Texas!

Sorry for the delay in posting...this will be pretty short.

We left our hotel in Arkansas around 10am on Monday morning and drove through the rest of the state, including Little Rock.  I am really not a big fan of Arkansas...it was very flat and had the most boring landscape yet...though there were some nice foliage views.  The roads are also poorly maintained even on the highway.  We stopped only once and finally reached our friends near Denton, TX at about 3:30pm.  Patrick was at work, but Erin gave us a tour of their beautiful home.  So nice!  She also has a newish kitten named Wilson who is small, orange and adorable!

The three of us sat and chatted for awhile and then we decided to hit up a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was about a 20 minute walk away
and the weather was gorgeous so we hoofed it.  Their neighborhood is gorgeous!  There are several ponds and lakes and all of the houses are beautiful.  It was in the high 70s or low 80s that day and it still is today!  Patrick met us at the restaurant and dinner was delicious as were the gigantic margaritas.

 

(photo from web but this is exactly what they looked like)

Erin and I felt a little sick from all the tequila and greasy food so we decided to take the long way back (about 45 minutes) on foot and the boys drove.  We felt much better a few minutes into the walk and got to catch up on all of our girly talk.  Very fun.

Later that night Patrick's sister, Michelle, arrived and she will be spending Thanksgiving with us too.  She has been driving around the country since mid-October and we are happy she is joining us.

Yesterday Erin and  Patrick showed us around parts of Denton and took us to a used book/music store where Geoff and I got 3 new books.  Very exciting!  In the afternoon we three girls laid out by the lake in the sun with cooking magazines and planned our Thanksgiving dinner.  Last night our hosts took us out to the Cheesecake Factory for a surprise birthday dinner for me...it was amazing and delicious. 

Today the girls are going grocery shopping and starting to cook...tomorrow we will finish the cooking and eat until we just can't anymore!  Happy holidays!

Driving South: Day 2

Jen here, again.

The second day of our journey began with a complimentary southern breakfast at the hotel.  I had a bagel (not very southern) and Geoff had waffles, sausage, and a biscuit with gravy.  We were on the road again at 10am.

It was a beautiful day for a drive...sunny and low 70s for most of the day.  We spent the first part of the drive in Virginia which had beautiful mountain views and lots of cattle.  There were more giant crosses too.

We were very excited to reach Tennessee...I've always wanted to go there.  While not as beautiful as Virgina, it was still very pretty, and made for a fun (but very loooong) drive.  It helped that we got to listen to the play by play of all the football games on the radio.  We stopped at the Davey Crockett truck stop for a break and that's where we spotted our first mullet of the trip!  Unfortunately, we weren't stealth enough to get a picture...but it was a good one.  The truck stop had lots of souveniers...I tried to get Geoff to get one of those Davey Crockett hats (the ones with the raccoon tail) but he wasn't going for it. At another rest stop there was a field with lots of people walking their dogs...it made me miss Bandit.  It was around that time that we passed into the Central Time Zone...whoohoo!  We were very excited to gain an hour.


One fun thing about our route (we took 40W through all of TN) is that it took us through 3 major cities of the state:  Knoxville, Nashville, and Memphis.  Knoxville was a lot bigger than I thought it would be and very pretty.  Nashville was pretty too and I'm so excited to stay there on our way home!  We ended up passing through Memphis at about 6:30pm and decided to hit up Beale St for some BBQ dinner.  We parked right across the road from the Mississippi River and the bridge to Arkansas...great view. 

After walking a few blocks we were on Beale St!  It was crazy with lots of neon signs and music coming from every direction.  We picked a restaurant and had some yummy BBQ, cheap beer, and an Elvis impersonator.  It was fun!

 

By the time we left Memphis we were both very tired.  We wanted to make it farther though so we pushed on and are staying 2 hours into Arkansas.  So far I am not too impressed with this state, but we'll see if the sunlight changes my mind tomorrow.  Only 6 more hours of driving until we reach Patrick and Erin!

Good Night, from VA!

This morning we picked up our rental car (free upgrade to a 2010 Toyota Camry (hybrid!) that runs so nice) and were on the road by 10:30.  The car is amazing...very spacious and handles wonderfully...it even came with satellite radio which is nice on a long trip.

We took 95 to CT then headed to 84W through NY and part of PA.  That whole stretch was mostly pretty river views and lots of naked trees.  We drove through Scranton, PA but unfortunately didn't see Jim, Pam, Michael and the gang ;).  Since then we've been on 81S and just arrived at a hotel past Blacksburg, VA.

I was amazed by how many actual farms, barns, and silos there were in Pennsylvania.  I'd always pictured it as being more city-like, but not in the areas that we drove through!  One cool thing we saw in PA was a whole long row of windmills in the distance...yay wind power!  Captain Planet would be proud.

Geoff was happy once we hit West Virginia because the speed limit goes up to 70...which I guess means he can drive 85 instead of 80.  I don't get boy math, but whatever.  Upon arriving in VA we were greeted by several giant crosses...we are definitely in Dixieland now!

We've had a lot of fun so far...I mean, all but a few quick rest stops were spent in the car...but there has been good music, pretty scenery and the excitement of being on vacation so we're having a great time!  I'm happy we are done driving for the day though...it gets exhausting after awhile!  Our camera wasn't working for a good part of the drive so I don't have any pictures to share today, but I promise to take some tomorrow.

Night all!

48 Hours...

...until we hit the road.

Well...give or take.  Any of you who know us know that we can never manage to leave for anything on time *cough*Geoff's fault*cough*.  Either way, in approximately 48 hours we will be hitting the road and heading to Texas.

I can not even begin to tell you how excited I am for this.  It will be our first real trip together (the farthest we've gone before is Vermont) and my first semi-cross-country drive.  Our plan is to leave on Saturday morning in our rental car and drive as far as we can.  We'll probably stop in Maryland or Virginia for the night and then drive all day Sunday and stop in Tennessee or Arkansas.  Monday we will drive until we reach our next stop...a town outside of Dallas, Texas.  Two of my best friends (married to each other!) live down there and have invited us to stay with them for the week of Thanksgiving.  It will be my first time spending Thanksgiving with friends and also my first time making a Thanksgiving dinner...so many firsts this week!

Erin and I have plans to drink wine and coffee while cuddled in our pajamas reading girly magazines.  Hello perfect week!  Thursday we will make a delicious dinner for our boys (while watching the Pats game...sorry Erin!) and then we'll eat until we can't eat anymore.  I plan on gaining about 10 pounds that day...I need to be warm this winter after all.  I can't wait to see my friends...they are two of my favorite people in the world and I could never put into words how much I miss them.  What's so great about Texas anyway you guys?

Friday afternoon we are driving to another part of Texas to stay with my Uncle Chris and Aunt Karen for the night.  I have not seen them in years and I'm very excited to get to spend some time with them as well.  While I wish that they lived closer so that I could visit with them more often, I'm thankful that we are able to make them part of our great Texas vacation.

Saturday we will leave bright and early for our next destination: Nashville, TN.  I'm a little (only a little!) embarrassed to admit it, but I am a country music fan.  Geoffrey on the other hand is decidedly not.  Unfortunately for him it is my birthday weekend so I got to choose the city and Nashville was easily my #1 choice.  We'll arrive at our hotel Saturday night and I made sure to find one that was located in a great part of town.  We are one block from the downtown bar scene and one block from the Ryman Auditorium, the former home of the Grand Ole Opry.  The night we arrive we will do some barhopping and the next morning we are going out to breakfast and then to a tour of the Ryman.  Johnny Cash exhibits for the win!!!

The rest of the trip will involve hurried driving and exhaustion trying to get back in time for work on Tuesday, but it will be so worth it I am sure.  We will try to take a lot of pictures (I am terrible at remembering to do this) and post them here for you all along with updates of our trip.  I can't wait to share our adventure with you!