"AMBITIOUS OUTSIDERS" Vol. 1

Day One. Leah arrived at my house in the Lincoln MKS and we were on the road about 7ish.

Blog Talk Radio Show: Great by all accounts, save for the period driving through the wind energy farm where Verizon, apparently, does not freely roam. Major kudos to Andy Hannon, our show producer in Chicago, who jumped to the helm and kept the show going when we lost mobile range. Listen here.

Terre Haute: Leah's Mom's art class is fantastic, and inspired by their wonderful teacher's creativity and fun spirit. Saw the house in which Leah grew up, met a dog named Ebby, was introduced to Square Donuts. Square Donuts. Mercy.

Bloomington: Met up with Mike Trotzke of SproutBox, who gave us a great tour. We walked the strip from the technology park in the making/b-line area up to Indiana University and through a bit of campus. Very cool little town, Bloomington.

Then we went through Gnaw Bone, Indiana.

Then, we made it into Louisville, saw the giant Louisville Slugger bat, Louisville Slugger Field, Churchill Downs, beautiful old houses, and a lot of cleverly-titled pawn shops and strip clubs.

Then, on to Ft. Knox US Bullion Depository, which was possibly one of the more intimidating places I've visited in recent memory. I mean, it has to be, it must be, but still. It was dark already, and the guards didn't seem to want to make pleasantries of any sort. But, again, it's Ft. Knox. It has to be that way. And, bring several forms of ID if you aspire to drive anyplace in and around Ft. Knox. And, maybe just maybe a line like, "No, really, this Lincoln MKS is on loan from Ford Motors press fleet" will not fly. Just so you know.

Then, we blew through Elizabethtown, known on local signage as "E-Town", and Bowling Green and into Nashville! We arrived at Hotel Preston, I walked and walked and walked in my makeshift Red Sox t-shirt jammies in search of the ice machine only to find ice machines live only on even-numbered floors. With the snacks on ice, we both conked out.

Will post a wrap-up of Saturday and all about brunch this morning (Sunday), but at the moment, I'm on borrowed wifi at a Kentucky welcome center, and I must dash. We're heading to central Illinois tonight to see Leah's sister, then to Springfield in the morning. More soon. Remember to tune in to BlogTalk Radio for our show this afternoon from 3-5 CST which we'll be doing live from the car on the highway. Hit our Mapness trip plan which Jessi Ray from Where I've Been has been nice enough to maintain for us while we're out and about, and hit my Flickr photostream for pics along the way.

We press on.

Read about Day Two of Viva NashVegas.
Read about Day Three of Viva NashVegas.
Read about Day Four of Viva NashVegas.
Enjoy set "Viva NashVegas" on my Flickr stream. And Leah's, too.