The next morning, Thursday, we were on the road by 5:30. My alarm startled me, after the few hours I was able to sleep. I did not even mention the screams from the adjacent room until we were getting back on the highway. We only stopped at Starbucks so I could have a latte. We didn’t stop again until Tucumcari for breakfast, at Kix on Route 66. Yes, that’s exactly why I picked it.
In Texas, the landscape flattened and everything turned green. We had a brief stop at the Harley dealership in Amarillo, and then another somewhere in Oklahoma. I wasn’t working on this day, and stared at the green fields and and small towns across the two states. We turned north in Oklahoma City. This was the final stretch, with about three hours to go. The would be the longest three hours. We stopped in Kansas once we hit the turnpike, somewhere after Wellington. Rob was getting tired. We needed gas. I looked around. There has been so much rain. The green land stretched as far as you could see.
Things began to look familiar, and different. I couldn’t get over the lush landscape surrounding us. I remembered springs in Wichita, but we’d lived in Southern California long enough that I’d forgotten how lush things could be, and it beautiful, against the backdrop of the gray skies. There was a slow moving storm front just to the east.
We arrived around 6:30 that evening, pulling into my sister’s driveway to a small welcoming crew. Both my sisters were there, and brother in law. We had plans to take Rob’s daughter to dinner, and had little time for talking. It felt strange to me because we were only there for about an hour before rushing off to our next stop.
Our dinner with Rob’s daughter was more casual than he wanted. He offered to take her anywhere to celebrate her graduation. She decided on some new restaurant, part of a chain, on the east side of town. The food was fine, the restaurant loud. Masks were optional, which was strange. Conversation was easy, but light. There were still certain subjects that would remain untouched. We reminded her she was always welcome to come stay with us in San Diego. She mentioned she was going to Disney World for a week for her graduation present. After dinner, we dropped her off and headed back to my sister’s house. All I wanted was a good night’s sleep.
The next morning was warm and somewhat humid as I enjoyed my coffee on the deck. We had plans for breakfast, the day open, and then graduation at Koch Arena at 7:00. It’s always been a challenge to plan to meet my family anywhere at a specific time. We planned 9:00 at some new restaurant in the old Naftzger Park. It took awhile for everyone to show up and we ended up ordering before my mom got there, but it worked out. We made plans for the day. Rob would go visit the hospital where he used to work and I would run around with my mom, sisters and niece and nephew.
We started a walking tour of the painted doors in downtown, which then ended quickly. We saw some new art, and spent time in some shops before going to the mall. My niece wanted to get her ears pierced, and that ended up being the best place for ear piercing. We checked the tatoo shops first, but they required a birth certificate and a notary. About an hour later, she had the two studs in her ears, and was looking for more earrings to wear once she could remove the starters.
We met up again with Rob at Bella Luna for an early dinner. It was always one of our favorite restaurants and the food was as good as I remembered. We laughed as my niece showed off her southern accent. She was hilarious. We headed back to change, and then drove across town to Koch Arena. There we so many cars in the parking lot, and masks were required to enter. I did remove my mask once we found seats. It wasn’t me trying to be a rebel, but I had developed a mask rash and was trying to leave it off as much as possible.
The ceremony fit neatly into two hours. Rob’s daughter was one of the last to enter the arena, and would be one of the last to walk across the stage. I watched, remembering how excited I had been all those years ago, so young and full of hope and promise. I wondered if kids still felt that excitement. As she walked across the stage, we yelled and I heard others yelling. Then it was over. We left shortly after that. Rob got to see his daughter walk across the stage. On the way back to the west side, we stopped for a celebratory beer and toasted her accomplishment.
We had an early breakfast date with my parents the next morning. I hadn’t seen my dad yet, since he had been working. We met them at Doo-Dah Diner downtown. This was another place we enjoyed before moving. Breakfast came with an order of monkey bread for the table, which was sticky and sweet and buttery and amazing. We caught up on all the usual things and laughed a lot. They had errands to run an food to prepare for our dinner later in the day.
We left and drove around in the rain. We drove by old places that remained unchanged. We stopped at new places, where the city had changed or improved. We ended up at my sister’s later that afternoon. We were having the family over and they were grilling brats and burgers. It’s always great to see family, spend time telling stories, remembering old times and old ways. This was to be a whirlwind trip, and I was tired from the moment we arrived. As we sat around tables we talked and laughed, the knowledge of having to leave early the next day weighing heavier and heavier.
Take the 52 west 