I’m touring the facility

...and picking up slack!

After my workout today, I took care of the Nutwood birds (seed, suet, cleaning the bird bath), and tried to get a little time in the sun on the deck. Unfortunately, by that time it was clouding up, so I gave up and started cleaning some of the old food out of the freezers. (Note to self: it’s all fine and good to freeze stuff when you can’t quite eat all of it, but you have to eat it soon. I’ve reclaimed at least half a dozen plastic containers.)

After I showered, I decided to work on the Route 66 trip a little bit more, and finalize some stops and plans. It’s not as easy as you’d think, because many of the stops are off of the Interstate, and many of the little towns don’t have places to stay nearby—at least once you get out to the Southwest (which is where I had to finish up the planning). We have side trips planned for Meramec Caverns (of course!), the Petrified Forest, and some cliff dwellings. We thought about the South rim of the Grand Canyon, too, but that’s going to be a little too far of a side trip, and it would also have been another side trip out of Flagstaff (the cliff dwellings are the side trip of choice out of Flagstaff). I’ve got us staying an extra day in Albuquerque, which will be not quite halfway, so we can get a chance to stay a couple of nights in one place! (And do some laundry.) It will also be a good chance to see all the Googie signs in the city, both during the day and lit up at night.

We have one day that is mostly free at the very end of the Road, in Santa Monica. We’ll take that time to just enjoy the Santa Monica Pier and the end of our epic road trip, and we’re hoping to meet up with our friend Marty of Heard at Starbucks. A visit to 7th and Montana is definitely in order! After Santa Monica, we’ll be busy with family, Andy’s graduation, and then a weekend in L.A. with Kim and Steve and our nieces (with visits to the Huntington Library and the Getty Museum). I wish we could get together with our other friends in L.A., but I’m afraid there are only so many hours in the day.

Anyway, it’s good to have the foundation of the itinerary in place. I’m going to add a few things in there, but not too much—that’s what my reference books are for! I’ll get it printed out (with some extra space for if I want to write in anything later on), and we’ll be good to go except for the packing part. Whew! I’m trying not to overplan or micromanage...I’m no Clark Griswold, sticking to a set schedule with no flexibility. If our rental car is a pea green station wagon, I’m going to be pissed! But having a general idea of where we’ll be at the end of each day is a good thing, and there are only about three weeks before we leave! Oh boy!

After all that, I gave my brain a rest and went out on the deck to shuck some corn for tonight’s barbecue. It’s not locally grown corn—that won’t be on for a couple more months—but I bet it will taste good all the same. Plus steak and a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing. (No pineapple...hahahaha...private joke!) Add a nice glass of red wine, and it will be a much-needed relaxing evening.
I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend, whether you were relaxing or having fun!