WEEK ONE
APPALACHIA & MIDDLE AMERICA

After racing through the logistical nightmare that is the Baltimore/DC metro traffic pattern, the trip truly kicked off on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a two-lane scenic route over the top of the Appalachians from Virginia to Georgia.

We pulled off at many turnouts like this, both to take pictures and also to give Lauren the chance to pee... We did both A LOT.

Oh, did I mention that Lauren was 32 weeks pregnant when we left?

We had a roll of toilet paper in the back seat next to a special Ziplock bag labeled "DO NOT USE FOR FOOD." Lauren got quite proficient at squatting behind trees and rocks and doing what she had to do as fast as possible.

Our code word for "Car approaching, pull your pants up" was "TIPPY-TOE!" Pat yourself on the back if you got the Seinfeld reference.

We got off the Parkway in North Carolina and took winding rural roads into winding rural Tennessee. We saw literally hundreds of old shacks like this, abandonned years ago and left to their own vices to rot and eventually collapse.

Even for somebody who grew up in a rural area with plenty of "scenery" like this, one can't help but imagine banjos dueling and pigs squealing while driving through this area.

After a trip through Nashville where we saw the original home to the Grand Ole Opry and then caught a concert and dinner with friend and musician, Amy Loftus, we took a 200 mile detour up to Saint Louis to see the arch.

This was the first instance on this trip of reality vastly exceeding my expectations. I'd always assumed the arch was some little 50-foot concrete structure buried somewhere in the middle of the city, when in fact is it a huge 600+ foot beauty on the banks of the Mississippi River that we just couldn't stop taking pictures of.

After the arch, we jumped on the interstate to get across Missouri and into Kansas. Most people who travel will tell you to avoid Kansas because it's just a big flat nothing of a state. Say what they will, Lauren and I loved Kansas. We loved the serenity and peace of the wide-open spaces. And Montana may hold the official title, but I personally believe Kansas has the biggest sky in America.

And yes, this is indeed the world's largest ball of twine, located in Cawker City, Kansas (a suggestion from the book, ECCENTRIC AMERICA, by Jan Friedman). We spent nearly an hour in this little town talking to the twine's "caretaker" as well as the lady who owned the only open gift-shop in town.