Chillin', literally, in Music City.

Denise and I had a great time on our little road trip last weekend. We got back at 1:30 this morning and were in bed by 2. At one point I looked at her and said "Did we just do that (meaning a drive that put over 2000 miles on her car in a little over three days). She smiled, and we both agreed it was worth it.

I haven't had time to work on my pictures yet. No tellin' when that'll be. But if you want to check out my buddy Mushy's shots, and his recap of our side of the trip, go to his blog and check it out. He probably got home by noon Sunday and then had all day to work on his shots and get a post up. Check it out. It's a great read.

So, let's begin at the beginning.

Denise and I left home at about 10PM Thursday night, after I finished giving a test on base. The plan had been to leave a bit earlier, drive through to Nashville and get there by noon on Friday, but I'd taken longer to finish my school stuff than I though I would. So facing a long night, we talked one another into stopping at about 3:15 AM in Texarkana.

We got up at 9:30 at the la Quinta and drove around to the office just in time to see some lady handcuffed and taken off by the fuzz. Maybe she didn't like the cheap assed complementary breakfast they offered. Nothing like a little excitement to start your day.

We headed East on I-30 until we saw a Cracker Barrel where we could have breakfast. It was cold out (we were used to 70s in the day time and maybe 40s or 50s at night, but it was in the 20s that morning), so the glow from the huge friggin' fireplace at the Cracker Barrel was really nice. I told Denise, If we ever build a house I'm gonna make sure it's got a huge fireplace like that.

After Breakfast we headed east again. For whatever reason, whether it was the huge load of Chinese food I stuffed myself on Thursday afternoon, or something at the Cracker Barrel, as we drove on through Arkansas and Western Tennessee I came down with a case of the trots. And were not talkin' a little discomfort here. Were talkin "Oh shit, I need to find a crapper NOW", kind of stuff. We must have stopped 4 or 5 times. It was very tedious.

On one such stop, West of Memphis, we drove into a rest stop and found a stray dog that had wandered up there weeks earlier. We asked the attendant and he said that it had wandered up, skin and bones, about six weeks earlier. He said that folks, passers by, had been feeding it, and that it had fattened up, but that it wouldn't let anyone close enough to get a hand on it.

Denise was very upset to think that someone would drop off a dog like that, but I'd bet the friggin' thing gets fed twelve times a day. We gave it ham and cheese forom what was left of our sandwiches. We decided to stop on the way back Sunday with some good dog food ("proper food", as Denise would say), and see if the pooch was still there.

We drove into Nashville and found my hotel on the South side by about 7PM. Denise left me there and drove on to Kentucky, where her kids and grand kids live. I was concerned for her, but she'd slept a bit on the drive up and knows that part of the country really well. She got to her kids place, about 2 1/2 hours North, and spent Friday night there with her grand kids while their mom took a physical up in Ohio at Wright Pat. She's going into the Air Force to be a nurse on a flying hospital. She's already a nurse, so she'll be going in as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Meanwhile, I called my buddies, who were already going through that Civil War Gun Show (they got special badges to allow them to wander the place as the tables were being set up). They drove up to get me and we went to a Piccadilly's Cafeteria just down the road for dinner. Turned out to be half assed food, but it filled a spot.

They took me back to my hotel and I settled in for the night. I talked to both Denise and Mushy that night, makin' sure she was Ok and seein' when he was gonna be arrivin' Saturday. I got out of my clothes, turned on the TV and relaxed. I started drinkin', and then decided to try to get some exams graded. I think, about two tall glasses later, I got one set of exams done before it was time to shut it all down.

My alarm went off at 9am, and a few minutes later Mushy called. By the time I got down there he was checking in. We took his stuff to his room and then hit the complementary breakfast.

OK, that's enough for now. The library is about to close on me. Maybe by Wednesday I'll have some pictures to show you and we'll finish this story. Or again, just go over to Mushy's site and read his version. He tells it like it was. I'll get mine done eventually. Until then, cheers.