Dad's Life 3D: In the Midwest, it's hot with the air conditioner on in an aged luxury vehicle!

I don't know how St. Louis is these days, but ten years ago I remember it feeling like a fight was ready to break out at every joint we stopped into. I'm not sure if it was just that particular night, or if it's always like that in the downtown area were we were. There was a lot of tension in the air, so I remember that we turned in early. And this is by no means an accurate representation of St. Louis. We got into town in the evening, and left in the morning. I'd love to go back sometime so I can get a proper take on this old city on the banks of the Mississippi River.

And now back to the road trip:

June 29, 2009

Wichita to St. Louis

There’s nothing like cruising through the farms of the Midwest listening to N.W.A.’s “Straight Outa’ Compton!” Truth is, it’s so flat and uhh, more flat, you need something to keep you from falling asleep at the wheel and good ole’ gangsta’ rap seems to do the trick!

We left Wichita this morning for what would be our most ambitious haul. We wanted to get ahead of the game so we could spend some extra time on the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. We’re shooting for 702 miles today, but the humidity is killing us. It’s in the 90’s and feels like 110. It’s so hot that the air conditioner is struggling to keep up and is just barely enough to take the edge off.

Now what? Well, I decided to try some of the things my sister and I used to do on our long Donaldson family road trips. Counting cars always worked, so I decided to count Prius’ instead of VW Bugs. Nope, I haven’t seen one yet. Hmmm, how about cows. Ouch, I had to break out the calculator on my iPhone. Prius – 0 Cows – 51,621.

Anthony’s wife, Jen, has an uncle who is the Executive Chef at the Hyatt Hotel in Kansas City so we stopped in to join him for lunch. Turns out he’s the man when it comes to Indian (India) food in the Midwest. In fact, he had two weddings to prep for later in the evening so he gave us a behind the scenes look at the extensive workings of the kitchen. There are a total of eight restaurants in the hotel and he oversees each and every one of them, in addition to nightly events such as weddings or conventions. All I can say is Wow!

Next we off to visit with Jen’s aunt at their farm which is about 30 minutes outside of Kansas City. Her aunt was at home tending to their 17 cats, seven dogs and four horses. One of the cats, Rocky, even knows how to shake hands. Horses are such beautiful animals. They have such a powerful grace about them.

It was nice to take a short break from the heat, but pushed for daylight, we jumped back on the road for round two.

We got into St. Louis at about 8:30 pm. With over 300 miles still to go until we got to Louisville, we decided to stop at the Gateway Arch and grab a bite to eat. After a pint each, we realized we were done driving and decided to stay. I found a nearby hotel on the iPhone as we ate, and that was that!

Day 7 – June 27, 2009
Start: Wichita, KS
Destination: Louisville, KY
Mileage: 702 miles
Did we make it? No
How far did we get? Kansas City, MO (443 miles)