is it CATSUP or KETCHUP?

It was a rainy night in Georgia on Sunday as we said good-bye to our campground friends and prepared to leave early Monday morning. We stopped in Stockbridge for a visit and farewell to our friends there. It pained me as we passed the exit to go to my grandmother’s house north of Atlanta. I couldn’t look, knowing we were that close and not stopping for one more hug and kiss. We’d said ‘so long’ the week before so we drove on. John and I arrived in McMinnville, TN, home of country western star Dottie West and stayed our first night in the driveway of our friends who fed us enough to last the whole rest of the way to IA. Always such good food and fellowship there!
From TN we drove through KY and into IL, stopping for lunch at a rest area just north of Benton. On the way to MO I convinced John to take a short detour so we could see the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, IL, east of St. Louis.

That is one of the reasons I love life on the road.

Roadside America has so much to offer if you take a little time to enjoy it.

On to MO, where of course we drove right past the St. Louis Arch, the gateway to the west! We stayed at ‘Camp Wally’ (Wal-Mart parking lot) in Moberly, MO about 40 miles east of the World’s Largest Pecan!! During the night there was a tremendous storm which John slept through, but I woke up to watch the lightening and listen to the thunder. The next morning the rain was still falling so we skipped the pecan and headed straight for Knoxville, IA, Sprint Car Capital of the World!

Once we got set up we went to the Sprint Car Museum & Hall of Fame. It seemed the roles were reversed from when we went to the Atlanta Braves museum. I went through the museum and enjoyed what they had and John lingered at several areas, telling me stories about the drivers and sharing his memories. John has been a sprint car fan and followed the World of Outlaws since the early 80’s. In 2003 he went to 19 racetracks around the country, making friends that travel on the circuit. It’s been great to see and visit with them. Two nights of racing and a third tonight will give us our fill until July when we catch up with the series again in MN and later in WI.
Remember the stray cat that adopted us while we were in GA? After we got him fixed, he kept hanging around and one day John came in with the cat in hand. John had said that he didn’t want 3 cats… I think Jaws is still wondering what he got himself into. He has not adapted to being a house cat, but has not attempted to escape! He is very skittish and loves to eat! We invested in a new litter box since my cat Punkin has recently started having issues with sharing a bathroom. With this new messy boy, John’s cat Candy has begun using Punkin’s potty. Now the cats have 2 bathrooms and John & I only have one!