The Final Stretch

6,066 miles

We've been on the road for 23 days now and the travelers are growing weary. Provisions are starting to run thin, and the supply of clean clothes is diminishing. Putting on REAL pants

only happens when it's absolutely necessary, although James, of course, is still wearing jeans. We had mandatory calisthenics tonight, just to get fresh air and bodies moving. Ollie has become super protective of his big rig. And in an unexpected turn of events, I've started to think, "6.5 hour drive to West Virginia? 15 minute drive to dinner? Does it make a difference?" We're all going just a touch batty.

Two more sleeps until we arrive right back where we started - our beloved home-base and solid (not rolling) ground. We (I) keep telling ourselves (myself) to enjoy the final stretch. It can't help but feel like exactly that, though: The Final Stretch. We did plan

for some fun things in TFS - fried chicken in Kentucky, roadkill in West Virginia, scrapple in PA - and those things will no doubt keep us moving right along!

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I'll walk you back through the days just before and after our Missouri Fairytail, because I'm certain you're keeping track of each and every stop along our journey. It just wouldn't be right to leave you with holes in the story. Much of what we've done since then focuses on food, which is just how James and I like it. Nebraska had some real standouts. We had lunch at a place called Ole's Big Game Steakhouse in a teeny-tiny town called Paxton, NE.

The place is a taxidermic feast for the eyes, as supposedly there are over 200 animals on the wall (Maddy counted 82), all *trophies* of the skillful Ole, from sometime over the past 80 years. Typical animals of the region are joined by more exotics, like a giraffe and even a polar bear. It seemed the perfect place to introduce the girls to Big Buck Hunter in the back room. Ah the hours James and I spent playing that game in dive bars all over NYC back in the day... Of course I slaughtered the record on there, so take that Ole.

If you know us (which I hope you do or please get off my blog), it was incredibly important for us to find just the right place in Nebraska to gorge ourselves on STEAK. James found The Drover for dinner the next night, and it did not disappoint. Steaks, prime rib, and potatoes the size of Millie's head, oh my. It was far from a NYC steakhouse and we were glad for it. It may stand as perhaps one of the best steak dinners we've had outside of our own kitchen.

After our tire saga outside of Kansas City, we picked up our BBQ and drove to St. Louis where we finally ate it. It was glorious, and sleeping at the base of the Arch in a casino parking lot wasn't half bad either. We were nearly the only people to visit the Arch the next morning, and (much to my delight) it was surprisingly cool. A stop at Pharaoh's Donuts (amaze) at the recommendation of a friend, and we were back on the road yet again.

Our plan at this point was to drive to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The problem was, our new cowboy boots were screaming to be worn. So we did what any other music loving family would do - we changed our route and headed to Nashville! It was one night in Nashville and it was stupendous. We ate, saw music, danced ... it was perfect. This morning we gorged ourselves on southern cooking and now we're camped out at a moonshine distillery in West Virginia. Oh and we've learned that our taillights don't work anymore, so we drove with our hazards on for the last 45 minutes of our trip here just so people could see us. Two more drives Second Wave ... you can make it good 'ol buddy ...