It is Sunday, July 8th and my long awaited trip is finally underway. I really wanted to get going so I wouldn’t have to cut any more trees, the residue of the big storm, or prune my road or the sisson’s. The extreme heat (close to 100) was another factor, and that was supposed to end on Monday so Sunday in the air conditioned cab of my truck looked even better.
The day began without any concerns as I finished packing and got rid of the last compost. I had put in some Velcro to hold my kayak paddle and that worked fine. I had organized things very well so I really felt good about leaving. Thankfully, no trees were down and I locked the Sisson gate around nine, a good hour before I expected to leave. I wanted to get to Lexington or Louisville and such goals seemed very possible. The traffic was heavy on 77 and on 64, but I moved at a good clip, making my first real stop at Huntington High School to ride my bike for 30 minutes in the 95 plus heat. Following that I drove for a while then decided to take a nap as the sky was darkening so the heat would be lessened. I napped briefly but a powerful thunderstorm woke me up, dropping rain and hail on the camper top and shaking the truck vigorously. I couldn’t drive so I relaxed in the back and after perhaps a half hour I got out, moved the stuff from the front and began driving again. The next two hours were some of the fiercest weather I have ever experienced and I finally decided to stop just short of Lexington in Winchester and get a room at the Quality Inn at around 5 PM. There would be no golf today or a walk in downtown Louisville. The rain continued and got even worse when I went out to eat, unable to find the Pizza Hut and ending up with a Wendy’s salad. I drove back in torrents of rain but got my truck filled with gas just in case the power went out in the area and I would be stuck with a third of a tank. I drove back to the hotel, practiced my sax for 20 minutes and then went to the room for another nap and then some work on my poems. I hope tomorrow goes much better with the weather. I may stop in Louisville but tomorrow was supposed to be my first visit to Indianapolis so I’m not sure how things will work out.