Here is where I landed after checking out of the Super 8 in O’Fallon, MO, and driving a couple of fairly stressful hours, more often ROAD WORK than not, featuring a swaying, loaded vehicle carrier/deathtrap fond of slopping over into the next lane. I needed gas, food, and non-driving downtime.

We have here a “Club Wrap” and “Caramel Frappuccino.” I may deserve a scolding, especially for the sugary drink. But I have been mostly good.

I was hoping to arrive in the Phoenix area in time to attend the First Friday Open Mic at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, but that can’t happen safely, not with 19 driving hours to go, so I console myself that I will be there in plenty of time for the Glendale High School multi-year mini-reunion at The Nest North. Odds are high that this will be the last time on Earth that I see many of my fellow Class of 1972 alumni.

Safe travels for us all, Friends.