5 States Today!!

5/14/2019
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We left Huntsville this morning with another beautiful, top-down day.  Blue skies with some puffy, white clouds and cool enough to drive with the heater on.  The drive today took us through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri!  The highways through Tennessee and Kentucky were mostly very good with very little traffic.  And, there were almost no billboards along the way.  The livestock seen earlier gave way to mostly crop land as far as you could see, especially in Missouri.  If you want a tractor, go to Miner, MO.  They had dealers selling every size and color tractor imaginable. 

We stopped for lunch in Parsons, TN at Prater's Taters.  This is a local eatery that specializes in meals designed around baked potatoes.  There must have been a hundred variations of baked potatoes with different ingredients, but we had salads and potato soup which were very good.  Others must have thought so, too, as the place was busy.

In Wickliffe, KY, as we drove past two, large 18 wheelers on the side of the road, the drivers, who were discussing something between the two rigs, jumped out from between the trucks, waved and gave us a thumbs up!!  We soon crossed the Ohio river and then the Mississippi River and you could see the high water and flooding along the road.  The bridges we went across must be old, as the roadway was very narrow, even in the MG.  And, the roadway leaving the bridge was very narrow and elevated with no shoulder.  No place to go if you had a problem!  But, we didn't.  And, shortly after crossing the bridges, there were two large 18 wheelers barreling up behind me.  I figured I would pull over as soon as I could find a safe place to let them pass, but, before I could pull over, they both pulled out and zoomed past together - both giving us multiple, "nice" toots on their horns.  It was the truckers that we had passed in Wickliffe!  They must have been empty, because they were really moving and I was slowing them down!

We stopped in Poplar Bluff, checked in the hotel then went to eat.  This time it was a Mexican motif, as we ate at Taco Taco, a Moe's-like place with fresh food made to order.   Back at the hotel, I cleaned more tar and bugs off the car and also put the top up for the first time as there is a good chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.  Hopefully, the bad weather will not last too long.