Auntie Em! Auntie Em!
I'm staying in Tupelo, MS, tonight. I planned to be back in Atlanta by now, but have gotten delayed for various reasons. But hey, I get to mark this state off on the map now!
Actually, considering how much I've done, it's pretty good that I'm only running like 4 hours late. I made up some time today by following the GPS recommendation to cut through Missouri and Arkansas to get from Kansas City to Memphis. Basically I took the diagonal instead of going over and down. The trade-off was I didn't get to see the St. Louis Arch in the day (I saw it at night back in January) or drive down along the Mississippi. But, I can always make a special trip to St. Louis some other time. I'd go down to see Branson too, but that's about it for Missouri. I didn't see anything worthwhile in Arkansas, but it was pretty. I'd definitely like to go back to South Dakota some time. Before the trip, I figured there was Mt. Rushmore and nothing else. But I saw a bunch of things along I-90 that looked cool, including a decommissioned missile silo and the Corn Palace!
Speaking of Mt. Rushmore, I did get to see it, and the Crazy Horse monument nearby, but it was very foggy and snowy. The Presidents looked like they were crying. So I'm satisfied, but would still like to see it all again in nicer weather. Yesterday I got the full Kansas treatment, which included an insane thunderstorm with tornadoes that I wound up in the middle of. I was literally 20 minutes away from where the the Linwood tornado touched down. If that's not the ultimate Kansas experience, I don't know what is! And it was weird, the storm came up suddenly as I was trying to get to this haunted cemetery, got really bad while I was trying to get around Lawrence, KS (that's when the tornado touched down), and immediately stopped - no exaggeration - within minutes of me crossing the KS/MO border. The roads weren't even wet in Kansas City.
Tomorrow should be a (relatively) short drive to get across the rest of Mississippi and Alabama to home sweet home in Atlanta. Well, for the next few weeks, anyway.
Actually, considering how much I've done, it's pretty good that I'm only running like 4 hours late. I made up some time today by following the GPS recommendation to cut through Missouri and Arkansas to get from Kansas City to Memphis. Basically I took the diagonal instead of going over and down. The trade-off was I didn't get to see the St. Louis Arch in the day (I saw it at night back in January) or drive down along the Mississippi. But, I can always make a special trip to St. Louis some other time. I'd go down to see Branson too, but that's about it for Missouri. I didn't see anything worthwhile in Arkansas, but it was pretty. I'd definitely like to go back to South Dakota some time. Before the trip, I figured there was Mt. Rushmore and nothing else. But I saw a bunch of things along I-90 that looked cool, including a decommissioned missile silo and the Corn Palace!
Speaking of Mt. Rushmore, I did get to see it, and the Crazy Horse monument nearby, but it was very foggy and snowy. The Presidents looked like they were crying. So I'm satisfied, but would still like to see it all again in nicer weather. Yesterday I got the full Kansas treatment, which included an insane thunderstorm with tornadoes that I wound up in the middle of. I was literally 20 minutes away from where the the Linwood tornado touched down. If that's not the ultimate Kansas experience, I don't know what is! And it was weird, the storm came up suddenly as I was trying to get to this haunted cemetery, got really bad while I was trying to get around Lawrence, KS (that's when the tornado touched down), and immediately stopped - no exaggeration - within minutes of me crossing the KS/MO border. The roads weren't even wet in Kansas City.
Tomorrow should be a (relatively) short drive to get across the rest of Mississippi and Alabama to home sweet home in Atlanta. Well, for the next few weeks, anyway.