DAY 25: NORMAN --> JEFFERSON CITY, MO

It was raining when I woke up at 6:30am. If I had been camping, my gear would be soaked and in need of drying. The bed at the Travelodge had been comfortable. Splitting a king sized bed with a dog is a very different experience than sharing the full sized bed at home. I lounged and finished typing out my blog post on my phone, hoping that the rain would stop.

I had woken up in a panic in the middle of the night -- had I just broke my nearly four year daily yoga streak? I did a middle of the night, wee hours of the morning short yoga session from the bed. I decided that it counted since I wasn't yet up for the day. If you think I cheated....well, keep that to yourself. I yoga'd my redemption song of stretching in the dark and went back to sleep.

When I finished my blog post it was almost 8am. I got ready and took a walk over to check out the Travelodge breakfast, which was scarce. I didn't really want to touch any of the shared spaces like the cereal station or hotel breakfast staple: the waffle maker. I settled for a double shot of espresso from the automated coffee machine and some apple juice. This worked out since I'd passed a donut shop last night.

I finished loading my things and then Portland into the car, not exactly sneaking him out the door. My undeclared dog in the two star hotel.

The donut shop was just down Main Street, a few minutes away. Main Street Donut, just a small old style bakery with displays of different donuts on colorful trays inside a lighted display case. I was going to get two donuts -- no, three: a chocolate iced cake donut with sprinkles (my usual favorite), blueberry sour cream glazed, and a maple glazed donut. The cost was so inexpensive, just over a dollar a donut. Can't get those prices at the Oakmont Bakery in Pittsburgh. My favorites were the maple glazed and the blueberry.

The next stop in our morning adventure in Norman was at Sutton Wilderness, where a flat paved and crushed limestone loop trail around a lake was a perfect morning walk in the woods. A sign for a "walk with the animals," at the trailhead mentioned that there are armadillos in the park, and so we were looking for armadillos as we walked. The trail was pleasant and would be perfect for a morning jog. We spotted a blue heron on a short path to cut down to the water, and a skinny snake hidden under tree roots a bit later in the hike. No armadillos. The big thing I noticed on the short hike were all of the "monkey balls," the Osage oranges, so many of them! Vibrant bright green and brain-like, scattered on the ground. I found a rock for Dad, he collected rocks from every state, but I don't think he had one from Oklahoma.

The hike ended and I drove back to fill up on gas, routing to my Uncle Tom's house in Jefferson City, MO. I was planning to be there around 6pm, but still had a little time. There was a James Garner statue I'd passed on Main Street earlier. The actor is from Oklahoma and the statue depicted him as "Maverick" in an old TV series from the late 50s of the same name. I'll have to check it out. I stopped for a quick picture, something quirky to do on a visit to Norman. Then, it was off toward Missouri.

I hadn't made it half a mile when I passed Yellow Dog Coffee Company and had to throw the car into reverse and stop. Even though I had just opened a canned Starbucks drink. My Mom loves yellow labs, and a real coffee drink sounded wonderful this morning. Inside of the small roasters, there were locally baked pastries and a big old roasting machine. I ordered a lavender latte, then changing my order to "Rob's Way," Honey Lavender Oat Milk Latte. It was miraculous. Best latte I've had in a very long time. Powering my drive for the day.

The route took I-44 for most of the day. It was partially the Oklahoma Turnpike system so I stopped to pay a few tolls, but it was nice to have reliable rest areas that didn't require pulling off for an exit. The six and a half hour drive felt like it dragged a little bit after yesterday's long drive, but I finished my Audiobook along the way.

A disappointing discovery this morning was that Prairie Artisan Ales had a tasting room in Oklahoma City that hadn't shown up in my research. I think they must have been closed on Mondays. Their brewery is located in Tulsa, but didn't open until 3pm, and a part of me wished I could stretch a ninety mile drive into a four hour trip. I did detour into Tulsa, briefly, to visit and take a selfie with the Golden Miner statue, which I remembered from Friends, when the character, Chandler, gets sent to Tulsa for work.

Car snacks and the third donut kept me on the road, burning miles on the way to Jefferson City. The only other stop we made during the day was at Lake of the Ozarks State Park for a short, pre-sunset walk on the Shady Ridge Trail so that Portland could stretch his legs. The walk through the fall woods along the edge of the lake was beautiful, shuffling through ankle deep fallen leaves to the water's edge in my Toms. We only walked for about twenty minutes, but it was nice to stretch legs and see the pinks and purples cast on puffy clouds during the sunset.

It was less than an hour to my Uncle's house from Lake of the Ozarks, and we pulled into the driveway right at 6pm. I met my Uncle Tom, my Dad's older brother, in the driveway and brought Portland inside where my Aunt Chris and their two young grandchildren were waiting. I haven't seen the kids in years, and they were shy, hiding behind their iPads, just a little. Portland made himself at home, exploring the house and looking for a comfortable place to lay down.

We got ready for dinner, and Uncle Tom had so thoughtfully bought some regional beer for my visit. We each opened a Winter Grind coffee stout from Mother's Brewing Company, which I had considered stopping at in Springfield. It was tasty, well balanced but not heavy. Soon, we all sat down to dinner, individual seafood steamers with shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes, seasoned with Old Bay. Such a nice surprise for a dinner feast, and wonderful to be visiting with family. The kiddos were well behaved, a little shy, but fun to get to know a little better.

I talked with Aunt Chris and Uncle Tom for awhile after dinner, over dessert of pre-season bowls of peppermint stick ice cream. The kids seemed ready for Christmas in holiday flannel jammies. When they went up to bed, it was so nice to have time to sit and talk with Uncle Tom over another beer, a pale ale and a Berry Noir sour from Boulevard Brewing Company. We shared memories of my Dad and it was nice to spend time with his brother - close family. So many things that I can still continue to learn and discover about my Dad.

My Uncle has been following along with my blog, and so he knew that I would need a laptop to type on tonight. I got set up and started writing nice and early and we relaxed and did our own thing with conversations interspersed as we thought of things to share. I remember planning this trip and the offer of a place to stay from Uncle Tom in Missouri. It seemed to fit my agenda and I always want to spend more time with family. My Dad had seemed to think Jefferson City was out of the way, or maybe just not enough progress towards tomorrow's drive.

Tonight, in Missouri, there is no place I would rather be.