Knoxville to St Louis

Doges and I had an early start this morning - check out of the hotel and on the road by 5:45am. A stop at a Dunkin' Donuts with WiFi let me do some necessary check-ins. One donut, half a luke-warm coffee and Dogan's brekkie later, we were back on the road. It was strangely peaceful driving so early with no cars on the road. I turned on some tunes (thanks to everyone who contributed to "Beth's x-country Playlist"!) and zoned out.

Tennessee is a beautiful state - even though I only saw it from the highway, I was in awe. The lush green rolling hills turned into sweeping valleys and the sky was incredible. I had heavy to light rain all the way through to Nashville, so sorry if you called and I didn't pick up (health and safety!). We zoomed on by Nashville with an aim to get to "The Land Between the Lakes" in Kentucky - strip of land (oddly enough) in the middle of two gorgeous lakes. We took a spin through the Bison & Elk park (which upon entering felt like I was going into Jurassic Park). Luckily Dogan didn't bark at the bison as they were super close to the car - but he was interested! After that we headed north for a quick dip on the Kentucky Lake. I think this was Dogan's first time at a lake because when he first got in, he kept putting his head under water as though he couldn't believe the water was so clear. It was cute.

Once we were back on the 40, I decided to take a detour to Peducah, Illinois. The signs on the road read, "Historic Downtown District and Arts District". I thought it would be cool. Let me just say that Dogan taking a piss in the Vetern's park was as about as interesting as Peducah was going to get this Sunday. Back on the road we went.

From here I decided to book it to St. Louis. I entered another time zone so I got an extra hour - didn't matter much as my body started to tell me that I had been on the road since 5:30. Once checked into the dog-friendly (for real this time) hotel, Doges and I decided to go take a look at that funny looking arch downtown.

At Smith College there is a myth that if you walk through the campus gates alone (e.g without anyone else), then you will never get married. I must have walked through those gates a dozen times solo. Wonder what will mean for my future relationships. Anyhow - the point to the tangent is that St. Louis is considered the gateway to the west. It seemed appropriate, if not at the least, corny, that I walk under the Arch from the east to the west - wishing upon my transition safe travels and an easy transition to Portland. Dogan was starving and was being very pesky about smelling all the nastiest stuff he could find. Regardless, he still attracted heaps of attention. I swear - I feel ugly next to him.

So there it is - from Knoxville to St. Louis. Tomorrow I trek onto Colby Kansas. It's going to be a long drive, so if you're bored and have Verizon, give me a call (it's free with verizon. if you don't have verizon, I still love you - just don't call).

Oh - and thank you to everyone who called today - it meant a lot that so many of you are keeping track of my progress. It also helps break the time up!

Lots of love from Beth & Dogan

PS. Quirks: Drivers from Georgia, Florida and Illinois are less than par; the speed limit thus far has usually been 70mph (e.g. 80mph), i haven't yet seen the "world's largest of anything", and kate Sonders has the awesomest taste in music...

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Part of trip: My Oregon Trail

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