Day 1 - Louisville, KY to Johnson City, TN

Okay, so the evil that my arch enemy, Marge, tried to thwart actually befell us in the form of Julia's laptop having a Windows Explorer issue that would not allow me to open any folders. Thanks to The Google, I was able to discern that the ThinkPad had registry issues infesting it good. Thanks to a post by some genius named "gigahurz," I was able to wash that registry problem right out of my hair. I may sound like I know what I'm talking about, but if it wasn't for gigahurz and The Google, tears would be seeping from my ducts and blogging would not have occurred. Thus, you would also be disappointed. And that, we simply cannot have.

Back to the journey joy...

We rolled into Louisville around midnight last night to find that the exit for our hotel was closed due to construction. Thanks for that Kentucky. Or was it Indiana? Now that I think about it, I don't care. After repeated and multiple closures, detours and meteor showers, we finally made it to the Louisville Sheraton, which, strangely enough, is located in Jeffersonville, Indiana - across the Ohio from Louisville. Shouldn't the name be based on geographical correctness? Whatevs.

Scroll down a few posts and you'll see the view of Louisville from our window upon waking. After maneuvering the Jeffersonville obstacle course, we were on our way to Johnson City, Tennessee - the home of the St. Louis Cardinals minor-league Rookie team affiliate Johnson City Cardinals of the Appalachian League. Apparently, much careful consideration went into deciding on the name of the team.

On our way, we encountered one of those, OMG! We have to stop just for the sake of stopping-type places. Guess where? Tired of trying and failing? Here's a hint...it's in Corbin, Kentucky. A shiny nickel to the first person who gets it right without consulting the mighty smartphone or The Google. And now, for your viewing pleasure, here's a photo hint:

After Corbin, we made our way along the back roads of the Bluegrass State, crossed the border into the Volunteer State and eventually made our way to Johnson City. After some GPS follies, due to the fact that we bought our Garmin back in 2006 and never updated the maps, we located or hotel. The hotel opened within the last year. Therein lies the follies of the GPS.

After tossing our stuff into the room and setting the AC to "house penguins," we made our way to Cardinal Park for the game between the Royals of Burlington and the back-to-back Appalachian League champion, Johnson City Cardinals. It was 102 degrees at game time and 97 at the final pitch and I did nearly drown on my own sweat. Thanks for your concern.

Odd thing of the day: little to no cammo at the game, but 98% of those in attendance used an empty bottle for the purpose of chaw spitting. Quite the scene.

View the photos of the day's events HERE. And pray for my soul. I'm evil.