My Favorite Kind Of Day

Although I'm in Des Moines, Iowa, apparently that's still close enough to Kansas City to catch a Royals game on the local Fox affiliate. Normally, that's a plus just because it's baseball to watch in the afternoon, but it's a double plus, because they're in Boston finishing up getting their asses handed to them by my beloved Sox (of course, as I type that, Miguel Olivo crushes a 3-run HR into the last row of the Monster seats...shit! oh well, Sox are still up). Today's co-players of the day are JD Drew and Mike Lowell, who both hit Grand Slams.
So, this is a perfect day for me: slothing around my hotel room, watching baseball, researching baseball statistics and checking fantasy teams, and planning out attending a few Iowa Cubs games here in Des Moines. Surely, there are a few of you out there wondering why the hell I post a pic of the game on the tube when I'm reporting on my road trip, well...baseball rules, that's why!
Yesterday, I left Lawrence after a lazy morning with my boy Jake-O and his youngest daughter Aya. We got coffee, checked the local record store for some fine, tasty vinyl and sounds, then met Jenny (Jake's partner and crime and also good friend of mine, for those who slept!!) back at the Wilson ranch for some lunch. Just as I bounced out of town, a thunderstorm was rolling in, destroying what was a nice little string of gorgeous Lawrence weather. My first destination of the afternoon was Kearney, MO (pronounced "carney" by the locals), where the James Family Farm and Museum is located. That's James as in Jesse Woodson James, American Folklore hero and outlaw, whose story is fascinating to me regardless of he and his family's Southern sympathies in post-Civil War America. It's pretty exhilarating to walk inside the farmhouse and see the bed where Jesse was born and walk on original floorboards where Frank and Jesse walked. Of course, my newfound interest in the James folklore stems from the recent film, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and subsequently the book of the same title, the basis for the film. Reality, however, did not disappoint. I felt an eeriness all around me as though the family and their time were existing parallel to myself and the others on the tour. As I left, I felt transported out of time, even though I was driving, particularly due to the beautiful country road surroundings that almost disguise modernity from the eye and thought.
Then I scooted through a sun-drenched, yet comfortable two-plus hour drive to Des Moines. It's 4 in the afternoon Central Time, which is still wiggin me out despite having been in the Central Zone for over 6 days, and I just ordered the first room service meal of my adult life. Shit is cheap here! Well, compared to the uber-spendy yuppified Seattle that is my home (though, I'm not a yuppie...fuckin hate those douchebags!!!!).
Yesterday's music: Body Riddle by Clark, Stars On My Ceiling & Remembering Today by Caural, Celestial by ISIS and Light Turned On by City Rain. Hmmm, a day full of C's, odd.
Later on, I'll have to post about the previous day's (Tuesday) trip to the Negro League Museum in Kansas City.