Week Three of 52 Stories: Stop the Car!
Posted on 23. Jan, 2009 by Deb in As the Web Turns, On a Jet Plane
This is for the 52 Stories group on Flickr where we take one picture a week and write a story. This is mine for Week Three.
It was day five of the longest week I’d experienced in ages. I am an experienced Road Warrior Princess and successfully (and usually happily) had lived out of a suitcase for much of the last two years, so three weeks of doing Public Meetings should be a cinch. I realized, however, that changing hotels each night was not as comforting as traveling in and staying put. We had flown into Midland, Texas and in two days had also driven to Hobbs, Carlsbad and Roswell to conduct three of the meetings. After Roswell, we drove to Santa Fe, where we had a break from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday at 2 PM.
After exploring the Plaza in Santa Fe, I wanted to get some posole for a Christmas gift. (Posole is New Mexico thing…basically hominy that is dried like beans.) My friend, meeting coordinator, and New Mexico Native Karen suggested we go to a regular grocery store. When we pulled into the parking lot there it was.
We had been snapping photos all week, like the presenters talking about Nuclear Reactors, the light posts in downtown Roswell and the beautiful Pecos River, but this was BIG. Not just big. IT was HUGE. And I had to get a photo. It was the Oscar Meyer Wiener Mobile!
“PULL OVER!” I said.
I knew I HAD to get a picture of ME and the HUGE Wiener. It had been a long week. THIS was my reward for being a Road Warrior Princess for having stayed in 4 hotels in as many days (one resembling the Bates Motel!). We got out and made a visit to this 27-Foot Long Piece of Americana. By singing the “I Wish i were an Oscar Meyer” song, I became the proud owner of my very own Oscar Meyer Wiener Whistle. She also took our picture. This is Wayne and I being Hot Dogs.
The HotDogger in Charge told me that she and a partner drove the amazing vehicle for a year, attending events and doing appearances. She loved what she did, met a lot of wonderful folks, and was getting to see the United States! Call me simple, but it seems like it would be a pretty cool job.
Who ever said the life of a Road Warrior Princess wasn’t glamorous?