The Great Gig In The Sky: Baby, If You Ever Wondered

Wondered, Whatever became of me...

3 days, 2,150 miles, a respiratory infection, intense thunderstorms and a tornado sighting and still managed to get here in one piece. I pushed a little harder than planned, but thought getting here a day earlier than planned would help with rest and recovery before the big day. I already miss my family.

The first day, I woke up with a tickle in my throat. 900 miles later, it was a full-blown infection, with fever and aches. Nice. I decided to get curbside pickup from Macaroni Grill. When I finally got back to the hotel, got comfortable and sat down to eat, I opened the bag to find nothing but my dinner. No fork, no napkin or anything. I though, "No problem. I'm staying at a 300 room hotel." I called the front desk and asked about a fork and napkin. They said that since the restaurant was closed for renovation, all utensils were in storage. Not one fork? Plastic even? Ugh. I walked to a convenience store nearby. Maybe I could buy a pack of gum and get a fork from the food counter. There were no loose forks, knives or napkins so I ended up having to buy a box of utensils...for $4.00! Don't you love convenience stores? By the time I got back to the room, my Penne Rustica was more like Penne Gluesticka. I took Nyquil liquicaps in hopes of falling quickly asleep. No sleep until 3 a.m.

Thursday I felt better. I got started a little later than planned, but made it to Kansas City, MO. I had planned on staying in Topeka, but it was only another 80 miles to KCI where Marriott offered a nice room on the cheap.

Today, I planned doing Topeka to St. Louis. Since I was already in KCMO, I decided to go to Indy. One thing I remembered about St. Louis is that it is the western terminus for White Castle. That is what I was dying to have. Well...um...it really wasn't as good as I remembered. Maybe I'm spoiled by In-N-Out out west. Oh well, it was sustenance.

After my little White Castle letdown, it was time to stretch the legs and and visit the Gateway Arch. I had always admired it from the interstate, but never up close. The closest parking was 1/4 mile away and it was oppressively HOT. I decided against stopping there, but did stop at the President Casino, not really to gamble, but to see The Admiral, one of the largest riverboats ever built. It has a unique Art Deco meets Buck Rogers appearance.

I've always wanted to see it and was let down to see that it's just a shell with a bunch of slot machines and gaming tables. How sad to see something so magnificent be unceremoniously gutted and treated like a garbage barge.

As I was returning to the car, a massive gust of wind hit. A massive tower crane weather-vaned nearly 180 degrees in what seemed like an instant. I have never seen a crane turn that fast. Less than 30 seconds later, it started raining...no it started POURING. This was the beginning of a long line of storm cells that would follow me all the way to Indianapolis.

Despite HEAVY rain and wind from a line of thunderstorms that seemed to parallel I-70, I made it to Indy by 8 p.m. Cincinnati...er...Erlanger was only 125 miles further and I decided to get there tonight. Now I have 2 full days to get well before class. It was another long day, but worth it.

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I met a guy the day of the interview that was hired too. We've been chatting back and forth for a few months now, are like minded and it looks like we're going to be room mates. Not knowing who would be my room mate/study partner was one of my bigger worries. Here are a few interesting photos from the trip. Mostly weather related.

This was taken on I-25, in Colorado Springs following a pretty big thunderstorm. That is Cheyenne Mountain in the background. Where's Michael Landon or Della Reese?

This is approaching The Gateway Arch from I-70. The crane on the left is the one I saw weather-vane when the storm hit.

This is the best photo I could get of The Admiral. From the front, it is obscured by the stupid casino entrance. At the bottom is my trusty Passport 8500 X50. It has helped me remain ticket free for 18 years. I watched a young lady get nailed after passing me. Old 8500 had already told me what was goin' down. I tried to warn her, but she was in too big of a hurry to pay attention. I guess that means she deserved it. By the way, Missouri wins hands-down for the most Ka blaring patrol cars. I lost count after 50 between Kansas City and St. Louis.