Road trip notes, weeks 5-6
Monday, July 7th, 2014 11:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chanaleh
The last two weeks of the trip were kind of a "long tail" with more visiting and less sightseeing, resulting in a much smaller batch of photos. Thus, Weeks 5-6 are in a single album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93788108@N00/sets/72157645553063024/
Full trip photos (all in one album) are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93788108@N00/sets/72157644898605426/
Day 31: Sunday, June 22
• Got up, checked out.
• Tried hard to find something to eat for breakfast at noon on a Sunday in Fort Stockton without returning to the Pecos Roadhouse. Eventually gave up and got on the highway, hoping for better luck later.
• A hundred miles on (N.B.: West Texas is a freaking wasteland even along the interstate), located the Cafe Next Door in Ozona, which was just what we were looking for.
• Drove on to San Antonio.
• Reached the downtown just a few minutes before 7pm, when we were scheduled to meet![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
struct for dinner at a place on the Riverwalk called Acenar. Muddled around looking for parking until we found a 2-hour spot on the street.
• Had a very nice nouveau-Tex-Mex sort of dinner and catchup withstruct.
• Exited the restaurant down onto the Riverwalk and walked down as far as the Brooklyn Avenue lock and dam, then back.
• Said goodbye tostruct, drove on out to our motel (actually fairly far removed from downtown, despite the name and advertising), and checked in.
Overnight: Alamo Inn Motel, San Antonio, TX
Day 32: Monday, June 23
• Got up, checked out.
• Passed up the next available Denny's (!) in favor of stopping at an Iron Skillet in another truck stop nearby.
• Drove through Houston up to Conroe, about an hour north, to the home of my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike. It had been a few years since I'd seen them (2007 at my grandmother's funeral in Florida), and I'd definitely never been to their house in Texas, where they have lived for at least... 20+ years??
• Hung out at their house for a little while, visiting (and playing with the cat and dog).
• Drove over to the lovely La Quinta where they insisted on putting us up, and got ourselves checked in and unloaded.
• Drove over to my cousin Amy's house (also in Conroe I think) and met her dogs and cats.
• Went out for dinner to the Saltgrass Steakhouse and had a really lovely family dinner.
• Dropped Amy back off, dropped us back off.
• Pondered using the hot tub (conveniently located right next to our room), but ended up stalling too long until it closed at 10pm.
Overnight: La Quinta Inn, Conroe, TX
Day 33: Tuesday, June 24
• Got up, checked out.
• Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike met us at the hotel, insisted on filling our gas tank (!), and then led us on to the Toasted Yolk Cafe, where Amy met us for a very nice breakfast.
• Drove on down through Houston to the Johnson Space Center.
• The thing we most wanted to do (since it turned out the $90 VIP tour has to be booked several days in advance ;-) was take the tram tour of the facility, which lets you see Mission Control and the Saturn V rocket. But once we got in, it turned out there were reports of lightning nearby, and though they can run tours in the rain, they can't hold them during lightning. They kept postponing, and we kept checking back, until finally the tour times for the day ran out and they declared it closed. Sigh.
• Explored the rest of the museum: artifacts, mockups, experiments, mission updates, and finally of course the gift shop. Also got coffee and Robot Fro-Yo.
• Pondered the idea of trying to come back the next day and see if we could get a tour then. Inquired about rainchecks and learned, happily, that we could put our names into the Guest Return Log book at the info desk and get in free again anytime in the next 10 days! (We ended up not coming back since the weather the next morning was not any better... but it was a cool pro tip.)
• Started looking for dinner and ended up stumbling onto Randy's Smokehouse for some excellent, unpretentious BBQ brisket and fried okra. (Though it was lucky we arrived when we did, since they closed at 8pm and came to kick us out just as we were finishing up.)
• Drove up to try to find the motel I had reserved, in the "Channelview" neighborhood, which turned out to be a total industrial wasteland. However, since I had cleverly turned on Vader's "avoid toll roads" function, he tried to direct us by way of the ferry, which was closed! and we had to totally backtrack (and take the toll road anyway). :-P
• Finally found the place and settled in.
Overnight: Texas Inn, Houston, TX
Day 34: Wednesday, June 25
• Got up, checked out, and hit the road.
• Breakfast at the Country Pride at yet another truck stop.
• Drove on out toward Louisiana (state #15) and all the way across the state to New Orleans.
• Checked into our hotel in the French Quarter.
• Accidentally left both our umbrellas in the (valet-parked) car; when it started pouring shortly before we wanted to go out for dinner, decided "oh, it's not far, we'll just run for it" == MISTAKE. Epic Downpours.
• Tried to go to the Court of Two Sisters as recommended by my Uncle Mike, but discovered on arrival that the "fabulous buffet" came with an equally fabulous price tag of $46/pp for a menu of mostly shellfish. Worth it for some, no doubt, but not for us. :-/
• Backtracked to Bourbon Street and found ourselves at the Bayou Burger Company, where we indulged in some awesome burgers and "debris fries" (covered with roast beef "debris" in gravy).
• Tried to find some live music that was not obnoxiously terrible loud pop cover bands, and ended up stopping into Fat Catz, where a decent R&B cover band was playing.
• Walked home once the rain eased up.
Overnight: Dauphine Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Day 35: Thursday, June 26
• Slept in.
• Walked over to Cafe Beignet at the Musical Legends Park, and ate beignets and a po'boy and chicory coffee while listening to live jazz outdoors. Nice.
• Got hit up just outside the park by a former tour guide schnorring for tips, who actually did give us a very informed overview of where to go when. Gave him a couple of bucks for the map he had just annotated for us.
• Walked over to the riverfront and then up through Jackson Square, where we listened to a couple of street bands, then ducked into the St. Louis Cathedral to admire the artwork (and the A/C).
• Further along Chartres Street, got some water (and a praline) from the candy store, and hung out in the park for a while.
• Meandered through the French Market souvenir stalls.
• Backtracked looking for Cafe Du Monde and finally found it. More coffee + more beignets = fulfillment of a lifelong travel ambition of mine. :-D Both were superior to Cafe Beignet's, though not by a lot.
• Walked over to the Jackson Square Brewery for a pre-dinner beer and cool-off.
• Picked out the Back Space Bar off the tourist map and walked all the way over there to get dinner, only to find that neither the atmosphere nor the beer list really lived up to the advertisement. The sandwiches were good, though.
• Walked back to Preservation Hall to try to catch the 8pm jazz show, but got there just a minute or two before 8, and they had already filled the hall (apparently it only seats about 100). A dozen people still on line were settling in to wait for the 9pm show, but we decided not to wait an hour and pay $15 each in order to hear a 45-minute set, even if it *would* be the best music we were likely to hear on the trip.
• Walked over to Frenchmen St., just outside the French Quarter, where the largest concentration of actual live music supposedly is. Walked several blocks (including stopping through an outdoor art market) and ended up in a not-bad bar with two not-bad rock bands.
• Gave up before 10pm and walked home.
• Collected our free drink from the hotel bar before heading upstairs.
Overnight: Dauphine Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Day 36: Friday, June 27
• Got up, checked out, and headed straight out of town.
• Breakfast at a Waffle House near Slidell.
• Crossed into Mississippi (state #16) and, an hour or so thereafter, into Alabama (state #17).
• Decided not to try to stop in Birmingham and see the Civil Rights Institute museum, but instead drive straight through to Decatur in the north (next to Huntsville).
• Stopped for gas along the way at a station with a KFC, pondered getting a snack, and ended up with full-on dinner. (Chicken livers!)
• Found our hotel and settled in.
Overnight: Comfort Inn, Decatur, AL
Day 37: Saturday, June 28
• Got up, checked out.
• Brunch at a Cracker Barrel on the way out of town.
• Crossed into Tennessee (state #18).
• Drove straight through Nashville up to Steve & Cally's house in Gallatin, TN, about half an hour north of the city.
• Hung out with their three cats and three adorable dogs (Japanese Chins).
• Went out with Steve (Cally had a performance) to a favorite local pizza joint, Painturo's.
• Came home, watched some TV, went to sleep.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 38: Sunday, June 29
• Slept in.
• Went with Cally (Steve was working) to the local Cracker Barrel for lunch.
• Hung out at home for the afternoon.
• Went into Nashville to see a certain Elvis-themed burlesque show at 9pm.
• Stopped at Waffle House on the way back for a late dinner.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 39: Monday, June 30
• Slept in (while both our hosts were working), puttered around, played with the puppies.
• Midafternoon, ventured out and found our way to the China Buffet for a leisurely lunch.
• Returned home, puttered around some more.
• Once both our hosts were home, went out to Carrabba's Italian Grill for (what turned out to be a late) dinner and had a fabulous double date.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 40: Tuesday, July 1
• Slept in, puttered around, did laundry, ate our leftover pasta for lunch.
• Piled into the Mini Cooper with Steve and headed into Nashville to visit the Country Music Hall Of Fame (And Museum). We didn't actually get in until after 4pm (and the place closes at 5pm), but they had memberships and free passes so we went anyway and did a speed-run. Lots and lots of instruments and clothes and mini-bios of their respective owners.
• Spent another 45 minutes browsing around the gift shops, including the gallery and shop for Hatch Show Print, which is the in-house woodblock/letterpress printing shop that's been producing show posters for the better part of a century. The shop itself was unfortunately already closed (they give tours), but it was still awesome.
• Took a walk down Lower Broadway to browse the boot shops and one candy shop. Did not buy anything, even from the "buy 1 get 2 free" boot store (3 pairs for $450 is still more than any of us needed. I kind of really want these now, though).
• Hung out in one of the sports bars and had some beer and chips.
• Headed back toward Gallatin to meet Cally for dinner at Cafe Rakka (their favorite hummus bar).
• Came home and watched a few episodes of Absolutely Fabulous.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 41: Wednesday, July 2
• Slept in, puttered around.
• Midafternoon, went out to IHOP for brunch.
• Stopped at the Kroger and the Dollar Tree while we were out.
• Came home, puttered around.
• Once Cally got home from work, we all went into Nashville for a night out on the town.
• Dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.
• Looked around for a music club to go to, and ended up at BB King's, where we hung out for an hour or so. The band was pretty good and turned out to be fronted by Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delany and Bonnie Bramlett (which we only figured out when she sang "Superstar" and announced that it was written by her mama, whereupon I had to Google it because I had somehow always thought that song was written by Carole King, and so anyway we put together who she was before the song was over).
• Continued on to a karaoke bar aptly named WannaB's, which was strangely empty, so we got all the turns we wanted (read: one each for the girls, none for the boys).
• Headed home and sacked out.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 42: Thursday, July 3
• Slept in, puttered around.
• Packed up, said our goodbyes and headed out around 3pm.
• Stopped at the same IHOP one more time for brunch before hitting the highway.
• Crossed into Kentucky (state #19).
• Passed up several points of interest including the National Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave, and numerous distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
• Stopped for dinner on the way into Lexington when we saw a sign for a Big Boy (there used to be one in Valpo and neither of us had been to one in ages).
• Pulled into Tom & Justine's driveway around 9:30pm (EDT).
• Hung out chatting over excellent beer until somewhere past midnight.
Overnight: Tom & Justine's house, Lexington, KY
Day 43: Friday, July 4
• Slept in until what turned out to be about 12:30pm (in our defense, we had lost an hour just the evening before).
• Got up, showered, and came downstairs where Tom made us eggs and coffee and we hung out and schmoozed.
• Played videogames for a while with the kids.
• Decided that we'd really be better off driving straight home tonight rather than staying out one more night.
• Messagedmeranthi and called my college friend Greg (my other Lexington-local contact), as well as my friend Brent in Indianapolis, to let them know we were cutting it short and not going to make it over to visit after all.
• Packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed out (just as our hosts started receiving guests for their July 4 cookout).
• Stopped for gas and Dairy Queen before getting on the highway.
• Took a rather circuitous route to get onto I-65, but then crossed into Indiana (back to state #1!) and drove straight up through Indianapolis headed for home.
• Stopped at Wendy's for dinner somewhere south of Lafayette.
• Saw our first firework around 8:30pm, right around the time we were passing through the World's Largest Wind Farm.
• Saw more and more fireworks as it got dark and we approached Merrillville.
• Pulled into our driveway around 9:30pm, for a joyful reunion withetrace's best pal (and, OK, the rest of the family).
• Scooted right out onto the back deck to watch what was left of the fireworks in all directions on the horizon.
• Went out front to the driveway and lit off some bottle rockets and jumping jacks. (I literally can't remember the last time I had experienced home fireworks, but it might easily have been 1992.)
Overnight: HOME IN OUR OWN BED!
Total statistics: 43 days, 19 states, almost 8,000 miles. Seven national parks -- and at least that many Denny's.
... And at the end of it all, we both still found ourselves going, "Finally, NOW we can spend some nice uninterrupted time together." ;-)
So, now begins the "after we get back" portion of our lives, which is to say, students and clients (etrace) and freelance projects and website updates and applying for jobs (me) and getting a bunch of house stuff squared away, and... family cookouts on the back patio, and birthday dinners (etrace's nephew turns 20 tomorrow), and long walks around the pond in the mornings with the dogs.
It's pretty freaking great.
Full trip photos (all in one album) are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93788108@N00/sets/72157644898605426/
Day 31: Sunday, June 22
• Got up, checked out.
• Tried hard to find something to eat for breakfast at noon on a Sunday in Fort Stockton without returning to the Pecos Roadhouse. Eventually gave up and got on the highway, hoping for better luck later.
• A hundred miles on (N.B.: West Texas is a freaking wasteland even along the interstate), located the Cafe Next Door in Ozona, which was just what we were looking for.
• Drove on to San Antonio.
• Reached the downtown just a few minutes before 7pm, when we were scheduled to meet
struct for dinner at a place on the Riverwalk called Acenar. Muddled around looking for parking until we found a 2-hour spot on the street.• Had a very nice nouveau-Tex-Mex sort of dinner and catchup with
struct.• Exited the restaurant down onto the Riverwalk and walked down as far as the Brooklyn Avenue lock and dam, then back.
• Said goodbye to
struct, drove on out to our motel (actually fairly far removed from downtown, despite the name and advertising), and checked in.Overnight: Alamo Inn Motel, San Antonio, TX
Day 32: Monday, June 23
• Got up, checked out.
• Passed up the next available Denny's (!) in favor of stopping at an Iron Skillet in another truck stop nearby.
• Drove through Houston up to Conroe, about an hour north, to the home of my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike. It had been a few years since I'd seen them (2007 at my grandmother's funeral in Florida), and I'd definitely never been to their house in Texas, where they have lived for at least... 20+ years??
• Hung out at their house for a little while, visiting (and playing with the cat and dog).
• Drove over to the lovely La Quinta where they insisted on putting us up, and got ourselves checked in and unloaded.
• Drove over to my cousin Amy's house (also in Conroe I think) and met her dogs and cats.
• Went out for dinner to the Saltgrass Steakhouse and had a really lovely family dinner.
• Dropped Amy back off, dropped us back off.
• Pondered using the hot tub (conveniently located right next to our room), but ended up stalling too long until it closed at 10pm.
Overnight: La Quinta Inn, Conroe, TX
Day 33: Tuesday, June 24
• Got up, checked out.
• Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike met us at the hotel, insisted on filling our gas tank (!), and then led us on to the Toasted Yolk Cafe, where Amy met us for a very nice breakfast.
• Drove on down through Houston to the Johnson Space Center.
• The thing we most wanted to do (since it turned out the $90 VIP tour has to be booked several days in advance ;-) was take the tram tour of the facility, which lets you see Mission Control and the Saturn V rocket. But once we got in, it turned out there were reports of lightning nearby, and though they can run tours in the rain, they can't hold them during lightning. They kept postponing, and we kept checking back, until finally the tour times for the day ran out and they declared it closed. Sigh.
• Explored the rest of the museum: artifacts, mockups, experiments, mission updates, and finally of course the gift shop. Also got coffee and Robot Fro-Yo.
• Pondered the idea of trying to come back the next day and see if we could get a tour then. Inquired about rainchecks and learned, happily, that we could put our names into the Guest Return Log book at the info desk and get in free again anytime in the next 10 days! (We ended up not coming back since the weather the next morning was not any better... but it was a cool pro tip.)
• Started looking for dinner and ended up stumbling onto Randy's Smokehouse for some excellent, unpretentious BBQ brisket and fried okra. (Though it was lucky we arrived when we did, since they closed at 8pm and came to kick us out just as we were finishing up.)
• Drove up to try to find the motel I had reserved, in the "Channelview" neighborhood, which turned out to be a total industrial wasteland. However, since I had cleverly turned on Vader's "avoid toll roads" function, he tried to direct us by way of the ferry, which was closed! and we had to totally backtrack (and take the toll road anyway). :-P
• Finally found the place and settled in.
Overnight: Texas Inn, Houston, TX
Day 34: Wednesday, June 25
• Got up, checked out, and hit the road.
• Breakfast at the Country Pride at yet another truck stop.
• Drove on out toward Louisiana (state #15) and all the way across the state to New Orleans.
• Checked into our hotel in the French Quarter.
• Accidentally left both our umbrellas in the (valet-parked) car; when it started pouring shortly before we wanted to go out for dinner, decided "oh, it's not far, we'll just run for it" == MISTAKE. Epic Downpours.
• Tried to go to the Court of Two Sisters as recommended by my Uncle Mike, but discovered on arrival that the "fabulous buffet" came with an equally fabulous price tag of $46/pp for a menu of mostly shellfish. Worth it for some, no doubt, but not for us. :-/
• Backtracked to Bourbon Street and found ourselves at the Bayou Burger Company, where we indulged in some awesome burgers and "debris fries" (covered with roast beef "debris" in gravy).
• Tried to find some live music that was not obnoxiously terrible loud pop cover bands, and ended up stopping into Fat Catz, where a decent R&B cover band was playing.
• Walked home once the rain eased up.
Overnight: Dauphine Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Day 35: Thursday, June 26
• Slept in.
• Walked over to Cafe Beignet at the Musical Legends Park, and ate beignets and a po'boy and chicory coffee while listening to live jazz outdoors. Nice.
• Got hit up just outside the park by a former tour guide schnorring for tips, who actually did give us a very informed overview of where to go when. Gave him a couple of bucks for the map he had just annotated for us.
• Walked over to the riverfront and then up through Jackson Square, where we listened to a couple of street bands, then ducked into the St. Louis Cathedral to admire the artwork (and the A/C).
• Further along Chartres Street, got some water (and a praline) from the candy store, and hung out in the park for a while.
• Meandered through the French Market souvenir stalls.
• Backtracked looking for Cafe Du Monde and finally found it. More coffee + more beignets = fulfillment of a lifelong travel ambition of mine. :-D Both were superior to Cafe Beignet's, though not by a lot.
• Walked over to the Jackson Square Brewery for a pre-dinner beer and cool-off.
• Picked out the Back Space Bar off the tourist map and walked all the way over there to get dinner, only to find that neither the atmosphere nor the beer list really lived up to the advertisement. The sandwiches were good, though.
• Walked back to Preservation Hall to try to catch the 8pm jazz show, but got there just a minute or two before 8, and they had already filled the hall (apparently it only seats about 100). A dozen people still on line were settling in to wait for the 9pm show, but we decided not to wait an hour and pay $15 each in order to hear a 45-minute set, even if it *would* be the best music we were likely to hear on the trip.
• Walked over to Frenchmen St., just outside the French Quarter, where the largest concentration of actual live music supposedly is. Walked several blocks (including stopping through an outdoor art market) and ended up in a not-bad bar with two not-bad rock bands.
• Gave up before 10pm and walked home.
• Collected our free drink from the hotel bar before heading upstairs.
Overnight: Dauphine Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Day 36: Friday, June 27
• Got up, checked out, and headed straight out of town.
• Breakfast at a Waffle House near Slidell.
• Crossed into Mississippi (state #16) and, an hour or so thereafter, into Alabama (state #17).
• Decided not to try to stop in Birmingham and see the Civil Rights Institute museum, but instead drive straight through to Decatur in the north (next to Huntsville).
• Stopped for gas along the way at a station with a KFC, pondered getting a snack, and ended up with full-on dinner. (Chicken livers!)
• Found our hotel and settled in.
Overnight: Comfort Inn, Decatur, AL
Day 37: Saturday, June 28
• Got up, checked out.
• Brunch at a Cracker Barrel on the way out of town.
• Crossed into Tennessee (state #18).
• Drove straight through Nashville up to Steve & Cally's house in Gallatin, TN, about half an hour north of the city.
• Hung out with their three cats and three adorable dogs (Japanese Chins).
• Went out with Steve (Cally had a performance) to a favorite local pizza joint, Painturo's.
• Came home, watched some TV, went to sleep.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 38: Sunday, June 29
• Slept in.
• Went with Cally (Steve was working) to the local Cracker Barrel for lunch.
• Hung out at home for the afternoon.
• Went into Nashville to see a certain Elvis-themed burlesque show at 9pm.
• Stopped at Waffle House on the way back for a late dinner.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 39: Monday, June 30
• Slept in (while both our hosts were working), puttered around, played with the puppies.
• Midafternoon, ventured out and found our way to the China Buffet for a leisurely lunch.
• Returned home, puttered around some more.
• Once both our hosts were home, went out to Carrabba's Italian Grill for (what turned out to be a late) dinner and had a fabulous double date.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 40: Tuesday, July 1
• Slept in, puttered around, did laundry, ate our leftover pasta for lunch.
• Piled into the Mini Cooper with Steve and headed into Nashville to visit the Country Music Hall Of Fame (And Museum). We didn't actually get in until after 4pm (and the place closes at 5pm), but they had memberships and free passes so we went anyway and did a speed-run. Lots and lots of instruments and clothes and mini-bios of their respective owners.
• Spent another 45 minutes browsing around the gift shops, including the gallery and shop for Hatch Show Print, which is the in-house woodblock/letterpress printing shop that's been producing show posters for the better part of a century. The shop itself was unfortunately already closed (they give tours), but it was still awesome.
• Took a walk down Lower Broadway to browse the boot shops and one candy shop. Did not buy anything, even from the "buy 1 get 2 free" boot store (3 pairs for $450 is still more than any of us needed. I kind of really want these now, though).
• Hung out in one of the sports bars and had some beer and chips.
• Headed back toward Gallatin to meet Cally for dinner at Cafe Rakka (their favorite hummus bar).
• Came home and watched a few episodes of Absolutely Fabulous.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 41: Wednesday, July 2
• Slept in, puttered around.
• Midafternoon, went out to IHOP for brunch.
• Stopped at the Kroger and the Dollar Tree while we were out.
• Came home, puttered around.
• Once Cally got home from work, we all went into Nashville for a night out on the town.
• Dinner at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville.
• Looked around for a music club to go to, and ended up at BB King's, where we hung out for an hour or so. The band was pretty good and turned out to be fronted by Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delany and Bonnie Bramlett (which we only figured out when she sang "Superstar" and announced that it was written by her mama, whereupon I had to Google it because I had somehow always thought that song was written by Carole King, and so anyway we put together who she was before the song was over).
• Continued on to a karaoke bar aptly named WannaB's, which was strangely empty, so we got all the turns we wanted (read: one each for the girls, none for the boys).
• Headed home and sacked out.
Overnight: Steve & Cally's house, Gallatin, TN
Day 42: Thursday, July 3
• Slept in, puttered around.
• Packed up, said our goodbyes and headed out around 3pm.
• Stopped at the same IHOP one more time for brunch before hitting the highway.
• Crossed into Kentucky (state #19).
• Passed up several points of interest including the National Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave, and numerous distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
• Stopped for dinner on the way into Lexington when we saw a sign for a Big Boy (there used to be one in Valpo and neither of us had been to one in ages).
• Pulled into Tom & Justine's driveway around 9:30pm (EDT).
• Hung out chatting over excellent beer until somewhere past midnight.
Overnight: Tom & Justine's house, Lexington, KY
Day 43: Friday, July 4
• Slept in until what turned out to be about 12:30pm (in our defense, we had lost an hour just the evening before).
• Got up, showered, and came downstairs where Tom made us eggs and coffee and we hung out and schmoozed.
• Played videogames for a while with the kids.
• Decided that we'd really be better off driving straight home tonight rather than staying out one more night.
• Messaged
meranthi and called my college friend Greg (my other Lexington-local contact), as well as my friend Brent in Indianapolis, to let them know we were cutting it short and not going to make it over to visit after all.• Packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed out (just as our hosts started receiving guests for their July 4 cookout).
• Stopped for gas and Dairy Queen before getting on the highway.
• Took a rather circuitous route to get onto I-65, but then crossed into Indiana (back to state #1!) and drove straight up through Indianapolis headed for home.
• Stopped at Wendy's for dinner somewhere south of Lafayette.
• Saw our first firework around 8:30pm, right around the time we were passing through the World's Largest Wind Farm.
• Saw more and more fireworks as it got dark and we approached Merrillville.
• Pulled into our driveway around 9:30pm, for a joyful reunion with
etrace's best pal (and, OK, the rest of the family).• Scooted right out onto the back deck to watch what was left of the fireworks in all directions on the horizon.
• Went out front to the driveway and lit off some bottle rockets and jumping jacks. (I literally can't remember the last time I had experienced home fireworks, but it might easily have been 1992.)
Overnight: HOME IN OUR OWN BED!
Total statistics: 43 days, 19 states, almost 8,000 miles. Seven national parks -- and at least that many Denny's.
... And at the end of it all, we both still found ourselves going, "Finally, NOW we can spend some nice uninterrupted time together." ;-)
So, now begins the "after we get back" portion of our lives, which is to say, students and clients (
etrace) and freelance projects and website updates and applying for jobs (me) and getting a bunch of house stuff squared away, and... family cookouts on the back patio, and birthday dinners (etrace's nephew turns 20 tomorrow), and long walks around the pond in the mornings with the dogs.It's pretty freaking great.