Toward the Border!

We drove through all of the open acres of Kansas today. In this wintertime everything is shades of...tan. Vast stretches of brown land without a tree at all. And then a house with a stand of bare brown trees nearby. In the summer it would be a different sight. Today it is plain after neutral tone plain as far as the eye can see (which is far). Perhaps this is why they call them "plains."

I expected Oklahoma to be the same, but it was not. Oklahoma had hills and slopes of land and small manageable chunks of pasture fenced. And Oklahoma has trees and whole woods. And the occasional pond or river. Oklahoma also has Guthrie.

We pulled off the road from our beeline for the border to pose by the green highway sign marking Guthrie, Oklahoma. Then my dad and the pups posed by the Welcome to Historic Guthrie, more elaborate, sign stating that this is the Garden City (or town). If there are rabbits in those gardens, it is aptly named. Now we just need to find an Eli town and I will feel I've been fair about things to the dogs.

My dad kept mentioning Applebees today. When we stopped for the night in Fort Worth Texas (Yes, indeed, we made it to Texas! That's no mere inch on the map!) our LaQuinta Inn (dogs stay free!) was next door to an IHOP. I mentioned that we get 20% off there, with our room key. So my dad asked if we were going to use our room card for supper at Applebees.

IHOP, I corrected. I think all they have is pancakes, let's go there for breakfast.

The hotel desk clerk suggested Olive Garden and told us how to get there. So we headed for Olive Garden.

"Are we looking for Applebees?" my dad wondered as we were driving.

"Olive Garden, Dad, she told us about Olive Garden." And I pulled of the highway to the place I thought she told me it was.

"Is this where Applebees is?" he wondered.

"No," I laughed. "We're looking for Olive Garden. It's after Don Pablo's...I don't know where any Applebee's is."

But we found no Olive Garden, no Don Pablos. We were somehow in the wrong area. There was only a mall, a mattress store and...an Applebees.

Maybe he somehow knew.

Tomorrow we head for the Border. Away from the cold of even Texas (where it is 45 and we are wearing our coats!) It hasn't sunk in yet for me that this is a Tropical excursion. But when the language changes and the climate changes and we see Color in the landscape...then we will realize We Are Going to Belize!!!

Toward the border!

Susana