We started this trip visiting my favorite dog of all time, ELLA, who is a country dog.  She has dead things and animal poop all over in the woods around her house, and believe me, visiting her is a breath of fresh air!  We chase the 25 wild cats that live in the old mill next door, or sit by the bonfires that Ella's humans, Dave and Faith, have out next to the train tracks.  Ella lives in heaven, and I wish that was where we were moving.  

Mom and I went to a place called Nashville, to visit her friend who didn't have a dog but had an old old cat named Phaedrus.  I never talked to that cat, but he seemed pretty cool for a cat.  That night, the rains came through the roof of the van, and I had to wake Mom up and tell her "hey! our bed is wet!"  She carried me into Phaedrus' house and we slept on the couch curled up together.  The next day we took the van to a man and Mom and I played out in the driveway until the van was fixed.  

Mom said the next stop was Memphis, and we stopped at a GREAT park called Overton Park.  There wasn't any other dogs there, but I could smell them, and Mom and I fetched sticks and I rolled around in the grass to get the van smell off me.

We went to a place called texas, where the cats where armour but Mom calls them armadillos.  She said they were possums, but it's just like a cat to use a gimmick like armour.  I still think they were cats.  We saw animals from Africa on big fenced in "preserves" where rich people can get in a jeep and shoot down Ibex and boars, and other weird animals.   Texas turned into New Mexico and that was just more dirt, less grass, no trees and mountains with their tops chopped off.

But the strangest place so far has been this place Mom calls "Arizona."  I think she took a wrong turn and we're now on Mars.  There is NO grass, NO trees, the sand hurts my paws because it's filled with painful burrs, it's too sunny and hot, and there are no rich stinky smells I can roll around in.  Mom says even the bugs can be dangerous and pulled me away from a spider she said was a TARANTULA.  I wonder why Mom is taking me to such a dangerous place for a dog?  I hope California is more normal and I can roll in some nice green cool grass and chase a squirrel once in a while!

Gabby

 We left Texas early this morning from Fort Stockton, Texas.  Never saw a state with so many donut shops!  What's up with that?  We stopped, or rather we were stopped by big storms sweeping up from the south in Lordsburg, New Mexico.  Because you can see 360 degrees around, we watched blackened skies suck up dirt from the ground like giant straws, lightening long and thick barely visible through the black rain.  We drove in a little eye of the storm until just outside Deming, New Mexico, then all hell closed in!  The rain was merciless and we could barely see where we were going, the winds blew the RV around so much I was afraid it would pick us up and toss us off the road into a ravine.  It was white knuckle driving until we reached another "eye" over a small roadside stop outside Lordsburg.  

The storms are moving north tonight, and Albuquerque is expecting 5-10" of snow tonight!!!  Man, I was THIS CLOSE to turning north in Texas and heading toward Albuquerque!!!  Not sure what the local forecast will be, but there is definitely a cold front coming through.  As we drove through the deluge, I sang "Riders On the Storm" as loud as I could!!!  It was exhilirating!  The picture at the top of the page is of the southern sky, where the storm bands were moving over the desert highlands.  This was very near sunset.

Gabby and I have clocked 2500 miles on our journey so far.  She has learned you can't pee on the grass in New Mexico, because the grass is full of painful sand spurs.  She stepped out of the van to take a pee, and was immediately crippled, unable to walk!  I have to lift her up, remove the burrs, and set her down on the paved sidewalk at the rest stop.  She was reluctant to do her business on the pavement, and braved the questionable dirty areas around the cactii to do her biz.  Poor Dog!!!

Really beautiful scenery, even some green because of all the recent rains.  Signs along the way say "Dust Storms Likely"  "Zero Visibility Possible"  "Do Not Stop In Travel Lanes" .... !!!!   Weeee!!!

 We had our first day of sunshine since leaving Atlanta.  We made good time, left Cleveland, Mississippi this morning at 8:30 am and rolled into Tyler, Texas this evening around 5 p.m.  Gabby crossed the great Mississippi River, now she's no longer an east coast doggie.   She was pretty unimpressed with all the cotton fields, although she was confounded by an armadillo!  Wish I had my camera at the ready for that one.  Louisiana had precious FEW rest stops, but we did finally come upon one and we stopped for a good half hour romp in the woods nearby and we even sat out at a picnic table and ate our lunch.    The rest stop picnic tables in Texas sit under decorative oil rigs, like crude Eiffel Towers, or skeletal TeePees.  Strange.  

I've never seen so many BIG trucks covered in mud... mud-ballers I think they're called.   East Texas is really pretty, still kinda bayou-ish like Louisiana, rolling green hills and trees.  I know that scenery will change soon enough.  

More tomorrow.

 Got into Nashville in time to spend some hours with my buddy and old drummer Josh Day before he flew out for a gig in Australia with Meiko.   I was happy to go down to the van and spread out in my digs FINALLY on the road and living like a blues woman.  Ah... the pitter patter of rain on the roof, so comforting.  I quickly feel sound asleep.

At 4 a.m. I am awakened by a cold wet blanket on my feet!  I hear the dreaded "drip-splash, drip-splash" in the darkness.  Cripes!  I grab a lantern and turn it on and sure enough, the van roof has leaked like a CIA coverup, and my bed is soaked, roof is soaked, etc. etc.   I try to put things in the way of the water, so it doesn't destroy the floor, and make a beeline for Josh's couch.

Found a wonderful RV mechanic in Portland, 50 miles out of my way, who immediately recognized the problem and fixed it.   We got on the road heading westward again around noon.  Now, we've stopped for the night outside Memphis, TN, hoping the spirit of Elvis will watch over us.  Tomorrow I go find a laundromat to dry the bedding, and see if we can find some cool stuff to do in Memphis.  Gabby likes Tennessee rest stops because they have LARGE dog run areas.  Gabby's had a bath and so have I.  Ah... feels like a new beginning.

Come on gods of the road and older model RV's.... let's get behind this old girl and get her to California with no further dilemmas!

 I am sick with something, like a cold, like the flu, like it's a pain in my ass.  Staying on here one more day before heading out, trying to get to feeling better.  Gonna go take a nap now that I've posted on all the social networks.

Trying to upload pics for the blog too.

 Tomorrow morning I say farewell to my friends in upper East Tennessee and head westward to Nashville.  Hoping to find a sympathetic open mic or place there to crack my guitar case and sing a little.  I've taken a dang sore throat and stuffed up head though, so not sure if I'll even be able to talk let alone sing.  Ah... each day is a challenge!  I'm making some homemade soup right now with dried veggies from Faith's garden, some chicken left over from last night's grill out  and a couple of bouillon cubes.  It's downright chilly up here in the mountains, with temps not expected to get out of the fifties.

Discovered that the mechanics who worked on my RV didn't put as much coolant in it as it requires.  Plus, they left a flashlight and a part that was never re-attached loose inside the engine compartment.  What kind of slip shod crap is that??  I always thought highly of the Roger Jordan garage on DeKalb Avenue, but I have to say I'm just a bit miffed at this recent example of shoddy work.  Not cheap either.

Listened to Little Brother on WRFG's Good Morning Blues program this morning.  It was great to hear my buddy being praised on air!  Y'all keep up the good work back in the ATL!  

 Well, this Westward Ho made a slight diversion northeast to Jonesboro, Tennessee to start out my trek.  Madam Pleasure Way (a high maintenance chick if there ever was one) did a great job hauling the long steep grades outside of Asheville.  Leaving on 10-09-09 was a good decision, as I couldn't have asked for prettier weather.  Gabby, the Ho Dog,  enjoyed riding shotgun and barking at passing semi-trucks that shook us back and forth.

I'm visiting friends, gonna do some picking and grinning tonight, then wait for this big front to pass through on Monday before I travel to Nashville.

 I decided to create a Blog page on my website to keep track of my posts on my adventures cross-country.  Stay tuned for photos, videos, and journal entries as I take my dog and guitars on the road,  playing music along the way.