe I just didn't know where to go. My roadfood book only covered towns we either didn't travel to, or weren't there at meal time. I was happy when I saw a TGI Fridays. Those who know me, know I can't stand that food. If you ever go to Pine Bluff Mall, DO NOT eat at the Garfields restaurant. Even though it says it's been voted best restaurant for the past 3 years. It is not. It's terrible. There is a good steak place in Little Rock called chimichuri's or something like that. It's in the Peabody hotel. Just don't order Guiness there. My was rancid and I had to send it back. Then, my waiter was an asshole to me for the rest of the time. But, I would probably be an asshole too if I had to live in Arkansas.

I also encountered a dry town, Jonesboro, Arkansas, which frightened me. What do you do when you can't drink beer? Well, in Arkansas, apparently you worship Jesus.

Jesus was everywhere. On hillsides (as pictured above) and in the churches located about five feet apart from one another. It was scary.

I guess Arkansas just wasn't my favorite state. The Ozarks were pretty, but it was snowing, and the plows just aren't what they are on the east coast there. If you have to pass through, hold your nose through Stuttgart.

Finally, I will have to say that I got a really awesome cheesy snowglobe at the airport. It's the Clinton Presidential Center. Not the Library...the center. It has blue and red stars in it. It's rad ass.

Harry Potter

The release date of the last Harry Potter book was announced last week. July 21st! I was secretly hoping for a 7/07/2007 release date, but that's alright.

I'm a little sad that it's all over. I remember borrowing the first book from my little sister all those years ago, screaming through the first three in a week, then having that horribly long wait until the next one was released.

Soon, we will know how it all ends.

Travels - Omaha Edition

I bet all of my five readers thought I had disappeared. Well, I'm back! I've been travelling those lesser known states of Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and a little bit of Texas. Here's the first edition.

Omaha, Nebraska:

Thanks to Louella for sending me the article about Omaha from the Bust magazine that I so carelessly threw out in a cleaning fit. I went to a bunch of places mentioned in the article. The thrift stores there are pretty cheap, and I found some cute skirts!

I went to M's Pub for lunch, which was really yummy. They have this flat bread pizza creation that's cheap and just what I wanted. For dinner, I went to a great Thai place downtown. It wasn't fancy, but the food was cheap and terrific! I also stopped into Ted and Wally's for a little ice cream. They make their own there and it resembles ice milk, which is great because I can't find that in the stores anymore. I loved ice milk.

The second day, I went to this cute French Bakery. I don't recall the name of it now. They have excellent quiche, potato salad, and yummy french butter cookies. All for around 7 bucks! Can't beat that.

There's also a great record store there called Antiquarium records, where I found a bunch of vinyl, including some Brainiac, which was nice.

Did I mention that you can get Fat Tire in Nebraska? Definitely an added bonus. Pubs visited included Mr. Toads, and this awesome little Irish pub near the record store. Omaha has a law where you can smoke indoors if they don't serve food. I thought that was interesting.

No Jenny Lewis sightings. Maybe next time.