So our road trip from South Carolina to Kansas was memorable. We had Pop's little pickup STUFFED with stuff...lots of stuff...we barely had room for our luggage...in fact, at one point early into the trip we had to move some luggage from the bed of the pickup to behind the seats. All I can say is that it's a good thing that Oakley and I have short legs...and that's all I have to say about that.
We stayed the first night in Charleston's Riverview Holiday Inn...of course it was so late by the time we got there we couldn't see the river view...but we went to the scenic restaurant for breakfast and the view was stunning. Oakley and I don't quite get the attraction of "marsh living" but it was pretty (and you can't smell it) from the restaurant. Oakley took some pictures from there and we stopped to photograph a group of ladies with their cameras so they could all be in the pictures. They were grateful. Then we toured Charleston just a bit so I could show Oakley some of my favorite sites - like the Battery and the Market Place and Waterfront Park.
It was time to head toward Kansas after that and we chose to drive through the Great Smoky Mountains. Stunning scenery and well worth the mountain driving...partly on two lane road...in the rain...fabulous.
Our destination was Nashville, TN and we almost made it there...but we got too tired and made a call to PhoJo and Rock Star so they could get online and make some room arrangements for us in Cookeville, TN which was a nice place to stay and I think it was less expensive and less crowded than Nashville would have been. Oakley ran into a friend at Ernest Tubb's Record Shop so I took their picture.
We sang at Music City USA but don't want to brag...Oakley has a picture just like mine below but we only have so much space. Like I said, we don't want to brag.
Our next night's stay was in Springfield, MO and PhoJo made arrangements again...this hotel was beautiful with a fountain inside and glass elevators...I decided that I should always have PhoJo make my accommodation arrangements from now on. One of the highlights of the Springfield, MO stay was that I finally got to eat a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut the next morning with a great cup of coffee before Oakley and I stopped at the mall...we decided that no good girlfriend trip was complete without a little shopping. :-) At one point, Oakley was waiting on me and decided to try out one of those massage chairs...I found her there fighting the chair and when she could get out of it she invited me to try it...OUCH! We just are not tough enough for that kind of rough treatment!
Our last day of driving was our shortest day on the road but the excitement kept building as we got closer to Kansas...we were a bit shocked and dismayed and began to wonder about our navigation skills when we spotted a sign that said, "Charleston 13 miles" and I wondered aloud if we had been driving in circles! We discovered that there is a Charleston, MO and all was well - we were still on track. We also managed to see a sign for "Goose Creek" which is about 4 miles from our Charleston house!But our "homing" abilities are strong and the closer we got to home the more sky opened up and easier my breathing became...we were getting closer to Kansas...closer to home...closer to Pop and to Oakley's hubby...closer to family and long-time friends. By the way, Oakley and I both missed our wedding anniversaries because of the timing of this trip (Pop and I 33 years, Oakley and Big Dog 27 years) so when we all met up we celebrated with dinner out at Outback complete with the world's best cheesecake.
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