The Final Lap

Driving Into The Rain

It's 6:00 and I am down in the dining room of the Hampton with one other guy.  I was awake at 5:30, waiting for the magic coffee hour of 6:00.  I brought Evie two cups, then went back down to write my blog and enjoy some breakfast, orange juice.

We left Jackson, TN, by 7:15, ready to get on the road, hoping for the best.  We were worried about construction in Nashville because of all the signs but fortunately, it was beyond our turnoff north to Louisville, so we lucked out.  I can't say much about our drive, lots of traffic, much more than I expected, especially from Nashville to Louisville, then Cincinnati.  It seemed to be one truck after another, but I imagine this is normal.

The worst part was we had rain much of the afternoon and it was especially bad when we were behind a truck, spraying up water, making it even more difficult to see.  We traded off every couple of hours which makes it much easier to drive long distances.

We were not sure if we were going to make it a long drive, all the way home, close to 11 hours or just stop somewhere and leave four for five hours tomorrow,  The rain made up our minds, as by 4:00 we had enough of driving and ending up pulling into a Hampton Inn just outside of Columbus.  It felt good to get out of the car, throw our bags in the room and collapse on our beds for an hour or two before showering and getting ready to go out to eat.

Final Night On The 'Road

Fortunately, the gals at the desk recommended a restaurant less than a quarter of a mile away, The Rusty Bucket.  It reminded us of an Applebee's or TGIF but local.  We found a seat at the bar and settled in for a beer and dinner.  We did not get to meet anyone this time but the food was quite good, Evie had a great salad and I had a burger with their homemade beer cheese and onion rings.  We ended the evening at Mc Donald's, picking up a hot fudge sundae to take back to the room, Evie's idea of course.

Sunset Over Rusty Bucket's Parking Lot