What I learned while at FFA National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky

1. Even when you think your in the "nice" area of St. Louis (we stopped there on the way) you still will see gangs; homeless people begging, sleeping on park benches, and singing to you; and numerous cars that aren't going to stop for you even if you're still crossing the street.

2. The St. Louis Arch is not brown like you once thought when you saw it in nighttime photos; it is welded together with shiny silver metal.

3. Six Flags theme park has found many ways of strapping you into roller coasters, including standing up and hanging from the roller coaster track. Both of them are awesome unless you're a guy and you get racked from all the twists and turns while standing up.

4. People from Arkansas have the thickest southern accent ever. They don't say "you guys", instead they say "yearns." Example: Instead of saying, "Where are you guys from?", they say, "Where yearns from?" Imagine that with a southern accent. Also, roads are not numbered there; they have names like "Opossum Trout Road." That is NOT an exaggeration, it is for real.

5. When you go to a racetrack, say Keeneland for example, expect to see A LOT of rich people. Little skinny blondes dressed in the latest fashions, 40+ women in fur, and 3-year-old little boys in khakis, a little sports jacket, and a little old-fashioned looking hat. They will also come with $40,000 in their pockets and make it sound like they're going cheap that day.

6. Don't let anyone tell you differently. No matter how many times you tell yourself, "It's not real. It's all fake," you will still be scared shitless and scream thousands of times in a made-up Halloween Haunted House.

7. No matter how new or nice a charter bus is, you still aren't going to be able to get comfortable, let alone sleep, on the 12 hour bus trip home.