What a Rough Week!

No, not really. I worked this week, sure, but it was mostly spent flying or driving. You see, I had to visit clients all week. Since Monday I've been in Louisville, KY, Nashville, TN, Kansas City, MO/KS, and tonight I'm in Wichita, KS. It was my first trip by myself and it's actually been kind of fun. I've had a lot of down time, so I've been trying to make the most of it.

I've had a hankering to go to Nashville since last year, so it was cool to be able to hangout there Tuesday night. I spent some time down by the Cumberland River, then tried some local brew at a brewhaus downtown. There's just something about Nashville that I've always loved...It feels like my second or third home. I can't put my finger on it. I intended to cap off the evening by enjoying some live bluegrass at the Gibson Guitar Showcase near Opryland, but I missed it by one night. Bah!

Wednesday morning I flew from Nashville to Kansas City. I was welcomed with rain. And lots of it. First of all, our plane leaving Nashville was DOA or something, so they flew an empty plane over from Dallas just for us. Yay, Southwest! It only took an hour. Not bad. When we got to KC they wouldn't let us pull up to the gate because the ground crews were taking cover due to t-storms. Boo. By the time I got my rental car (a Suzuki XL7 SUV. totally pimp; my choice for my next car), it was almost 4. Why does this matter? Becuase my big plans for the afternoon were to go to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri. BUST! Didn't have time. I was a little bummed about that. Plus it poured rain all night, so whatever.

I ended up just going to downtown KC to the Barnes & Noble. It was pretty cool down there. I've been through/around Kansas City probably a half-dozen times or more driving from MN to TX and back; I wanted to go downtown so I could associate something else with it than Suburb City, USA. Downtown was worth checking out. I would have liked to have more time there. And for all you folks in MN, think about going to KC for a 4-day weekend or something. It might be fun.

Today I had to drive to the middle-of-nowhere: Salina, Kansas, to visit our last client for the week - 3 hours to the west. With Harry S. Truman's library out of sight and out of mind, I passed a billboard for Abilene, Kansas: Home of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and - I am not making this up - the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library!! Exit 275!! I had no idea this was there. It's almost like the Presidential Library gods were shining down on me.

I was ahead of schedule for my next appointment, so I stopped. I was a little short on time, so I couldn't go to the museum. I did, however, use the restroom. There was nothing presidential about it. Dwight D. is buried at this place, too. That was very weird to experience. I mean, this guy was such a major influence to the world and our country. Fifty years ago, he was one of the most powerful and popular fellows in the world. This is the dude behind D-Day! And I was standing six feet above and two feet back from his body. I was the only one in the chapel. Just me and Ike. That blows my mind. Seriously.

After that I took a peek in the library. It's really not a big deal. It's mainly for Eisenhower historians and scholars and researches because they have access to basically everything having to do with his life. I suppose that's the point of all of these presidential libraries.

There was a huge statue of Ike in the center of the grounds that was worth seeing, too. I have pictures of all this, don't worry. I just have to get home first.

I went to my appointment in Salinas, it only took 15 minutes. It was 2:45, and I didn't need to be to Wichita anytime soon. I decided to backtrack 30 minutes and go to the D.D. Eisenhower Museum that I missed out on before. How nerdy is that? I really did. It was $9, and probably worth it. I was totally into it for awhile. Reading all the deals and things, but then it got really general into the WWII era. Like, not even about him, half of it. And the "First Lady" exhibit? Like I care about the wardrobe of his wife? No, I don't.

There were guns all over the place. That was really cool since I recognized some of them from "Call of Duty" on the Playstation 2. For real. They also had his huge staff Cadillac on display, the olive green one. Overall, it was worth seeing. Would I drive to Abilene, Kansas just for that? Hell no.

But it was sure awesome to be able to see it while I was passing through. All expenses paid.

Now I'm on a mission. To visit the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. Too bad I didn't go to Lyndon's and G.H.W. Bush's while I lived in Texas.

Tomorrow I'm flying back to Orange County and then hopping in Mable and driving to Vegas. My sister's going to be seeing friends in O.C., so it's just going to be me, Marc and the nieces! Saturday night I'm going to Jimmy Eat World at Hard Rock Casino, it's going to be tops. The new album, which came out Tuesday, is nothing but greatness.

I guess that's all I have to say about that.