Ahhhhhh, Nobu. You haven of fishy goodness in the food desert that is Texas. I was SO excited to go here and I wasn't disappointed; the food and sake was delicious. They had all of my usual favorites, and a bunch of creative other things. If only I could fit more in my tummy I would have! Matt and I started with a cute pot of their sake and an uni shooter:
The pictures didn't really come out that well so I won't put up the rest of them but try to picture really delicious miso soup, oshitashi, black Alaskan cod with miso (this is one of their signature dishes), toro sashimi and negihama rolls. Oh my it was so good.
It has been especially hard for me to get anything to eat since we left Florida. You wouldn't think so while we were along the gulf in New Orleans, but the concept of no dairy, no eggs, no meat just doesn't go over well; especially in Texas and points north. That is part of why Nobu was such a treat, but really great food is always lovely.
So having already detoured as far as Dallas we had a choice in where to go next. We could spend the next 2 nights in Texas cutting across the state, or we could head North first into Oklahoma. It wasn't part of the original plan but it sounded fun to check out another state. Texas was interesting, but there wasn't anything in particular we had on the agenda for the next few days and when were we going to see Oklahoma again?
So North we went to spend the night in the capitol itself, Oklahoma City.
The drive is hard to show in a picture because the views are so expansive they look silly on my little camera. At one spot we were going through a cut in some hills and I think it is the only driving shot that doesn't totally suck.
And of course I took a few shots of the city as we approached. (not exciting, I know)
We checked in a best western and Matt was thrilled to find that for the first time since we left Rhode Island he fits under the shower head in the bathroom!!!
Then there were the trucks. Obviously there had been trucks since we hit the south but the percentage of trucks to any other cars was outrageous once we hit Texas and into Oklahoma. Not just any trucks either; big USA made trucks, and there we were in one too, but a foreign one with surfboards on top. Really funny all the looks we've been getting. Matt noticed this when he parked at the hotel:
All of these different people had not only parked their trucks right next to each other, but had alternated Chevy and Silverado. How bizarre! Look how cute Matt is with his truck though :)
Neither of us know much about Oklahoma so we thought we would just go drive around downtown for a while. The State Capitol building looked really pretty when we drove in so we figured we would head there first. As it was a Saturday there was no one around and we just ran around like crazy people for a while as the sun went down.
After that we drove around the downtown. We wanted to see people out and about, and see where Oklahomans go out on a Saturday night. Apparently, they don't. It was creepy. Here we were at 7 o'clock on a Saturday night driving through a city so empty we were making zombie apocalypse jokes. It was weird. No one was out walking around, and there weren't even lights on in houses when we got to the more residential areas. So after a while of this we got bored - we hadn't even passed a restaurant with people in it or a bar or anything - so we went back to the hotel room and watched old episodes of Friends with microwave meals for dinner. We had bought frozen meals at Wholefoods that morning which is a really good thing because it wasn't like we were gonna find a restaurant anywhere. Bizarre. If you don't have to go to Oklahoma City, I think maybe don't bother.
In the morning we had another decision to make - how to get to Colorado. We had a choice of three different routes - all of which would take about 10.5 hours to get to Colorado Springs. We knew that we were going to break up that drive because Matt can't go that far driving all on his own. We didn't have a hotel reservation and could stay wherever we wanted/found. And this was about the time, while we were getting gas, that I suggested Kansas. Because, really, why not?
Matt said ok and we drove North for a few hours, then turned West for a few more and made it through Kansas and just across the border in Colorado. I am so glad he did. Based purely on scenery, this was my favorite day so far. Yes, it is flat, but there is so much more than that. The earth is red and there are little flowers dotting the fields. Of course there were cows and sheep and horses so that made me happy. And we saw whole ranges of wind turbines which is a very encouraging site. Yay, green energy.
First though we had to update our stickers. Kansas is the sunflower state so this was totally appropriate. I guess the bunnies are kind of random, but they make me happy.
Here is a picture of the wind turbines. How pretty are they???
As soon as we crossed the border I saw something that I didn't even know was possible. And it lasted for about 20 miles! Matt and I were 'off the grid' for 20 whole minutes. Flippin awesome.
We stopped at one point to pick a piece of cotton to add to our dashboard display. It was wild - the sky just goes on and on and you do feel small out there.
We stopped at a gas station right before the Colorado border where Matt engaged in another windshield cleaning session. He has been waging a war on bugs since we left and I'm sad to say I think the bugs are winning. They are all over the truck, in the grill, on the glass, and crushed into the surfboard bag and cargo box. Yuck. When we get to LA we will probably need to go through the car wash like 10 times. What I liked about this particular gas station better than all the other times he had cleaned the windows was the random mural across the street. These were all over little towns on the sides of buildings that they seemingly had nothing to do with. I found them charming.
And then we were into Colorado. Please be proud of me for resisting the urge to make any "we're not in Kansas anymore" jokes. I was very good . . .
We passed into Mountain time and now are only one time zone away from our new home!
We spent the night in a tiny town without a 3G signal anywhere (why!?!?) and are now getting ready to go the 3 hours to Colorado Springs. We will be there for 3 days and I can't wait. There is so much I want to see. A little worried because the weather forecast is chilly with a chance of snow - Ahhhh! - on Wednesday and I don't have gloves or anything. But, whatever, it is gonna be beautiful.
The major sightseeing starts tomorrow. Today we have to get there, explore the town itself, have dinner and then watch the presidential debate. We have been noticing Obama signs in yards across this country - even the typically conservative states - and we have found it very encouraging. Weeeee!
Time to get a move on.
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