Day Five - May 23, 2009

Hellloooooo! In the morning we spent some time hanging out with Aunt Jackie. We were hoping to get $1 flip flops at Old Navy, but apparently so was the rest of Southwest Michigan. Regardless, we had a swell time hanging out with Marissa's family.

-1:40 pm: Depart for Saint Louis! But first we had to make a fuel stop.

After starting out on the freeway we both realized that we were both in need of a caffeine fix so we made a pit-stop at Starbucks. So by 2:15 pm, we were officially on our way out of Kalamazoo.

-3:20 pm: Goodbye Mitten State, Hello Indiana!!!!

So far it has been mostly empty fields.... so many it's hard to tell where one ends another begins.

Apparently, you can by 1 get 6 free at Krazy Kaplan's fireworks since there were at least 25 billboards within a 15 mile stretch of the highway.

- 4:24 pm ---> 3:24 pm TIME CHANGE!
-3:34 pm: Switch to I-55 S towards St. Louis. This is marked by the only traffic we have been in the whole way and luckily it only lasted about 10 minutes:

-3:41 pm: BILLIE JEAN! We had a Michael Jackson sing-a-long, complete with Stacy's improv sounds. hahaha.

We officially entered farm country, which we knew immediately by the smell of cow manure. This is also the moment we switched from the vent to A/C.... to avoid the smell. hahaha.

-4:44 pm: Stop! First break of the day for the bathroom and a stretch.
6 piece McNuggets ordered to share.
Change expected = 11 cents
Change received = 6 cents
Apparently basic math is not a requirement for a job at McDonalds, but it wasn't worth stressing over so we let it fly. After getting our shared meal we realized we forgot sauce so Marissa went back and after waiting through a 5 minute expletive-filled rant by the manager in the back an employee finally came to help us out, kind of. He was a little confused when Marissa asked for BBQ and sweet & sour, but was finally able to figure it out. After confirming with each other that we actually just experienced that, we agreed that what else could you expect from from the Middle of Nowhere Hicksville, IL. All in all, it was still one more entertainment for the road haha.

-5:05 pm: And we're off again! But not for long because about a half hour later the sky decided to open up on us. We had to get off the highway because we couldn't see in front of us through the rain and because our windshield wipers were not the greatest. We followed along a side road that followed the freeway. The side road led to Route 66, which had some gas stations so we decided to stop and wait the storm out. It was an awesome lightning storm.... to watch but not to drive through.

-6:00 pm: Braving the rain to make it to Springfield. The rain had let up some by this point and after a genius suggestion from Papa Geiss to wipe clean the windshield wipers (so simple and yet neither of us would have thought of it), we decided to get back onto I-55 S to continue on towards St. Louis. This was a smart choice because at 6:11 pm, with the storm headed in the opposite direction, we saw our last raindrop.... for now.

-6:42 pm: Yet another stop... this time for gas & SONIC Drive-In!!!! We tried the Sonic Blast and a Strawberry Limeade (thumbs up from Stacy,) but no slushees (Sorry Rooms... I was looking for a sour one!)
-7:34 pm: Headed to St. Louis, hopefully no more stops...
-8:45 pm: passed MARYVILLE!! Hi Madre Fountain!
-8:56 pm: Adios Illinois, Bienvenue Missouri! Fun fact: Missouri state line is in the middle of the Mississippi River. Oh and the Mississippi River is super grande and beautiful at dusk. Wish we could have gotten a picture of it but no haps :(

-9:25 pm: Aunt Leigh's House!!!!


Observations and counts for the day:

Total miles traveled = 434.1 miles
Stacy Road Rages = 5
Empty fields = infinite
Favorite people of the day: The two elderly motorcycle couples, including one motorcycle tricked out with rope lights.
Local grocery store = Schnucks. (yes that is really the name... we couldn't have made that up if we tried.)
Amount of fun we are having = Immeasurable!!!!

More to come tomorrow from our adventures in St. Louis!