We drove down to Lexington this afternoon for the grand celebration of my daughter's birth. I've made the drive from Cincinnati to Lexington dozens of times over the past thirteen years, but still consider it a pleasant one. Slightly rolling hills plus tree-lined pastures make for a scenic drive. Still, a ninety mile trek can get monotonous. It's almost right at the border of being both too short and too long. I mean, at sixty miles, it's a trip that lasts less than a hour- a glorified commute. At two-hundred miles, you know it's a longer haul, so you can even schedule stops. So ninety is more of an annoyance. And it was even worse when we live on the northern side of town, which left us another twenty miles from the Ohio River.
But the state of Kentucky must love me, because they've made two changes to Interstate 75 that has made it a better trip. First, in the past couple of years, they upped the speed limit to 70MPH; yes, that extra five makes a huge difference. And second, they've added a third lane all the way through between the two cities. Gradually, over the past ten years, they've worked on getting that extra lane in there. And now that it's there, it's fantastic. The trip is that much better now, despite the fact that the outlet mall in Dry Ridge is now a shanty town.
So thanks Kentucky, not just for a speedier trip, but also for switching things up. It's like a brand new journey now.