And Then The Rains Came

Best Western: Tree City Inn

So long, Tree City! It started sprinkling as mom finished packing her stuff, but we didn't think much of it. I got a good snap of the building and luckily enough had my umbrella with me, because then the rains came.

Mom drove the car under the hotel awning, but it wasn't enough to protect us from the torrential horizontal downpour. The concierge felt so bad for us – when mom asked for directions, she gave us a free towel.

Mom's all soggy

The wind was blowing so hard it almost forced my umbrella to collapse as we used it as a shield to get in the car. Mom said that we may have missed out on the pool, but we still got a swim!

Fun Places to Pass By

We passed through Friendship and went beyond!

Bucksnort. Enough said. We missed Only though.

An Expensive Butt Dial; Mom Never Stops

I'm a little more coherent now that I've had a few hours of sleep.

The WIFI at this place is pretty great, which was a relief since I'm almost out of phone data as it is. The breakfast was even better! Might be because of the day of eating nothing but crackers and sandwich pockets behind me, but it sure was tasty!

Delicious complementary breakfast at the Tree City Inn

In addition to all that, I finally had the time to really check my emails from yesterday, only to recall an exasperating event. I'd been too tired last night (this morning) to remember, but during our little gas station detour we stopped to eat lunch – mom brought these neat little bread pockets before we left Missouri and we stuffed them full of tuna and egg salad. While we were packing things back into the car, my phone butt dialed a transaction on Pokémon Go.

I don't know how I managed to bump my phone just right enough times for the screen to turn on, activate the minimized Go tab, open the shop, and then not only make but APPROVE a purchase! But apparently I did! 

$20 worth of PokéGo coins.

My only consolation was that it wasn't the $40 or $100 coin buckets, or I would be completely screwed for the rest of this trip. It looks like it's possible to dispute the purchase but I might as well keep the coins, they'll probably come in handy later. I'm gonna have to keep a closer watch on my phone from now on though.

While I'm worried about food and phone charges, mom still hasn't given up the ghost on her endless crafting cause. She's been crocheting almost the entire drive here, and has made two whole ponchos throughout the trip to this point! 

Mom weaving fringe into a poncho in our room at the Tree City Inn

Lord only knows how many she'll have completed by the the time she gets back home.

Night at the Tree City Inn

569.7 miles and 13/14 hours later, the first leg of the trip is finally complete. I actually drove the first 9 hours myself, so I'm kinda proud of that.

After a 30 minute detour to find a Phillips 66 Gas Station (which ended up kind of a waste once we learned we would've run into several if we'd just kept going on the Interstate), I switched with mom on driving. Good thing, too, since the Trip-Tics weren't exactly set up to follow detours.

After nearly getting run over by a pair of rocket-fuel-using racer jerks going 120 on the Interstate, we finally made it to McMinnville! A wrong turn off the highway led us to trailing through the back roads in town the rest of the way, but we made it! Now that we're set up for the night at the local Best Western, with Con Air playing on the TV, we're tucking in for the night. Tomorrow we head for Cumberland Caverns!

In the meantime, feel free to add me on Pokémon Go! I'll be distributing any Friend Gifts I get from Pokéstops along the journey!

The Kudzu Knows

In Tennessee now. The state line was in the middle of a bridge! And as soon as we crossed it– Kudzu as far as the eye can see!

According to Mom, it "Feels like home already!"

Unfortunately, so far there haven't been any stations for the gas card I have. Booooo!