Day 1

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Day 1: New Brunswick, NJ --> Frankfort, KY (730 miles)

So we have finally departed!! Today was quite a day... about 11 hours on the road. We have, thus far, followed the suggested route from AAA, leaving us in Frankfort, KY....about 30 miles west of Louisville. Here is a quick summary of the day's sights and sounds before I crash:

New Jersey- We passed about 36 Dunkin Donuts as well as 80 road-kill deer on the way out of the good ol' garden state. We drove SW through PA, stopping at Cabelas "The World's Foremost Outfitters" for hunting and outdoor pursuits. This place was crazy!! 250,000 sq. ft. Full of taxidermied animals and even a waterfall!! (I bought a can of isopropane butan for the stove). You could buy everything in camouflage-- i think they even had camo thongs...

Maryland was cute-- much more mountainous than I though....West Virginia was definitly my favorite! 224 miles of crazy winding hills-- we had to shift constantly so it kept the ride a bit more interesting. Reece said the drive was probably like trucking....trying to gain momentum on the downhill before having to downshift on the up. There were also lots of cows in WV.... I didn't expect those guys to be there...it reminded me of the foothills of the German alps...these cows just roaming on crazy hillsides. From WV we went through Kentucky. The scenery was similar to WV but a bit less dramatic...more rolling hills...and the cows became, appropriately, horses. I've never seen so many shades, tones and hues of green! The weather was fickle as anything in the last 2 states....pouring rain one minute, sunlight peaking out of the clouds the next. Beautiful.

In WV I was in line waiting to prepay for a tank of gas, when, as Reece walked by the window outside the woman in front of me in line explains, "That boy looks like a lunatic!" in her crazy thick accent. HAH! If you look at his outfit in the photos, complete with my white sunglasses (his were eaten by the dog) it might be a bit understandable. 😊

As some of you know, we had originally planned to camp down in Renfro Valley (south of Lexington) and check out the Renfro Valley Bluegrass Festival. The weather forecast however, was for severe thunderstroms including hail....that fact, coupled with the already sopping ground lead us to decide to bag that idea (much to my disappointment) and stay and the ultra chic Bluegrass Inn in Frankfort (free HBO! woohah!)...located next to, oddly enough, a Kentucky Fried Chicken. Over our dinner at the bar in the Cheapside Grill (named after the street on which it was located) in Lexington, the bartender informed us that Frankfort (the capitol) was "a qui't tauwn'...a bit disconcerting since Lexington was seemingly abandoned considering the 2 universities located in town... and quiet it is.

Tommorrow: St. Louis, the arches, Bud Brewery Factory (for Reece)....and who knows what else!

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