Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Day 5: Oxford, Miss. To Lexington, Ky.

I left Oxford a little later than I had planned this morning, but it turned out to be perfect timing all around.


Bill and his mom needed to get some stuff around the house taken care of in quick fashion and I was able to help out. Least I could do after having such a great stay!


On the way out of Oxford, I tried, unsuccessfully, to snap a pic of John Grisham’s house. This is his land. Pathetic, I know, but driving was more important than photography. There’s a big yellow house on that lot. I promise!

Apparently, I-55 is allergic to signs at the Miss-Tenn border. There wasn’t a Tennessee sign on the northbound side, same as there wasn’t a Mississippi sign on the southbound side. RT was not pleased.


After several hours on the road, I made it to Jackson, Tenn., and the home of the AA West Tennessee Diamond Jacks. I mostly took this pic because Bill had specifically mentioned this park as I was getting my act together this morning. (hi, Bill! Thanks for the hospitality!)


RT and I were able to catch the welcome sign into Kentucky. I haven’t been in this state since I was here for men’s soccer with Akron, I think in 1997. Oh, and I competed at Kentucky Horse Park twice. That’s about it.


There were some rainstorms as I drove through the Commonwealth, and even a rainbow!

Since I grew up riding horses, there was some stuff that was extra interesting to me that normal people wouldn’t get excited about.


I couldn’t get a decent photo of the grandstand, but here was an entrance to Keenland Race Course. Nifty!

Once I got to Lexington, I had a very nice surprise … John had run into the one other UK employee that I know … a former weight coach at UCLA who know lords over all things strength and conditioning for the Wildcats. Johnnie and I went to dinner with Steph and her husband. Great fun.

My wonderful host gets bonus points … my first host who has HAND SOAP in the bathroom! (Jon and Bill, I love you guys, but it’s nice to be able to wash your hands after doing your business!)

So that’s about it. Tomorrow is a six-hour haul to Pittsburgh. Can’t believe I’ll be home by tomorrow night. Wow.

TODAY’S SOUNDTRACK
* The last two songs of Avenue Q that I didn’t finish on Monday
* Roaming Tigger, volumes 1, 2 and 3 (CDs that Bill made for me)
* Two episodes of Wait Wait
* Half the first act of Wicked

TRIP STATISTICS
Today: 3 states (Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky). 511 miles (on the nose!). 8 hours, 5 minutes
Trip: 8 states (CA, AZ, NM, TX, AK, TN, MS, KY … OK, so I accidentally skipped Arkansas on the recap from Day 3. Oops!). 2,506.5 miles.

Note: I’m a little bitter … the trip odometer on my car reset itself after 1,999.9 miles. Bummer.

LICENSE PLATES
Today (5 states): North Carolina, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, West Virginia
Total (37 states … anyone who took the OVER gets the win!): Ala., Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Fla., Ga., Hawaii, Idaho, Ill., Ind., Kan., Ken., La., Md., Mich., Miss., Mont., Mo., N.C., N.H., N.M., Neb., Nev., Ohio, Ore., Okla, Pa., S. Car., Tenn., Texas, Va., Wisc., W.Va., Wyo.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

Yay! You're almost home!

To welcome you back, Western PA will be showering you with rain and possible T-storms upon your arrival. At least there's a nice weekend in the forecast!

Anonymous said...

Hi Amy - we were all talking about you at Sandy's last night. She wanted to call but we were very busy sewing and talking about your quilt. I miss you.