Crones on Wheels - Day One

Virginia called from the lobby of our building, back from Mass in time for us to  make our scheduled 9AM departure. John had been loading the car for the last hour, coffeed up it only took him six trips to get all our luggage stowed. What a guy! He got that Lexus SUV checked out, fully serviced and even detailed for this trip. Did he actually ever really picture Virginia behind the wheel of his car? Who says age doesn't mellow a guy out?
We drove for two hours on empty, flat highways stopping at a Denny's for lunch along with at least half the population of 'Normal', IL. We gassed up and took off after getting a teenage boy off his bike to document our stop. The driving was easy, the conversation lively and the State troopers occupied with other motorists, Thanks God and we motored on to end our day in Rolla, MO. At each stop we noticed we were seated near where a zealous employee was avidly sweeping or vacuuming. "Nate must be along for the ride" Natalie said, "He always hated it when they started sweeping up when he was still eating." She whacked the sweeper with her cane and said "That's for Nate!"
We passed up the Museum of Vacuum Cleaners and considered stopping at the "Love Zone" which promised toys and lingerie for lovers. When we got up close the exterior more closely resembled a prison cell block or abandoned adult bookstore so we kept on keeping on to the Holiday Inn Express. We ordered in some egg foo yung from a local Chinese joint and and called it a day. Tomorrow we get to Tulsa where we will be lavishly hosted by the Buoyes of Oklahoma and Gin will go to Mass in yet another church. We probably won't get to the 15 CD audio book of the Bible until we leave Tulsa...stay tuned! Be sure to see Facebook for an album of our photos.