day 1 - road trip 2008

so friends....it was a long driving day...but it was full of so much fun, that we didn't even care. we rolled into st. louis last night - a full 15 hours after leaving washington dc! the day was beautiful - the drive was good - and the adventures were plentiful. i snapped pictures all day and am happy to share them with you here. my apologies to maryland - for missing your 'welcome to maryland' sign. it was early - traffic was bad on the beltway - and honeslty...i've seen it a thousand times, so it wasn't even on my mind. and also to missouri....for the blurry mess that is your sign. end of the day, and all.

anyway....my day went a little something like this:

what a treat to drive almost completely through the beautiful state of west virginia. for those of you unaware, this is where i spent 2 years as a mormon missionary - from 1993-1995. so basically, forever ago.

a trip through west virginia meant a trip through huntington...which meant a chance to see mom & dad sizemore! (my good friend, chris sizemore is from huntington...and we did the willy wonka tour together. and his parents, ricki and roger, were huge folllowers of the show!) and where BETTER to meet up with them than at hillbilly hot dogs in downtown huntington.

looking good, sizemore's! thanks for taking time out of your day to come visit!

michelle shows off the magical place.

a major draw to stopping in huntington was marshall university...which is where the true story movie of 'we are marshall' is based. and since michelle had just seen the movie, she was extra-excited about the stop.

the memorial fountain placard...and some various shots (dare i say 'art shots') of the fountain:

michelle found her dream training program in huntington!

then it was on to kentucky.

michelle found red velvet twinkies! of course i had to try them.

in theory....excellent idea. in execution...not so well done.

the fun continued on into indiana.

we stopped for gas in griffin, indiana....and found the most antique gas pumps i have ever seen in use.

art shot 1 from griffin, indiana.

art shot 2 from griffin, indiana.

not much was happening in southern illinois.

my pathetic attempt at the missouri sign.

but we reached our final destination safe and sound!