Day 50 - 9/3/2004 - The last highpoint (for now)

Still another nice day with a good breakfast.  In spite of all the exercise, I will need a diet when we get back.  The effects of too many "breakfast included" establishments combined with snacks in the car.  We drove down to "Taum Sauk", which is a small hill in southeast Missouri that is defined as the highpoint.  The drive was very uneventful, although was longer than expected due to the time on slower two-lane roads.  The highpoint itself is fairly nondescript, although the folks in Missouri have done a good job of "fixing it up".  Photos and info can be seen at my Missouri Page.  At least there were no trailers visible (oops, I got Missouri confused with Arkansas).

After the highpoint, it was time to gas up the car, get some food (gas up ourselves) and hit the road.  Driving up toward St. Louis, I spotted a sign for "White Castle" hamburgers.  We HAD to stop!  When it comes to burgers, abstinence makes the stomach grow fonder.  They were not as good as I remembered.  Soggy bun, and meat that was...well...more closely akin to a bean product than animal flesh.  I'm firmly convinced that the new economic for cinema is to find a lame product and make a movie about it to drive up sales.  

On to St. Louis - right at rush hour on a Friday.  We finally got through the jams, and turned on the tunes and just cruised.  During the drive, about the only surprise was Louisville, KY.  We came through late in the evening, and I was amazed at how pretty the town was.  It seemed very young and vibrant, full of lights and energy.  As you drive I-64 through Louisville, the center of town is on your right, and the river is on your left.  Across the river, New Albany sparkled as I imagined the people walking the street wrapped in the cool air and saxophone notes.  

From Louisville it was more of an endurance event than a drive.  My goal was to put as many miles behind us as possible.  I stopped for a five minute nap just outside of West Virginia about 2 am (Hunter had been asleep for a couple of hours).  Finally around 3:30 am I hit my limit and pulled into a rest area on the WV turnpike.  We had cover a lot of ground today - it was time for sleep.  Tomorrow is the end.