This Time We're Serious

So, this morning we set off on our adventure to see what it would be like to live in the Southwest (as opposed to vacationing there). Specifically, we'll be spending May and June in Santa Fe, NM, settling in, developing a routine. Less eating out, fewer margaritas - you get the picture.

We left home in Union Bridge, MD this morning to the strains of the emergency management system on the radio, warning about one tornado sighting after another. Locally, nothing touched down, but it rained torrents and the wind did blow. Once out of the area, Marie and I were off to "look for America", as Simon and Garfunkel sang (yes, I'm that old).

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all gone to look for America
All gone to look for America
All gone to look ..." ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

At this point we realized that looking for America involved four days in the car on the way to Santa Fe. What were we thinking?  668 miles later we've settled in for the night in Haubstadt, IN, a suburb of Evansville. Aside from the numbing sameness of overpasses and exit signs (and some very minor damage to the front of our NEW car when a truck kicked up some debris), there were some interesting sights and observations along the way:

- West Virginia really is made up of hollows (or hollers). Everywhere you look there are little valleys and nooks dotted with small houses and farms. Beautiful, lush and green (at least along the interstate).

- West Virginia also has some very interesting town names. Jane Lew. Dan's Mountain. Hurricane. Big Otter. Poca. Amma. And my personal favorite, Mink Shoals. I can't even wrap my mind around that one. How does a mink find itself on a shoal. Muscle Shoals, AL I get. But Mink Shoals?

- You have to love a state with a Biscuit World.

- I was surprised to see all of the black fences and black barns and buildings on the Kentucky horse farms near Lexington. My stereotype, which holds true in Maryland, is of whitewashed fences and stately white buildings. But here was farm after farm with black fences and  buildings. It was as though Darth Vader had decided to diversify and go into horse breeding.

- Indiana not only has a town called French Lick - where, for you NBA fans, Larry Bird was born - but also a Licking River.

On a more serious note, there's a lot of flooding going on in the midwest and south. Every river we crossed was swollen and muddy. In Louisville, the Ohio River was spilling over its banks into riverside parks and a bandstand.

Later, as we drove through Indiana, we hit more heavy rain, and spotted this "vertical cloud" that spooked us a bit.

As we passed out of the storm, we were rewarded with a nice rainbow.

Tomorrow, on through Indiana and Missouri into Kansas!



Comments

[Jan]

Hip hip hooray! Day One in the books! Bravo!

" . . . looking for America involved four days in the car on the way to Santa Fe. What were we thinking?" Well, you were thinking: Hey, this gives us the opportunity to actually stop at Big Bubba's BBQ Bistro in Mink Shoals and ask the waitress with the moldy teeth and the black roots where all the minks were.