From the 'Gateway to the West' to OK, City

---

Day 2: Traveled from St. Louis to Oklahoma City, OK.

After staying last night nearly 'under' the Arch we trekked about 500 miles, today. We have entertained ourselves pretty well, no boredom or car/cabin fever! The only time we've gotten on each others nerves was at our Starbucks pit stop, this morning. Brian cranked out his very best hillbilly "I'd like a venni Americani Grande, please' impression. This was pretty embarrassing but he made up for it with a brief, 'I met my wife at Starbucks' conversation that the barista seemed to thoroughly enjoy. HA!

Caffeination in tow, we pulled out a few tricks from our normal road trip bag for entertainment... such as 'meowing' a couple songs (Adam Lambert, is such an easy target) and personifying the cats (who are staying with my folks until we are settled in California). We envisioned Halle & Anni rocking out to some Bob Seger, Hal on the guitar and Anni, channeling her kitty angst on the drums. These tangents persist for several county lines, including the many Branson exits! HA! We have heard the Katy Perry 'Fireworks' song in every state & 4 times yesterday, alone. Note: we REALLY LIKED this song before yesterday. Somewhere between Tulsa and Oklahoma City we were preoccupied with Chewy impressions... of course the precursor to such was the question, "If Hal was CHEWY, what would she say?"

Heading south on 1-40 out of St. Louis, we detoured through Baxter Springs, Missouri to Independence, Kansas. Here we met up with some good family friends, Mike & Debra Johnson!! They took us in for some dinner and good company. 😊 This was refreshing and offered a bit of home from such a hospitable couple!

For the 2nd night in a row, we picked our hotel from Expedia, but AGAIN had to call to confirm the reservation. Frustratingly enough, the gentleman (whom Brian refers to as "Peggy" from the Capital One TV commercials) informed me of 2 reservations that we had not actually made! An HOUR later, the 'breach in our system' was rectified and lodging for the evening confirmed! WHEW! After the issue, we'll stay away from Expedia for the remainder of this trip.
Our hotel is awesome; we're only sad we won't be in it longer! HA! As a late night treat, leftover 'Kashmir' from KY now fills out bellies!

Tomorrow: Breakfast at 6:30, then onto Amarillo & Albuquerque!

---