California Invades Tennessee

by jeannie - 2023-07-03 ( family / holmes / travel / usa ) [html version]

June 20th 2023 -- The Road Warriors, head out from Cottonwood/Anderson California on a mission from God. Thomas, Finnegan, Skyla, and I left at 5:00 AM Pacific Time to start our 5,400 mile road trip in my 2019 Subaru Forester. We knew it would be a challenging journey but threw caution to the wind and headed out, anyway.

We drove through Nevada first. Reno was the first exciting sight for the teenagers to see. They were still wide awake and excited for some adventures.

Utah was our next state and the salt flats were very interesting. We stopped at the lake and walked to the water. When we parked the car it appeared to be a lot closer than it was. It was a half mile walk until the water's edge but we are warriors so we walked without too much complaining.

Wyoming was filled with beautiful scenery and wild horses. I can see myself living there.

Colorado reminded me of California more than any other state we drove through. The homeless (in Denver) pitched their tents right on top of the boulders that lined the sidewalks that should have kept them off the sidewalks. The kids played at the park, chased the geese, and climbed the water monuments. They almost caught a rabbit.

Kansas was alright but we just drove through it. Very pretty drive but we just spent the night there because it was getting late and the kids needed a break from the back seat.

Saint Louis, Missouri, was where we stopped for Pappy's BBQ ribs. Yes, they were the best ribs ever! Thomas got a t-shirt. We saw the Gateway Arch National Park and enjoyed that very much.

Illinois and Kentucky were states we drove through just because they were on our way to Tennessee.

Finally made it to Bill and Tara's house and, wow, it is beautiful! The yard and house should be shown in a TV show or Better Homes and Gardens. We stayed two nights with them. Tara made us breakfast. She's the best cook.

Bill, Thomas, and I went to Don and Diane's with the kids. We went out to lunch and were joined later by Elizabeth and her boyfriend. Diane has a fantastic wildflower-filled backyard that the bees love, and so did we.

Thomas and I did the Nashville music scene and had a blast! Elizabeth took the kids and they had a blast!

On Saturday we went back to see Don and Diane. We said our last goodbyes and had lunch at Cracker Barrel because Elizabeth is a waitress there. We stopped by the Gaylord Opryland Resort and it was amazing. Finnegan bought himself a very expensive pair of sunglasses, but they look real cool!

The only time we spent more than $3.29 a gallon for gas was in California. These high prices are really getting old. When I starting driving in 1971 the gas was 25 cents a gallon.

We drove through and spent the night in Arkansas and washed our clothes. The kids stayed up late playing games on their phones and don't know how to whisper. I had to kick them out so I could sleep. Not really, but they told Thomas I kicked them out. Ha Ha Ha.

We had to get to Texas by Sunday to visit Shayden at the Air Force base he's training at. We did spend most of Sunday with him, and walked all over that base in 110ø Texas heat. We had lunch, did the escape room challenge, bowled, and had dinner with our Airman. He'll be going to North Dakota when his training to be a crew chief is complete.

We stopped by the Cadillac Ranch and had fun with spray paint. That was a bonus stop because I thought the Cadillac Ranch was a strip joint or something. Boy, was I wrong! New Mexico was where we spent lots of money on fireworks and gifts to bring back to our California loved ones.

Next was the Grand Canyon! Thomas, Skyla, and Finnegan all said it doesn't look real. I saw it before but do agree it doesn't look real. We rode around the bus and took the wrong exit, so had to do some walking... lots of walking, but it was fine. Had some lunch. I tripped on the stairs (Thomas didn't see that, Ha Ha) but no damage was done. We wanted to go to Zion Park but there were fires all around it so we just came home. We drove up Highway 99 to I-5 and arrived tired but well.

The End?