Riding the Rails: Day 4 and 5

Day 4

I can’t remember when I have slept harder, and 10:20 came pretty quick. I had been in a solid blackout after the door knocking incident, and really could have used more sleep. The knock turned out to be Erika at the front desk who forgot to give me back by driver’s license. I found an envelope that had been slid under the door with “Sorry, enjoy your stay.” written on it. I got Ally up and showering, finished packing up my stuff, and we walked out of the room at 11:00 sharp. 

Taking Ally to the Arch was so much easier since Shar and I had already done it. I was familiar with the area, I knew where to park the car, I knew where to go to get tickets for the tram, I knew about not having to worry about being in line at exactly the time written on the ticket, and I knew where the great bbq place was located on Washington Street. It was even much easier on my acrophobia because I knew what to expect. There wasn’t any wind, so the the Arch didn’t sway back and forth like it had when Shar and I went up. I still didn’t look out the windows, but I didn’t feel the need to flee like last time. An interesting side story was that our tram partners were a grandfather from the St. Louis area and his two grandkids. While we were waiting to get on the tram he told a story about taking his dates to the Arch park when he was younger. They would lay a blankets underneath the Arch on windy days and watch it oscillate back and forth. 

The Sugarfire was just as good as it was two weeks earlier. The guy who cuts up the meat must have noticed the drool running out of the corner of my mouth, because he gave Ally and I each a rib to tide us over until we got the rest of our food. For sides we got cheesy potatoes that were good enough to die for, and a paper boat of vanilla pudding with Nila Wafers on it. The service at the Sugarfire is outstanding. Everyone is cheerful, helpful, and goes out our their way to make your visit there top notch. Basically, the food is awesome, the setting is great, and the service is awesome. To illustrate the great service, in addition to the extra ribs, we got extra pudding, help with getting our leftovers ready to go, and our tray put away for us. I’d almost go back to St. Louis just to eat there for a third time. 

We rolled out of St. Louis by 3:00pm and were driving east. Our destination was Ashland, KY, and it was over six hours away. It was going to be another long day on the road, but at least I wasn’t starting at 10:00pm. 

We were back in Illinois after crossing the Mighty Mississippi, and at 70 MPH we were across and into Indiana in no time at all. 

Next came Kentucky, and the first new state for me in a long time. That would be true, if you consider ten days since I was in Connecticut a long time. I had four hours of sleep under my belt, but that rest was fading fast as we made our way towards Ashland. 

I had made these reservations via TripAdvisor months ago, so I don’t remember from that process where the hotels are exactly and I started to worry at the lack of civilization we were encountering. I breathed a sigh of relief when the hotel appeared, and another one when they knew I was coming, and a third when the room turned out to be good. Lynda and John at the front desk were friendly, but didn’t have any ideas for nearby attractions. I said good night and went out to get Ally and the stuff. We were in up some stairs and in room 203 before I knew it.

I could tell that the room had been “smoke free”for awhile, but not for the life of the room. I’m an ex smoker. When Ally turned three and I got some patches and never looked back. She’ll be fourteen on August 1st and I’ve estimated to have saved nearly $15,000 for not having smoked for thirteen years. Oh, yeah, and I’m healthier too.

I pulled on my jammies and snuggled into bed so looking forward to eight hours of sleep! 

Day 5

I woke up before my alarm clock of 10:00am and was able to get photos added to Day 1 of the blog. I got Ally moving, and then publish it before we had to check out of the hotel. My two spots on my shoulders blades quickly told me that it had been over 1000 miles of driving in the last two days, shooting tiny daggers of pain into me. Luckily, it was only 330 miles to our next hotel so I didn’t have to push as hard as I had the previous two days. 

We stopped at a Starbucks just shy of the West Virginia border, but they didn’t have any Kentucky mugs. The manager, Rob, called ahead to a Starbucks in WV and reported that the manager there, Ben, would save one for me. It wasn’t out of our way, so we finished our breakfast sandwiches and headed east.

The cup turned out to be the older version, more of a travel mug vs a coffee cup, so I googled a few more Starbuck locations along our route of I-97 and we were off.

We checked two Starbuck location in Charleston, WV, and called three others before I was convinced that the information about the cups being a statewide shortage was true. Disappointed that I was unable to obtain either a Kentucky or West Virginia cup, we got back into the car and continued north on I-97. WV with its rolling, tree covered hills was very scenic as we zoomed along twisty, turny freeways at 80 MPH. These 80 MPH weren’t long enough, because every other five mile stretch of freeway seemed to be under construction. 

The beautiful forested hills continued as we entered into Pennsylvania, but before long we were driving down the last set of hills and a few fields began to appear. We hit some slowdown on the freeway when we were southeast of Pittsburg, and Siri suggested an alternative route just north of the city because of some construction. Unfortunately, I got on the toll freeway just as I realized the sign said “no cash”. I know my car has some kind of auto toll paying feature, but there was a fee attached so I had avoided using it up to this point. We had only traveled on one toll road, and I had paid the $2.75 in cash. So either I’m going to get hit with a fine for not paying, or around $6 for a $2 toll. I saw the flash as my license plate was photographed, so who knows. I’ve researched it since, and its a fine of $25 plus the cost of the toll. 

We stopped for supper at Whitewall, PA, then finished the last two hours into Greenville where our hotel was located.

I started to worry again, because like Ashland, KY, there seemed to be a lack of civilization. Finally the back road route that Siri had sent us down produced results and the hotel appeared. The manager, Larry, was standing out front when we arrived watching the approaching storm. We chatted for a bit while he checked us in and he gave me a free upgrade to a better room.  We had just started moving our stuff in when he appeared to switch us to the adjacent room that had two beds vs the one bed/futon couch that room 24 contained. I love small town, non-chain, hotels. 

Thunder began to boom and the rain started to come down. Lightning continued to flash for over an hour and then the rain began to pour. I had monsoon flashbacks from Shar and I’s road trip and was glad I wasn’t driving. Ally commented she had missed the rain, being such a south coast Oregon girl, and danced around in it for a bit. I was glad she wasn’t struck by lightning. 

We spend a pleasant evening watching the Food Network and munching on snacks, and then stayed up way too late. It was nice not having the pressure of going to sleep because of a long day ahead.