HOME!!!
we are here! we arrived in cary, nc at 1.45pm est. unbelieveable...it feels sooo good to be home. and my sister walked in the door 20 min after us. its great to be with the family.
there was a lot of snow on the ground in asheville, nc but the roads were clear. the only bummer was that it rained the entire time we were driving today. here are some photos of the day:
a drive through the mountains.
so it was raining all day and we could barely see out of the windshield. so after about 200 miles of me squinting, we made it to winston-salem and decided it was time to change the wipers. man oh man, what a difference new wiper blades make!!
here is dad changing them in the rain....
here we are on our way home:
you know you are getting close when ya seen one of these....
WE ARE ALMOST HOME!!!:
getting closer...
we drove past jordan lake and the haw river:
and now the drive is over...
thanks for tuning in to our travels...now i get a few months of rest and get to do it all over again with my new wife in september!!! adios!
the parking lot doesnt look too bad, lets hope the roads are the same! we should be home by 2pm today. i am excited for some cool scenery through the mountains of nc, look for more photos later today!
adios.
the drive from knoxville to ashville was crazy....lots of rain/snow and lots of traffic. but we are in asheville and the rain/snow mix is here too, we are hoping there isnt any ice tomorrow am, maybe since we made it here late and this far we will sleep in...we shall see. welp, off to bed. one more leg of the trip to go!! cary here we come!!
and after a good nights rest at our home away from home:
we headed out. here is a photo of me at one of the many gas stations early this am, and my dad saying "Hello from Arkansas!!
so we figured out why people in arkansas are the way they are...
nuff said!
the drive through arkansas flew by and was pretty blah scenery wise, see:
the best part about the drive through arkansas was this bridge:
i had some great talks with my dad on the drive through arkansas, about further schooling and some contacts i should pursue. we have some family friends from a church we were a part of in winston salem and they started their journey very similar to sacreds. and they live in boston!! so i will definately be giving my friend Rick Downs a call and pick his brain about his learnings. also, talking with dad about school got me excited about it again. options now look like campbell, unc, and duke. i will keep ya updated on the hunt for a school.
at the border of arkansas is memphis, tn. here are some photos. the city and the border sit right on the river, looks pretty cool.
here comes tennessee, state number 7 on this trip:
anyone know what this building is? a pyramid in memphis? anyone?
after memphis, we stopped in jackson, tn and ate an amazing meal at lonestat steakhouse. and in jackson right by the freeway was a starbucks with wifi! i was stoked to post our trip from yesterday. after lunch we headed eastbound, listening to my new fav sport on the radio, NASCAR! our boy jimmy johson made a late move in the race, but ended up second. maybe next time jimmy.
the next sign of life was in nashville, we had a small detour through nashville, and ended up going on the backside of the airport to 40 and as we were driving along, we noticed this:
WOW!! i've been under a bridge with cars on top, btt not a plane!! crazy!!
so know we are through knoxville, heading to asheville. should be there in about 1 hour. looks like we will make our monday arrival in raliegh! what a drive!!
until tomorrow...
let the games begin! leave a comment with your best submission and a prize will go the the correct one. enjoy!
as most of you know, i am no good for driving in the pm, so i started off driving today:
yeah!!
so after about 45 min in the snow, we finally got through the storm and the sun came out! yeah!! so it was time for some glasses and my new favorite drink, GATORADE PROPEL WATER. now i know you are probably just as skeptic as i was, but let me tell ya it rocks!! (see blow)
I-40 through new mexico goes through these cool mountains that were carved out. we must have gone through like 3 or so of these:
the mountains in new mexico are magnificent. here are some photos for ya:
most of the way we have been able to travel 80 mph which has been awesome!! but today, we were met by two areas of I-40 which were under construction, and we had to go 45 mph. ugh! luckily it was only for a few miles both time.
here we are going 45mph...boooo
the next big city that we went through on the way to arkansas was albuquerque, nm. most of I-40 from ca to ok is Route 66, so needless to say we've gotten plenty of kicks, and on the way to albuquerque is the Route 66 Casino!! maybe we should have stopped, my dad is sooo hot right now!! he's the best slot machine i know. hehehe, here are some photos:
here is albuquerque looking alot like LA, but there freeways have cool colors:
we blew through albuquerque and continued heading east. new mexico has crazy topography...after leaving albuquerque and its mountains we were suddenly in the middle of nowhere:
i must say that the drive from albuquerque to amarillo was the most boring drive ever.
like marlow said, "i think the panhandle is the ugliest place in the US." i affirm that, after driving the entire length. eewwww. here is proof, this is what i looked at for 200+ miles:
so why dont other states jump on the bandwagon and put cool colors on their center dividers????
oh yeah, i know why, because in every other state there is something beautiful to look at it. i guess this is amarillo's 'beautifying' quality!
so they say everything is bigger in texas....yep, even the crosses...
unbelievable....
so after about 230 miles and through the texas panhandle it was time for me to switch drivers. we did so after the oklahoma border:
man, i sure am glad i'm doing this trip now and not in the 1900's. if so these guys would have been our transportation...
say 'hi' to our two new friends from oklahoma!
so its about 5pm now (we lost another hour) and i am now the pilot, and i am bored. so my dad tells me to pull out his phone and directs me to the internet. then the coolest thing in the world happend...i blogged from my dad's phone!! unreal! and i could check my email, read other blogs, check up on scores...whatever my heart desired! so here is the photo of the 'phone blogging'. i must say i love technology!!
check out the comments from my last post, thank you holiday inn, and see the actual post from the road!
our next stop was just outside of oklahoma city, in yukon, the birthplace of garth brooks i guess (there was a sign) for some dinner at the fav, chilis. thanks ben for the cajun chicken pasta suggestion...amazing! but it just wasnt the same without nikki, ben and amanda, i miss you guys sooo much!
we finally arrived at 10.30pm in ft. smith, arkansas. off to ashville, nc tomorrow! cheers...
