March 30/09
Yes, we are still here. The day has been very long and we finally stopped in Columbus OH at 9:30 after two wrong turns on the interstate. The first wrong turn took us miles to correct and was extremely frustrating. Who invented these stupid interstates anyway? And the second wrong turn didn’t take so long to correct at least that one we laughed about. I can’t say that much for the first wrong turn though..But we are here and I will continue!
(The following was typed by Julia as we drove she copied it from the paper we sue to jot notes) We left Best Western at 7:57 am. We also went to Wal-Mart in Fairview heights. A woman in Wal-Mart (cashier) Told us Folks seem to stay away because they are Remodelling the store. People are looking at us FUNNY when we talk as do we smile when they talk. the trees here are in full bloom and the grass is GREEN! they have started there spring MOWING! VERY NEAT! There are Beautiful purple blooms on some trees. We’ve seen nothing like that before! Occasionally we are seeing beautiful things and oil pumps in the fields. They appear old fashioned looking! The Terrain is still flattish and the temperature is consistently between+5-10 degrees C.
(typed by Jacklyn, notes written throughout the day)We entered our 5th state, Indiana at 10:30am. We are heading to Evansville IN which borders Kentucky. Then we plan to travel into Kentucky and drive around looking (and dreaming) at the beautiful horse farms.
We stopped at a rest stop just past the Indiana border and got some brochures and such, but most only pertained to Northern IN and we weren’t going there. So we just collected them, used the facilities, and left.
We finally needed to fuel up again so we stopped in a little town off the interstate called Poseyville. I pronounced it as Poseyville as in “ring around the rosy, pocketful of posies...etc” and Chris pronounced it as “Posseville” We didn’t ask the locals how it was actually pronounced but I think my way sounds much better! Anyway, Poseyville (however you want to say it) is a farming small town. With at least 3 implement stores and people driving their lawn tractors. It is a very pretty town and for a small town it was bustling! The local big nice restaurant is even called the “Feed Mill”.
We have been seeing many robins here in IN. I saw the first two in IA but now when the windows are down and we are stopped somewhere, you can here them singing! It is wonderful and just like summer in Steinbach. The daffodils grow wild here in IN and it’s truly beautiful to see.
We arrived in Evansville at 11:40am and entered into KY State at 12:00pm. Unfortunately there was no sign to be found that we entered KY, so we missed out on that one! The temperature in KY is 14 degrees and fluctuates between 14-15 degrees. It’s wonderful outside! We stopped for lunch at Culvers in Owensboro KY at 12:47pm. After our lunch we headed out on the back HWY’s hoping to see horse farms and such. We didn’t... I was disappointed, but the scenery was still very nice. The trees looked dead all around us and later we would find out why. I think we happened upon Redneck country in the backwoods and it was neat to drive through the hilly landscape. Despite the MANY MANY dead possums on the road! J
Our next destination was Louisville KY to see the Churchill Downs. The famous horse racing place where many famous horses have raced. We entered Louisville at 4:00pm and navigated our way to the Churchill Downs. The place was amazing, even for non horesy people. The Assiniboine Downs don’t hold a candle to these downs that’s for sure! We thought it would be so nice to tour the downs and such, but we only had 20 minutes before closing. Admission to the museum was costly so we just toured the gift shop, bought some small inexpensive memorabilia and went on our way. We met a local KY older man who told us the most wno they’ve ever had was 6 inches. He also said he had been at the windiest corner in WPG back in 1979 and Edmonton in 1984. He was super impressed we had driven all that way. He did mention the reason the trees were all dead though. There was an ice storm in KY in January which was declared a state of emergency and people were without power for up to 3 weeks. He said he was without power for 6 days. It was debilitating to the state and would answer our questions as to why the landscape looked the way it did. Good to run into locals sometimes.
We were so happy to just have gotten there and seen the history! We left Louisville at 5pm. As we headed out of the city, the 16th largest city on the USA, I commented to Chris, that the area once again didn’t seem to good. He just said, oh Jacklyn don’t worry about it. It wasn’t until later that I told him I saw the police putting a man in handcuffs and his shirt was ripped open as if he had been in a fight. He was yelling at the police too. All Chris said was oh. But we got out of there safe and sound. It’s all part of the adventures.
We passed a sign in Carollton KY, saying this site was of the fatal bus crash back in 1988. I looked it up and found this link . It’s not often you see signs paying tribute to such a devastation.
We came into the outskirts of Cinncinati around 6:38pm and entered OH at 7pm. We had decided in Louisville KY that ahh what the heck, let’s just head to Columbus as it was only 2 hours away. Yeah well, we didn’t estimate correct and when all was said and done it was a little over 3 hours.
So here we stay in Grove City a suburb part of Columbus at La Quinta Hotel. After going through a few rougher parts of towns, I played it safe this time and asked the hotel clerk if there are any places we should stay away from. He mentioned some areas and we think our hotel that we booked for the duration of our stay is in the area. We are looking to see if other hotels are available today closer to the venue we plan to be at and hopefully at a reasonable price. If indeed our hotel is in one of those areas, we really don’t want to stay there but paying over $120 a night? The clerk said the areas aren’t too too bad, but just cautioned us. Some may call it adventure, but not us. We will find out today when we drive by the hotel we booked if it’s the area he mentioned.
We are about 2 hours away from West Virginia (didn’t we say in Louisville we were 2 hours away from Columbus too? J) and plan to go to see the mountain there. Can you just here us sing “Country roads, take me home, to the place, I belong, West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home country roads....” I’ve only had that song in my head since Friday before we left. Maybe that would cure it!
We will also be touring Amish Country too. Can’t wait!
Here’s to no wrong turns on the interstates today and many happy trails to you!
Jacklyn
1 comment:
You and Julia are too cute in that picture of you by the downs.
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