Close-up of fresh white cape jasmine gardenia blossoms in full bloom, with bright yellow centers and dark glossy green leaves in the background.
Cape Jasmine Gardenias in bloom in the front garden.

Posted from the Napoleon Hotel in Memphis, with my feet up and something cold from the cooler.

Well, y’all. I made it halfway.

This week’s roundup comes to you from Memphis, where I’m crashing for the night before the second half of the drive to Tulsa tomorrow morning. My friend Anna is meeting me for dinner. Twelve hours on the road is too much for one day, especially when you’re doing it solo. So I broke it into two: Atlanta to Memphis today, Memphis to Tulsa tomorrow. Reasonable. Civilized. Or at least more civilized than the alternative.

This is the first long road trip in the new Acura, and I have THOUGHTS. (Brief ones. I’m not turning karacooks into a car blog.) But the short version: the seats are good. The air conditioning is cold. The cruise control is smart. The stereo is excellent. I am not the same person who drove across Texas in a 1979 Plymouth Arrow with a stick shift and no AC, and I am not going to apologize for that.

More from Tulsa next week, where I’ll be visiting my cousin David. There’s a story there I’m working up to telling, but for now, just: he’s my only real living family, and I’m glad to be going.

Friday Roundup banner in the karacooks brand style. The words "FRIDAY" and "ROUNDUP" in dark green serif type flank a small circular pepper cross-section mark in the center, with thin horizontal rules and gold dots extending to either side. Cream background.
  • Garden update: I left Zach and Callie in charge of the garden. Send vibes. (Zach knows what to do. Callie is supervising. The garden will probably be fine. Probably.)
  • What I’m reading: I’m finally doing it. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is downloaded on Audible and queued up for the drive. I have been meaning to read this book for years. Years. Every time someone in my orbit mentions it I think “oh right, I should read that,” and then I don’t. But a twelve-hour drive split across two days is exactly the kind of forced reading time that gets through my “I’ll get to it eventually” pile, and so: now. I’ll report back next week on whether it lives up to the hype.
  • What I’m watching: The road. Miles and miles and miles of road.
  • What I’m eating: This week the eating section is road food and what’s in the cooler. Here’s what’s keeping me alive between Atlanta and Tulsa:
    • LaCroix, plain and pamplemousse (the only acceptable LaCroix flavors, fight me)
    • Apples
    • Crackers and cheese (the assemble-your-own-snack approach is the best approach)
    • Diet Coke for the moments when LaCroix isn’t enough
    • A LARGE cup of nugget ice from the most recent QT or RaceWay (we’re talking about real ice, the chewable kind, the kind people drive out of their way for)
    • Roasted peanuts and roasted sunflower seeds, because protein on the road keeps me from making bad decisions at hour seven
  • The whole point of a cooler is that you don’t have to stop at gas stations for sad food. Pack right, pull over for gas, eat from your own cooler, get back on the road. That’s the move. Next Tuesday’s recipe post is literally road food in disguise, by the way. The “I Just Can’t Cook Tonight” salad would have lived very happily in this cooler if I’d thought about it earlier.

Coming Next Week

Live from Tulsa next Friday: my cousin David and his cats are getting their karacooks debut. Pictures included. (David doesn’t know this yet but he’ll be fine.)

Sunday I’ll have a longer piece up too. More on that when it lands.

That’s it for this Memphis edition. If you’re driving anywhere this weekend, drive safe. If you’re not, think of me at hour seven tomorrow when I-40 starts to feel personal.

Y’all be good.

P.S. The new Acura has a feature where if it thinks you’re getting drowsy it beeps and vibrates the steering wheel. I have feelings about a car making this judgment but so far it has been correct, so.

P.P.S. The 1979 Plymouth Arrow had a hatchback and a stick shift and no AC and I drove it through three Texas summers. Anyone who came up through that kind of car has earned every feature on every car they’ve owned since. This is not negotiable.