Yet Another Southern Delicacy!

Yes, we owe a great debt to The South for introducing the rest of us to such indescribable delicacies as RC Cola and Moon Pie, Dr Pepper, the Praline(disputed by the French) and of course Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll. There however has been little recognition of the Moon Pies little bastard brother, Uncle Al's Lemon Planks! Appropriately, in Shreveport,Louisiana outside The Soap Opera laundramat Dr Clair had the opportunity to sample this regional delight and is happy to report that it will likely remain a regional delight! Whoever chose the descriptive "planks" obviously tried this pastry(?) before settling on such an appropriate name, realizing that "Lemon Particle Board" would probably adversely impact the already limited sales! Dr Clair was quick to wash this dessert down with Resurrection Anti-Hangover Energy Drink(seriously) before deciding to stick to his regular diet of his own making on this trip, a Little Debbie Snack Cake with a Red Bull chaser! Connoisseur of fine food this trip, he's not!

The Oklahoma City National Memorial

The Oklahoma City National Memorial on the site of the former Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is without a doubt one of the most moving memorials that Dr Clair has personally experienced. The magnitude of what took place on this spot ensures that people speak in hushed voices and carry themselves with the respect due the gravity of this site. Dr Clair has been there during the day and on this trip had the opportunity to see the Memorial as it is lit after dark. The gorgeous reflecting pool appears to double the number of chairs representing each individual lost in this senseless act of domestic terrorism. Having previously visited the National Museum and spent nearly an entire day learning more about this site, Dr Clair was free during this visit to just walk about and linger when and where he felt the need. It was nearly impossible to choose an image from the many pictures captured to summarize the site, but Dr Clair finally settled on the quote over the archway leading to the reflecting pool. Feel free to visit the Picasa Web Albums to see more striking images of this incredible site.

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, Texas

Dr Clair has been to the Cadillac Ranch before, in fact on that trip
he actually made a 900 mile(!) sidetrip just to see this famous
roadside attraction! Today we only had to backtrack 16 miles to see
this neat oddity! There are absolutely no signs directing people here,
nor anything at the spot other than 10 classic Cadillacs buried
nosedown in the Texas plains. People bring along spray cans of paint
and are actually free to paint their name or some witticisms on the
cars! Bye now! PS Sorry for all the wind noise, which is really everpresent in this part of the country!

Jurassic Park? No, Boise City,Oklahoma

The only photos of the massive Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus sculpture were taken after sunset but the profile of the great dinosaur seems even more intimidating when only the outline is visible blocking the horizon! Pretty cool sculpture, now I'll have to do a little digging and sleuthing on the web to see the tie between this part of the West and the great dinosaurs of the Jurassic era!

Say What? Brontosaurus Crossing!

Dr Clair has travelled quite a bit over the years and has amassed quite a collection of road signs warning of various animal crossings from turtles and snakes to bighorn sheep and pronghorn antelope but this road sign he encountered outside Boise City, Oklahoma definitely takes the cake for off-the-wall animal signs! Not quite certain of the significance of the warning sign, we nonetheless had to have a photo. Didn't really notice the poor condition of the sign with all the rust until posting to Blogger so maybe the sign has been around since the Jurassic era? Just down the road a bit from this warning sign however there was a massive life-size steel sculpture of the Brontosaurus, now known as Apatosaurus. There are large Apatosaurus sculptures throughout the West as the Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus is used by the Sinclair Oil Company as their company logo. Since Dr Clair was in a hurry to get to the Colorado border before dark, he failed to get any really good pictures of the sculpture itself and only has photos shot at sunset!? Sorry!

Sonora and Chihuahua Will Make 50 States!

Dr Clair and Toto will sadly be departing Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico tomorrow morning bright and early! They've been the pampered guests of the Talamantes Family and will be sad to be headed back north so soon. Astride the Gold Wing are Maru, Jose and Kenia with Toto. Their own minature schnauzer was too short for the photo opportunity. Dr Clair loves this photo because he's had a chance to get reacquainted with Jose after a 32 year interruption in their own friendship. Jose was a 15 year old Rotary Foreign Exchange student that stayed with the Thompson Family for 3 months in 1976 and attended Jersey Shore Senior High. Jose "found" his good friend Clair on FaceBook only 3 months ago and was pleasantly surprised when Dr Clair and Toto showed up in his hometown with a set of directions that claimed Sonora was the 49th state for this AWSOM Flamingo 49 States in However Many Days It Takes Ride! The motorcycle accident in Wyoming lent new perspective to this trip and our adventurers have decided to slow the pace and smell the coffee, so to speak. Also the 48 state thing sounded kind of awkward when we all know there are 50 states so our travellers are adding the states of Sonora and appropriately Chihuahua(!) to make it 50 States and those of you who are hung up on technicalities may want to just stop following this blog then! What Dr Clair really likes about this photo is the show of support AWSOM enjoys in Mexico! Check out the AWSOM hat on Jose and the Liz-Tech Flamingo pin of Kenia's sleeve! Jose gives a Thumbs-Up BY COINCIDENCE ? A Dr Clair Trademark if ever there is one, check the photo gallery for proof!

A Happy Turista in Mexico!

After 3 cups of good strong Mexican java for breakfast this morning, you wouldn't expect Dr Clair to be quite so excited about a "caffeine truck" near the central plaza in downtown Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico but then once a caffeine addict, always a caffeine addict! This foto was probably taken just moments before he realized IT WAS CLOSED for business!? What's with that? Also the picture does not show that the Caffenio truck was blocking the view of the Yoga Center!? Dr Clair didn't even bother to check if the Yoga Center was open, like he ever would be caught dead doing yoga and hopes that photos of that one time he did try hot yoga(?) never see the light of day!