Day 5 - Tilapia, Gumby, and Bonnie

Dallas:

Staying an extra day in Dallas to unwind my muscles and catch up on sleep – which is good because I’m going to be driving 7-8 hours to reach Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Looking forward to seeing Frank Lloyd Wright’s only skyscraper and other fun stuff beside...all payback for my failed attempt to track down Wright’s Dallas Theater Center. It was in a wealthy neighborhood with private parks, and if I did pass his work, trees and hedges obscured it.

Today was still a great day. I lucked out when I set off to find two hard-to-locate places of interest. I set off early in search of a 38-foot robot sculpture which didn’t exactly have an address. I was driving around downtown looking at the sites when I saw this gleaming silver Gumby hanging low, playing the guitar, surrounded by metal birds. Awesome to behold.

The next event was seeking out the gravesite of Bonnie Parker (of Bonnie and Clyde fame). Again this should've been a terrible grave to find since the only Internet direction was...Drive inside, you’ll see a fork. There’s a hedge in the middle. She’s on the other side of the hedge. Thankfully I saw some stragglers drifting about, and I knew I'd found the resting place of one of the most violent criminals that ever was.

Again I have to mention how low-key drivers are in Dallas. No aggressive L.A. drivers. No honking. No road rage. Even I fell into the lull of driving under 40 mph. The locals I’ve met have been very gracious. I drove around residential streets, some of which give the Platinum Triangle of Beverly Hills/Bel Air/Holmby Hills a run for the money, and hung out at a park. And the canopy trees are breathtaking.

On my sister’s suggestion I wandered off to a seafood dive and ordered some tilapia with lemon pepper sauce. Delicious! To top it off, I came across Whole Foods while looking for a movie theater (which never happened). I drank a bottle of carrot juice and bought 3 apples and some olive oil. I feel like I need to swig the oil for my skin since I’m eating pretty lousy.

I put air in my tires…even though there was no gauge so I don’t know if I’m going to crash tomorrow. I also filled up on gas and cleaned my windshield. And I backed into a pole that wasn’t there the last time I checked. Thankfully, my car is elastic so the bumper just popped right up. I love my XB!

I also love the Whataburger logo...reminds me of Wonder Woman...

Day 4 - Band-Aid and my hot transvestite neighbor

Dallas:

Yesterday’s antics really shook me up despite my attempt at calm this entire day. I forgot to mention that the New Mexico cops kept asking me if my husband knew where I was. Hmm. Do you Baddicus? Didn’t I phone you before the dog started sniffing my car?

Anyballoo, as I drove I continued my Clive Owen saga, listened to Radiohead, but still couldn’t get the wobbliness from my legs this morning…that was until I bought wheat bread for .99 at a gas station mini-mart. Now I'll be able to try the Cheez Whiz that Bad bought to spread on pan de sal. How lowbrow and full of preservatives, but I don’t care. I’m on a micro-budget as motel money keeps eating away at my reserves. The tab for 4-6 weeks of roof over my head scares me.

The drive down to Dallas was gorgeous. Rain kindly washed the car, and I couldn’t believe how green things were for the month of June. Drivers aren’t like Californians...very courteous and keep within the speed limit. I imagine my friend Jeremy the Race Car Driver dying over here. Plus, folks still use checkbooks to pay for gas and groceries.

Before getting a place, I decided to visit downtown Dallas and check on the 6th Floor Museum where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK (alone?) from the notorious half-moon window. At first I was pissy about the audio guide and the amount of pictures to be tackled in the museum – especially since I paid $13.50! But the audio with eyewitness testimonies fit perfectly with the photographs. A couple of times I actually teared up...until I heard an ornery woman shout, “He didn’t bring the wall down! Reagan did that. Reagan’s a hero to us.”

I walked the infamous grassy knoll and strolled the downtown streets glistening with heat. I saw wondrous buildings with names I did not learn, but I took lots of pictures of them. I love skyscrapers because they remind me of home. They make me forget that I’m not in hicksville anymore where three officers of the law fiddle with an innocent traveler's car for no meaningful reason.

I’m staying two days in Dallas then I’m off to Oklahoma. Ramada Inn is the cheapest today. Across the way from my complex are people who rent by the month. A pretty transvestite in Daisy Dukes said hi to me and I felt better. She reminded me of L.A. Cool.