Is there anything worse than awakening in a motel room, in the middle of a trip, looking outside, and seeing a grey, rainy day?  Sure, there’s world hunger and terrorism, but gloomy weather has to rate near the top of the list.  Day 8 of my trip began in a rainstorm, which quickly became a record-setter for Missouri.  For the first half of the day, from Kansas City (which tried to hold its St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the middle of this deluge) to Jefferson City, Missouri, it poured, and I drove slowly.

No kidding, this is what it looked like, as I crossed half the state.  If there was anything interesting to see, I couldn’t see it.  I could barely make out the road in front of me.

Tipton, Missouri: World’s Largest Billiards Ball

After that dashboard picture, the only photo I took was of the interesting (or ugly?) 8-ball water tower in Tipton, Missouri.  It turns out, this water tower is proclaimed to be the world’s largest billiards ball.  It was originally painted this way, when the water tower serviced a pool table manufacturing plant in Tipton.  The plant eventually shut down, and the town’s signature 8-ball was repainted.  Some 20 years passed, and the town’s residents decided they wanted the 8-ball back, so in 1999, they painted the water tower again, restoring the landmark.

Note: This trip was first published in 2008.