We got up this morning at 3:30 and were on the road by
4:15. I think this was our earliest
start ever. We rented a nice Kia minivan
and I am so glad we did – it’s brand new and so spacious. We got to Texarkana around 7am and ate
breakfast at an IHOP. The plan had been
for the kids to fall right back asleep in the car but of course, they did
not. After a good breakfast, it was on
to Memphis via Little Rock. The kids
watched Big Hero 6, read books and worked activity books. Grant and I played the license plate game
too. We had lunch around 12:30 at a Subway on the East side of Memphis then
stopped again in Nashville for gas. We
stopped at a nice big truck stop and ran some sprints down the side of the
parking lot. We got back into the car
and headed on towards Knoxville. The
kids watched Maleficent and watched Big Hero 6 again. Grant explained to me that he was an
outrovert and Ryan was just an all-around trooper.
About 30 minutes before we pulled into a Panera in Knoxville
for dinner, Grant fell asleep and was none too happy to be woken up so he
pouted in the corner of the restaurant while the three of us ate. At this point is was 8:00 due to the time
zone change. We had one last stretch to
drive to Gatlinburg and holy cow, all the things to do between Knoxville and
Gatlinburg (Pigeon Forge – home of Dollywood) is amazing. There must have been 10 different go-kart
ride places, countless miniature golf, etc.
We pulled in around 9:15 which, because tonight is the daylight savings
time shift, was actually 10:15. So we
drove from 4:15am to 10:15pm.
Ryan went with me to the exercise room and we walked on
treadmills. I think we all finally fell
asleep around 11 or 11:30…so late!
Overall, it was a great road trip. I’m so glad we rented a car though because,
I’m not sure if it was due to the terribly cold weather/snow/ice the whole
country has been experiencing but the potholes in the highway were like nothing
I have ever seen.
Oh and right after dinner, we passed by the University of
Tennessee and there was the most beautiful full, dark orange moon. By the time we got to Gatlinburg, it was
still full but was no longer orange. I’m
not sure what caused it.
Very glad to be here and very nervous that all the roads in
the national park may be closed tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment