So Dr. Ruth and I are hitting America. I left a few days ago, armed with only a tiny amount of luggage and a Hippy Spaceship.

I drove to Dallas. And let me tell you, the only thing that truckers in Dallas enjoy more than hippy hybrids are hippy bumperstickers:

We stayed in the Dallas W, which was Hawt. Here’s the pool:

  

And the room was wicked swank:

  

And they haz Manhattans…… (although nowhere near as good as Lee’s at the Savage!)

We didn’t do much in Dallas, proper, besides some shopping at the West Village. And these beauties were definitely the highlight of that trip:

Although Rootie was equally impressed by her first proper American pancakes:

While in Dallas we also went to Dakota Cassidy’s for dinner. All I have to say, is Tater Salad. I don’t know what that woman did, but she made the most amazing, and yet the most simple, tater salad I’ve ever had. There was no hand ground Malaysian mustards or imported Guatemalan chives, but it was SO FREAKING GOOD.  That said, I have heard from sources in the know that Dakota IS the undisputed Queen o’ the Tater, so maybe that explains the sublimity of her fluffy whipped salad.

And, of course, we did some hard core Rockbanding with the indomitable talents of Dakota, Michele Bardsley, and Terri Smythe. It was amazing. There will be video. Oh yes, there will be video. In the meantime, here are some teasers:

 

And Rootie totally discovered her inner rocker:

PS:  Dakota really does have that many fucking dogs. They are actually adorable, but the entire night I was made to shiver as small, cold noses pressed against my calves. They were fascinated either by me or my body butter, probably the latter, and just kept coming up for a wee sniff and a nose press.

The next day we ate something healthy for breakfast, as the Binge that is NOLA is soon upon us. I also coaxed Rootie into indulging in a little poopie yogurt, but I’d forgotten to bring spoons. Hijinx Ensued:

Last night we went out and about in Shreveport with Mary Lois and her husband, Doug, and our friend Barak, the local wacky weatherman. It was awesome. We went for steaks at the Cub, and Rootie nearly gave the guy a heart attack when she told she’d NEVER had a steak before. So she tried her first steak and gave it the ole thumbs up. She also tried Shiner Bock, in honor of our recent trip to Dallas. Then we went to the Noble Savage, where I brought the boys who work there a flask full of the new whisky that Rootie brought me from Scotland, and we all shared a dram. It was mighty fine.

 

At one point Ruth turned to me and said, “Is this not the Shitty Kitty?” in her adorable accent, and I nearly died. Because we were soooo not at the Shitty Kitty.

The Shitty Kitty was next.

And it was vunderbar. She loved it. We drank Abita Purple Haze (and lots of water, for me, as I have to drive to NOLA today). And we were home by 12 like good girls.

So right now I’m on the ball (last time I’ll mount the ball for a while, my friends), drinking the ole coffee and smoothie then I’m off to pack and lock and load the apt. for a while. ML will be taking care of the place in my absence, and various visitors will be making use of it. 

In the meantime, we’re off to NOLA, Graceland, Chicago, and NYC. There will be pictures, I promise.

And there will be Rockband.

ROAD TRIPPIN’!!! Woo HOOOOOOOOOO!

Ciao for now!