DRIVIN' KENTUCKY

After leaving the farm, I took a minor detour through Metropolis, Illinois: Home of the Giant Superman Statue. (I mean, really, how could you pass that up?) It was everything I’d hoped it’d be: big. superman-y. I arrived just before a family with small kids and I could hear them yelping as soon as they got out of the car, “sooooooperman!!” The mom very generously offered to take my picture, and then had to spend a few minutes yelling at her kids to get out of the shot. It was great. As an added bonus, I got to see a cop lead a jailbird into the building the superman was in front of. Not lying. It seemed like they were old friends, talking and laughing, the guy in the yellow jumpsuit gesturing with his handcuffed hands...

After that, things got really boring. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say more boring than Kansas and Missouri. The parkway was lined with thick green forest, which, although it was very pretty, was the same for hours and hours and hours. Listened to a big chunk of my book on tape.

Heading for my stepsister’s best friend-and-her-husband’s house in Berea, Kentucky. She and her husband had to work late, but (even though I’ve never met them, bless their hearts), they told me where the key to their house was hidden and told me to make myself at home. My GPS was set to their address and I was looking forward to a quiet evening by myself.

After I stopped for gas in Bardstown, my GPS must have somehow reset itself, because it led me on an inadvertent tour of Kentucky’s ritziest neighborhoods. I should have realized, being the home of the Kentucky Derby, that there would be quite a few manicured green pastures with perfectly manicured painted fences and manicured horses with braided manes cantering about. I was led right into the heart of it, into a golf course community with giant mansions. At first I thought, wow, Rachel didn’t mention that her friend lives in a mansion! Then I realized that instead of saying "you've reached your destination, 123 Main St" or something like that, it had random coordinates highlighted. Stupid GPS.

The house, once I found it, was very cute. I met their somewhat psychotic cat Smokey right away, and he fluctuated between mewing sweetly and rubbing my leg to snapping without warning and sinking his claws into my calves and feet. He followed me into every room, even the bathroom, and (to my dismay) apparently knew how to open the bathroom door from the outside. Unsettling. I learned to lock it whenever I went in.

Beyond the cat issue, I slept very well, and unfortunately had to leave early in the morning to get to DC before dark. I never got to meet Rachel's friend at all! :( Many thanks for letting me stay there, Vivian!