It's Been a BAD Day!

It sounds fairly ridiculous, but it took me 7 hours to travel 260 miles. I left Muskogee around 11, stopped to get gas ($2,.72), and more coffee - no problem. The first thing I see traveling down US 69 was a guy in a small SUV deliberately aim for, and hit, an armadillo. Now, why on God's green earth, would anyone do such a thing? I could understand if he was trying to avoid it, and accidentally hit it. But no, this guy damn near ran off the road AIMING for it. Sometimes, I really just don't like people. If I was the really mean type, I would have found a a way to smush HIM on the side of the road. But alas, I'm not that sort. Which, it retrospect, is probably a good thing. :) I had a couple of side trips to make, which shouldn't have taken more than an hours time. Nope! Not me! I got lost! I had no idea eastern Oklahoma was so pretty. :) I finally decided to stop at the next place I saw, and ask directions. It just happened to be a casino. I dropped a total $20 bucks, no biggie. I asked the concessions stand person how to get where I was going. Naturally, if I hadn't stopped, I would have seen it two miles further down the road. sigh... By that time, I had already wasted 2 and a half hours, basically driving in circles. The second stop was right off I-44 so I figured there was no way I could get lost. And, I didn't! I did however get waylaid by a Democrat who wanted to talk. And what did he want to talk about? Well, politics of course. I hadn't mentioned my "party" affiliation at all. I hadn't said anything, other to answer the question: Where ya from? That did it! I told him I was FROM Texas, but I now live in Wisconsin. He let into how horrible those Texas Republicans are, and it escalated from there. I let him ramble for a while, and then, politely told him I was one of those Texas Republicans, transplanted, and am now a Wisconsin Republican. He got pretty quite for a split second, and then had to tell me everything that was wrong with this country, with Missouri, and with George W. Bush. Naturally, I politely countered everyone of his arguments, and he did a lot of sputtering, but things stayed civil. I think I came pretty close to "converting" him. LOL I finally made it to Lebanon, Missouri, checked in to the hotel, and trudged up to my room. Someone tell me why they ask you how many people, you tell them "one", and they give you two keys, neither of which will work? I get a key that actually worked, opened the door, and got hit by a blast furnace. Why do they leave the a/c off, and leave the curtains open if the room is facing west? Holy cow! I've been patiently waiting for the temperature in here to drop below 95.