Monday, January 12th: Chattanooga, TN to Denton, TX!!

Hahahahahahahahah.....

You will wonder why I am laughing, or maybe you won't, but I will tell you anyway...
Well, you see, when I remember this day of the trip, the first thing that comes to mind is our sleep experience. You see, I started out the previous evening on a comfy air mattress. Susi later joined me on the same mattress because she was soooo cold on her own bed. BUT, here's the kicker the air-bed had already half deflated by the time she joined me, but she was so cold that she decided sleeping on a half deflated bed and being warm would be better than trying to get me to move. In any case, the beautiful rising sunshine peeked through the windows that morning, and we groaned in unison as we realized we were sleeping on the floor, and that that is why our bodies felt like planks of wood. Not a very restful night anyway. But we were excited!
Day 2 had only just begun.

Beautiful sun room that froze us.

We got dressed, said our goodbyes to our lovely host couple, and tried to hit the road. I say we TRIED to hit the road, because we just couldn't seem to get going... We stopped at an ADORABLE coffee shop called Greyfriar's, where my desire to live in Chattanooga was amplified ten-fold. People were just so chill there. We met a hippie yesterday when we were eating at Aretha's. He was hanging out on the wrap-around porch of the place, just chillin' with a coffee mug as his companion. We went outside for a smoke, and he just started talking to us. I think "the bubble" we hold up around our minds and hearts just doesn't exist in Chattanooga... Everyone is family. In the short time we chatted, we found out about his trips around Europe when he was just 19--Stopping in hostels for weeks at a time, becoming and apprentice potter, and having his life dug through at customs on his way in to France. The people at Greyfriar's were open and friendly, entertaining my wait for coffee with stories of truckers who hated Washington DC more than Atlanta, GA, and groanings of how much they hate the mall. (This made me happy to no end, especially when I found out that it was a good half hour away, haha.)

We finally got underway around 11:30AM. (Yikes) This was bad, because we knew the drive to Texas was going to be about 14 hours. But we didn't care. We were two carefree ladies making our way across the country. Plus, Katrina was at the other end, and we knew she would be pretty chill with our lateness. ... .. At least, we hoped she would be anyway. =)

We stopped at the closest Starbucks we could find, a good 200ish miles away in Manchester, TN. I didn't realize it was Manchester until we asked the baristas where we were. I was so totally surprised and excited because this was the small town that hosts Bonaroo every year. Bonaroo is a giant hippie festival that attracts upward of 80,000 people every year. 3 and 1/2 days of strait folk-rock, indie, blues, and funk music! I've been twice, the last year I went being in 2005. I was so excited to have stumbled upon the spot of so many hilarious and fun memories for myself.

Starbucks #3

We continued on our way to Memphis! Sadly, we encountered our first bout of crappy traffic.

UGHHHH....

We stopped to pay homage to Elvis.

Susi prostrates herself before the king.

And pay homage to an egg??

I am excited because it's an egg with "MEMPHIS" written on it. =)

I was told by Susi, who was told by her bro, that we had to stop in downtown Memphis and get BBQ. We did, and much eating and merriment was had by all. Seriously, it was the best BBQ I have EVER eaten.

Me stuffing my face.

Susi pretending she is a walrus after stuffing her face.

After Memphis, we knew we were screwed... We had so far to go, but we were chill and just kept on driving, entertaining each other the whole way. I know we drove through Arkansas, but the only two things I remember are the fact that I saw a sign that said it was the birthplace of Bill Clinton (probably their only claim to fame.. Sorry Arkansasians... ). I made up that word! =) It's pronounced Ark-an-ZAZZ-ee-ans, with the emphasis placed on the "Zazz" part. lol. And, we decided that the state was so sad it wasn't unique, that it decided to mimic everyone else with their town names, a few being Texarkana, Okolona, and Arkadelphia???

We finally did make it to Texarkana and stopped at Starbucks. We about wanted to die, we were so tired. I was so tired that I spelled Texarkana wrong on our sign...

Susi and I wishing we didn't still have another several hours left of our drive.

We finally made it though. About 1:00AM. It was cool, we went in and died on our second air-mattress experience. Might I say, much better than the last, even if we were still cold. =)