Day 1 & Day 2

Here we are in Oklahoma City with full bellies & ready to blog.

Day 1, X-Mas Morning:

We awoke @ roughly 3am to shower & pack the Versa. Pulled out of 1303 Tasker Ave. @ 4:28am. Road trip on. Vegas or bust! Uneventful nighttime driving until we hit some frozen rain in West Virginia. We actually heard the precipitation before we realized what it was. Didn't effect the driving. Dreary, wet weather continued throughout Virginia proper. And let us tell you Virginia is a BIG state. I-81 travels it the long way. As we approached Tennessee, which we were both looking forward to as Nashville was our final destination for the night,the clouds parted & out came the sun. After a pit stop @ the award-winning 'Welcome to Tennessee' rest stop, we decided it was time to grab some lunch. Mickey D's won out, and we pulled off the interstate & up to the drive-thru. We sat @ the talkbox for a minute or two, before looking at each other & saying, "Are they open?" To which we realized, no, it was X-Mas Day. Like a couple of smacked rear ends, we drove off eventually finding an open Subway @ a truck stop. Since they were the only game in town we ended up stuck in a sweltering line for fifteen minutes or so, seriously impacting our record breaking time.
After a brief trip down memory lane in Knoxville while grabbing some fuel, we ended up arriving in Nashville in under 13 hours. Rick drove the entire 800 miles, which his bloodshot eyes would attest to. In Nashville we bundled up for the Titans/Chargers game, for which it turned out much more bundling was needed. The game was of particular interest because Rick's fantasy football team was in the Championship Game & he had three players going. The seats were primo, as was the wind chill factor. We froze our smacked rear ends off for nearly three quarters before we gave in to the realization that the Titans had no chance. Final score 42-17. Although running back Chris Johnson ended up with a nice stat line, the actual highlight for Rick was seeing that Yuengling had made its way to LP Stadium. He used to bring Yuengling down from Jersey when he was a student @ the University of Tennessee. Now it was available for the low, low price of $10 per 16oz. What the...?! Green bottle does not an import make. So we make our way out of the stadium with many an angry Titans fan to where we were told a plethora of cabs would be waiting to get us back to our hotel. Plethora in the South means one, which was already hailed by another group. Great. After hanging out for a bit, we started walking over the bridge towards the city in the hopes that we would see more cabs. We did, but none that was without a fare. The walking continued until we recognized the street our hotel was on. At that point we decided to walk back to the hotel, which is what we did. Hence our chilled fingers kept us from blogging last night. Rick was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Day 2, 12/26:

Alarm sounds @ 5:30am. Rick groggily makes way his to the bathroom & starts the shower. Hmmmm, that water's not too hot. Perhaps the faucet is labeled incorrectly. Nope. Water temperature might be called slightly tepid. Rick decides to forgo bathing, as does Jolene. Mmmmmmm, ride might get stinky already. Darn hippies!
After our delightful Comfort Inn Sunshine Breakfast Rick was back behind the wheel by 7:40am, forty minutes later than we had planned. The Versa windshield & radar detector suction cups were too cold to stick to each other until Jolene warmed the suction cups up between her ample thighs like some sort of barnyard fowl. Back on track.
Arkansas Welcome Center doesn't hold a candle to the Tennessee one, especially when it comes to hand dryer potency. They did however give us a free map & tour guide, which pointed out what exactly Arkansas has to offer. This was needed as the opinion one forms as the result of traversing the state via I-40 isn't anything to blog to your mother about. Highlights included some gorgeous, shiny silo thingamajigs, two white cranes, a flooded roadway with only the rooftop of a car visible, Toad Suck Park, and Rick's making of driving buddies. When one finds like-minded drivers, one joins them and becomes what will from this point be known as the Great Arkansas Caravan of December 26th, 2009. Our hats off to you white Trailblazer driving Tennessee firefighter with the mustache who could be mistaken for a women & you take-no-prisoners silver Prius from Florida. Our time together will never be forgotten. I-40 has become the Arkansas autobahn.
Plumerton, AR is slightly scary & Jolene brought the scent of old women back into the Versa after a visit to their local market where chewing tobacco was all the rage. This was followed by a Wendy's lunch in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart where Rick remembered buying a Cy-Gor figure on a trip with his father some twelve of thirteen years before. What a memory.
Jolene takes the wheel for the first time shortly after entering Oklahoma @ trip mile 1295.2 at 3:18pm. Turns out to be a rotten trick as sun plays havoc as it sets & roads are not only shoddily maintained but still contain some snow & ice from the recent blizzard that rocked the area. We lost count of the number of vehicles we saw crashed on the sides of the road & down embankments from said blizzard. At about 5:30pm we made it to Oklahoma City, home of giant crosses on skyscrapers, & checked into the Super 8 Motel where a snow maze of a parking lot, hot water showers, & slippery hardwood floors were waiting for us. If there was video footage of Rick hanging onto the room door handle, we would all be the richer. Jolene's reaction was quietly saying, "Oh, baby," as Rick clung for his life.
Time for bed, these rear-ends have been thoroughly smacked. Good night from Oklahoma.

Here are a few videos we have taken so far for your viewing pleasure (don't forget the volume!):

Day 1 - Nearing TN


Day 1 - (Very dark, but witty commentary) Walking back to the hotel from the Titans game.


Day 2 - Can I drive?