The BIG day is finally here!!! We finished up the packing and everything was sitting in the front bedroom ready to load ...
You think we're taking enough with us???????
Besides all the clothes and cooler and laptop and munchies we had several boxes of Christmas Village houses to take to Florida for Tim's girls to have fun with next Christmas!!!
There is a little free space .. in the front .. LOL!!!
Take off .. 6:16 AM ..
First stop .. the drive-thru at McDonalds in Festus .. LOL!! 2 Sausage and Egg McMuffins please!!!
As we were driving down the highway the sun started coming up .. I noticed the pink in the distance and a bright "star" in the sky ahead!! Ken said they say the bright star is Mars????? I don't know but I got a picture .. LOL!!!
Some of the pictures were taken with my camera and some with the camera on the IPhone !!
As you can see it eventually got very very bright .. in fact, too bright as we were driving right into it!!
Ah Ha .. I didn't realize I got a pic of Miss Molly as I was snapping the picture of the Illinois sign!!! Molly is our mascot I guess you could say .. LOL!!! Molly isn't looking very happy .. perhaps she would rather I would turn her around so she could look at something besides ME!!!
Ah OH .. wouldn't you know it .. on a 2 lane highway in Illinois and we get behind a slow moving very wide contraption!!! Funny thing is .. we had just gone a couple ofl miles behind a huge and wide truck with a load of giant rolls of hose or heavy wire .. and had finally come to a spot where we could get around it .. then a few miles down the road we come to this. Kenny was not happy!!!!
Shortly after we got around this curve these vehicles in front of us all turned off .. Thank You Lord!!!!
I missed the Kentucky sign when we went through but managed to catch the Tennessee sign .. Yayyyyy!!!!
We had seen signs for a place called Patti's Settlement when we were through this way last year and were planning to go there today .. we saw on the pamphlet we had picked up about it along the way that they didn't open until 10:30 and we were a bit early but we went anyway .. and I took a few pics ..
Back on the road ..
We have made it to Nashville ..
I love to see flags billowing out in the wind .. and this one is HUGE .. of course I had to get a pic!!!
Time to stop for lunch .. Cracker Barrel of course .. our favorite place to eat when we're traveling .. never had a bad meal at one yet!!!
Just about every Cracker Barrel has a Clabber Girl sign .. if we don't see one from where we are seated Ken goes looking for one .. and I snap a picture if possible .. LOL!!! This one we saw as soon as we got to our table!!!
The young lady who waited on us was very friendly and told us she was from the St. Louis area .. she was excited to learn that we were from that area too .. turns out she went to school in Affton .. Ken grew up in Affton .. they became instant buddies .. she wanted to know all about how the Arch was coming along .. she came by every time she got a chance and talked a little more .. it was a fun lunch .. LOL!!!
Since we didn't spend much time at Patti's Settlement Ken decided we had time to go to The Hermitage while we were in Nashville ..
Sad to say you could not take pictures inside the house .. there were tour guides taking small groups through so no chance to sneak a picture or two .. LOL!!!
This is the back of the house .. funny to stand at the back of the house and look around at the slave cabins and fields and see jet planes flying over and hear the traffic out on the highway .. and think of how different it was back when Andrew and Rachel and their family and the slave families were here!!!
The well house .. they came here to get water and carried it up to the house ..
The spring runs through the well house and out ..
There is a Spring on each side of this path through the woods ..
Ken says the flag on the left is the design of the one that flew at the White House when Jackson was President!!
In the mountains on the way to Knoxville to spend the night ..
There wasn't much happening along the way to Knoxville .. lots of pavement .. lots of hills and trees and eventually lots of traffic once we got out of the mountains!!!
We made it to the Red Roof Inn in Knoxville around 7:00 our time .. 570 miles away from home .. we saw a Cracker Barrel sign not far from where we were and as soon as we got our night's luggage carried in we headed there for a quick bite to eat before coming back to the room to stretch out and relax .... aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!! You notice no picture of a Clabber Girl sign .. this is only the second Cracker Barrel we have been in that did not have one!!!
What a gorgeous day we had for our travels today .. Thank You Lord!! The temp got up to 72 degrees!!!
This brings the first day of our newest adventure to a close .. time for these poor tired bodies to rest up for another day on the road!!!
