I don’t think I’ve fully caught up with the huge distance we covered today. I passed through three states I’d never seen before (Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri), made my first on-land crossing of the Mississippi river, and my first on-land crossing of a time zone. The day started out on the rolling hills of Kentucky where the temperatures crept up to 79F, and ended up in Sullivan, Missouri, where the high today was 59F.
Rolling hills of southern Indiana
Five hundred miles is a bit much to fully appreciate in one massive gulp, especially since the view from our tiny ribbon of highway was quite limited. I knew on some level that I was in Kentucky, then Indiana, Illinois, and now Missouri, and I can examine the map for hours on end, but I did not succeed in getting a really deep sense of where I was at any given time.
Closer to Illinois, the terrain becomes pancake flat.
The rest of our trip will surely be taken at a much more leisurely pace, and we’ll actually have time to step outside of the car and explore something other than gas station bathrooms. As much fun as that is. Such a shame to drive past so much without stopping! But I’m glad we’ll be in Oklahoma tomorrow.
Crossing the Wabash river
The Gateway Arch (Saint Louis, Missouri)