Travel Blogging I

We didn't get to Iowa City until almost 6:00. Somewhere along the line I seem to have lost custody of all my coolers - you can't seriously road trip without one! - and I needed new sunglasses and batteries for the camera, etc. etc. etc. And of course, Dad had to go over the route. I'm afraid I was looking at my watch the whole time. Why is it no matter how psyched you are to get out of Dodge, the hardest part of a trip is leaving?

The leg to St. Louis went smoothly - they've taken out that toll bridge and finished a lot of the Avenue of the Saints. Actually, they've finished a lot more than they'll let you drive on, and it was hard piddling along at 55 or so on a two-lane that could just as easily have been a four-lane divided if they just cleaned up a few orange cones . . .

Saw a shooting star just outside St. Louis. I'll take it as an omen, thanks. Made it to Cape Girardeau by 1:00 and checked into a hotel with wireless and a pool (my preferred mode of exercise when traveling - you don't need to pack bulky gym shoes). Cool! Of course, I did skip dinner. I hope the breakfast is good. Maybe I should liberate a Guiness from the bottom of the cooler? So I didn't really do photos much, this part of the country I've been to before, so it's not really the fun part yet. Tomorrow should be more interesting - the route involves taking u-turns so as not to drive into a canal. Oookay.

UPDATE 5:14 am: Loud banging. Door of next room. Got pop from vending machine - oh, good. That's loud, too. Taking defensive action by turning on fan. Dammit, it only goes on low.

UPDATE 5:30 am: Karie calls, presuming I'd be sleeping and she'd leave a message on the phone (I usually don't keep the ringer way up when I sleep). Fill her in on why I'm up this early. She gives me a few helpful hints from her prior journeys down here. Once she drove all the way back from New Orleans on a doughnut after getting a flat. In the snow, if I remember right.

UPDATE 7:00 AM: This appears to be the popular "lets load the car and check out" time. Everyone lets the door slam. I hope I did that when I got in, just to have gotten a little preemptived revenge. I check the bathroom to see if there's a fan in there, too. I need more white noise. Put pillow over head.

UPDATE 9:00 AM: Rise and shine, it's the maid ready to clean your room. Who needs wake-up calls?

UPDATE 9:40: I drag my *ss out of bed and grab an English muffin and some OJ. From the remnants, it looks like they had homemade waffles and eggs at one point, but these machines are already being broken down for the day. The pool's full of munchkins, so exercise is out. Don't they need to be in school?

I'd like to get out of here by 10:30. Wheeeeee.