On August 25, my mom and I left North Carolina for the lovely land of Idaho! Can I just say how lucky I am that I have a mother who was willing to miss work to move her daughter out to a new home?!! I truly do not have the words to thank her enough.
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| Leaving Charlotte! Excited and crying at the same time. |
We decided in advance that we were going to make it an epic road trip. Three weeks in advance, I booked hotels and mapped out our journey. (This is the planner and navigator in me). We decided to take the southern route on I-40 all the way across to the Grand Canyon. I had taken that road trip before, and I wanted my mom to be able to experience it, too.
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Our first night's stop was Nashville, Tennessee! It turned out that my sister (who lives in Nashville) was in NC anyway to be a bridesmaid in a wedding, and so she traveled with us on the first leg of the journey. (And her precious dog, Bennett, too).
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| Troopers sitting in a FULL back seat. |
We enjoyed staying at her house that night, and I so enjoyed getting extra time with her. Before we left town, we stopped for lunch with my BFF, Heather, who was 9 months pregnant. I only see her about twice a year, and so this was a precious opportunity to see her one last time before she became a mom!
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| There are friends who know everything about you and love you anyway. This is one! |
From there we traveled quickly to Memphis! We pulled into town and walked the gates of Graceland (unfortunately, right after they closed).
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We drove down Union Avenue listening to "Walking in Memphis," ha. I also wanted to us to experience sunset on the Mississippi River. Three weeks in advance I had noticed a riverfront park on the map, and so we raced there trying to beat the sunset. I kid you not, we pulled up with ten minutes to spare. Not only did we see the sunset, but as we pulled up, a river barge was passing by. Seriously??? My cliche-loving heart was full! The first of MANY God-hugs on this Idaho journey.
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| My absolute favorite time of day. |
After getting our fill of the sunset (and the August heat), we hopped in the car for some Memphis BBQ. Upon a recommendation, we headed to Interstate BBQ. Supposedly, even POTUS himself enjoyed this BBQ on Air Force One recently. Well, I don't think that Sandy Barber enjoyed it very much, but I pigged out. I just had to ignore the bars on the window and doors, ha. When I forgot my wallet in the car, the server said, "Oh, just let me walk with you, please, for safety." Yikes, just a tad terrifying. When I thanked him profusely, he said, "I answer to God, it's all good." So sweet.
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| Don't let this smile fool you! We stopped for other food for her this night, haha. |
We then drove another three hours and stopped at our hotel in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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The next day of driving was from Little Rock to Amarillo, Texas! Along the way we looked for some adventures, and we certainly found them! I randomly saw a sign in Arkansas for a Swiss Vineyard, so we pulled through the countryside and enjoyed some bratwurst and cheeses. We bought wine to enjoy once we arrived in Idaho, as well.
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Back on the road, we sang along with Carrie Underwood's "Checotah" song as we hit "where 69 meets 40" when you enter Okalahoma. (Lol, yes, we are silly, but we have fun!)
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We made it to Oklahoma City for dinner and enjoyed riverfront dining in Bricktown.
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After dinner, we had about four hours of night-time driving ahead of us, yikes. Passing through the Texas panhandle we saw one of my favorite sites, the biggest cross in the Western Hemisphere. That cross, quite simply, makes my heart happy. We finally made it to our Amarillo hotel and passed out within minutes.
Our third day of driving was another long one, from Amarillo to the Grand Canyon. Along the way, we enjoyed stopping in Old Town Albequerque (New Mexico) for lunch.
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We stopped at several Native American sites, because my mom and I adore Indian culture.
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We stopped at the Meteor Crater in Winslow, Arizona.
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After driving for miles into the absolute middle of nowhere searching for pueblo ruins, we found them, and enjoyed them for about two minutes before the utter solitude and silence (literally no wind, no animal sounds, no humans) terrified us and we ran for my car, lol.
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We then FINALLY made it to our dinner reservation at the Grand Canyon about two hours late.
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| Oh, just an elk enjoying a summer evening. |
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| El Tovar Dining Room |
Our time at the Grand Canyon was fantastic! Clearly, the scenery of the canyon is incredible. We walked the rim all day and into the sunset. After being in the car for about 30 hours that week, it was so nice to be active and walking around. We didn't get the gorgeous sunset we were hoping for, but we certainly got a doozie of one!
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| Rainbow Room |
The following day we drove from the Grand Canyon to Salt Lake City, essentially driving through the entire state of Utah. By the time we arrived to our hotel, we were DONE with being in the car (DONE), but at least were were close to being "home." To be honest, we were truly sad to be done staying in hotels! As crazy it sounds, my mom and I adore staying in hotels. It must be the free breakfast and the freshly washed linens each night, ha.
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Our last day of driving was a quick two hour drive from Salt Lake to my new home in Pocatello, Idaho! On the way, we stopped to have lunch with my dear friends, the Creps, from my California days. I had not seen them in six years, and it is so nice to be living only two hours from them right now.
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| Finally, we made it!!! |
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