Off and Running

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Mark posting:

As Liz mentioned we had an exhausting day of packing on Thursday and we followed that up with a marathon day of driving beginning very early on Friday. More than seventeen hours after leaving DC we arrived in Memphis, TN safely and with all our belongings in tow. We found our hotel, the Holiday Inn Select, with only a minor hiccup - that being when the Garmin proudly announced we had arrived at our destination in the parking lot of an Olive Garden. I could give the little lady (it's a female voice on the Garmin and I call her Alice) the benefit of the doubt but she's steered me wrong on prior trips and distrust lingers. Fortunately, the hotel was in sight up the road and Liz boldly took the lead "bringing us home".

The trip itself was relatively uneventful. Liz and I acquired two-way radios so that we could avoid having to dial or text while driving. They did allow us to communicate on the road there but were two major problems we encountered. First, the signal got fuzzy if we were more than a mile or so apart even though they are supposed to have a range of 22 miles. Second, the rechargeable batteries were drained by the time we stopped for lunch - probably had something to do with the fact that we used them frequently for nearly five hours. After two months of being unemployed together, we are not used to being apart and thus there was a need to point every little thing out to one another - i.e. "the leaves are beautiful", "that guy was driving like an idiot", "did you see the mini horse farm?".

We had lunch at Cracker Barrel after our second gas stop. The sign off the highway said the gas station was .1 miles off the exit and CB was .3 in the same direction. After we filled up Liz took the car ahead in the direction where we thought lunch awaited. However, there was a sharp turn off the exit where the restaurant was actually located. There was a huge Cracker Barrel sign which was essentially right next to the exit ramp which was not enough to point us the right direction before a brief tour of small town western VA was had. We moved on from lunch with new life (and new batteries for the two-ways) but that only lasted so long before Liz started in with "I'm bored". I don't blame her one bit. I was bored too and no one can prepare you for spending more than fourteen hours driving a car.

With about 75 miles remaining for day one we made a quick stop for Chinese food before cruising into the Holiday Inn parking lot. Liz has built it up in her head that someone is out to steal our stuff. She dwelled on the hotel we should stay in and how/where to park the U-Haul to avoid a break-in or it being stolen for the past two weeks. So far, so good.

Our $55 a night room via priceline is on the top floor, the only one that requires the guest to swipe their card in the elevator to gain access, and is of the spacious, corner variety. Priceline, don't knock it 'til you try it. We both passed out shortly after our heads hit the pillows and we slept quite easily until 10am. By the time we finally got up, clean, and organized it was past noon but at least we were not scheduled for a drive of more than 15 miles. Memphis was having an art festival that we gladly took a walk through after an outstanding pork rib lunch at Rendezvous and before we meandered down Beale Street. We were only away from the hotel for a few hours but it seemed like forever to me. Apparently a good night of sleep was not enough to put two long days behind me and I was still exhausted. We stopped at Target to pick up some food for dinner and upon returning to our room I immediately jumped in bed for a nap. Liz grabbed her book and went down to the pool to enjoy the hot tub.

The trip continues tomorrow with the second and final leg from Memphis to Harrisonville. The drive is shorter than Friday's but the truck needs be unpacked once we arrive. I also will miss the Patriots in London - let's hope I can find it on the radio!! We know our day will get started on the right foot though as we are going to break out the Starbucks gift card given to us by my aunt and uncle!

I still owe a post regarding the camping trips gone wrong. That will have to wait though as this post is long enough and it is time for bed.

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Comments

[Nowak]

Great updates
Love the updates from the road so far. Keep them coming!

[Alicia]

I share the same parnoia as Liz w/re to breaking in and stealing of the uhaul, though fortunately it has never happend to me. Enjoyed reading the post. Thank you for sharing your journey :)