I did the AA Highway in Kentucky today (too many "y's"). When I first received the load dispatch, I figured I be going Highway 35 across Ohio, but the computer fooled me and I was sent to AA (ha-ha). Well, it was kind of scary thinking this highway actually might have been named in honor of that wonderful non-organization.

When I turned off I-275 there was a little sign that said "John Y Brown Jr AA Highway." My immediate thought was, "Okay, he's a pretentious sot who paid a lot of money to get his name tagged onto a Kentucky highway." It isn't the first time, either. It seems Kentucky is going through a renaming campaign on its parkways as rich people line up to get a lilttle recognition.

Well, Johnnie Brown didn't have to pay anything to get his name on a road, even though he can afford it. Litttle Johnnie was governor of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983 and it seems he had a lot to do with the route coming to fruition.

Tonight, as I sit in the T/A truck stop in Hurricane, I did a little research on the AA Highway and found out it's a killer. It's a death route. Having driven it, I can agree, but it's not as bad as US-35 from the Ohio River to Winfield, WV. That's a death route if there ever was one.

The AA's problem is that it mostly parallels the Ohio River, which results in a lot of up and downy driving. There's all these trickles of water heading out of Kentucky toward the Ohio River and over quite a few thousands of years they've made some dandy valleys. Well, as any professional driver will tell you, if there is a hill a highway engineer will route his road over the hill rather than around it or through it, if there is a valley that same engineer with run the road down the side of one hill and back up the side of the other rather than bridging the valley. Highway AA requires a ton of downshifting and engine brakes to get up and down too hills; and, don't even ask me about the stop lights. I'm sure I wasted a few gallons of fuel going that way.

And, yet, the AA Highway is a beautiful road. There's hardly any urban clutter, industry, or anything. Even the farms don't have animals, which is weird in a way. No cows, beef, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, nothing! There was a lot of pasture, but nothing in them to eat the grass. I can see why there wouldn't be any sheep, but the other animals not being there is a mystery. I'd tell a sheep joke, but I'll let you think up one on your own.

I haven't been feeling very well that past few days. It seems I'm having a problem with the uptake of excessive colonic fluids. I think it has to do with drinking too much water and juices, plus eating too many salty foods. So, I'll have to watch those things for the next few days to make certain this isn't something serious. What's interesting is the fluid does not have any fecal matter; it's just water and mucous. Since I take gemfibrozil, which creates excessive abdomenal gas, that fart in the night ends ups being a gusher. Most annoying.