Pre-Diplomatic Cross-Country Tour, Day Two

Post by J

In case you had any doubt, driving over 1200 miles in two days really takes it out of a girl.

Today's travels took me through the rest of Nebraska, 10 minutes of Iowa, and a majority of Missouri. I finally came to rest in southern Illinois. Nebraska's fields gave way to Missouri's deciduous trees, a welcome change. I set the cruise to just over the speed limit and ate up the miles, landing in Booneville for lunch around 1:00 p.m. local time.

I was looking for something with a local flavor, so I pulled in to Yummy's Donut Palace. The outside of the building sported a huge sign advertising "Kolaches," a word I had never heard before, so I figured it had to be a local delicacy. As I approached the building, a tall twenty-something guy was coming out and held the door for me.

"Thanks," I said.

"You're welcome, ma'am," he replied. Southern hospitality lives.

The place was empty when I went in, so I didn't feel self-conscious asking the woman behind the counter to tell me all about these kolaches.

"Well," she said. "Here in Missouri, we use sausage. Now, the further south you get you can get other things like cheese or egg. Basically, it's like pigs in a blanket." She pointed to a picture of a kolache that stood on the counter. Sure enough, it looked like a hot dog wrapped in bread dough and baked.  In other words, it looked delicious.

"I think I'll have to try one," I said.

"Nope, sorry.  We don't have any today - our oven's broken."

Bummer. So much for diving into the local delicacies. I settled for a ham and cheese croissant and an apple fritter as big as my hand, and promised myself I'd have a salad for dinner.

Over the last two days I listened to Cheryl Strayed's Wild while driving. Honestly, it is the perfect book to listen to when you're pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and sailing into the unknown. An added bonus to me was her honest and poignant description of her struggle to come to terms with her mother's death. I could so relate to what she went through. Listening to the book made the miles slide away as my mind was focused on something else. Perfect.