June 23, 2011

Shew.  We left Lenzburg at 4:24 am and didn’t stop until Louisville, KY for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  Reviews were mixed.  Gerry liked the coffee, Karl liked the golf-tee game, Billy ate fries because everything is coated in butter, Lindsay’s fruit plate only had bananas, and my grits were runny.  Daisy ate the leftover eggs which she thoroughly enjoyed.

We passed multiple motorcycle groups (caravans? convoys? traffic jams?) early this morning.

Lara:  There must not be a helmet law in Kentucky.

Gerry:  There must not be a sleeve law either.

That guy did have some hairy arms.  It looked like a fur coat.

In West Virginia, it seemed appropriate to listen to John Denver.  This is the effect his music has on the kids.  Why didn’t we think of this earlier??

We drove through West Virginia and Virginia on our way to Winston-Salem.  It was a beautiful drive through the Appalachian Mountains.  Amid groans and complaints, I turned off the DVD and made the kids look out the window. 

Me:  Look!  These are called the Smokey Mountains.  Can you guess why they are called that?

Lindsay:  I don’t see smoke.  I see fog.

After the AZ fires this spring, I can see where she is coming from.

I don’t think I’ve watched the weather forecast in the past 10 years as much as I did for the past 6 days.  It is strange to be in a place again where it can be predicted with some accuracy.  I don’t even know what channel the Weather Channel is in Corrales.  But I know which local station carries the best forecast in Southern Illinois.  And I just received a text message from Trudy to stay tuned to weather.com for updates as we drive.  Apparently there was a tornado in Louisville just before we arrived.  Gah! 

Toodle-oo Tornadoes, Hello, Hurricanes!