Day 1 Aug 12

Started out a very gray day at 8:30 this morning.

 Then heavy fog.  And then heavy rain.

Finally brightened up.

Camera battery has died, so pictures will have to be added tomorrow night.  Phone data is already down to 74%, so I resorted to turning it off late this afternoon.

We waved as we went through towns where old high school friends live, and towns where parents of friends live.  I know they didn't see us, and I'm sorry we had to be in such a hurry, but I hope they felt our presence.  :-)

Lunch at Tudor's in Charleston, WV that I found in our AAA book.
The gold domed Capitol building was ready pretty from the highway. We love to tour Capitols, but we've "got no time,"

The Interstate went right through downtown Louisville KY and it was beautiful. So clean, and tidy. Loved all the bridges over the river.
John noticed the KFC Yum center, the new home of Louisville Cardinal basketball, right in then heart of downtown. It made us realize even more how Raleigh should have done the same.

Dinner at Denny's near Santa Claus, Indiana. And guess what? Santa Clause was there having dinner with some buddies!  When he finished, he stopped at every table and greeted children by name!  Zach at the table next to us  had just started kindergarten. He was special needs and in a wheelchair. It was the cutest thing. His grandfather took pictures of him snuggling up to Santa!  I do hope they have that printed at least 5x7 and share with him often.  Santa had on red pants and a great big belt buckle and a white tuxedo ruffled shirt with red trim.

We tried to stop for the night in The first town after Mount Vernon, but there was no room in the inn. Literally .... the one inn!  We found another about 25 miles down the road in our AAA book in Mascoutah. I called ahead and there were 3 rooms left!  So here we are, settling in, finally.

Tomorrow it's on to Sioux Falls, or maybe a bit farther.