Late Summer Road Trip Part 1

Somewhat unexpectedly, I had the chance to go on a major road trip.  I love being on the road, but it's been awhile since I lived in my airstream, so I was psyched to have the chance to go. 

This time I'd be heading out west, with a destination I'd spent a lot of time dreaming about, but had never been to before: California.  I was ready. A new ocean to meet, some supposedly awesome surfing, and a chance to see with my own eyes things that are constantly referenced in movies and books.

The Plan: 
Leg 1. South Florida to Western North Carolina 
Leg 2. North Carolina to California
Travelers: me, my husband Joe and his brother Shane.  
The point of the trip was to take Shane's new car that was bought in NC, out to where he lives in Marina del Rey. Drive out, fly back.

Day 1
We set off from outside of Asheville on route 40 early one morning in August. This day took us through Knoxville, Nashville, & Memphis. When you take this kind of trip, you get the chance to drive by all kinds of things that you've heard talked about throughout your life.  It gives you a chance to be able to say "I've seen that" about a lot of stuff.  So the plan was to stop and see all that kind of "stuff" whenever we came upon it.

In Nashville we stopped at a food truck and walked around by the river.  In Memphis we got some fried chicken and saw the Mississippi for the first time. Then we headed on west and saw the sun set as we drove through the Ozarks.  All I could think of was being a kid and reading "Where the Red Fern Grows." I wished I could spend some time in those hills.

At this point the landscape, although beautiful, was still fairly familiar.  The next day it would start to get interesting. That night we stopped along the Arkansas and Oklahoma border.

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