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The first day of driving takes us to a small place close to the Missouri-Oklahoma border, called Carthage. I have nothing special to say about it, but to mention the drive-in (some people call it drive-through) liquor store and the local family restaurant Sirloin Stockade whose salad buffet speciality is a "salad" with tiny marshmallows with shredded cheddar and sugar. It may sound poetic but the taste is far from it. The continental breakfast, provided by our accommodation, EconoLodge Motel, which consists of coffee, juice and chocolate iced donuts, is not the peak moments of my mornings, either. The first day teaches me to avoid any place called "family restaurant" or "family dining" till the end of my life.
The landscape through Illinois and Missouri is not a thrill. After St. Louis it starts to get a bit more interesting, say more hilly, but flattens out when approaching Oklahoma. At least when driving by daylight, the wide interstate highway (# 44) seems so straight and flat; one can see miles ahead and even there one can only see a miles long line of huge trucks. The impression is slightly misleading, I might say now, since when returning the same route at dark, the highway is anything but straight and flat. Without street-lights and with confusing reflecting street-marks, it is, time to time, a challenge to guess where the road turns next. It keeps one awake, even after 19 hours of driving.
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