Kentucky through Indiana and Illinois to Missouri

September 14

I woke up again after Razelle. She was already in the kitchen; Matt had prepared pancakes and was serving them hot when I joined Razelle at the table. Over breakfast we talked about what Louisville had to offer in the way of worthwhile destinations while we are here. The area near the riverfront has several museums in what is called "Museum Row." I recalled that Muhammad Ali was from Louisville and I was curious about the museum devoted to him, but this didn't interest Razelle. Matt recommended the Frazier Museum, which I mistakenly thought had something to do with Joe Frazier, another boxer (not so, however; it's a museum dedicated to armor throughout history). There are two other museums there that Matt recommended: the Louisville Science Center and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft. All of these are literally within a few steps of each other. Across the street from these is the Louisville Slugger Museum, attached to the company that manufactures baseball bats, and easily located under a huge model of a bat towering above the factory and the museum. Razelle didn't seem particularly keen on visiting any of these, but I hoped that once we were downtown I might entice her into trying one or another of them.

Matt took me into what had been his garage but now is his woodworking shop. He has all the requisite equipment in there for cutting and shaping and forming the furniture he so capably crafts. He even has a way to rid the garage of sawdust as he operates this equipment; a very professional setup. At times he even hires an assistant when he gets sizable enough orders.

While we packed up the items we had taken into his house overnight, Matt excused himself and practiced his bassoon for a short while. Beautiful sounds came from his practice room – strains of songs from the opera "Carmen" that he and Kathy would be playing that evening. I recognized these and enjoyed hearing them. I looked around our bedroom one last time before dragging our bags down to the van and stowing them there; then we raised the blinds on all the van's windows and were off, following Matt into the heart of Louisville along a scenic route of Matt's choosing. We passed white-fenced pastures so picture-postcard perfect that they looked just the way one would imagine the home of the Kentucky Derby should look.

I touched my shirt pocket and found my own cell-phone there instead of the "David-phone," as we call the phone we use for incoming and outgoing calls almost exclusively. Razelle didn't have this phone with her either. I called it from my phone but we didn't hear it ringing anywhere in our van. I then had that creeping-scalp realization that it had been left behind at Matt's house somehow. I called Matt's cell-phone from my own and he answered from his vehicle ahead of us. I explained our predicament, and Matt said he'd go back with us to get it. I suggested that he take Razelle back with him, since she wasn't interested in seeing the museums and I would remain downtown to see a museum while I waited for them to return. We found a convenient metered parking spot for the van near Museum Row and Matt and Razelle left me there to my own devices while they drove back to Matt's place to search for the forgotten cell-phone.

I walked past the Frazier History Museum into the Louisville Slugger factory. I had an hour on the parking meter and didn't want to spend it all in one place so I didn't pay to go into the factory's museum in this building. I walked along a wall displaying the signatures of all the professional ball players whose names have been embossed on bats supplied for them by this factory over the decades. I went to the gift shop and bought myself a miniature bat with the Cleveland Indians logo on it as a souvenir. A couple there bought an identical bat so we talked shop about how this years Indians had done. I've hardly had time for or interest in baseball this season, but I knew just enough to sound convincing. I surprised myself by that.

Out on the sidewalk I took a few pictures of the giant bat that rested against and towered well above this building. This truly iconic landmark of Louisville begged to be photographed and I had to wait for others to finish posing before I could take my shots.

I walked past the Louisville Science Center and the Art and Craft Museum to the Muhammad Ali Center. I checked the time and saw that there wasn't enough left on the meter to do this museum justice. I'd seen Will Smith's portrayal of Ali in the eponymous film, so I didn't see the need to go into the museum. Again, I visited the gift shop only and bought a souvenir that appealed to me: a silicone bracelet for Razelle with the slogan "Find Greatness Within."

Matt and Razelle called me from the retrieved cell phone to tell me they had returned, so I headed back to where the van was parked, and took a few more pictures of iconic street art along the way. The phone had slid out of sight under the bed and I missed it when I visually scanned the room this morning. This is my second lapse in as many days: first the soap and shampoo at Deryl's, now the phone at Matt's. I really must be super vigilant from now on! The pattern must stop here and now!

  

  

I thanked Matt profusely. This took time away from his day and I appreciated his effort very, very much. He was quite cheerful about it, though, and we parted after taking a few pictures together.

Matt explained to us how we would need to go to get back across the Ohio River into Indiana. The I-64 bridge had just been closed due to cracks. The engineers didn't want it to collapse like the bridge in Minneapolis had done earlier. Instead, we had to take the I-65 bridge into Indiana, our 20th state. These route numbers are so similar that I had to double-check myself. For quite a while my GPS tried to send me back to the closed bridge. It didn't understand my motives for quite a distance. I had fun ignoring its instructions to "turn back where possible" until it realized I was ignoring it and eventually resigned itself to taking me the way I was already headed.

We stopped for gas at a Pilot Travel Center near Leavenworth, IN, not far from Santa Claus, IN, where many a child sends Christmas wish-list letters. No tuna sandwiches were available at this travel center, so Razelle walked across the lot to the restaurant next door and ordered an omelet wrap to go. She grumbled as we drove that they hadn't provided a fork to eat it with.

I called Sara from this refueling stop to learn that she had a very hectic schedule leading up to the premiere of their movie in Marceline, MO on Friday. I had originally set out from Louisville with the idea of reaching Cairo (pronounced Kay-Ro), Illinois. To spend any quality time at all with them and Lilly we would need to drive straight through to Columbia, MO today and save Cairo, IL for another day. The GPS showed that these distances could be reasonably covered today, so that is what we did. As we drove westward through this part of Indiana, we also bought ourselves an extra hour to get there comfortably when we crossed back into the Central Daylight Time Zone, a setback of sorts in our west-to-east trip around the world, but one that actually worked to our advantage, now.

We entered Illinois, our 21st state, going west along I-64 and encountered serious rainfall, the kind that made us hesitate to step out of our van when we stopped at a McDonald's in Mt Vernon, IL. We stopped here for a bathroom break because we saw backed-up traffic just beyond the exit ramp leading to it; a truck had jackknifed in the inclement weather. Razelle agreed to ask the motel clerk at the Drury Inn at this exit how we might return to the highway beyond the snarl. We felt smug when the advice Razelle had been given took us back onto the interstate and we found no traffic to contend with.

At the next rest area I saw a weather report on a TV monitor that showed no rain on the other side of the Mississippi River. As we approached this now broad river (compared to how it looked in Minnesota) we could see the Gateway Arch in St. Louis from a great distance – quite an impressive sight! We then crossed the bridge and were in Missouri, our 22nd state. We drove past Busch Stadium on an elevated section of road and the rain stopped exactly as had been predicted. Traffic was heavy at this time of day, but it flowed reasonably well, nonetheless. As I-64 terminated into I-70, the sun set upon us and tail-lights and oncoming headlights defined the path I was to follow. I drove all the way to Columbia, MO with these oncoming lights bothering me, due to the older design of this section of interstate. The billboards that walled in the highway high above us in dense array presented even more of a distraction.

We finally reached the exits leading to Columbia, MO. Our GPS led us to our destination, the address I had for Sara and Andy. They were out, and instead we were greeted by Andy's parents Marvin and Jan. I was confused at first. I didn't realize that Andy and Sara and Lilly actually lived as boarders in Andy's parents' basement. Marvin and Jan graciously invited us in – we were expected – and they showed us the guestroom where we would be sleeping (we had assumed that we'd be sleeping in our van, so this was a wonderfully pleasant and welcome development). We brought in a portion of our baggage since we were going to be here a few days, then we got acquainted with Marvin and Jan. As we described our illustrious van I mentioned to Marvin that the time had come for its obligatory oil change; we had driven 5000 miles since Hayward, CA. Marvin produced a coupon for an oil change from a booklet full of all kinds of coupons they receive every month. I couldn't get over how serendipitous this was. The hour was late and everyone had a full day ahead of them tomorrow. We concluded the chat and went to our bedrooms. This home was warm and welcoming. Razelle and I felt very good about where we were and slept securely here in Missouri.