Goat Cheese, Floodwater, and a Giant Arch

Shortly after finishing our last entry on Saturday, we happened upon a group of hippies sitting at a gas station, their VW Vanagon parked with tailgate open and lounge chairs placed about.  One of them with banjo in hand, strummed a tune as his friend entertained with juggling beanbags.  On the ground was an open bag, ready for the donations of sympathetic passers-by.

In exchange for a fill-up on their vehicle, they supplied our group with music, juggling tricks, and happy converstaion.  We talked about each others roadtrips, which, at one point one of them suddenly cries out, "Hey man...You guys like goat cheese?!"  Naturally, we said yes, and were enthusiastically blessed with a block of home-made goat cheese.  "This stuff is legit! We made it ourselves, and its sealed with charcoal instead of wax, which is totally edible!"

Wow.  They also gave us soap.  After handshakes and goodbyes, we packed ourselves back into the van and passed around the goat cheese, each person taking a healthy bite - actually thats not true.  We chucked it before we hit the interstate.  God bless those hippies... but we were not about to explore the joys of hippie dairy product.


Day 2 of our roadtrip was filled with the unexpected!  After sleeping a short-but-sweet night on Dybdal Family Farm in Nebraska, we woofed down homemade cinnamon rolls and hit the road.

The problem:  Due to extensive flooding, we were unable to cross the Missouri River at I-90, I-29, I-80 and several other roads.  We attempted to work our way down the state, trying various rumored routes that would allow us to cross into Missouri.

Eventually, after 5 attempts, we found an open bridge and made it through... eventually finding ourselves on I-70, heading to St. Louis!


At the edge of the Mississippi River, in St. Louis, we made a quick detour to the Gateway to the West (though we were heading East!) and stood under the grandeur of the St. Louis Arch!

Due to the flooding of all parking lots, J.D. simply drove by the Arch, stopped the van momentarilly while everyone scrambled to bail out, then proceeded to drive around St. Louis while everyone enjoyed the park.

Eventually we made it into Bowling Green, KY... 4 hours late!  Bless our host homes!  They all stayed up, waiting for us to arrive, though by then it was 2am!  We all enjoyed a very restful slumber, sleeping in until 9am.  The next day would provide a quick trip into Nashville, and the beginning of the event known as IMPACT!

-J.D. Partain