ROAD TRIP

Our journey across the beautiful USA was a success! We had little or no mishaps, and Nika, although locked up in her carrier the whole way, was quite calm (thanks to the tranquilizers which saved us and her)!

We drove straight through Nebraska and Wyoming, deciding those are definitely the last states we’d consider living in. Our first REAL stop was St. Louis and Kansas City. I was able to see where Mike worked last summer and where we first started communicating. It was fun to see the path he walked on again and again, filled with excitement, when I called him for the first time. St Louis was awesome. We were able to see the famous landmark-the Gateway Arch- and tour around the area for a bit. We had dinner at Iron Barleys-Yummy little place nestled into a quiet neighborhood outside St. Louis. Mike had the famous Monte Cristo Dog (hot dog served open faced on a bun dressed with jam and cheese—it was amazingly good. I had a house special, which was also pretty tasty). We wanted to see a baseball game, Missouri was playing Chicago that day, but we didn’t have time.

Next stop-MEMPHIS. We LOVED Memphis and decided that the saying holds true-There is nothing like SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY. Everyone we met was genuinely nice; it was wonderfully contagious. We had the best smoked ribs at a restaurant called Rendezvous, downtown Memphis. (Before we left Utah we gathered all the necessary food information from the show Man vs. Food and ate at the suggested restaurants a long the way). They served not only amazing ribs but the best smoked sausage I have ever had! YUM!!! Mike and I LOVE food!

The next morning we toured Graceland; saw where the King lived, ate, spent his last waking moments of life, and was buried. It was really cool to see all of the memorabilia in the house and take in the energy of one of the world’s greatest musicians.

Before leaving Memphis we ate lunch at Gus’s-BEST FRIED CHICKEN EVER!!! YUMMY!!! Words cannot describe how amazing the spice is on the chicken. We are both going to crave the food we’ve eaten. It was fun to experience Southern culture. Your meal is served with white bread, beans and coleslaw ☺. We were also able to walk down Beale Street-the place where Blues originated. It was amazing to see all the old buildings, to hear Blues being played throughout the city, and to see everything come alive.

Third stop- Nashville. We were able to tour the Grand Ole Opry museum and see the birthplace of country music! ☺. Despite not loving country it was really cool to see all the memorabilia and feel the history of one of the most popular genres of music. We also go to see The Hermitage, the property of our very late President Andrew Jackson. The grounds were stunning-it is so pretty in Tennessee.

A small tangent-this is just a plug for those traveling either the east coast or through the southern states, a great place to crash is Drury Inn Hotel-really good service, good rooms, affordable, really good breakfast included. ☺ Mike and I found out about it and ended up staying at four different Drury Inns along the way.

As we neared Charlotte we saw the Great Smoky Mountains and I TRIED to remember the song on the show we watched over and over as kids--Six Pack with Kenny Rogers, about Tennessee- I had to call dad who started singing the familiar tune to me “Rocky Top you’ll always be home sweet home to me, good ol’ Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee, Rocky Top Tennesseeee”… ☺. Mike had the privilege of hearing me and my dad sing together. :) We also noticed there were some Civil War sites a long the way and so we stopped and toured through an old Civil War Cemetery and saw some of the landscape where the cannons went off and some of the battles were fought. I just love it back here, so much history and so much beauty!

We are officially living in Charlotte, been here about a week now. We experienced our first intense thunderstorm, which freaked Nika out ☺. She doesn’t know what to do, first she was drugged for 5 days, now she is in a totally new environment, and Mike and I have switched schedules on her-I’m home all the time and Mike is gone 6 days a week. ☺

We love it! The ward is awesome, the nature is gorgeous-lush and green, and the place we live in is quite nice-pool, work out facility, BBQ, clubhouse…it will be fun to make this our home for 4 months. I leave Mike on the 12th to go home to Oregon for three weeks-longest time we’ve been away from each other. We are going to miss each other like crazy. It is as I said to Mike “you aren’t just leaving one person you are leaving three-your companion, your lover, AND your friend. Mike and I have grown so much closer; we love spending every minute we can with each other. I love love love being married to my best friend; someone who makes me laugh like crazy, someone I can be myself around, someone who respects me, loves me, cherishes me and honors me, and someone that is as silly as I am which increases the silliness in our home 10 fold. I LOVE YOU BABE!!! Miss you like the dickens!