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Today began in Kentucky…. Following our free “breakfast” (doughnuts OJ & coffee) we departed, once again on route 64W. Louisville was a “must see” according to the lady at the desk. I’m still not sure what was there…except a bunch of nice bridges across the Ohio River. Still, this was the first city we really drove through so it was exciting in that right. Indiana was…well…as Reece so eloquently put …”it started off like Kentucky and ended like Illinois. Illinois & Missouri were much the same….huge 50-acre expanses of farmland giving way to acres of tightly forested patches. I can see why people that do not live in costal areas may not readily be conservationists….it seemed as though trees were in endless abundance….I don’t know that if I was raised in Indiana I would have any qualms about ripping off layers of top soil & planting barley (or whatever). The highlight of the day was by far St. Louis. The arch was just an awesome sight…as beautiful from afar as it was up-close. We rode to the top in the crazy little tramcars, which were like these tiny-pods that held 5 people. I was seriously expecting
to blast off….at the top you can get out of the car and peek through these tiny windows…it was utter mayhem of people scurrying around and oohing… (or geeing….depending on the accent). We visited the Anheuser-Busch factory, but decided to skip waiting an hour for the next tour. Reece bought the cowboy hat he was dying for (it has "Budweiser" tooled on a small piece of leather above the brim) and we took off. Slaves to the road we are....
Missouri was a beautiful drive…rolling farmey (made that word up) land…. Kansas City by the way, is in both Kansas & Missouri…. We planned on camping tonight but places were few & far between the wheat fields. Finally, in the late evening we rolled into Lake Shawnee campground, just outside Topeka. Had this lake been anywhere else other than Kansas, I’m pretty sure that there would not be a campground, frequented by first cold, than over zealously friendly locals, such as Rob Martinez…or Rodriguez…and his wife (who has worked at the Goodyear tire factory for 15 years) who encouraged us not to pay for the site, which was actually an RV hook-up that we parked in & pitched our
tent lakeside. We ran out to the grocery store to pick up some food and witnessed (no lie) 2 young dudes rolling up to the McDonald’s drive through window on horses. CRAZY! Of further note, grocery stores in Kansas can sell beer, but it only has a 3% alcohol content. If you want the harder stuff, you have to go to a liquor store (but not a bar because they don’t have packaged goods)…selection varied in our store from Bud to Bud Light & (I know it’s wild) Miller Light. Following dinner (Mac & Cheese), we layed out on the grass beside the lake and our tent, listening to teenagers get drunk across the lake, including a few brave dudes who took out the little fishing dingy (“Iceberg- dead ahead!”) and watched the stars come out. It was a peaceful end to a long day of driving….and, perhaps most valuable, a glimpse into lives so different from our own.
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