As most of you know I have been missing in action due to moving across the country. My husband and I decided it would be much cheaper if we just packed up whatever fit in our cars and drive them separately. It seems nuts, but it definitely was the best option for us. Before we left my mother-in-law tasked me to take Princess Tiana. I was to use her like a Flat Stanley. We had to try to stop in every state and take a photo with her. It was so much fun and made us really look forward to do something on our trip besides drive to our next stop for the day.
Ephrata, PA - Knoxville, TN
The first day of our journey went extremely well. Virginia has the most beauty mountain views I have ever seen. It was also the longest state we had to drive through that day. My husband kept reminding to not obsess about getting through the state, but enjoy the scenery because it was going to change when we arrived to Los Angeles. He was correct! Once we got to Tennessee so many things changed. The climate changed dramatically to sticky and humid. It was 85 degrees in TN and the bugs automatically increased in size, my windshield and grill on my car were witnesses to this. We took someone's advice and used Hotwire for hotels along the way, so we got a Extended Stay hotel for 50% off through the website!
Enjoying the last morning in beautiful Ephrata.
Goofing off at the West Virginia rest stop. Sorry Maryland that we missed you!
Virginia at a Museum that also happened to be a rest stop. I had to really convince my husband not to stand on the canon.
Beautiful Virginia scenery.
*** I made sure to have the camera on my phone ready, so I only hoped that the phone got a good/non-blurry photo while driving. I made sure to be careful :)
Tuesday 5/6/14
Knoxville, TN - Salliesaw, OK
After a restful night of sleep, we headed to Nashville, TN to check out the country music city! It wasn't very busy during the day. What was very cool about downtown Nashville was that country music plays on each corner by the traffic lights. We walked to the Country Music Hall Of Fame Museum and realized that it would take HOURS, which we didn't have. We walked the bottom level and checked out the gift shops. We purchased "1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die", so we look forward to start going through the book and checking them off! We also had to purchase a magnet for the husband's grandmother, since it's tradition to purchase a magnet when anyone travels and send it back to her.
Next stop, Sallisaw, OK! What a MISTAKE that was! This was the only time Hotwire failed us horribly. We arrived to the motel around 9:30 pm, we were completely exhausted! We walk into the room and I immediately wanted to run out. The sink wouldn't drain, it recked of cigarettes, and the box spring looked stained. We went to McDonald's for dinner and wifi in the tiny ghost town that was obviously run down. The whole time at dinner the hotel room was in the back of my mind. I couldn't shake how nasty it was. So, being in the social work field and doing home visits in the past I asked my husband to place all the luggage on the wooden tables... nothing on the bed, floor, or couch until I inspected everything. In my husband's defense I am an extremely paranoid person, but once I saw the shell of a bug..... We RAN out of that place! So where do you go to stay in a ghost town at 11:45 pm?! We had to make a decision. Do we stay in another motel near by and risk it or do we try to make it to Oklahoma City to an actual hotel?
We decided we were too exhausted to drive to Oklahoma City and gambled on staying in a Motel 6. At check-in, I complained to the clerk about the previous motel and I just wanted a clean place to stay. Part of the motel was remodeled, so we were able to stay in the newer area! We learned that we will now stay near or in big cities from now on to get the best hotel experience.
There was a dramatic difference in scenery between Arkansas and Oklahoma. The lands starting having less mountains and trees and was becoming more flat.
The Lookout in Arkansas.
From Ephrata, PA - Sallisaw, OK 1,290 miles!
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