With the rain in my shoe

Louisville, Kentucky — 3916.1 miles

Well, actually, the shoes held up pretty well, but intermittent blasts of that cold Kentucky rain made the approach into Louisville more interesting than it needed to be; I was rather hoping for a placid, uneventful sort of day, or at least as placid as one can be after passing by a place called "Toxic Heat," which appears to be an Internet café just east of Canton, Ohio.

Electronic traffic sign seen on US 30 in East Union Township: WATCH 4 STOPPED TRAFFIC. OMG, text talk has reached 2 ODOT.

Seen at a church east of Wooster: GOD FORGETS THE PAST. IMITATE HIM. Does this mean I have to start working six-day weeks too?

This is what's stenciled on the bumpers of the patrol cars in Ashland County, Ohio: http://www.ashlandcounty.org/sheriff/.

Down toward Cincinnati, I spotted a sign for Ohio 126, which is styled the "Ronald Reagan Highway," one of a bazillion things named after Captain Ron. (On an impulse, I sent my first and last name to Google, and I'm now the #2 entry for this name, which is actually impressive considering how common the name is and how inconsiderable my accomplishments are.)

This is the first time I've been to Louisville since the consolidation of city and county government, making this modest burg, they say, the 16th-largest city in the nation. The 2004 Census estimates actually put it 26th, with a population of 556,332, ahead of Washington but behind Denver. (Oklahoma City is now 31st, at 528,042, down two slots from 2000, owing to the Louisville consolidation and the rapid upsurge in Las Vegas; Tulsa has also dropped two slots, to 45th.) The city claims 699,017, behind Columbus but ahead of Austin. I assume the 140,000 or so missing souls are stuck somewhere on I-264 or I-265.

The rain is starting again.

Posted at 4:46 PM to World Tour '05