Here we finally are!

We've been lacking wireless internet so here's the whole trip starting with Thursday night. We had a BBQ at Steve and Monica's, packed the car, and left by 9:30pm after Steve kept holdingus back because he did not want to see his beautiful wife leave, only to stop at a gas station right away. That's where our adventure began. The talented Monica was chatting with us in the car as the gas was pumping and I heard this gushing water sound. Yes, you guessed it, we were spilling gas. The stupid gas pump doesn't have a gauge to know when it's full and the gas attendant told us this happened twice last week. It was pretty funny because he seemed to think it was our fault. So we drove 10pm to 11:40am on Friday, straight through to Nashville, TN.
Shannon

We stayed with the lovely Erin and Alex. We were able to find their apartment relatively quickly and lugged the least amount of stuff possible inside. Alex surprised us and was able to stop by on his extended lunch break! We fought off the urge to sleep after some rejuvenating showers and headed out to walk around down town. Within two minutes of leaving the building we encountered a chatty police officer who recommended some dining options for lunch. We were starving so everything sounded great! The neon lights and flying pigs outside Jack's BBQ won us over! The scrumptious food provided some energy, so Monica and I persuaded the less than eager Shannie to accompany us to the Country Music Hall of Fame! She truly was a good sport about the whole thing. Monica and I were fascinated and tickled by the jazzy costumes with sequins and country sounds filling evey hall way and stair case. We saw mini-movies about Keith Urban and Tim McGraw, needless to say, I fell in love all over again. :) Main problem being the theater was dark and reminded all of us how sleep deprived and exhausted we were. We quickly meandered through the gift shop and started to head home. We were waiting for a crosswalk light and could go to the river and sit, enjoying the view or go home and sleep. We humored the notion of staying up, but sadly opted for sleep instead. Alex and Erin came home to find three bums passed out on their floor. Monica and I extended our nap for another hour while Shannie opted for some exploring. When we finally got ourselves up, we went to an adorable little ice cream shop for ice cream (obviously) and some old fashioned soda. Shannie also got a hot dog, but Monica won't let me forget our Atlantic City adventure, so we stayed away. Then we finally got on our way to meet up with Erin and Alex. They treated us to a delightful evening at some of their favorite bars, Mulligans and Past Perfect.

We took a late night photo op on the bridge before finally calling it a day! Surprisingly, we were pretty bright eyed the next morning before heading out on our way again. I'll admit, Erin made some delicious coffee to help get me ready to drive. Huntsville, AL here we come!

Holly


The drive to Huntsville, Alabama was relatively short compared to our beginning haul. This was a stop for lunch with the beautiful Jessica Paxton and her mama. We went to a place called Rosie's. It was this awesome Mexican restuarant where we actually ran into some people from Millersville that we knew. How funny is that we meet all the way down in ALABAMA!!! Fun! We went back to Jess' apartment for a bathroom break and then we were headed on our way!!!!!

Shreveport, Louisiana! I(Monica) thought that this city was only five hours away from Huntsville. Think about this...Alambama to Louisiana... you have to cross TWO states. Mississippi and Louisiana!!! It acually took eight hours. We did not get to camp until midnight! But, being the awesome girls we are... we got the tent up in 20 minutes and were in bed. It was EXTREMELY hot so it was a little difficult getting to sleep.

Next morning... up at 7 (Shannon up at 6 to run, go her!) tent down, showered, and off to Texas by 8:30. Riding through Texas was pretty cool. It was the first place where we are actually seeing the landscape change. When we first crossed into Texas, this oil tanker crashed and rolled right to the side of us. SCARY! The driver kept going though. So he was alright... the tank part just rolled and all of this liquid came gushing out. Woah! (Perhaps the 2nd time seeing gas spillage)

In Texas we spent time with my family and I loved being there. We went to Berry Hill for dinner (awesome Mexican) and then went back home and went canoeing. Awesome, awesome trip so far.
*~ Monica