"Next time you see me, I'll be different."
Those were the last words Gen said to me as I left Kansas City for
Austin just over a year ago. Of course, she was talking about her hair,
whose style, length and color has changed with frequency over the years.
We both laughed it off and we went our merry ways. Now I'm
driving through Waco, Texas to see her one week old baby, Evelyn Ursula.
The ride up was deluxe - a new, shiny and
sporty, yet mildly generic Mazda rented just for such an occasion.
The stereo was exceedingly nice, a lot of bass and the Orange Mothers
soundtrack turned to Nelly to the Starlight Mints as the states flashed
from Texas to Oklahoma to Kansas. It was a treat flying on the
open roads, watching the sun set in Dallas only to have it rise again
from the same spot in the sky somewhere while passing Emporia, Kansas.
I slept a couple hours on the side of the road
somewhere near Tonkawa, Oklahoma. The night sky was as clear as
ever and bursting with an amazing number of stars. I was too numb
to enjoy the display. Dawn in Kansas always amazes me. The light
slowly starts to just transform everything, the eastern foothills
revealing the massive sky above, all the colors just seem so vivid and
fresh, a soft collection of blues and greens, with not much reminders of
man besides the road stretched out in front of you.
I finally arrived into KC a shiny 14 hours after I left Austin.
Familiar with the streets, armed with a sporty car, I zoomed through the
still vacant streets and by 7:30, made my first stop at a Kansas City
eatery: Lamar's Doughnuts on
Linwood. Refueled with a couple glazed and a couple incredibly
indescribable Devil's Food Cake Doughnuts, I snaked my way through
midtown and started to explore the old city as the temperatures began to
rise.
Continue to Part Two
