Back from solo trip to KY

[Mass Tim]

I'm not going to post too much right now, as I just got home about an hour ago, but I am back from a quick skip over to Kentucky.

A couple of notes: US-62 and US-68 - really nice drives. GM Bowling Green Assembly - awesome! Toyota Georgetown - the picture that should be next to the definition of "large".

I've got to compile my info and such - I estimate about 2300 miles in 4 days, though I did have fun and see a lot.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm not going to post too much right now, as I just got home about an hour ago, but I am back from a quick skip over to Kentucky.

That's what we like -- sizzling reports filed nearly from the tarmac. Looking forward to your next dispatch!

Mark

[PNW Judy]

I can't wait to hear more! Glad you had fun.

[Mass Tim]

Fresh air entered the window as we sat on the couch watching television. It was getting late and I knew I wasn't going to get any rest. I was ready to go.

Saturday. Eleven twenty-three, post meridian, and out the door. Into the car, previously packed. Diesel clatter in the night, settling to a soft purr. Canned Heat on the radio. My journey of many miles begins with a single step... on the accelerator.

Interstates 90, 291, 91, into Connecticut, no concerns, worries, problems, or troubles. Move, yeah, move. Merritt Parkway, the hills, the turns, I am invigorated.

New York, I-287, New Jersey, I-78, Pennsylvania, fuel, rest stop. No rest, move it. Go. Food, fuel. I-81. Sunrise will be coming soon, so tired. Rest, no, sleep. Two hours.

Two hours, no more, GO!!!, move, Maryland, I-70, I-68, West Virginia, I-79, I-64, Kentucky. Eyes heavy, tired, 6:30pm, 816 miles so far. Morehead exit. Nice room, cheap, time to....

Slept till morning, fueled, back on I-64. This just will not do. I need two-lanes. Yeah, twists, turns, sights, smells. Kentucky 32. Where's this go? Somewhere, that's all I need to know. Blue Licks Park, solitude, buffet. I've lingered too long. US-68, US-460, Georgetown and Toyota. Seven-million five-hundred thousand square feet: L-a-r-g-e.

Bowling Green beckons. Find my way back to US-68 South. What a road! Cliffs and canyons and hairpin turns. What I could do in a 'Vette or a bike through here. The pavement straightens out. Fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty miles per hour. Dig, man, dig! Moving, turning, driving. Settling into seventy miles per hour, I am free.

Lunch at a small Mexican restaurant, nothing spectacular. Outta here, Parkway, Glasgow, KY-90, US-31W. I know where I'm going to sleep.

The Wigwam is comfortable, though a little pricey. Some night photography, then back inside. Whack! I'll have to watch that bathroom door frame. Whack! Seriously, try to remember that. Some TV, some reading, Whack! again. Tylenol. Time to sleep.

Bowling Green Assembly, Corvettes and Cadillacs inching their way through the factory. Sweet!! Corvette Museum, third time's a charm. Time to move.

Interstate 65 North. State Fair? Nah, not this time. Fuel then Frankfort, five o'clock and time to eat. Pub: closed. Deli: closed. Bakery?? Closed. Grille: open. Shishkabob and rice. Not bad. Nema's. Taking a walk along the street, I hear footfalls. Mine. Nobody is around, and this is downtown in the state capital. Nice town, I'll have to come back sometime. Time to go. US-460 to US-62. Left, right, left, right. Sunset comes and goes, left, right, left, right, up, down. My feet dance on the three pedals.

Ohio in the night. US-62, US-22, moving, moving, pushing, smiling. Lights coming the other way, I time them, one mile away. Lights again. This one feels different, I trust my instincts and slow down. It's a cop. We pass in the darkness, the corn keeps my speed a secret. I-70, I-77 so tired. It's 1 am. A rest area, I'll stop for a short rest. I rest. It's not short.

Eight o'clock ante meridian. Slept all night in the driver's seat. Should have climbed in back. I look over; a fat woman in a minivan is staring at me. Creepy. Why is my hair all messed up?

Interstates 76, 80, Pennsylvania, mountains. Serenity. Fuel time. I-180, PA-405, US-220, up, down, left, right. I become a mix of Andretti and Astaire, my wagon swaying then settling into a line. New York, NY-17, I-88, I feel home calling me. NY-23, up, down. Taconic Parkway, I start to feel pressured. I want to be home now. I look West, sunset. I look ahead, rest area. I dig out the camera, park, and leap from the car as the sun begins to set. In three seconds it's gone, but I got the shots. I got the shots! I-90, Massachusetts, a quick stop at a bookstore, then home. Home, Wednesday, 10:23pm. Two-thousand two-hundred and seventy miles.

I hear a whisper. Yes, it is the highway, calling me again. I want to be gone.

[AZBuck]

Love the style - It gives a good sense of the trip.

The saddest part of any trip is the realization that it's over, but the antidote is the knowledge that it WILL happen again.

Thanks for the reminder.

AZBuck

[Robert Schaller]

"Whack." Timbo, are you a particularly tall man? Just wondering. Bob

[PNW Judy]

I agree with AZBuck. Maybe a dash of Hemingway as well?

You made me feel the invigoration and intensity of your trip. And I share your letdown when arriving home again. I have never understood people who are homesick and anxious to get home. What's up with that?

[Mass Tim]

I'm six foot three inches tall. The door frame in the wigwam is about six feet tall. Ouch!

The shower, however, resonates throughout the entire structure, and is great for singing in.

[Robert Schaller]

Great trip report -- I had fun reading it. When's the next?

[Mass Tim]

The next long trip like this probably won't be until sometime next year - I've used all my vacation time up this year. (This assumes I stay at the same job!)

Summer in New England ends next week, but I am planning to take some scenic Autumn tours this year on the weekends. I don't know when that will start, as I am going in for surgery this coming week, and I don't know how long recovery will take.