Day Four: Benson, AZ

So, I figured that I would get a jump on the next leg of my trip and leave Austin this morning. Well, I just stopped at a Best Western for the night at a town pretty close to Tuscon. The drive today went pretty easily, especially with the Sirius radio, NFL games all day long. Man Sirius rocks. Plus there was a lot of beautiful scenery.

Tomorrow I head to the Grand Canyon, and Tuesday it's on to Vegas.

Day Three: Austin, TX

So, I drove some more today. Not a lot happened today, before I went to the game. My sister Rolanda had a roller derby game. They didn't do that well, final score 160-50, and for some reason it was stopped after two periods, and my sister hardly got to play, but they gave it their all. They posed for a nice pic after the bout. Rolanda's third from the right in the back. If you want to find out more about them, visit www.detroitderbygirls.com.

And check out that desk at the Courtyard Marriott I'm staying at. Nice.

I went with Landa to this after party thing at a local bar and I stayed for a few minutes before I realized that that overwhelming feeling that I don't belong there wasn't going away. So I bid my adieu and went back to the hotel.

On the road again tomorrow. Gonna start heading toward Las Vegas, and stop some place on the way and try to catch the Lions game. I have this nice room for another night, but the road is calling my name. It's a long way to Vegas, and I want to get their fresh, and ready for debauchery.

Day Two: Oklahoma City, OK

Well, when I left this morning I thought to myself, "Wait, I'm staying in Oklahoma City tonight, what's there to do in Oklahoma City?" Answer: nothing I can think of. So I took my time today and stopped at the Meramac Caverns in Missouri. It's claim to fame is that Jesse James once hid out there after knocking off a train for a thousand dollars. It was okay, to tell you the truth, if you've seen one cave you've seen them all. There was a light show at the end of the tour that was fun and the tour guide was a cute chick, so that helped.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but I did see a couple roadsigns in Oklahoma that were odd. The first went like this: SPEED LIMIT 75 MINIMUM SPEED 50 NO TOLERANCE. Man, they mean business. If it was up to me I'd add a fourth line BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING. The other one I thought was odd was one that said: DO NOT DRIVE INTO SMOKE. What do they got going on in Oklahoma to where that sign is needed. I guess it makes sense, 'cause whenever I see smoke I head straight for it, who knows what's in there, it could be the start of a zombie plague or just really dramatic when I come speeding out the other side in slow motion. Going to bed early tonight, tomorrow's Rolanda's game. On to Austin I go.

Road Trip: Day One: St. Louis

Well, I left this morning later than I wanted to. Didn't get on the road till 11:30. Oh well, I forgot about the time change so I got in St. Louis about 6:30 ET. Yesterday I picked up an ipod thing for your car so you can play it over your radio, freaking genius. I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to a lot of podcasts in the next two weeks. On the way I stopped for gas near Springfield, IL. I saw that they had an Abraham Lincoln museum, and I thought, doesn't sound that exciting, right up my alley. I got there fifteen to five and it closed at five, no tours starting after four, man Abe, you're killing me.

I took the metro train to get into St. Louis, and got really lucky. I didn't get a ticket, I didn't see where you get one. I heard someone say that the penalty for riding without a ticket was fifty bucks. So this girl is checking tickets and she gets to some girl right before me and she can't find hers. The ticket lady stays with her and gets off at the next exit with her. I got off at the the one after that and got myself a ticket. I went to the Arch, and took some pics, but it's not the best thing to take pics of in the dark.

To get there I had to walk through this park. It was well lit, but I just went to go see The Brave One and couldn't help thinking about it.

Then I went to an Irish pub called The Dubliners, I had the duck, it was really good and my waitress regaled me with stories of backpacking in New Zealand and Vietnam and all over. Then I headed home and chatted with some guys who were there for a policemen convention, they reminded me more than a little of Farva. Time to sleep.