It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a beagle!

Day 24

We got an early start out of St. Louis. As we exit the air conditioned Marriott, our glasses fog from the humidity. We are in the south again.

The Garmin is still showing us in Topeka.

Nothing is scheduled for today except the 8+ hour drive home.

We crossed over into Illinois without a sign of a visitor center. Lacking a map, I scrolled around on the Garmin to see what route to take back to familiar roads. Suddenly the Garmin woke up and started working again. I guess it just hates Missouri. We'll see if this lasts.

The drive is pretty uneventful. We picked up water samples on the Big Muddy and the Ohio River. I think that'll do for the trip. We stopped in Metropolis, IL for a photo op and leg stretch. We missed their big Superman festival by a few weeks. Noel Neil, Lois Lane to both Kirk Allen and George Reeves, was there. She's quite popular here; they are fund raising for a statue of her as Lois Lane for the town.

By law, you must assume this pose as you stand here. Not even the President is exempt.




We took in the Superman store and a state park with a reconstructed revolutionary era fort. Back on the road.

We cross over into Kentucky and, at Sean's insistence, eat ate a KFC. It's an exciting last day. It's well into the afternoon and still 2 hours to Nashville. I never want to drive anywhere again. MarKay takes over a shift.

In Clarksville, a convenience store clerk greets me cheerfully and hopes I'll come back after I buy Butterfingers. Am I still in America?

Ben calls. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett are dead. We turn on the radio for news.

Nashville, Monteagle, (we're in Georgia, we're back in Tennessee!) Chattanooga, back in Georgia and we hit Dalton at sundown.

My turn to drive. We count the last of the 6,500 miles of this trip. Our county, our exit, our neighborhood, our street, our driveway. The door opens and our beagle, Penny, utters a cry I thought only dolphins could make.

We're home. We'll unpack tomorrow.