DAY SIX: The Jeff Harshbarger Trio

Today was a day spent learning. We learned so many things today. We learned that a “trio” need not be limited to describing a group that has three members. We learned that two of Kansas City’s most well-known barbecue restaurants have distinctly different approaches to meat. And, finally, we learned how a group of ticks at Zion or Arches National Parks could end up sending us to the Harry Truman Home in Independence, Missouri.

There was a recent note in the comments of this blog asking for us to take on a more political tone, and so today, Emily and Colin launched a first-hand investigation into health care in America. More specifically, the infrastructure in place in Kansas City to deal with the plague that is the modern American tick bite. At least, we think it’s a series of tick bites that has caused the moderately unfortunate rash-like (but not itchy or raised!) discoloration on the back of Colin’s legs. Three hours after checking in to a local emergency room, giving then all the info, being shuffled off behind a closed door to the local “urgent care,” repeating all the info, and finally, getting some good advice and prescriptions (and a tetanus shot – ouch!), we were ready to continue our day.

And, as it turns out, there are two things we found out about the staff at Saint Luke’s Hospital and the Swope Parkway Urgent Care Center.

1) The staff is split about fifty-fifty when it comes to the new History Channel sensation “Ice Road Truckers.” Some love it, some hate it, and Colin didn’t have the heart to tell them that he couldn’t do anything about it. Colin’s little part of History Channel programming has no impact on the rate at which "Ice Road Truckers" is both aired and promoted.

2) The staff members also shared a wealth of information about local food, local attractions, etc. That included the E.R. nurse practitioner guy, who was very vocal in his support of the tour at the Harry Truman Home in nearby Independence, Missouri.

And so it was on his advice, via the ticks, that we headed out to where Truman spent a great deal of his life before and after his time in the White House. It’s a very, very unassuming, middle of America home, and it’s been basically unchanged since Truman’s death in the early 1970’s. For Colin, the colors, modest appliances, and overall layout and décor of the home triggered a sense of 314 W. Howard déjà vu. (314 is the family home in Clarksville, and upcoming pix will likely give you a better sense of the overall Truman home vibe.)

This is definitely the right season for touring places like this – there were only four people on what turned out to be a very personalized version of the tour, given to us by the quirky U.S. Park Ranger “Al.” Not quite sure what Al’s deal is, but he gave a hell of a tour, selling the “material,” such as, “You know, it wasn’t until 1953, when he left the White House, that President Truman finally achieved the American dream… he became a homeowner.” Ba-dum-bump. Colin was Al’s best audience member ever. And Emily wants to remind folks that until 1953, the home had been owned by Truman’s mother-in-law, but Harry and Bess lived there. Details, details…the girl is obsessed with details.

On arriving back in Kansas City, we hit the first of the day’s two barbecue “must do’s” – the legendary Arthur Bryant’s; the original, on Brooklyn St. Emily and Colin shared a combo platter of meat – ribs and pulled pork. Colin’s verdict: Excellent. Emily’s verdict: “Great, spicy, I liked it because it didn’t come smothered in sauce.” No fear in the sauce department, though; if Al Gore knew the number of trees cut down to make the napkins we used during the meal, he’d have an inconvenient hemorrhage. (And if he did, he should head down to Saint Luke’s… Good people, there!)

After a brief power nap, Emily awoke recharged, and, oddly, asking for her mother. Colin is used to dealing with Emily’s post-waking return to reality, so he talked her down. Mommy wasn’t there…in Kansas… or Missouri…. but everything was going to be all right. (Side note: What do they put in the sauce at Arthur Bryant's?)

After Emily rejoined us here in Kansas City, we set out for phase two of our day. And phase two of our day was one of our favorite days of the trip. Emily thinks all the days have been so great and so different, there hasn’t been a day that hasn’t been her favorite day of the trip, and in that respect, Colin certainly agrees.

So we went to a genuine riverboat casino. And, in order to get in, due to Missouri state law, we became members of Harrah’s Gold Star Player’s Club. And boy, let me tell you, when they see the way we took ten hard earned dollars, and stretched it out over a variety of one and five cent slot machines for a whole hour, well, they’re just going to be throwing comp rooms and meal upgrades our way.

Off the river, then, and over to Kansas City’s famed “Blue Room” club, part of the American Jazz Museum. Monday nights are the jazz equivalent of “open mic” night at the Blue Room; anyone is welcome to bring an instrument, sign up, and take the stage. (Sadly, Emily had left her cello in Sherman Oaks.) And Kansas City is home to a wealth of jazz talent. Singers and piano players came off especially well, and the fact that entire thing is free… that’s right, free… only adds to the value here. Anytime you can see world class jazz for free in a fantastic setting - they do have a bar, but no minimum - you don't pass that up. There’s no bar food, though, but Emily and Colin decided against doing what they considered to be the least “jazz” thing in the entire world: going back to the car, and bringing in a package of Golden Honey “Teddy Grahams.”

Highlights included a man taking the stage midway through a jam, whispering to the band, and launching in to a beautiful rendition of “Stormy Monday.” He killed it, absolutely killed it, then walked off the stage, and back to the bar. After the number wrapped, as is jazz tradition, the bass player/host then gave kudos to the band, but was stumped on the mystery singer, saying something like, “Bob Johnson on drums… and some guy, on vocals. Thank you, mystery visitor….” The fact that the mystery visitor was world-class himself only added to the special vibe of the night. A great, great time. Other highlights included a table filled with four, elderly African American gentlemen, who looked like the types who had been meeting like this for years… with one of the men wearing a backwards baseball cap and Bluetooth headset. An awesome combo pack of tradition and technology.

Oh, and Jeff, the bass playing hosts’ band? They’re called the Jeff Harshbarger Trio … and yes, there’s four people in it. Which is one of the many reasons why jazz is just so damn cool.

Also out of this world: piano player Ryan Howard. Not the Philadelphia Phillie, but a man who can really make that keyboard sing.

To cap off the night, Colin and Emily hit their second barbecue joint of the day, a local mini-chain called Gates. Here we split another combo sampler platter, this one coming with an appropriate amount of triangle-sliced Wonder Bread. You could make little mini sandwiches out of the succulent ham, or the thin sliced beef. The ribs were delicious, and the macaroni salad, while to Emily’s taste, a bit “mayonnaise-y”, was a much needed “oral cooling agent,” after the spicy Gates sauce covered most of the meats. Colin’s verdict: Delicious, in a different way. Emily’s verdict: “It was, like, spicy because they put so much sauce on it, but it was good. All the barbecue was good.”

Tomorrow – more museums, then it’s Meet Me in St. Louis… if “me” happens to be Robynn Ragland, one of Colin’s college friends, who holds a special place in Colin/Emily history. It was Robynn, the rock star/lawyer who needed an audition tape edited for “The Apprentice,” and Colin knew this girl who might be able to help… Yes, it was this project that launched Colin and Emily down the long we now call… Interstate 70.

Current Mood: Full of barbecue

DAY FIVE: Where The Buffalo Roam

Where the buffalo roam? Turns out, Hays, Kansas. They don’t roam very far because they’re caged in a giant pen (more on that later).

Today was a day of covering ground; that is, after driving in circles around the greater Denver area in search of breakfast. There’s apparently this great place for muffins, and Colin knows exactly where it is... or, does he? We later found out that it is called Le Peep and we missed it by a tenth of a mile. So, if you’re ever in Denver, check it out, Le Peep, it’s by the Zoo. We hear the Zoo is pretty good too; it’s over by Le Peep... or is it? As it turns out, Le Peep is not just by the zoo, apparently they’re all over the Denver area (see http://www.lepeep.com/).

Emily finally did some serious driving today. She drove from 11:00am to 5:00pm. Emily thinks this should count as six hours of driving. Colin thinks it’s important to take into account the time zone change as we crossed from Colorado into Kansas… (we learned that the hard way about time zone changes!) and insists that Emily drove for only five hours. Still, as this more than quadrupled Emily's driving contributions, it was much, much appreciated by Colin.

About 25 miles before our first destination, Hays, Kansas, Emily decided it was too windy and she had enough of driving, so we pulled over into a gorgeous rest area. Truly, Kansas has some of the finest rest areas around (even some with WiFi!), and this was a perfect place to switch drivers.

Once in Hays, we searched for the Fort (see 8^th grade U.S. History book) and the buffalo (see AAA Kansas Tourbook), but were unsuccessful in both quests, and turned our focus to food. Sunday in Kansas is God’s day and apparently God doesn’t eat. Most local eateries were closed, but we did find Gella’s Diner and the LB Brewing Company, and what a find it was.

This diner/functioning brewery has great food, including the North Kansas specialty of Grebble. What is grebble, you may ask? It's a fried bread served with maple syrup and, what else, but pesto! Now, you may think that fried bread, syrup and pesto is an odd combination... and you’d be right, but it is DELICIOUS!

Our friendly waitress also drew us a map to the buffalo, and as it turns out, they’re at the Fort. Or, at least, across from the fort, in a park. We took pictures and then went on our way. (This may have been Car Woody's favorite stop so far... back in the Old West, at last!)

Now, after 9+ hours of driving, we made it to Kansas City and, we’re not in Kansas anymore… we’re in Missouri.

We've finally settled in to our third room of the evening... the first two, suffering from unfortunate issues you would not expect to find at a three-diamond Triple A rated hotel. We should have taken the sage advice of loyal blog reader and experienced traveler Jody Moss, and had them show us their third room, first. The good news is, we've been upgraded to a suite with a jacuzzi! And yes, other loyal blog reader Jamie, it's a Trading Places-style Duke and Duke jacuzzi... not a self-powered one.

Current Mood: On vacation! No driving tomorrow!

Current Location:

DAY FOUR: Golden Moments

What they tell you about Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver: It’s one of America’s premier concert venues, a spectacular natural setting for some of the most beloved concerts of our time (think U2’s "Under a Blood Red Sky", not John Tesh’s “Worship at Red Rocks.”). What they don’t tell you about Red Rocks: To get to your seats, you’re going to have to walk up the equivalent of a 22-story building, with no escalators, much less elevators. Oh, and did we mention that the whole thing is located at 6,400 feet above sea level? This may explain why Red Rocks audiences are so appreciative; it’s not, necessarily, that they love the acts, they’re just happy to be alive.

Our act tonight was “1964” – a group of guys who’ve been performing the same Beatles tribute act for some 23 years. You’d think they’d have it down by now, but there was definitely some odd bass playing going on. Maybe the altitude got to the faux Paul? Speaking of Faux Paul, the problems with “1964” are thus:

1) Too much “Faux Ringo”, or “Fringo” as Colin called him.

2) Too much of the band members calling each other by their “Beatle” names. As in, that’s all they did. “Hey, I hope you all liked John on that last song,” or “Paul is really tearing it up tonight…” Uh, guys? You’re not REALLY John and Paul, you know that?

3) They shill for “live CD’s”… of their tribute to the Beatles. Uh, guys, again? We have ACTUAL Beatle CDs for that.

4) At NO point did FPaul or FJohn (or even Fringo) say, “Well, Colorado, this is all well and good, but my name’s Dave, and for two decades now, I’ve made my living playing the music of four very, very special people, so let’s have a big hand for the ones who gave us such an incredible gift, and the ones to whom I’m forever grateful, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr!”

Car Woody didn’t go. He’s loyal to what remains our favorite Beatles act, The Fab Faux.

Speaking of Car Woody, he had quite the adventure out at Arches today. Yes, before leaving for Denver, the whole family headed back out for one more look at the stuff we didn’t see yesterday at Arches. Woody and Isis were still feuding, and after taking a great shot of Woody under the Skyline Arch, Isis tried to leave him behind… apparently forgetting for the moment that she was a GPS device, and it was easy for us to track down Woody’s whereabouts. We’re hopeful the shenanigans between our trip mascot and chief navigator will settle down.

Other highlights from the day:

--A stirring round of the fastest growing quiz sensation in the West, “Know Your Overtures”, which featured Colin’s performing debut at Red Rocks, on an especially stirring version of the Tchaikovsky’s 1812 ??? 64 ??? Overture. Emily’s contribution of the overture from The Marriage of Figaro marked her second Trading Places reference of the day.

-- A great view of the Big Dipper rising above the Red Rocks amphitheater.

-- Making the sensible decision to get to Denver, and forgo what looked to be a lovely but slow shortcut from Moab back to I70. We did have to do a little backtracking, but we saved ourselves a crucial hour, which we spent rejuvenating in the pool here at our Denver hotel.

-- Closing the day after the concert with some grocery shopping, and coming out to see the world’s second cutest puppy, a soft and fluffy golden retriever who couldn’t have been more than six months old, waiting outside with his master. Yes, that’s right – we closed this fantastic day by running in to a golden… in Golden. “I’ll take ‘Omens and Portents’ for 800, Alex…”

Current Mood: Sunny

Current Location:

DAY FOUR: Made it to Denver!

Resting and recharging, before heading out to see Beatles tribute act "1964" at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheater. More later!

DAY THREE: Panguitch to Moab (to Chance)

Greetings from Moab, Utah, a city that HAS entered the 21^st Century, and provides free wireless access in most hotel rooms. (Thanks for the encouraging notes, folks – believe us, we’ll post as often as we can!) Here’s the thing about today – once we got here, we saw insanely spectacular sights at Arches National Park. But our decision to take the 12-24 combo highway out of Panguitch really, really paid off. It’s a “Scenic Highway” or “Scenic Byway” that takes you through Capitol Reef National Park, atop a few mountains, and through a variety of terrains that made you feel like you had perhaps slipped through a rift in the Twilight Zone and ended up on some alien planet. Highly recommended – making the drive with either a Corrs playlist (something about the Irish flute and fiddle sound on their more traditional numbers) on the iPod, or firing up the soundtrack to the space Western Firefly. Also entirely appropriate – the B-52’s “Planet Claire,” which was kind of where we felt like we were.

So the drive – fantastic. And Arches – fantastic. And the hot tub at the Super 8 in Moab? Warm at best… but that in no way had a negative impact on a day full of incredible sights. Utah – who knew?

Miscellaneous Day Highlights:

--Seeing the distinctive smoke pattern of a wildfire burning, followed by a “Utah-trans” Sign on the side of the road reading “Natural Fire – Do Not Report.” Well then, okay.

-- There were a lot of cows grazing in fenced off lands just off the highway. Only two “free range” cows decided they wanted a piece of the freeway, including one inquisitive young mooer who made like the giant bird/bat from the other night, and took at run at the C-RV. Fortunately, this cow peeled off before impact. Moo!

--After “arching” a photogenic spot at Arches National Park (if you “summit” a summit, then when you go stand in the middle of an arch, you’re “arching”, right?), Emily got all “Johnny Hiker,” and set off on something called “The Primitive Trail” back to the parking area. This seemed like a good idea, and, in fact, it turned out to be a great idea. We only had to consult Isis once or twice (Isis assuring us that the CR-V was within a thousand feet of our current location, it was just on the other side of that massive, impassible sandstone arch), and there was NOBODY else who took this trail for the whole 30 minutes we were on it. So there we were, on the back side of an arch, with nobody around for miles. We had the park – miles, and miles, and miles of Utah countryside, to ourselves. It was very, very quiet, and very, very wonderful.

--“Arching” another arch, and Colin getting moderately stuck on the way back down. (Getting up was the easy part, but if you’ve ever seen Colin dance, you know the problems he has with getting down… (These are jokes). Eventually, and carefully, he made it down, just beating the sunset, and the rapid onset of darkness.

-- The couple up in this somewhat hard to reach arch before us? We saw them later at the Chevron station in Moab. They were from the L.A. area, too… La Mirada, I believe, on their way to Denver for a wedding. They had come from Grand Canyon (current destination of Doctors Ponder and Campbell) and were going to hit Bryce and Zion on the way back to L.A. Told them about the 12-24 combo. Their loss if they miss it!

--We’re not entirely sure, but it seems that Isis is getting a bit jealous of all the attention Car Woody has been getting from the blog. Before giving us directions to Interstate 70 today, Isis started going on and on about the Mattel toy recall, and how Car Woody was probably next. Odd…

-- Final Daily Score card:

Free Range Cows: 2

Free Range Coyotes: 1

Free Range Lizards: 1

Not-so-free range bugs on the front license plate after car was meticulously detailed before start of journey: Incalculable

Number of times Emily quoted Trading Places: 4 (For those who know the film, we ate a lot of beef jerky, and ended the day in the Jacuzzi.)

Current Mood: Jazzed

Current Location:


On Tap: Denver! Red Rocks! Bad Beatle Cover Bands!

DAY THREE: Scene from the Road

DAY TWO: All Aboard the Flying M

Greetings from PANGUITCH, a city in Utah that we can’t pronounce (we’re too embarrassed to ask a townie for proper pronunciation). It’s our stopover between Zion and Arches National Parks. Panguitch is a row of motels and coffee shops right off the highway. Late tonight, we landed at the Flying M restaurant for a piece of apple pie, and as a bonus, got a waitress with all the town gossip. Said waitress tipped us off to the bait and switch pricing scandal at a nearby hotel, and it was on her recommendation that we turned the CR-V in to a Doc Brown-modified DeLorean, and went back to 1952…

Or at least, that’s how it seems in large parts of Panguitch, a city where the thin line between “gimmicky retro” and “not upgraded in five decades” is oft-blurred. So here we are in 1952 at the Lamp Lighter Inn, which is definitely on the “original” side of the scale… in a good way.

Things that happened today that were good: Breakfast with Doctor Kathy Campbell, and her lovely husband, Doctor Steve Ponder, at the Food Network-featured “Coffee Cup” Diner in Boulder City, NV. The drive through spectacular Nevada, Arizona, and Utah countryside. XM Satellite radio. Emily taking her first turn behind the wheel. Zion National Park. Getting a great WPA-designed poster of Zion which is going to look fantastic in our house. Hiking the Riverside Trail at Zion, stopping only when we had to start wading through the water The pie and tater-tots at the Flying M. Not getting sunburned.

The not so good: Emily pulling on to the freeway after a gas stop with the emergency brake still activated. (Whoops.) No Internet access at Lamp Lighter. (What, they didn’t have the ‘net in 1952?) Car struck by a flying bird/giant bat at sundown. Our GPS device (“Isis,” we call her, after the Egyptian goddess of navigation) trying to find a Starbucks located inside a casino, and sending us on a fourteen mile Interstate detour. (What, they didn’t have Starbucks in ancient Egypt?) Completely forgetting about the Mountain Time Zone, and discovering on our return to the Zion visitors center that it wasn’t 5:45, it was really 6:45, and an extra hour had been snipped out of our day.

The great: Ending the day, safe and secure, looking at 100+ photos of day two, writing this blog, an air conditioned room. And heading for Arches National Park, possibly via a very scenic highway, in the morning. After we check out one of the other cool diners in town…

Dam, That's Big!

Greetings from Boulder City, Nevada, where after a full day of travel, Emily and Colin (composing this post together in the seldom-used "joint first person" tense) are safe and sound, back at the hotel room, after a day filled with driving, the majesty of a pizza and chicken wings cruise on Lake Mead to the Hoover Dam, a late night visit to the ritzy Wynn Hotel and Casino Resort in Las Vegas (where one machine spit out a cool $100 bill for Emily... yes, it was the ATM...), granola bars, 50's diners, meeting up with Colin's mom and husband Steve, cheese plates, air conditioning failures (in the hotel room tonight, not in the so-far performing like a champ Honda CR-V), a variety of beverages, and so much more!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so instead of going on and on, here's a thousand words worth of our day:Unofficial trip mascot "Car Woody," atop the CR-V, at the Hoover Dam. Which, Emily learned today, was not named for J. Edgar Hoover. Who knew?

Current location:


Current mood: Satisfied, and a bit tired.

And... we're off!

The iPod is loaded. The GPS is updated. The XM is waiting. Every device with initials is charged and ready. So am I.

Too nervous to sleep? Have I forgotten anything? More importantly - what if all the stores in America are closed, and we can't get something that we really, really need? This is why the decision to bring along 24 cans of Mountain Dew seems, to me, to be a good one. Plus, you know, we'll drink it... and then the car will get lighter as we drive. By Kansas City, we may even have to hit a (gasp!) Wal-Mart for refills!

Emily is great with lists and checklists, and categories, and sorting, and organizing. And while I was off working tonight (and packing, way too late), she was organizing all of the essentials - the big plastic box filled with a trash can and Costco-sized packages of beef jerky, the box-o-chargers-and-cords, aforementioned suitcase full of beverages (Gatorade, water, etc.)

Let the journey begin!

Current location:

Current Mood: Excited

Colin forgot to mention...

Yet one more navigational tool.

Planning? What is this "Planning"?

If by "planning," Emily means we have both:

A) A Bluetooth-enabled Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS device and
B) An old-fashioned AAA "TripTik"

... then yes, we've done some planning. Other than that, the road, much like the sky, is wide open. (And by "wide open" I mean raining. Which may be good. Maybe the flooding will help do something about the oppressive heat.)

Exit Zero

We're finally heading out - leaving the comfort of exit sixteen on the 101 (home sweet home) and venturing 2,098 miles to exit zero on the 65, Clarksville, Indiana, last stop before Kentucky. We're stopping along the way to have lots of adventures (that I have carefully planned out), so check back often to see what's going on.