Today Fred and I took a little trip to Oklahoma City while the girls stayed back at the lake. Fred being a born-and-bred Californian from Santa Maria, improperly winterized his boat at the end of last season and had to have the engine completely rebuilt. The shop told him it would be ready today so I accompanied him on the 150 mile drive each way into town to pick it up.
Today is a very special day. It is not only special because we are heading into Oklahoma for the first time but because it is also our 8th anniversary. If you told me on the day we got married 8 years ago that we would be full timing on the road with 2 kids today, I would probably think you are crazy. It’s amazing how much things have changed for the better since then and we are happy to be where we are today.
Our long stay in Tennessee is officially ending today as we continue our trek westward with our sights set on getting home to California sometime soon. With Memphis under our belt, we don’t really have any other solid plans on where we are going. But we need to get some miles under us today. Wake up sleepy heads!
This time of year, thunderstorms are the norm in this part of the country. And we got a big one this morning. As usual, it came out of no where and it was pouring buckets in no time.
Last night we made it to Memphis, Tennessee from a couple nights in Nashville. It was a long drive and the terrain is definitely getting flatter and less scenic as we continue to head west and away from middle Tennessee.
Today we left Nashville and are so happy to have made the decision to stop here. It felt like the right one. And where else would Ava had a chance to dance her little heart out?!?! Music City was the perfect place to do so.
But before we headed out of town, we stopped by a Cracker Barrel to give it another try. The last time we stopped by one, we had the most over-the-top ridiculous are-we-on-camera waitresses. She checked on us every 15 seconds, I swear. But I am happy to report that the wait staff in Nashville are normal.
We went back and forth whether we should go to Nashville or not. After some consideration, we decided to go and check it out. We thought we could help the city out by dropping some money in town. Every little bit counts, right?
Chattanooga well exceeded all of our expectations and we were kind of sad to leave so soon but there is much more of Tennessee we plan to see. We packed up and hit the road this morning headed towards our next destination, Nashville. Just up the Tennessee river.
Let me start off with an apology. This will be a looooooong post. So sorry. Because we did tons of stuff today. Awesome stuff to be exact! Our first stop of the day was the famous Ruby Falls.
Our drive from Pigeon Forge to Chattanooga landed us here late in the evening in need of a place to park for the night. Chattanooga being near the Georgia border, we actually crossed back into Georgia and found a BP truck stop with room for us to crash.
Today is the end of our 4 day stay here at beautiful Asheville, North Carolina. After we left Charleston, SC, we had originally planned to head along the coast into North Carolina’s outer banks. Even though I am already feeling a tinge of regret for not making it there, we are glad we came to Asheville. Even the family of ducks came to say goodbye to Ava before we left.
It is no secret that we do a lot of eating on this trip. If anything is going to make us end the trip, it is going to be that one day, we will get back from yet another delicious local restaurant and not be able to fit through the doors of the Airstream. Until that days comes, we will keep the sampling of local cuisines on our itinerary.
Mila, soon you will be able to join us on our binge across America. I promise.