The Summer of Fun Tour Continues

It's a long way from Texas to Kansas.

It seems even longer when you're trapped on a turnpike!

Miranda Lambert's shop in Tishomingo, Oklahoma

Somehow, my GPS must've known that, and after a quick visit (Okay. Maybe "quick" is overreaching.) to Miranda Lambert's store in Oklahoma, Ms. GPS sent us all the way to Lawrence, Kansas, on back roads. We were actually on highways, but they were MUCH more interesting than driving up I-35. It was slow-go, stopping to take pictures here and there and dodging turtles on the road. I've never seen so many turtles in my life. I saw more turtles than armadillos this trip.

Here are a few shots of a carnival we happened upon somewhere in small town, Oklahoma. I think I should've been a carny. Maybe running away with the circus is still an option? I've always been attracted to the imagery from both lifestyles -- from vintage freakshow photos to the smell of cotton candy to the belting barkers on the midway. Yet here I am. Typing on a keyboard, uninked and firmly rooted to a home that isn't on wheels and a family. Hope you enjoy the scenery.

Please click on the photos to see them in a larger format! 

It was a very overcast day. The carnival was still being set up. I was the lone shooter watching it all take place.

Surfin USA

I'm happy to report that Kristi's Summer of Fun Tour is in full swing! I just returned from a few glorious days in San Diego, where I served not only as a parking good luck charm, but as a weather goddess, bringing the sun from Texas, as well! No May grey or June gloom allowed!

{View of downtown San Diego from Coronado Island}

I saw some amazing beaches, full of amazing things like...SEA LIONS! RAWR!!

{They really don't roar. And they really aren't dead. 

Can you imagine this life? Swim. Sun. Sleep.}

Surfers! RAWR!

{They don't roar either. That was me roaring.}

Colorful landscapes unbeaten by heat and uneaten by deer!

{That is a lemon tree! I stayed with a friend whose backyard 

contained a lemon tree, an orange tree, a fig tree and an avocado tree. 

Unbelievable! California has everything!}

I came home with a wee bit of color and a swollen bottom lip, which I guess reacted in a very California way to three days of fairly constant sun exposure. It looked collagen-injected, for a fraction of the price! {I'm full of so many money-saving tips, you just wouldn't believe.}

I love California! I love the $5 bottles of water, the $4.11 gasoline, the $1.9 million dollar starter homes! I love that I can visit all that, good weather, and fun friends, then return home to my reality of affordable housing, 99-cent water and the love of a family. Summertime may be a beast here, but it's all mine. And it's a great base for my Summer of Fun Tour!

Note: This layout is WHACK. If you click the photos you can see them in all their glory, without strange things overlapping them.