Happy Easter! It’s another pretty day here at Nutwood, although it’s a little cooler and breezier than it was yesterday. No grilling today. Instead I’ll be roasting a chicken and some vegetables. I’ve been working hard to clean out the big freezer so that we have room for the side of beef we’ll be getting soon. It’s been a real festival of meat around here lately as I try to empty it out! Before we put the new stuff in, we’ll empty the freezer and defrost it, so it’s a lot easier if I clear as much stuff out as possible.
We didn’t plan anything with family today, because my Mom was really busy with her church activities, and she had to make food yesterday for their big hymn sing this evening. She looks forward to that every month, but it’s going to be a long day for her. I hope she took my advice and took a nap this afternoon! Ken’s Mom is visiting family in Missouri, and it will be the first time she has seen the headstone for her husband Jim. She was doing that today, so our thoughts are with her. Also, Ken was originally supposed to work 12-hour night shifts this weekend, so we were going to have a very quiet weekend here. It turns out he didn’t have to work, after all, but I guess we still ended up having a quiet weekend by ourselves!
Ken is doing some work, and I’ve been catching up on correspondence and reading personal blogs, as well as reading my book and doing a little more to plan our Route 66 trip. I’m to the point where I’ll be able to call and make reservations at the restored motels we want to stay at, since I know when we’ll be in certain towns. Some of them, like the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, are in very high demand, and Laurel advises to book now. Still plenty of planning to do, like some of our side trips (the Petrified Forest, cliff dwellings, possibly the south rim of the Grand Canyon), but I’m starting to get a handle on it. I’m really getting excited about it, but I’m trying to keep my cool and not wig out. My philosophy on this trip is to just enjoy the journey, and not plan out every last detail. That kind of defeats the purpose of a Route 66 trip, which is all about enjoying the little unexpected things that you come across.
I know I’ve told this story before, but one of my fondest memories of my short Route 66 trip with Shane back in 2001—to be honest, it’s one of my fondest memories ever—was a bizarre encounter at the Luna Cafe in Mitchell, Illinois. (Note: the linked writeup mentions that the sign is scheduled to be restored. It has since been restored, and I’m looking forward to seeing it!) We went in there to grab dinner, and when I said I’d have the taco salad, the guy told me, “Ohhh, you don’t wanna have that.” hahaha After some discussion of what they had and what I did want, he had me come back to the kitchen to pick something out. I can’t recall if it was me or Shane who had a chicken sandwich, but I remember it being not cooked all the way. Yikes! I think we’ll just stop in for a beer this time and eat somewhere else. But it’s a great place that’s been around almost a hundred years, and those kinds of adventures are part of the fun of this kind of a trip! Getting Salmonella is NOT part of the plan, however. I’ll try not to write too much more about it before we go, because you’ll be reading plenty when the time comes! I thought about creating a new blog just for this trip, but I’ll keep it here on the Junction. I think I can create a separate page, though, and I’ll look into that. I want to keep a written journal, as well as an online one, so dang...I’m going to be busy!
