Road Trip- Paris to Moscow

Today, we are not actually you to guess the distance between Paris, France, and Moscow, Russia, but rather the distance between Paris, Texas, and Moscow, Idaho, neither of which are world capitals.

For our points of destination, we randomly chose two family restaurants in both zip codes from Google; we have no idea if either place has been featured in a "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip, but perhaps its creator Bill Griffith has stumbled upon our blog?!

We start with the Roadhouse Restaurant in Paris, Texas, a town made famous by the brilliant 1984 art film "Paris Texas," directed by the great German filmmaker Wim Wenders. As it is, the town, like Las Vegas, has a replica Eiffel Tower but this one has a cowboy hat on top of it.

Our other destination is Dad's Diner, which is actually located just outside Moscow, in Potlatch, Idaho; the other Moscow is known as a collegetown and the base of operation for the popular singer Josh Ritter.

So, just how far apart are these two places?

Is the answer:

A) 29 hours even

B) 30 hours even

C) 31 hours even

D) 32 hours even

Happy Trails to you, until we meet again, which reminds me there is a Gene Autry marathon on TCM tonight.

Top 10 Favorite Countries I've Never Been To!

We are once dedicating one of our entries to tomorrow's leaders (that does sound like something from a '50s PSA doesn't it?) by dedicating this entry to students at North Lamar High School in Paris, Texas, which was made famous by the Wim Wenders film "Paris, Texas," which came out in the mid-80s.

While browsing the school's web site, we found out that the school nickname is The Panthers and apparently school lunches now cost $2.25! They were a mere 60 cents at my elementary school but that was 28 years ago!

Here are my favorite countries that I've never been to:

1. Norway
2. Morocco
3. Brazil
4. Spain
5. Portugal
6. Japan
7. New Zealand
8. Egypt
9. Argentina
10. Kenya

I know the fact that Uzbekistan did not make the list will disappoint our fans in Tashkent, but if the ambassador to your country Ilkhan Nematov * emails me and offers a free trip with a waiver for the visa fee (which was outrageous for Americans visiting Azerbaijan when I went to the capital Baku in 2008), it will topple Norway in the next edition of this list!

*- Yes, we looked up his name on the net, but that is the real Uzbeki ambassador to the USA. If a ninth grade geography teacher from North Lamar HS happens to see this, the Uzbeki capital is indeed Tashkent. Be sure to zing your students with that for their next test!