Vacation to the Black Hills - Day 1 - Part 2

8:30 AM - We just crossed the Ohio River in to Illinois. Before that though we had potty break in Paducah and got gas. Flat and grass lands for miles. This boring as ell lol, but also fun too. Get to have intellectual conversations with hubby. Like all the Wi-Fi connections we keep hitting, and all about the VW’s engine. Yes yes this is fun fun fun!!

We saw a VW Fahrenheit just like ours in south bound lane. Very exciting!!! Potty break at Rend lake rest stop, I seen no lake though, hmmmm

11am to 11:45am – Stopped for lunch at TGI Fridays in O’Fallon, IL. Almost to St. Louis. I’m full! Chipotle Steak Sandwich was pretty good. Not too spicy. The plantains tasted good, but they were too big for the sandwich. Mellie had the strawberry grilled chicken salad, it was awesome. Great service too!

3:00 PM – Stopped at mile marker 58 on I70 towards KC for gas. Mellie and I switched off. Been listening to a Starwars audio book. I forget the name. It was a free promotional download. Not bad. Well read and includes sound effects.

The highway patrol in Illinois and Missouri have been very intense. The brief period of time driving through Illinois I think we saw at least 8 people pulled over. In Missouri it’s been much higher, of course we are driving a greater distance through the state. Lots of people pulled over as well as other patrol cars sitting, waiting. We’ve been keeping the cruise control on and keeping at a safe speed. No reason to speed and get a ticket. Getting close to KC, the terrain is feeling familiar. Not terribly different than parts of Nebraska. Though I have little desire to move back to this area, the feeling of ‘home’ still exists.

Guess I should have driven through the KC area. The traffic was heavier than I expected and I435 was closer to town than I remembered. Mellie doesn’t really like driving in heavy Interstate traffic. Doesn’t really bother me so much so I usually take those legs of the trip. Oops.

4:20 pm Ran into some construction that closed a lane. It slowed us down but never stopped. The construction signs said to merge left miles ahead of the construction. That led an idiot in an SUV to ride between the lanes, trying to block traffic driving in the right lane. While I think it’s rude to zoom ahead of the line, it’s not illegal (perhaps it is in different states). However I know that driving between two lanes IS illegal. One person who got stuck behind this dumbass wasn’t even trying to ‘cut-in-line’. They were trying to get to the exit just before the construction. So this person in their wisdom caused others unnecessary frustration. Vigilante justice rarely is justice.

4:34 PM – More construction on I29. They DO know that it’s a holiday weekend right? This slowdown seems worse than the last. Ok, so when the work is a bridge with an entire lane missing, it’s not like they can put it back just for the holiday weekend.

4:57 PM – Potty Break in St. Joseph.

6:15 PM – Stopped at Earl MAY in Nebraska City to get Grandma some flowers.

7:30 PM – Finally made it to Grandma’s house! We’re pooped!