we stopped on the side of the road to sleep.

my morning jacket at the uptown - kansas city - august 18, 2008

Aaron picked me up from the KC airport that morning with a mixed tape (cd), a dozen roses, some perfume I wanted hidden in a pillow. My flight landed around 7:30 a.m., and he drove from Lincoln or Omaha that morning. Poor boy had such a long drive, and he said he budgeted for traffic that didn't exist, so in true Aaron fashion he was about 45 minutes early and sat in the airport parking lot.

We spent the whole day exploring Kansas City, eating bad McDonald's for breakfast in the Plaza (that made Aaron sick), going to the morning matinee of Vicky Christina Barcelona, shopping at some fun places, going to the candy store in the plaza that sells kettle corn (but we didn't buy any), eating good food for lunch and dinner, playing at the fountains, relishing each other's company, and delighting in being in love. It was the first time we had seen each other in two or three weeks, and it felt like years. And the concert? It was one hell of a show, but by the encore it was about 11 and we were both exhausted. I remember dozing in and out of the crazy lights during "Highly Suspicious" and laughing to myself. How many people fall asleep listening to Jim James go crazy? We left before they played the last three songs - back on the road to Lincoln.

We got out of the KC ghetto at midnight and drove, drove, drove. It felt like the longest drive in the world down my least-favorite interstate, I-29. I think we stopped and he slept before the Highway 2 turnoff toward Nebraska City; I can't remember the name of the little town's truck stop we slept at, but I remember watching as Aaron reclinined in his car seat and closed his eyes. I sat watching every single movement that passed our car. I don't know why we decided to stop there in the middle of the night, but I do know that Aaron was too tired to keep his eyes open and it seemed like that little gas station had the best lighting of any place we'd passed. He catnapped for about 30 minutes before getting back on the road. We stopped again on the other side of Nebraska City. Everything was so dark, and the opposite of peaceful. It felt desolate. And when we rolled into Lincoln around 6 a.m., I couldn't have been happier to be home.

I love hitting the road with that boy, and Evil Urges has become a part of our road trip soundtrack.

I really need to buy this poster to add to our collection. Also on the "must have" list: Radiohead at the Verizon Amphitheater in Saint Louis (May 14 2008) and Wilco at the Orpheum Theatre in Omaha (October 11 2007).