May 2003 - Page 2 of 4 - Round America

First Steps – Day 51

First Steps

Day 51 — May 21, 2003 — Wednesday

Home as Madison took Her First Steps

The day was spent in Atlanta. I was resting, doing some work, and catching up on the photos and reports for the website. The trip was scheduled to resume in a few days.

Madison came over to babysit us today. She took her first step, and then she took four.

Bozzie Jane baked a delicious apple pie.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Each day, we collect our thoughts on a web page just like this. We drop in some of the photos from the day. Our goal with the Daily Journal is to write about the towns we visit, the sights we see, the people we meet, and the pie we eat. We write about where we are, where we’ve been, and where we are going, but we also make observations about what we’ve seen and done as well as about life in general.

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this website. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest, and the full itinerary is shown.

Where We Love – Day 50

Where We Love

Day 50 — May 20, 2003 — Tuesday

“Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes

The day was spent in Atlanta. I was resting, doing some work, and catching up on the photos and reports for the website. The trip was scheduled to resume in a few days.

“Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.” Oliver Wendell Holmes.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Nice Place To Be – Day 49

Home is Always a Nice Place To Be

Day 49 — May 19, 2003 — Monday

The day was spent in Atlanta. I was resting, doing some work, and catching up on the photos and reports for the website. The trip was scheduled to resume in a few days.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Where the Heart Is – Day 48

Home is Where the Heart Is

Day 48 — May 18, 2003 — Sunday

The day was spent in Atlanta. I was resting, doing some work, and catching up on the photos and reports for the website. The trip was scheduled to resume in a few days.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

You can follow our travels from the Daily Journal section of this web site. Other pages of interest include the running report of “vital statistics” on the Trip Scorecard, our nominations for the Best & Worst of the trip, as well as a rating of the pie we eat. If you’d like to see information for a specific state or town, click here, and then click on the state of interest and the full itinerary is shown.

Home Sweet Home – Day 47

Home Sweet Home

Day 47 — May 17, 2003 — Saturday

The day was spent in Atlanta. I was resting, doing some work, and catching up on the photos and reports for the website. The trip was scheduled to resume in a few days. Home Sweet Home.

The Daily Journal of Round America:

Recap of First Loop Round America – Day 46

Recap of First Loop Round America

Day 46 – May 16 2003 – Friday

We have completed the first loop ‘Round America. After over 12,000 miles, we are home in Atlanta. Recap of First Loop Round America.

Bozzie Jane flew back to Atlanta after spending some time taking care of her father and helping her mother in Dallas. I took her to the airport in Lubbock for her flight to Dallas, and then I drove Route 66 from Amarillo to Oklahoma City to Tulsa to Springfield to St. Louis. I left Route 66 there and drove to Cape Girardeau, Memphis, and Nashville…then back to Atlanta.

It was a most enjoyable 45 days, and I look forward to completing the trip. 15 states down and 35 to go, but I’m guessing the trip is 40% behind us. We’ll top 25,000 miles in total. We’ve been through 989 towns so far with 2,500 on our itinerary. We’ve bought 616 gallons of gas. We’ve traveled the two-lane roads as planned, and I’ve passed only 10 cars in 45 days. Technically, I’ve passed only eight cars, but I passed two vehicles twice.

We’ve met a lot of nice people and some very interesting folks. The Floating Neutrinos (Day 18) still top the list of most interesting, though Harley and Annabelle in Erick, Oklahoma (Day 38), and the three chicken farmers in Maysville, Arkansas (Day 40) were very interesting as well. We’ve probably met close to 800 people so far as that’s how many business cards we’ve given out. I can list 611 who I know we’ve met.

We’ve seen incredible sights. Major sights included the Grand Canyon, Daytona Beach, South Beach, Key West, Savannah, Bourbon Street, South Padre Island, Big Bend, Trinity Site, The Array, Tucson, San Diego, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Route 66, the Rose Bowl, Sedona, Santa Fe, the National Memorial in Oklahoma City, the arch in St. Louis, Graceland, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Equally enjoyable were Harry and the Natives, the world’s largest lobster, the world’s smallest church, the Perky Bat Tower, The Shell Factory, Sponge-O-Rama, the world’s smallest police station, the world’s largest Neptune statue, Lamberts, the human statues in New Orleans, the Orange Show, the Beer Can House, TeePee Motel, Little Graceland, the Los Ebanos Ferry, Freddie’s Fast Lube & Snow Cone Stand, the Rio Grande River, Terlingua, the Roy Orbison Museum, the Roswell UFO Museum, Pie Town New Mexico, Truth or Consequences New Mexico, Bisbee Arizona, the airplane graveyard in Tucson, the center of the world, the Doheny Woodie Show, the home of the world’s largest flag, the Dawsons, the DiSantos, the towns of Bagdad in Florida and California, the Bagdad Cafe, Tinkertown, Cadillac Ranch, the Big Texan Steak Ranch, Toad Hall, the sawed off Giant’s legs, the Buddy Holly Museum, Prairie Dog Town, the Shanklins, Palo Duro Canyon, the Will Rogers Museum, the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, the small version of the Twin Towers in Tulsa, George Robertson, the Overalls and the Huggins, the home of Rush Limbaugh, Beale Street, Sun Studios, Karaoke Night at Wet Willie’s, Paradise Gardens, numerous sunsets, and flags and patriotic displays everywhere. Brief comments have been added on the major sights and other attractions, so click on these links to get the low-down.

We’ve eaten some great food. In fact, in 45 days, there was just one meal that we were disappointed with. We’ve eaten 49 “pies,” and there have been some mighty good ones. The Key Lime Pie at Harry and the Natives (Day 5) still ranks #1.

We’ve learned or relearned some great lessons.

I’m sure I’ve entertained a lot of people with the beads I’ve worn since I received them from the Floating Neutrinos on Day 18. I’ve probably told the beads story at least 100 times so far.

Only one traffic ticket (Day 3). I was also stopped and “busted” for drugs in Missouri (Day 41) No serious car problems that we know about. I bought one new tire…but that was for five missionaries in the middle of nowhere in Texas. We did come across a number of people who we felt were trying to steal my camera, but we managed to stay out of harm’s way. I’ve driven every mile myself. Barbara and I combined to take 5,257 photos — an average of 116.8 per day and almost one photo per half mile; at this pace, we’ll probably take 12,000 photos.

I’ve done some writing — but mainly just a recap of the day’s events. I have recorded far more thoughts, and I have collected over 120 pounds of brochures and information that I will use in writing the book.

In 45 days — 1080 hours, we did not see any rain until Day 44! Amazing. It rained for several hours on Day 44 from Memphis to Nashville, but we saw only a few minutes of raindrops in Florida prior to this. I drove right between serious tornados in Oklahoma but never saw a drop of rain.

We’ve had relatively few problems. The biggest problem was the inability to connect with the Internet for a week that put me hopelessly behind on the web site work. I have obtained an 800-number Internet service for the remainder of the trip so I will be able to dial in from anywhere with a phone line. Cell phones don’t work in much of the west. Another inconvenience was having hotel / motel reservations that necessitated that we make it to a specific town each night. This stopped me from spending more time with interesting people, seeing some sights, and pursuing some stories. It also caused me to be driving at night a lot more than I wanted to. So, we will not make advance reservations for the rest of the trip. The convertible was a lot of fun, but we will be in a PT Cruiser the rest of the way. Driving alone is much more difficult as the two-lane roads are not always easy to find. I will actively recruit some navigators for the remaining segments when Bozzie Jane will not be along.

We had one complication since April 1: We unexpectedly sold our home in Atlanta! It wasn’t for sale. Some folks put a note in our mailbox saying they would be interested in buying our home. We let them see it, and they gave us a contract. Bozzie Jane is not at all excited about moving, but we need to find a new house, so the date for resuming the trip will be delayed until we have found a house. We’ll keep you posted.

Many people ask what has been our favorite experience. There are too many wonderful experiences to pick just one, but my favorite day is still Day 18. Barbara’s favorite days are Day 2 in Savannah and Day 25 in beautiful San Diego.

We have MANY great sights yet to come. We are especially looking forward to North Dakota where we have received more invitations for dinner and pie than we can imagine. We’re also scheduled for a lot more newspaper, radio, and TV interviews on the second half of the trip.

I will be spending the next few days getting the Daily Journal up to date. At least the time when we aren’t babysitting for Miss Madison.

Madison – Day 45

Madison

Day 45 – May 15, 2003 – Thursday

It’s the last day of the first round of the trip ‘Round America. I’m in Nashville – headed for Atlanta.

J.P. at the Fairfield Inn asked about the beads, so he, Tammy, and Tom from Michigan heard the Floating Neutrinos story, and I was off.

I drove the 2-lanes today. I’m anxious to get home, but I couldn’t end the first loop of the trip on interstate highways. That wasn’t the program, and I want to continue following the Rules of the Road that say we will avoid the interstates and use them only when necessary.

Cloudy and ugly all day. I was so excited to get home that I forgot to eat today.

I took a number of barn photos today. That was about all I saw for several hours – farm and ranch land and barns. I reached Chattanooga just before noon, but I’m just going to have to come back and do the sights here later. Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Ruby Falls, the Chattanooga Choo Choo, the Tennessee Aquarium, and the International Towing & Recovery Museum will have to wait as I need to see Bozzie Jane, Brittany, Miss Madison, and Kitty B Kitty.

As I drove through Trion, Georgia, I saw a sign for Paradise Garden, and I hit the brakes and hooked a U. I had read somewhere about Reverend Howard Finster and Paradise Garden. He was a minister who became a prolific (and renowned) folk artist late in life. He built Paradise Garden and churned out massive numbers of folk art pieces. He also did album covers for REM and Talking Heads. Two blocks and I was there.

Grace Kelly and her husband, Michael, were trying to get the swampy grounds ready for the annual Howard Finster Fest to be held this weekend. Nice, nice people, and they gave me a great tour and told me a lot about Howard and the place. It’s in bad shape. There’s no money to maintain it, and the swampy conditions make it really difficult. They desperately need a rich benefactor who will provide the money to save Paradise Garden. I took a lot of photos, and I will write a lot more about it and what I learned in the book. The rains have been torrential in the North Georgia area, so I was really worried about the Howard Finster Fest over the weekend; the forecast was not good.

Smyrna, Georgia – 4:45 pm. I was at our daughter’s home with Bozzie Jane, Brittany, Ace, and granddaughter Madison. I missed these guys. Madison is even more beautiful — almost 11 months old.

At 6:30 pm, I pulled back into the garage of our home in Atlanta. 44 days and 10 hours since I left. 40,325 on the odometer – 12,289 miles since we started the trip on April 1. Kitty B Kitty isn’t being friendly. We are very close, so she’s just mad. I hope she gets over it before I take off again.

I will spend longer in Atlanta than planned as we have a house problem to deal with, and I need time to get caught up on my writing and photo processing.

We’ve learned and/or relearned a lot of lessons on the trip. The only thought I have tonight is that there is a lot of comfort in being at home with the ones you love.

If you want a Rainbow – Day 44

If you want a Rainbow

Day 44 – May 14, 2003 – Wednesday

Rain. On the road for 43 days without any real rain, and it is really raining today.

Lee Ann and Bill at the Fairfield Inn went above and beyond to make sure the Cottage Restaurant was opening at 10:30, and they provided great directions. They didn’t know the address of Prince Mongo’s house, so I’ll have to try to catch his place next time. Prince Mongo is apparently the most visible eccentric in Memphis. He’s not really a prince, and his home isn’t really a castle, but he puts all kinds of funky stuff in his yard.

The Cottage Restaurant was great. I was quite the celebrity there. The ladies really got into the book and their mention in it. I met Mary, Gloria the Pie Lady, Miss Annie the Nana Puddin Lady, Helen, and Linda. The Cottage Restaurant is a classic local café, and the place opened at 10:30 and was packed for lunch by 11:15. I enjoyed Fudge Pie and some Nana Puddin, but the ladies there were what made it so special. When in Memphis, make a point of going to the Cottage Restaurant!

With the rain and the late start due to the late opening of the café, I drove the interstate to Nashville. I encountered the same signage problems when I hit Nashville. A sign on the interstate indicated there was a Visitors Center at the next exit, but I never found one.

I made my way straight to the Country Music Hall of Fame, and I took the tour. It’s a very impressive museum and Hall of Fame. There was no photography allowed. There are all types of artifacts and exhibits of various types…and a lot of great country music. I enjoyed everything but the inclusion of the Dixie Chicks in an otherwise excellent video about country music on TV for the last 50 years. I Met Michelle, Kelly, Louise, and Melanie.

Unfortunately, the Grand Ole Opry is only open on the weekends. I really wanted to go, but I had to settle for the museum and Hall of Fame.

I drove to Second Street and parked and walked around the bar and restaurant areas in downtown Nashville. I met a lot of policemen; it’s obvious they have to have a high profile in the area to keep the tourists safe. I took photos of Karen and Rita and their horses. I met Arnold from Boston and had a nice chat with him. I really enjoyed speaking with Katmandu, Roger, and Sheila – three street people. Katmandu told me a great story about the Biker “Babe” in Uncertain, Texas who had his scoot (bike) repossessed. He invited me down to the river to see his shelter. I didn’t go. Roger said they are starting a band called Street Trash and go on a tour called the Need Gas Tour. There are a lot of street performers in Nashville. I suspect many of them are homeless.

Ryman Auditorium was home to the Grand Ole Opry for many years, so I enjoyed seeing it. I saw the famous Ernest Tubb Record Shop and a number of great old buildings and well-known clubs.

Two bicycle policemen responded in unison when I asked where the best place was to eat – Jack’s Barbeque. It was great. Jack’s offers a number of sauces, and I especially liked the “Tennessee” sauce.

I’m not sure what I learned today. I learned a lot about the early days of country music. I learned that the Grand Ole Opry is only open on the weekends. I learned that as you get closer, you get anxious to get home no matter how much you are enjoying your trip. And as Dolly Parton said: “If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”

Memphis Music – Day 43

Memphis Music

Day 43 – May 13, 2003 – Tuesday

Since I had been scheduled to make it to Memphis last night, I chose the interstate at 7:15 am. I wanted to get to Graceland. Today marks the start of Week 7. 39,521 on the odometer. That means 11,485 miles in the rearview mirror.

Sikeston has a Lambert’s Café, but it was early, and I wanted to get to Graceland.

I was surprised when I was welcomed to Arkansas. I never planned to be on the interstate, so I didn’t look at the map to see that I would be passing through Arkansas a second time. I stopped at the Arkansas Visitors’ Center to pick up a bag of brochures. I knew Dean, Troy, and Steve would be pleased to know that I cared enough to do so.

When I crossed the Mississippi River at 10 am, I was in Tennessee – state #13. I exited when I saw a sign for a Visitors Center, but there was no Visitors Center to be found. I pulled over and read in one of our guidebooks that there was a Visitors Center on Beale Street, so I stopped and walked around a bit, but the Visitors Center was nowhere to be found. I met a street hustler who gave me “Memphis” as his name – probably Ferrell’s cousin. I finally gave up on getting any visitor’s help because I wanted to get to Graceland. I figured out how to get there on a Memphis map obtained back in Arkansas.

Another rough drive. The part of Memphis I found myself in was a pretty scary place – lots of unhappy-looking folks standing on street corners and driving around in groups. I was hopelessly lost again, bit I finally spotted an interstate sign, and I finally found Graceland.

I took the Platinum Tour at Graceland. $25.25. That’s an audio headset guided tour of Graceland, a ticket to the Elvis Presley Car Museum, the Sincerely Elvis Museum, and the Lisa Marie Airplane exhibit. Brenda was our tour bus driver.

Graceland was nicer than I expected it to be, and the headset tour was excellent. There is a tremendous amount to see. Elvis is buried there. He wasn’t initially; Vernon had his body exhumed and moved to Graceland. There are gold records everywhere. Elvis had pretty bad taste in home décor, but I kept reminding myself that it was the 70’s when everyone seemed to have bad taste. But Elvis had really bad interior décor taste, but what an incredible personality and talent. I got some good photos.

The auto museum was enjoyable. Elvis had a lot of cool cars. I especially enjoyed the Pink Cadillac he gave his mother and the big assortment of golf carts and go-karts. Elvis liked to dream up games he and his friends could play a Graceland using the carts.

The Sincerely Elvis Museum had more personal items in it. The plane was a quick walk-through. Not a lot to see – just a small jet with big couches and a bed in back.

I should have interviewed some real die-hard Elvis fans, but the opportunity never presented itself.

After three hours at Graceland, I headed for Sun Studio. That’s where Elvis first recorded. I very quickly got lost and decided Memphis probably has the worst lack of effective signage of any city we’ve been in yet.

I ultimately found Sun Studio. I had to borrow an electrical outlet as I failed to charge my camera when I fell asleep unexpectedly last night. The camera ran out of juice, and I wanted to take a lot more photos. I skipped one tour while the camera charged, and I caught the tour an hour later. I met Rhees, an Australian, and had a nice chat with him. I had a real live Cherry Coke from the Sun Soda Fountain, and it was really good – fond memories of after-school Cherry Cokes at a soda fountain near the Lakeshore Junior High School in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Adrian was the guide for the tour. There isn’t much to see at Sun Studio. It’s a one room studio with a small office and a small control room, but some additional space next door has been turned into a little museum with very interesting displays. While there wasn’t much to see, the information Adrian related and the musical excerpts that she played provided en enjoyable hour. Sun Studio was the place where a lot of big stars first recorded – Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis. I stood where Elvis stood and held a microphone that he used.

Back to Beale Street for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I wanted to get a Barbequed Bologna Sandwich at the Blues City Café. I guess that’s only on their lunch menu, so I had ribs instead. Outstanding! I met a lot of people there. Chef Myron Johnson chatted with me and took my card; and then I met three of the cooks – Danny, Chris, and Kenny; Don the waiter; and customers Ron, Andrew, and a fiber optic cable rep whose name I failed to write down. Chef Myron told me he had a killer dessert, so despite the huge order of ribs and fries, I had the Apple Dumpling Dessert. It was tremendous. Served hot in a skillet with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. One of the best “pies” on the trip for sure.

I waddled out of the Blues City Café and walked up and down Beale Street on a mission to find Elvis impersonators. I never found one – big disappointment. But I met a lot of nice folks. Mandy and Amber at Alfred’s. Andre, Cory, John, and Eric at Pat O’Brien’s. And when Max at Pat O’Brien’s learned I was writing a book, he dressed in the Pat O’Brien’s hurricane costume in hopes his photo will make the book.

When I resigned myself to the fact that August 16 is THE time to see Elvis impersonators (Elvis Week – the date Elvis died), I began shopping for a club with karaoke. I figured there had to be a lot of tourists in town at all times who see Graceland and hear all the great music in town, and feel they have a beautiful voice, too.

I landed at Wet Willie’s where I had an absolute ball listening to people sing. I met Bill, Andrea, Stephen, Kristen, Darryl, Trease, Syreeta, Jimmy, Kenny, Rich, and a number of others who I was with but did not know by name. I was surprised with how good the karaokeyers were. There were only a few bad ones, and there were a lot of participants.

I’m not a good singer at all. I’ve got a decent voice in one key, but no range at all, so about all I can sing are songs that are in a monotone of sorts. Seated next to me were Kristen and Darryl. Kristen asked me if I was going to sing, and I assured her there was no way. The next thing I knew she was turning my name in to sing “What’s Forever For,” a great Michael Martin Murphey country song that I love, but a song that requires a true singer. The audience prodded me to get on stage, and there I was singing “What’s Forever For.” I made Kristen come up to sing along with me, but I never heard her. I’m sure I wasn’t any good, but a few couples did get up to dance, so I chose to take that as a compliment. When the song was over, we got a big round of applause, but I noticed that folks tended to clap louder for the less-than-stellar performances.

One lady loved singing so much. She was having a ball – kept getting up to sing. She was really bad, but the audience always applauded loudly, and I’m sure insider her head, she sounded great to herself. There were two who were worse – a guy in a flaming T-shirt who was just horrible, and a young man who unexplainedly sang “I Am Woman.”

When you sit and watch and listen to people for a few hours and they watch and listen to you, there becomes a kind of bond. It was really nice to see. I was afraid people would hoot and holler at those of us who weren’t any good. I hated to leave at midnight, but I needed my beauty rest before driving to Nashville tomorrow.

Kenny Wayne, the owner of the karaoke company, told me I really needed to go to the Cottage Restaurant for Fudge Pie. He even gave me a card for a free pie. (Must have been my singing.) So, I planned to hit the Cottage Restaurant when they opened at 10:30 before going to Nashville.

Despite the concerns for my safety at several times during the day, I thoroughly enjoyed the good stuff in Memphis – Graceland, Sun Studio, Blues City Café, Beale Street, Karaoke Night at Wet Willie’s, and all the nice people I met.

The lesson for the day is that life’s full of trade-offs. Wherever we live, we’ve got to be happy and accept a little bad with all the good.

GPS Whats That – Day 42

GPS Whats That

Day 42 – May 12, 2003 – Monday

Ward, Doug, and I talked for a while this morning. Ward is married to Judy (Judy was the first of the four Gray children and Bozzie Jane was the last). He is an especially neat guy, and it has been a pleasure to be around him at family get-togethers over the past 32 years. Doug was Papa’s business partner, and a sharper man you will never meet. Doug is a Pearl Harbor survivor, and he and Ruth make us look like pikers in the travel department.

I backtracked just a little ways as I needed to see the Route 66 State Park near Eureka. It is actually in what was once the town of Times Beach – wiped out by Radon as I recall. I saw the park, and I spotted the six flags over the Six Flags amusement park, but I didn’t see several of the other sights on my list (and some really good ones), but I needed some time in St. Louis before heading south to Memphis, so I pushed on.

I grabbed a couple of donuts at Casey’s General Store (convenience store at a gas station). Expectations were non-existent. Was I ever surprised. The donuts were great, especially the Carrot Cake Donut with cream cheese icing.

As I drove on Route 66 through Crestwood, I knew this was an area where Bozzie Jane lived as a child. There’s not much “old stuff” left to see, but I took photos of what I did see. I was very excited to see Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.

Ted Drewes is a phenomenon – an institution in the St. Louis area. I was surprised by the relatively large crowd standing in line out front at 11 am when I arrived. I understand the crowds are so big on the weekends that they have to barricade one lane of the road and have police to handle the crowds. I had a Caramel Concrete, and it was great. A “Concrete” is a milk shake so thick that the straw is useless; they hand it to you the cup upside down to emphasize how thick it is. The custard business was started by Ted Drewes, Sr. in 1930, and the “Route 66” location was added in 1941. Ted, Jr. took over the business after his father died, and he has expanded it, though he has rejected all franchising offers as he feels it would lead to mediocrity.

I met Dan in the parking lot when he asked about the sign on my car. I really enjoyed talking to him. He told me a lot about Ted Drewes Frozen Custard. He also anticipated my patented question and told me I should go see City Museum as he feels it is the most unique thing to see in St. Louis.

I said goodbye to Dan and drove straight to the City Museum. Incredible place! The City Museum was built entirely from recycled, salvaged, and found materials. It’s spectacular to see, and there are a tremendous number of activities for kids. Caves, slides, arts and crafts areas, aquarium, tree house, circus, historical artifacts, skatepark, and more. It’s hard to describe, but it is highly cool. The City Museum is closed on Monday, but a nice cleaning lady let me in. I finally found my way to the office where I met Elizabeth. She gave me a media kit and a private tour. The place is the brainchild of owner Bob Cassily. The building used to house a shoe factory, and there’s still a shoelace machine inside, but the City Museum is essentially a three-story monument to unbridled creativity. I’ll write a lot more about it in the book; it is a really unique place and a joy to see. Be sure to check out my photos, and see www.citymuseum.org.

Downtown St. Louis provided a few photos. I tried to get back on Route 66 downtown, but the directions were very hard to follow, and I quickly became lost. The area I was driving through became rough, and I hoped it would get nicer fast, but it got rougher and rougher. I started to turn around at one point, but I was afraid to. I really started to panic when I saw boarded-up buildings with messages to and from crackheads. Where is Vincent Passarelli when you really need him. I finally saw a sign to an interstate, and I was extremely relieved.

As I gassed up nearby, I met Laurie. She didn’t want her photo taken; I don’t believe she had any makeup on – might have been a stripper or something (just a sense). Ferrell also declined to have his photo taken; I suspect he was wanted by the police. I probably should have driven a little further before getting gas, but I wanted to stop to check the map to figure out where I was and where I needed to go.

Route 66 was officially behind me as I found the highway heading south out of town. I tried the two-lane for a while, my stomach really started hurting, so I switched back to the interstate. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing St. Genevieve, a town founded in 1735 that has preserved many of its old buildings. Unfortunately, my stomach was hurting so badly that I only snapped a couple of photos and never really got out of the car. We had packed Pepto Bismol, Rolaids, and Pepcid, but I could only find the Pepcid, and that’s only good ahead of time. I stopped at a gas station and began consuming a pack of Rolaids.

Memphis was the ultimate destination for the day, but I decided to call it a day in Cape Girardeau. Barbara Jane’s parents met and fell in love at a soda fountain in Cape Girardeau, so I really wanted to get a photo of the place. I searched, but as best I can tell, the building is long gone. I met several people in Cape Girardeau, including Reede, a man from Iowa who saw the sign on the car. I took photos of the Missouri Wall of Fame and hometown hero, Rush Limbaugh. I also drove by and took a photo of his childhood home.

I crossed the Mississippi River and made Illinois the twelfth state on the trip. My stomach was feeling a little better about 8 pm so I grabbed an excellent barbeque sandwich at Dexter Bar-B-Que. I’ve never had a barbeque sandwich with cole slaw on the sandwich, and it was really good. Carrie was my server.

I put my head down for a short nap at 8:30 and opened my eyes at 2:30. I rolled over again at 6 am.

I’m not sure what I learned today. When you aren’t feeling well, get some rest. When you get tired, stop. When you find yourself in a rough part of town, lock your doors, drive faster, and don’t look back. Remember to call and cancel your guaranteed hotel reservations before 6 pm when you aren’t going to make it. And always, always ask folks what’s the most unique sight to see in their town, because you will most often be rewarded with what you would have never found.