Six days into it and we are already over halfway through our 2,300 mile journey. We posed for a portrait in replica costume in front of the American Gothic house and realized that between that painting, visits to Lincoln's Presidential library and grave, and the Mark Twain boyhood home, we have covered three icons of Americana and learned that there are layers to American myth-making. We've seen thriving, picture-postcard ready small towns, a sharp contrast to the faded abandoned places we were so dismayed over in the South during last year's Plucky Survivors.
We've enjoyed the 50-year tradition of Hog Fest in Kiwanee, Illinois, and only wished we'd had a dozen of their traditional BBQ pork chop sandwiches. We developed an unexpected crush on the arch in St. Louis. We tried and failed to have a shake at a nearly 150-year old soda fountain. We've learned what surviving with pluck really is when we visited with Ernie, the self proclaimed "old coot of 66" who had turned his decades-old Route 66 Pig Hip restaurant into a museum of that fabled highway that's the best, only to have it burn to the ground around his 90th birthday. And yet, he's not only reconciled to the loss of his life's work, he's still holding court in his small house next door, where he and his wife will tell you stories all day long.
We've learned about the myriad ways to celebrate the end of life at the Museum of Funeral Customs and toasted their creativity with their coffin shaped chocolates, complete with body inside. Still ahead of us, the world's largest ball of popcorn, an axe murder house, the Buddy Holly death site, and, of course, Spam. Please join us for more adventures, including updates on our epic games of Cow, the kind of road game that can develop serious rifts in even the longest and most plucky of friendships, and stay tuned for surprises. You never know what twist the road has in store.
Keep up with "Plucky Survivors See America 2: The Midwest Express" through detailed entries, complete with photos and even the occasional video blog entry, daily at www.cancerchick.com/roadtrip/index.htm
