Roadtrip Day 2: Tennesswha?

Status Report!

Milage: JUST UNDER 600 miles.
Amount of BBQ consumed: 0
Amount of BBQ asked about: Many (none available, so we had to eat fried chicken and waffles. At Thelma's Chicken and Waffle. Who is a real person! She recently retired. But, her chicken lives on!).
Sweet Tea to Water Ratio: 4:1
Pants: Feeling too small

We are *somewhere* in Tennessee! We blew through Knoxville (kiss our grits!) and decided that Nashville was far away.  So, we are in "Historic" Cookeville TN.  I know, you are jealous.

You should be.

Tonight we had dinner at the ORIGINAL gondola restaurant just across the highway.  Yes, it featured iceburg lettuce and homemade marina sauce. You are WELCOME.

Things we have learned:
1. Dude, VA is kind of a big state.  Especially when you drive diagonal across it.
2. Tennessee is in CENTRAL time. Not eastern. Definitely not eastern.
3. Tennessee = kind of not a big deal.   On a scale of 1 to impressive, Tennessee clocks in at a solid 4. Like, it got up and brushed its teeth for us, but didn't really comb its hair or do laundry.  Granted, all I've seen is several hours of highway, but I still feel confident in making an inappropriate snap judgment.  Virginia offered beautiful views, great scenery, and some hilarious rest stop conversation.  Conversely, Tennessee feels like one big strip mall on the way to nowhere.  Even its mountains (from the highway) are kind of lame.  I could be in FAIRFAX.  Tennessee - get your act together.  You have one more day to impress us before we are in Arkansas.  Now, do you want to be the state that lost to ARKANSAS?

I hope not. 

Roadtrip: Day 1

(pause for station identification)

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this roadtrip has been delayed by one day.  These circumstances may include:

1. Small children
2. Small dogs
3. Nap time
4. Christie versus Amoxicillan (Amoxicillian not yet winning. Whatever happened in Germany is winning. I thought the medicinal riesling would help, but I thought wrong).

 But, unlike yesterday - the car is packed, the car has gas (rookie mistake. But,  I mean, East Coast, there will be gas stations aplenty), the nieces are hugged, and the drugs have been administered several times.  In the meantime, call me pappy and yell into my good ear! We are off to either Knoxville OR Nashville tomorrow.  Rest assured, we will be in Tennessee.

Yes!

The Night Before RoadTrip

Situation Report:

1. Two Mims' Ladies
2. One hard-top convertible
3. 3,000 miles to cover
4. One of us is on anti-biotics
5. The other one may have damaged her car today
6. We have three boxes of granola bars so....

Let the roadtrip commence!

For anyone who wants to travel across country with us we will be updating daily with photos, stories, and signs of life. 

The Criteria:
1. We must try barbeque in every state that we drive through.  (We are taking the Southern Route. No one is shocked by this information).

2. The barbeque can not be from a chain - it must be from a legitimate "local" establishment.

3. We will periodically check for roadside attractions. Legitimate attractions do not count. We are currently hoping to see the biggest ball of twine, and/or the largest left cowboy boot.  Remarkable things of that nature.

4. The minister's giant treehouse is on our route. Stand by.

5.  We will take photos at every state crossing (current count: 8 states to drive through. Who else just discovered that Tennessee borders Virginia? Who knew?)

6. We will be in sweet tea country, and will rate establishments accordingly.

7. We will stay alive to the best of our ability.  We have promised Dad not to drive off of cliffs. 

If you have other criteria suggestions, we depart tomorrow - feel free to email/text/passenger pigeon.  We would love comments and hilarity to help us make this journey *not in a plane* (scary!). 

Stay tuned!!