Day and Night 57 - A shoulder....in KY!

As usual, when I have a fabulous place to stay, I don't want to leave it. Yet, I know I have to in order to get to Virginia Beach!! The Hampton Inn in Owensboro was fabulous. I esp enjoyed the food in their restaurant. It was fancy, tasty and delicious. And they have coffee available 24/7 in the lobby. One of my personal favorite things about a hotel.
Sorry, I got distracted with all the amenities. I left early, and got out of town before traffic. And to my pleasant surprise, I had a shoulder on 231/US60!!!!! A real, live shoulder. I was so very happy. This went on and on for miles, and when I made the turn onto US60 (where it separates from 231), I STILL had a shoulder. The weather is nice, clouds looming, but nice still. Life is certainly good. I need to go about 48 miles to a motel in Hardinsburg. I move along nicely, and get past Lewisport. Uh oh. Back to the 1 foot shoulder with the rumble strip. Well, dang. At least about 22 miles was a sweet shoulder. I was lucky to have it. So I disrupt drivers, as there's twists, turns and blind spots. I'm watching carefully, as I usually do. But it's a pain. At this time, US60 is a divided highway, with a grass median, and 2 lanes on each side. So the cars and trucks can get over. They do have a option, but you know how that is. After a couple of miles of this, the police "pull me over", lights on and all. The officer and I do our usual song and dance.....Baby in there? No, I'm too old to have a baby, silly officer. What are you doing? I explain. Then, he gives me the best news of the day (besides my prior shoulder good news!). There's a nice, large shoulder on the other side of the highway, the side going the same direction (east) as I am. I explain that I'm usually "not allowed" to travel with the flow of the traffic, plus I'd rather see that car hit me - than be surprised by it. He said their police dept prefers people use the wide shoulder on the other side of the highway, and just stay close to the side. I'm elated!!!! A shoulder again, even though it's going "with the traffic ", I have permission. I can't get there fast enough. I change to the other side of the highway. Aaaaahhhhhhh. Nice! I'm moving along well again. And when the big trucks go by me, they actually pull me down the road, rather than push me backwards (as they do on the other side). I hope all this is making sense? The officer also told me, after Hawesville, a shoulder is there again, facing traffic, as well, and I can change back over if I'd like. And it's there until I get to my final destination. So cool.
I move on, and pass Hawesville, just barely out of the town. That's when a truck pulls over and tells me a big storm is coming. Thunder, lightening and all. He tells me to go back to town, and take shelter. He then gets his phone out to show me the radar. Oh yeah, it's about to hit. I saw the dark clouds behind me, but I don't always know how bad it's going to get. This was going to be bad. I turn around, and run as fast as I can back to town. I make it to the first business, a auto parts place, and in the nick of time, the storm hits hard. Now, the town's storm sirens are going off, rain is blowing crazy, sideways. And sure enough, the thunder and lightening join in. I'm safe, barely. Thanks to the Good Samaritan who told me to go back and take cover. The auto parts store lets myself - and my cart - inside. They are watching the radar, and say it will take about a hour to pass. And it does. I need to get back out there, and get going. We all look at the radar on their computer (all 3 of us there!), and see more storms/rain after awhile. I then decide to turn all my electronics (phone, satellite tracker, lights) off, wrap them up tight, and hide them away in my cart. I didn't want to risk them getting wet in this kind of bad weather. They tell me I have one more opportunity for a town, and there's one store there. In case I need protection again from a storm.
I get my cart, and everything protected, get my rain gear on......and head out. I can do this. I will do this. No crying today.
Luckily, the weather never gets "that" bad again the rest of the way. Thank goodness! I made it to Hardinsburg, and found the one motel in town. I had a reservation, and that's always reassuring to me.
I'm just so happy to be here, as that was a longer distance, and motels are scarce out here.
I'm staying at the Breckinridge Inn and Apartments. Basically, that means people live here at the motel, too. It's well kept, and will certainly do. I can't be in a Hampton Inn every night. I couldn't afford it every night, anyway. This motel is 48.00 a night. What a deal.
Hygiene Report:
I'll shower, wash my clothes in the shower, and get my cart dried out. I won't get too crazy with clean up today, as tomorrow has a chance of rain again. And you never really know if it's going to rain or not. Hard to say. Sometimes I'm good at just "letting it all be".
There's food and a conv store across the street. So really, I have everything I need. I'm getting excited, because on Friday, I travel across Louisville. As for tomorrow, I will go to Muldraugh. What a unusual name - to me. I know I'm not pronouncing it correctly when I say it.
What a day! Shoulders, storms and now, safety. I'm a lucky girl.
Cyndi