Where the West Begins, apparently

We left Walmart on the right bank of the Mississippi and moved on west and north.  Before that, though, among the contributions we made to Sam Walton's enterprise (aside from John's computer power cable and our dessert ice cream) was Debbie's purchase of a runner carpet for the bathroom hallway.  This hallway runs through the bathroom --an obvious choice for a linear home.  The shower and toothbrushing sink are on the driver's/left side with the toilet and handwashing sink across the hall.  The hall itself transitions from the Living Room/Kitchen to the Bedroom, so color choice of runner carpeting is crucial.  Three visits to two separate stores.  You understand.  John barely does and he's sure the process would have consumed more of his life span if he hadn't whined.

We headed west from Lake St. Louis and turned north at Kansas City (where neither of us ended up "standing on the corner  / On the corner of Twelfth Street and Vine" --Fats Domino, among others) and the scenery finally began to roll a bit.  In fact, our afternoon elevation (just north of  St Joseph)is about 400 feet above this past morning's.

We're in an RV park just north of St. Joseph, MO, with electricity, city water service (full pressure shower!), and a sewer hook up (shower as long as we want!). It's kind of crowded and not the kind of place John would want to remain at for more than an overnight.  Tomorrow, however, we expect to be in Nebraska, and finally start seeing scenic things --like the old pioneer wagon trails, actual lofty terrain, and et cetera.  Then we promise to park it for a couple days at a time to get out and take pictures.  

Unfortunately, Debbie --who John always jokingly has described as having no sense of whoopee-- see's no value in visiting Car Henge (http://carhenge.com/).  She's the traditional Scott's Bluff (https://www.nps.gov/scbl/index.htm)  Chimney Rock (https://history.nebraska.gov/rock) type.

Stay  Tuned.



----


An aside:  When John googled the lyrics to make sure it was 12th & Vine as he remembered, he was struck by another phrase that he definitely did not remember.  Debbie agrees that Fats actually sang, "They got some pretty little women there / And I'm gonna get me one."  The YouTube vid bears that out.  For Debbie, this is an inconsequential curiosity, but John spent most of his professional life trying to sort the lies from the truth, and this one worries him some.  Google has become the default Historian of Our Times.  What if somebody there decided that getting some of the pretty little women just wasn't.... well, the way things should have been.  For some of us who were born in the first half of the last century and who actually lived through these times, this could seem like a trip down the conspiracy rabbit hole   --where we find Gracie Slick already changed several words of Alice's Wonderland, "feed your head", among them.  Still-- good advice..