Epilogue Of A Road Trip
Monday, August 2, 2010 at 04:06AM 
-2514 miles
-38.67 hours in the car
-2320 minutes on the road
-Layovers: Evart MI, Lake Erie OH, Asheville NC, Memphis TN, Little Rock AR, Mt Pleasant TX
-2 teenagers (13 & 14 year old females)
-The Mayor of Sasstown
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Since we moved out of our home in Michigan, the girls and I spent 15 delightful days lollygagging our way from Michigan to Texas.
First stop was to one of my (many, many) cousin Jim's property to camp out and experience my first ever float down.
Meet my cousin Dennis...
who was totally my camping bitch on this gig. The Mayor is not one to camp! Being this was a monumental time of our life an exception was made. Sans any hotel vacancy we subscribed to the have Aero Bed will travel philosophy and took my cuz up on his offer to share (more accurately take over) his tent. He totally demonstrated (did all the work)how to set up our boudoir for our two night adventure and acted as our official tour guide.
Evidence of a new bathing suit
It's not an oversight that I did not enhance this image to be a little clearer, it may be one of the rare shots of a certain middle aged woman I know (who by the way has birthed 6 babies) in a bathing suit.To clarify, I didn't birth 6 babies in a bathing suit, although I did give birth to #4 while I still had my shorts on (Let me refer you to Born In A Caravan for those details). I have honed my skills over the past 25 years of avoiding photographic evidence of swimsuit ownership.
It's only been a few weeks since this morning fireside chat, but I miss them all like crazy already. We reluctantly moved on to begin our migration out of the Great Lakes State of Michigan.
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Favorite touristy part of our trip was:
IF IT'S THURSDAY, THIS MUST BE MEMPHIS
There is no mistaking where you are when you arrive in Memphis that you are in the birthplace of a crucial music phenomenon. We had a brief 24 hour visit that was lovely once we got a lid on our bitch fest.
The carriage tour we took with the purple twinkle lights was just the thing to get us over the "I'm so sick of being with you hump". To make it even better our horse's name was Bobby Cash and he was adorable. The on board mascots were a small terrier named Miss Kitty and a rescued pit bull named Elvis. 45 minutes around the town with these guys made everything all better.
I scored a room at the Marriott Courtyard Downtown near all the action, the trolley, Beale Street, The Mississippi so we were able to take in some of the sights. My companions were like "Elvis who"? That's an exaggeration, but I was not able to bribe them into getting enthusiastic about touring Graceland.
I wouldn't say I had to drag them kicking and screaming, but a little reluctantly on the tour of this recording studio where young Elvis Presley walked in and recorded his first song for $3.50. He walked out with a small 45 record and it was a long time before he came back to try again and eventually make history.
The tour was a blast. The building is now a National Historical site guaranteeing that the small recording studio will survive to be seen in it's original state. It's amazing that despite being leased to several different businesses from 1960-1980 that no one ever remodeled the space.
All the original acoustical tiles, linoleum floor and the black X (where Elvis stood and recorded his first real hit) are the same today as they were in the 1950's. Many other music giants got there start here like BB King, Jerry Lee Lewis (scumbag), and their most successful recording artist: the man in black himself, Johnny Cash.
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Crossing the Mississippi for the last leg of our trip
The main thing that kept us all from driving each other crazy, killing someone or tearing each others hair out was 3 audio books that kept us riveted for the 38.67 hours in the car. JD Robb's Innocent In Death & Kindred In Death kept us in suspense. When we finished those we moved on to the bittersweet tale of Dorthea Benton Frank's Land of The Mango Sunset.
I'll admit we were pretty blessed on our trip. No big traffic hang ups, no scary bad moments driving. Two teens to contend with while they contend with each other for 15 long days on the road. Of course we had our moments. Unruly and tense moments, "I shoddy the front seat" tussles, opposing views about when and where we were going to stop for food, starbucks, bathrooms.
I had to really keep a lid on my goal oriented laser focus while driving. It's OK to have fun along the way. So we did. We had these signs stuck on the windows every now and again.Doesn't everyone try to communicate with the surrounding traffic while speeding down the interstate?
We were anticipating the new life we will have once in Texas and grieving the one we were leaving behind in Michigan. Overall, we had done pretty well as a traveling crew. Equipped with our new Garmin, who we named our Directional Bitch and my radar detector whom I call My Friend we came through pretty unscathed.
So you are probably wondering which state had the most troopers out on the interstate on our journey. Hands down it was Tennessee. I traveled every mile of I 40 from the mountains on the eastern border all the way to the Mississippi in Memphis. That route was just crawling with troopers laying in wait for high speed drivers. I kissed my friend for keeping me out of trouble on that score.
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Lake Travis
We finally arrived in Austin on a hazy & hot Saturday afternoon and now we are living happily ever after. Well, that's also an exaggeration but once I find my favorite bed pillow I'll let you know.
Reader Comments (12)
Glad you have safe and fun travels. I am looking forward to seeing everyone over
Thanksgiving. Best of luck settling in to your new home.
I'm just jealous I didn't get to go along for the ride. Can't wait till I can come check Lake Travis out. xoxo
I miss you already!
we missed being a leg of the trip so make room ....we're coming to you!!!! Congratulations on getting out of Michigan!!!
A radar detector is an absolute must on the long lonely roads of Texas.
Welcome home.
You're going to love Austin. I know it's a huge change and all, but . . . really, you're going to love it.
And once you've found your pillow, let me know. Stiletto and I are headed your way.
Welcome to Austin! You can never be bored in this town. There is always something to do and something to see. Make sure you see the bats before they leave for the winter. And don't forget to take a picture of your girls in the bluebonnets come spring, it's a rule. Now that it's so hot, take a dip in Barton Springs, it will make you feel like you're back in Michigan.
I'm sure you're going to have a great life here!
You should all be commended for your good behavior. My sisters and I would have never survived, well at least one of us wouldn't have survived, to be sure
I have spent many a happy hour floating on an innertube.
congratulations on surviving that trip. i am still amazed at your move, amazed at how calm you've seemed through it all. if our journey turns out to be like yours i will be hitting you up for behind the blog advice.
So happy you and three of your five princesses had such a wonderful road trip!!! Everyone is alive, no tickets (proud of you, girl!) and incredible memories made.
So adventurous!!! Thanks for taking us all along.
The tubing adventure is one I have done in the Miami River with the Gabriele's many years ago. Fond, fun memories! Tubing on Walloon is mind-numbing and headache producing if you have a good driver. So very different...
You have such a fun extended family! I am glad you got to reconnect with so many on your way to your new life adventure!
Love and prayers are with you in Austin. Miss you!!!
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