First, thank you, to all of you who prayed for a safe trip. Yes, our trip was safe with not a single incident. Somewhere on the dark roads of Georgia, after "traveling" with a pickup truck for a while, he pulled alongside and did some sort of gesture – it did not seem unfriendly, yet was unrecognizable – and he suddenly sped ahead at light speed never to be seen again. Huh.
Road Trip Summary:
The first 2 hours into Kansas were after dark, however the next day I found Kansas rather enjoyable. The open spaces with dotted farms and clusters of trees…I imagine those people to have a pretty good life. Missouri, aka Misery (okay, if you must, The Mother is from there), is mundane. My goal was the ginormous Arch, of which I have never seen, so we stopped near sunset for photo ops.
Then on toward Kentucky, after a slight road mix-up on the Illinois side of St. Louis which led us through very interesting neighborhoods of which caused us to be happy to get back on the right highway. They don’t put many tax dollars into Illinois roads; avoid if you can while traveling in a Pod. Kentucky and Tennessee are just plain beautiful states. We plan to go back, and since my To Do list includes a tour of Churchill Downs, we hopefully will.
Georgia, eh, and we managed to be in Atlanta at rush hour. In Florida the hotels seem to lag on the upkeep side. However we did drive through the Everglades – I have fond memories of trips as a kid. My dad always did adventurous vacations that included stops at alligator farms and air boat rides in the Everglades, and tours of Mr. Audubon’s house in the Keys. We arrived in Pembroke Pines exactly 45 minutes behind schedule. We washed the 5 pounds of yellow and red bug goo off the front of the car, and jumped into the pool.
Stats:
We drove 2207.4 miles, through 5 significant Metropolitan areas, averaging 30.something mpg, eating 3 bags of chips, 1/2 bag of sunflower seeds, 1 bag of popcorn, 1 bag of Werther's Originals, 1 gallon size bag of homemade oatmeal cookies, drinking 1 case of 1+ liter size bottled water, eating at 2 Waffle Houses, listening to 2 books on tape, watching 2 movies, crocheting 1/2 a scarf in 3 days.
Sounds like quite an adventure! I love the stats. Were you on the steps behind the arch for that pic? I loved the arch when we went last year. Did you go up inside? Glad you're back safe and sound.
Posted by: Stephanie | Sep 27, 2007 at 02:04 PM
And what thriving metropolises (is that a word?) did you find in Tennessee? Did you wave at Clarksville when you drove by?
Posted by: Stephanie | Sep 27, 2007 at 02:32 PM
I am glad you guys are back. The stats and your photos are great. I have driven past the arch more than a dozen times, and we have NEVER stopped. My Dad was on a schedule and the arch was never on that schedule.
So, what skyline is that?
Posted by: Tulip Girl | Sep 28, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Glad you made it - safe and sound - and with adventures to boot!
Posted by: carol ann | Oct 01, 2007 at 10:54 PM