briefly...waiting for food at a Denny's in Elk City, Oklahoma, near the Texas border. Restaurant is packed because church just let out. The elderly stand waiting for tables in their best clothes. Been driving for 4 days. Cornfields, cows, Ozark Plateau, St. Louis arch, Bill and Evelyn West, wind farm, roadkill, Pakistani/Indian-owned motels. We have finally driven West of the trees, and are climbing up the high plains...there is red dirt all around. 10-hour days of driving... coffeee has become my best friend. "I want to touch the dirt" - Karen