On Thursday, Columbia Missourian reporters Michael Shaw, Wade Livingston, and Seth Boster and I started a 13+ hour trip from Columbia, Missouri down to Columbia, South Carolina (via a stop with Wade's wonderful family in Sylva, North Carolina overnight) to cover the Mizzou game against the Gamecocks. Early in the week I pitched a photo essay of my time on the road. I appreciate the edit that the Missourian made of my work and the fact that they were willing to publish my thoughts. You can read that here. Below is a wider edit of the scenes from my window (and a few when I got a chance to get out of the car). I hope you enjoy. 

Cars drive along Interstate 64 in St. Louis, Mo. 

A garage sits alone west of East St. Louis, Mo.

Two men talk along the side of the road in East St. Louis.

A man rides a bike along State Highway 111 in East St. Louis, Ill.

A man rides a bike toward State Highway 111 in East St. Louis, Ill.

North of Johnston City, Ill..

Construction equipment sits in a field outside of Metropolis, Ill. 

A Superman cut out stands, waiting outside the Super Museum, for one of many tourists who visit Metropolis, Ill. for their ties (in name) to Superman's town. The town hosts an annual Superman celebration in addition to every day attractions like the Super Museum.

Bob Evans (CQ), left, and Jenny Dunham stop at the Super Museum in Metropolis, Ill. Evans and Dunham live in Independence, Mo. and were passing through on their way back from Evans' brother's funeral in Georgia.

Cars merge on to Interstate 40 above as other cars approach rush hour traffic in downtown Nashville, Tn.

A cross belonging to the River Community Church stands along Interstate 40 in Cookeville, Tn.

Just east of Cookeville, Tn.

Interstate 40 carves through the hills of Tennesse, revealing layers of crumbling stone east of Cookeville, Tn.

Bailed hay sits ready for the winter outside a barn south of Monterey, Tn.

Layers of trees paint the skyline as the rise and fall of hills and clouds in the sky create an added depth on the landscape west of Kingston, Tn.

Stacks for the Kingston Fossil Plant, a coal burning power plant, stretch above the bridge over the Watts Bar Lake outside Kingston, Tn.