Ok, TODAY we should cross the Mississippi - that is so fun to type!!! Plan is to roll about 7:30 which probably puts me going through St. Louis at noon - actually around as I plotted the trip via the bypass route. I’ll fire up the GPS today as after St. Louis there are a couple of Interstate changes before landing on I-24 into Paducah - tonight’s destination.
Prior to today there wasn’t a lot of navigation complication but today will be fun - Karl is a lousy navigator and partly because he retreats from the sofa to under the dinette when I start yelling and swearing in traffic. I find it helps me concentrate - the yelling, swearing and planning painful things for the people who cut me off! My grandmother Haha’s (yea, it sounds funny to you but nana - haha… her name was Helen and I’m not sure how we came to call her “Haha” ) instruction and mode of driving in traffic was “put on your blinker and go” … so far that’s working for me. Sometimes the nice people honk their horns in greeting!!
It was 66 last night when we arrived in Grain Valley and 41 this morning - feels balmy compared to the 40’s and overnight 20’s of last 4 nights.
2:00 p.m. - am 30 miles east of St. Louis. Lot of traffic from Grain Valley and still but St. Louis bypass was not too bad - GPS helped a LOT. New computer has enough volume that I can hear the directions and they are pretty good about prompting for lane changes and ramp oddities. Taking a short break outside with Karl and then continuing down to road.
4:00 stopped for the night in Benton, IL - traffic was tiring and a nice rural Park available - we’re in the trees and the leaves. Benton RV Park - might be tight for a Big Rig as a lot of trees to navigate around and through but the pull thrus were empty when we pulled in. Great walking for Karl! It did freeze overnight but was warm enough to have windows open when we arrived at 4 and until I went to bed.
11/15 - photos added… Karl waiting for a squirrel, our spot here - gorgeous color still here in Southern IL and on the 10th as we travelled into KY, TN and Northern AL.
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