Louisville, KY

Leaving downtown on about 3:30pm wasn’t painful at all. Some traffic, and a near‐accident, but nothing to make you hold your head and scream. I decided to drive as much as I can towards Nashville, as we’re talking about some great distance.

Before I knew it I was in Indiana already. I‐65 South is blocked for a few miles due to construction. Followed the “Detour” signs, essentially bypassing the blocked exists by means of I‐80. The detour, however, took me through some unpleasant areas. I’m not sure which part of Indiana I was driving in, but it didn’t seem too friendly. There appeared to be lots of neglect over there.

Found the next available I‐65 ramp and off I go, driving 70 mph. Not much to see along the way, however nowhere near as boring as the Regina‐Winnipeg drive I had the privilege to do a few days ago (seems like a year now).

Stopped for refuelling in some “Speedway” (appears to be a gas station chain. We don’t have it in Canada). Cashiers wants to see my ID along with my credit card.

– “Oh… Waterloo”

Baffled, as Waterloo is not a really well‐known Canadian city, I had to ask:

– “Heard of it before?”

– “Well, I have a friend in a city close by… big city… starts with a W as well. I think it’s called Winnipeg?”

Gulp. I couldn’t think of what I should say next, so I looked at the credit card slips and just asked:

– “… Which copy is yours?”

And I’m off my way, stopping for a quick bite at Quizno’s first. Had something called “Baja Chicken” which we don’t have in Canada—and lucky for us we don’t, as it gave the word “repulsive” a whole new meaning.

I think I felt a bone there.

Looking at my cellphone I realized that I gained another hour. Time zone change, it’s now 8:00pm, not 7:00pm.

I decided I’ll spend the night halfway to Nashville, which works to the Louisville area. Quick look at the GPS and here’s Motel 6 again in Louisville. Calling, just to realize that the price is a whopping bargain at $34 a night, including Internet access.

My room looks suspiciously similar to the room I stayed in during my Chicago visit. Does Motel 6 have some room layout standard? It’s just as if I haven’t moved at all.

People here are different. It is amazing, during this trip, to discover all sorts of people. Everywhere you go people look, dress and speak differently.

So tomorrow morning I’ll go explore downtown Louisville, if there is such a thing. Never been here before. As a matter of fact, so far in this trip, all USA locations were new to me except for Las Vegas and Woodinville (I’ve never been to Seattle before, though; and the only time I spent in Woodinville was 3 years ago during the Shangri La tour).

Tomorrow, unfortunately, no band member will be able to see me as I am seated in some balcony (section BAL‐9, row K). No worries Guy. Even if you can’t see me, rest assured I’m wearing exactly the same shirt. I promise.

If time allows for it in Nashville, I thought perhaps it would be a good time for me to, at last, buy an acoustic guitar. So far my amazing guitar repertoire contains only two of them—a classic guitar (Yamaha) acquired more than 10 years ago (gift from my dad), and a Gibson Les‐Paul Standard, cherry sunburst, 50’s neck. I figured I’ll check out the Martins.

Mark Knopfler’s signature model retails for $5,600—sorry Mark, this will have to wait, at least until I finish paying my mortgage in a few years.

Later,
Isaac