Drawlin

Kentucky feels sum difernt than Illinois. They speek a bit like hillbillies. We wuz startin noticin les night when we cowled ahaid to find a room. The closer we cum to gittin to the Ohio river, the more pronounced the accent. We lef the hotel in Marion at 8:30, ridin east a fur peece twards Kentucky. The road wuz afull with coal trucks goin back and forth to a huge operation on ta river where they wuz loadin coal barges that take the coal up an down the river to power plants. The mos excitin moment cum when a quarter sawzed flyin insect targeted me. For sum reason it cum in at seat level. My legs are araised up, with considerable exposure where tay connect. As my left leg lifted, he smack me, then stung me. My hand cum off the handlebar, automatically goin to the point a impact. We swerved, Laura screamed, I swore. The red mark is nearby to the unmentionable. The swellin is considerable. Forty five mile later we done arrived in Shawneetown. That'd be a town next to the Ohio river behind a levee twaz was belt affer ta civil war ta protect from floodin. When we walked inta the ony diner in the tiny town, as usual everyone astarted askin about the bahsickle. One of the guys happen to be the historian, and after talkin sum he offered to take us on a tour. What a tour. This old timer is 85, and he wuz burn and raised in this area. He's a deputy sheriff, furmer bus driva, weddin photogafer, landowna, car saleman, and presden of the histarical society. The private tar lasted 2 ars. We now know everthin about the town, the county, an him. He drove us around in his brand new Subaru, talkin non stop about people, places, and taings. It was time for us to go,we wuz beggin to get movin, so he dropped us off an drove off. We crossed the Ohio on a bridge inta Kentucky, and rode another 13 mile to the town a Morganfield. Arriving at about 4pm, we wuz alookin for a shower ana bed. The only place to stay is the Hometown Inn, so har we be. While in Shawneetown we mailed a package to Tim wit tangs we brawt but now find expendable. Big O is plum lahter.

The Ohio is ta biggest tributary of ta Mississippi. The expression "sold down the river" refers to the Ohio. Slaves wuz sold in Looavul or utter places in Kentucky and apried away from dair family and taken down the river to New Orleans to wuk the cotton and sugar plantations. Louis and Clark traveled down the Ohio, then up the Mississippi to St. Louis to start tair voyage in 1803. The roads we have abin ridin on so far have been smooth and curvy, no shoulder but no traffic either. Tomorrow we plan to go to Owensboro. That will be about 50 mile or so. I figure we jus got here, and the tawk is rubbin off. By the time we get to Virginia we'll be tawkin like a Kentuckian.