day three

we woke up reasonably early after our night in downtown new orleans, and we were in the car headed for dallas at about 9:40. the first 30 minutes of the drive was a nightmare, because the car stereo had ceased functioning. we envisioned a trip wherein we might actually have to talk to each other; wade "i'm white and i weigh a lot of pounds" wisdom gave us a horrible preview, by spouting off facts about louisiana, all prefaced by a nasally "did you know..." it was imperative that we fix it, so we stopped off at a gas station in "de bayou."

a quick examination revealed the shoddy worksmanship that defines toyota factory-installed stereo systems. exposed wires could have been our downfall, but gabe "do i look nice" shaukat jiggled some stuff around, and the classical music that abpruptly began coming from inside the car couldn't have sounded sweeter. after i witnessed a wheelchair-bound fellow empty his bladder into a plastic bottle at the sink next to me, we loaded up and headed out.

the remainder of the drive through louisiana was relatively uneventful. at least for me it was. i slept from the gas station until shreveport. gabe tells me that there was some horrendous rain along the way. when i awoke, we dined on the finest that taco bell had to offer. i drove from shreveport to wade's grandparents' place, which is about 45 minutes beyond dallas. lucky for me, wade and gabe were asleep, so i had the stereo all to myself. magnetic fields, seal, and my favorite indie songs kept me company for the rest of the drive.

upon our arrival at jerry and paula cavitt's gorgeous home (where the trees are small and the sky is big), we dined on manicotti and lasagne, with some italian cream cake and blue bell vanilla for dessert. interesting fact about their place - it's right down the road from where the tv show "dallas" was set. after dinner, gabe schooled me in pool, i fell asleep during the cavs-celtics game, and the three of us hit the proverbial hay.

on tap for today is a trip to the famous dallas book depository and dinner in downtown dallas. can't wait.

here's to jiggling the wires, and jerry and paula.