Aaaand...we are still in Kentucky. After a weekend of ultimate (in my case, watching ultimate) in Ohio, we are back at Jon's aunt's house doing laundry and prepping for the second part of the trip. We caught a ride back into Kentucky from a Marine named Kevin who gave us a quick driving tour of Cincinnati. Not a city I'd like to live in.
Poultry Days, the chicken festival / ultimate tournament in Versailles, OH, where we spent the weekend, was fun. A lot of standard debauchery, a lot of delicious food, a lot of Jon yelling drunkenly. It was hard for me to watch everyone playing ultimate and having to sit on the sideline. I've never been good at being injured.
Last night Iris spent some time researching places to stay in the upcoming days, while Jon and I made tacos. Jon actually permitted me to perform some rudimentary preparations - chopping tomatoes, etc. We ate the leftover tacos for breakfast this morning.
Iris, Jon and I had a conversation last night about our intentions for the rest of this trip. I think all three of us have realized, in our own ways, that this trip could quickly start to feel like a job if we are not careful. This was never about getting across America in record time, or clocking a certain number of miles a day. My "agenda" for this trip consists of little more than making it to Boulder, CO, and into Valerie's loving embrace, but I realized last night that our current route and pace would place us right in the middle of Kansas over July 4th. This feels unacceptable. July 4th has long been one of my favorite holidays, and even though it has been years since I've been an active participant in the 4th of July Lady Marley Memorial Tennis Classic, I feel compelled to be somewhere interesting, or at least somewhere fun. Kansas, where we have no housing and no friends to speak of, is not promising. So we made a Big Decision, and we are no longer following the TransAmerica route that we've been using so far. Instead, we're dipping south, into Arkansas and Oklahoma, where Jon and Iris both have friends and family. We're going to spend July 4th in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and from there, head into Colorado.
I'm generally happy about this change of plans, although it does alter the dynamic of the trip in a pretty big way. Iris and Jon are now on a course to see friends and family in less than two weeks. I am worried that I'm going to feel lonely while we're in Arkansas. I know I'll feel at least a little jealous. That being said, I've never been to Arkansas, and I've spent almost three weeks now listening to Jon and Iris explain to me why the south is invariably better than the north, so I think I ought to trek to Fayetteville and decide for myself before groupthink takes total control.
As for the next couple of days - we head out early tomorrow to Lexington, Kentucky. From there we're touring a couple of bourbon distillaries and then heading to St. Louis for the weekend. I'm excited to see the arch. I'm a nerd.
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