Kentucky Warmth

 

Wednesday February 11, 2015 Room 306 Sleep Inn Bowling Green, Ky

Had the worst time sleeping last night in Cincinnati. The room was much smaller than they’ve been and, though I turned the heat off, the fan kept turning on and off all night with a light that also flashed. The room was uncomfortably warm and I slept with only a sheet covering me. I guess I did doze off at times, since Bill said whenever he got up I was snoring. But I do snore and hear myself when I’m awake—at any rate, I turned the light off at 11 and saw the clock at 1, 3 and 5 before finally sleeping until 730. If I slept it was certainly sporadic.

Still we were on the road headed to Cincinnati proper before 9 am. It is so hard to get a good shot of the Reds Ballpark or the Bengals stadium but there they are, right next to the road, heavy with city traffic. I love the American Insurance Company building, probably because Mom worked for them on Maiden Lane in the financial district. She worked on the old insurance maps, which I never kept copies of and which are now considered pieces of art work and hang in the Museum in Windsor. I also like going round and down to the bridge crossing the Ohio and the winding climbing hill into Covington, Ky. One of my favorite places but not one in which I would like to do the driving.

We continued along under buttermilk skies toward Louisville and Bardstown—the bourbon center of the state and beautiful horse country when not on the Interstate.  Just before Louisville there is a loop that goes around the city center and connects to I 65 which goes all the way into Alabama. This is one of two loops that make perfect sense—the other is the one that bypasses Cleveland. And Columbus is the smartest city in the country with its express lanes that avoid all the exits into the city. Just makes life so much easier driving in large metro areas.

Once we were on I 65 headed south toward Bowling Green the skies cleared more and more and the temperature rose higher and higher. By the time we left the tractor trailer convoys behind and drove into Smokey Pig’s lot on Louisville Road, the sky was cloudless, I’d uncovered the moon roof and the temperature reached 51 degrees with full sunshine and snowless ground. It almost feels tropical and my eyes teared in an effort to adjust to the unfamiliar glare of sun. I can handle the discomfit—pass the sunglasses, please!

Smokey Pig—what a delight—BBQ sauce running down my chin and all over my fingers. Delicious ribs and the best mayo slaw in the world and baked beans to die for. AND, sweet tea that causes an immediate insulin rush. This season they’ve added pie—had to have a slice for TV watching tonight.

Checked into the Sleep Inn and with an upgrade to a Jacuzzi suite, we were glad to have stopped by 230. Barb and I stayed here in the Fall, had a regular two queen room and paid almost $100. This room is costing us $73 !!! And though the view is rather commercial from our room, it is bathed in that heavenly sunlight, with a light breeze and blue skies and temps in the ‘50’s.  Did I already mention that, LOL?

Oh, saw an Allied Vans, an Atlas Vans and this other moving outfit today. So I guess Allied is still around and others have shown up. I’d forgotten about Atlas. But one of the major businesses running these roads is FED-EX and what, exactly, is the difference between Ground and Freight?

Lastly, I happened to notice on Snapfish today that Jane asked a couple of questions. I missed them earlier—wasn’t ignoring you, Jane. Betsy is at the house and taking care of our only pet that is left, Attila the Hon(ey). Also, we’d gotten from Saratoga to Batavia—almost to Buffalo last Thursday. But on Friday, after going only about 25 miles we stopped due to snow and remained, still East of Buffalo, in Williamsville until Monday morning. The snow stopped within two hours of our stopping and, if we’d stopped at a restaurant and waited a few hours instead, we probably would have gotten to Ohio. Having stopped, however, we got hit with snow on Sat and there was sleet and freezing rain on Sunday along the route we planned to take. On Monday, in spitting snow, we decided to get to Pa—not far, but beyond the snow mass and on Tuesday,which was predicted to be clear and was more or less, we made it to Cincinnati. Totally out of snow danger now. We are just north of Nashville now and will be in Tupelo, Ms tomorrow night.

Well, must run, The Five is on and I’m missing the Jon Stewart segment. So, I’m off. Until tomorrow and more sun and fun, we are the Two Traveling Peas, signing off.