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June
16 @ 11:20 pm
We
left our house this morning at 11:45 for the fabulous Southern
Exposure tour. We were going to leave on Sunday (Father's Day),
but we were both so tired that we decided to delay our start.
It meant missing the open mic at The Bluebird in Nashville, but that
was okay with us. We'd rather start on our adventures fresh and
eager than tired and cranky, especially with the kids along. We
got the critters situated, with our dog Jasper going with my oldest
daughter, Summer, and her father, Mark, and our cat Tigger staying in
her kitty condo at the boarding house. All was set and we were off!
The
kids popped in a video to pass the time as we drove while Granger
and I played the license plate game - we got 42 in one day, and it's
just the first day of the trip! Wonder if we'll find Alaska or Hawaii?
We
hit a great deal of rain throughout Virginia, so much so that I was
looking for animals to start going in twos on their way to an
ark. We stopped in Roanoke for lunch at our favorite
restaurant, Jimmy V's. Wonderful pizza! I think I ate too
much. On the way out of Roanoke, we saw the funniest thing - a
truck with its back window out, with a stuffed Barney hanging from a
noose. Quite a giggle - the kids loved it! (I guess they
got over liking Barney.) Once we hit the state line to
Tennessee, the rain literally stopped completely. We had
planned to stop in Bristol, but decided to press on and stop on the
other side of Knoxville or farther if we felt up to it. We
decided to stop in Knoxville, and here we are at the Motel 6.
We've had our late-night Arby's snack and the kids are all tucked
in. I'm next! We have a wakeup call for 9:00 a.m. so we
can hit the road with time to spare. Arnie Reed, our host in
Nashville, has been so very cool, sending us maps, sightseeing
suggestions, and opening his home to us. We so appreciate
it. We're looking forward to jamming with him while we're there!
I'm
tired, so off to bed. I did manage to catch up on e-mail, so
that was a good thing. I think buying this laptop was a wise
move on my part - so far, so good!
June
18 @ 11:50 a.m.
We
left Knoxville around 11:ish, I think - got to the Nashville city
limits at 1:00, and went to Kroger's and stocked up on some food and
then went on to Arnie's. His house is so peaceful and calm, and
we rested before getting ready for the Broken Spoke. We left
his house around 4:30 and found the Spoke with no problem.
Showtime was 6:00 sharp, and Debi, our hostess, was very nice.
One thing she didn't tell me was that it was an in-the-round kind of
show, so we played ITR with two guys. The show went very well,
except for me dropping my pick on the start of the first song!
I just grabbed another one and jumped back in. One thing I
noticed was that I was the only performer who actually stood up.
It was very Nashville, country songs sung with a twang, cowboy boots
galore, and meaningful ballads. There I was in my bare feet,
standing up, and not following the Nashville pattern - I must just be
a little rebel!
The
Broken Spoke, Nashville, TN - 06/17/03
Photos
by Arnie Reed & Susannah Barrow
After
the Spoke, Arnie suggested that we take the kids to Chuck E.
Cheese. Arnie had never been to one before, so we broke him in
easy. We had a great time catching up while the kids ran
around, and then I joined the kids and ended up winning 118 tickets -
wheee! I split them between the kids, and they got their
goodies. We came back to Arnie's and stayed up until midnight
or later talking some more. I miss Arnie's wife, Nancy; I sense
her presence so strongly. It's only been about six weeks since
she died of leukemia. We watched the memorial video they put
together before she died, and it was one of the most moving things
I've ever seen. It made me smile, too, which I'm sure is what
she wanted.
I
spent this morning sleeping in, and then having a cup of tea on
Arnie's porch, conversing with the birds. It's so peaceful and
green here, and I don't want to leave. The kids are fussy
today, but we don't need to go anywhere or do anything since there's
no show tonight. We had considered finding an open mic or
something akin to that, but decided we'd have more fun jamming with
Arnie in his basement. Tomorrow we head out to Little Rock and
my friend Becks, which we're really looking forward to. More then!
June
19 @ 1:17 CST
We
had a very quiet day today, got up when we wanted to after a good
night's sleep, then took a nap when we were watching cartoons with
the kids. Very nice. After we woke up, we went to the
River Gate Mall and got Hank some swim trunks, Granger a haircut, and
me a shirt with sleeves since I didn't bring any, thinking it would
be 90+ degrees. Silly me - it's only summertime, what was I
thinking?! I don't think it's gotten above 75 the entire trip
so far. After the mall, we went to a restaurant named Cooker,
and called Arnie to come join us when he got home from work. It
was great food, very delicious. We went back to Arnie's house,
hung out for a bit while he packed for a trip, and then went
downstairs and jammed with him. What fun! We had debated
whether or not to go to an open mic tonight to try to do something
else while in Nashville, but decided it would be infinitely more fun
to play with Arnie in his basement than go sit in a noisy bar and
hope to play something. Speaking of hoping to play, believe it
or not I finally heard from The Bluebird Cafe today - seems they had
misplaced the press kit I sent a few months ago, just found it, and
want me to come do a Writer's Night. Well, the timing wasn't
great on that one, but having done a lot of booking acts myself, I
know that sometimes things slip through the cracks. So, we're
planning on coming back this way to do The Bluebird, and maybe some
other stuff while we're here.
June
21 @ 4:05 pm
I'm
sitting on Diane Litke's deck in Richardson, TX right now, enjoying
the sunshine and warm breeze. Her house is gorgeous, and the
ambiance is so wonderful. It's amazing how you can tell that a
house and its owner are meant for each other.
We
left Nashville a little late, and I simply had
to stop at Loretta Lynn's Kitchen in Hurricane Mills, TN to buy my
dad (who's a big Loretta fan) a postcard and some goodies from the
gift shop. The woman at the gift shop said she'd heard of me,
and wanted to know why I wasn't at the songwriters' showcase up at
the ranch. Hmmm, something to do next year! (Strange that
she'd heard of me!)
We
made it to Little Rock around 8:00 Thursday night, and to Becky and
Keith's for the most delicious dinner at about 8:30. She made a
casserole of chicken and spaghetti that was so good I had to have
seconds, and the recipe. We got to meet their son, Chris, and
he was such a cool guy. We hung out at Becky and Keith's for
awhile, and agreed that since they were pretty far out from Little
Rock, it would be better for us to get a hotel near the radio station
for the 8:00 a.m. show the next morning. So, we stayed at the
Presidential Holiday Inn (can you say, "Bill Clinton"?)
across from the new Clinton library, about two miles from the station
(near President Clinton Boulevard - sense a theme going here?!).
We left a wakeup call at the desk for 6:30 am, and headed to
bed. The next morning, my cell phone rang, and I answered it,
all groggy and sleepy. It was Becky and Keith, there to meet us
and lead us to The Buzz. Only problem was, it was 7:15, and we
were to be there at 7:30! AGH! Thank God Becky called,
because the hotel never did - so, we frantically washed up, got
dressed, and hauled you-know-what to the station, making it there at
about 7:45 am. We had about 10 minutes to warm up before the
show started, thank God. Unfortunately, there was no plug-in
for Granger's bass, so he ended up just doing backing vocals.
We had a great time with Chris Brown, Stanley Knox, and Jeff Allen
from 103.7
The Buzz,
and Jim Harris from The Arkansas Times, who had tried to get us a
show in Little Rock the night before. They were all a bunch of
great folks who made us feel right at home, and the show lasted
longer than we expected, we were all having such a good time.
They played a cut from The Distance Wall and a track from Trickle,
and we played live 10K Arrows and The Distance Wall. Wanda, my
bud from Wisconsin, called the show, too - that was the coolest
thing! Becky was such fun - she was right in there with us,
having a great time. She really came through for us - they all
did. After the show, we (Granger and I, the kids, and Becky)
went back to the hotel and had breakfast, chilled out, and then Becky
left with Keith and we packed up to head out to Dallas.
KABZ
103.7 FM - The Buzz, Little Rock, AR - 6/20/03
First
three photos by Becky Cheney
All
other photos courtesy of The BuzzCam, captured by Franco Pietoso
(Thanks, Franco!)
Ah,
the trip to Dallas! Let's see, we got diverted on I-30 because
of the jack-knifed tractor-trailer, then there was the accident on
I-30 trying to get to I-75 - by this time, our sound check at Uncle
Calvin's had passed, and we hit every red light there was trying to
get to the show! ARGH! We got there at 7:15 (doors open
at 7:30), ran in, did our sound check, threw our merch at the sales
people, and went to the green room to change out of our traveling
clothes. They ask for the credit card slips to get the merch
set up, and Granger went out to the car to get our lockbox with the
credit card slips, cash, etc. Only, it wasn't there. It's
in a hotel in Knoxville, TN. I'm not a very happy girl at this
point, and we have ten minutes before we go on. So, we decided
to put that aside and concentrate on the show and having a good
time. I have really looked forward to this show and to meeting
Michael and Chris, friends I've known for years but haven't met in
person until tonight. We went out there, played well, and had a
kick-ass set. We got an encore, and came back and did Thin
Line. We enlisted the audience to help with the
"oohs", and they were great! We hung around after the
show to hear Jean Sydoninos's sets, and thoroughly enjoyed her.
Then, we piled in the car and came to Diane's house, where we're
staying for the weekend and doing a house concert. She and
Susan are so hospitable and welcoming, it's wonderful
Uncle
Calvin's Coffeehouse, Dallas, TX - 6/20/03
Photos
by Diane Litke
We're
off with Diane to go pick up the new Harry Potter book, and then go
out for pizza. More as things happen.
June
22 @ 11:15 pm CST
It's
the end of the day, and we've packed up the car with most of our
stuff. Speaking of stuff, boy, did we bring too much of
it! So, we weeded out our baggage and are mailing two boxes of
"stuff" home tomorrow on the way out to Lake Charles.
One thing I've noticed about Texas - big blue skies - nothing is
small here!
It
has been so much fun staying here with Diane and Susan. We
piled in our cars last night and went to get the new Harry Potter
book at Borders, only to find they were sold out. So, we went
to Target, and found several copies. We were very happy that
Borders was sold out, as their price was $30 and the Target price was
$16. Diane got a copy, and I got two, one for me and one for
Hank. Then we went and had some damned good pizza at Diane and
Susan's favorite pizza joint. All in all it was a nice, restful
evening with good company.
Diane
is an amazing
photographer,
and her work is all over their house. I'm such a visual and
tactile person that I've been reveling in all the photos.
They're just amazing, especially her hand photo gallery - she takes
pictures of performers' hands, and she has some really beautiful
shots, full of character and grace.
We
did our concert, and had a nice crowd. I was so happy to see
my friend Chris there, she and I have been friends for years, but
have never met in person. (I think I mentioned this
earlier.) Anyway, it was great to be able to sit and talk with
each other in person. She's an ice skater, and one of the
dearest people I've met. In addition to her we met some really
nice people, including a gentleman named Mike with whom I had a long
chat, and Kelly, who was so vibrant and funny.
Diane
took a bunch of pictures of the show, and presented us with pictures
of our hands afterwards, signed and dated. They're
awesome! She's incredibly talented.
Right
now it's off to bed for me as we have an early start in the morning
in order to get to the next show on time, and I want to read some
more of the new Harry Potter book!
Bonedoc's,
Richardson, TX - 6/22/03
Photos
by Diane Litke
June
25 @ 1:15 CST
Here
we are in New Orleans, watching the rain batter the French
Quarter. Yep, we're ready to go out sightseeing, and it's
pouring! That won't stop us, though - we brought umbrellas!
We
got to Lake Charles right on time, checked into the hotel, and went
for a dip in the pool before heading over to Raymond's for the house
concert. We had such a good time there; Raymond and Julie were
the perfect hosts and the audience was so much fun. This was a
very laid back concert; Granger and I sat the whole time in the most
comfortable bar stools, which we usually don't do. It was a
nice change for us. Raymond had made some kind of Louisiana
treat, and I can't for the life of me remember what they're called -
the closest I can come is "pooballs"! There were a
bunch of kids there, which was great for our kids. I know they
were glad to be out of the car and with their peers, that's for
sure. Raymond's show was one of the best so far - SO much fun!
Steiner
House Concert Series, Lake Charles, LA - 6/22/03
Photos
by Ray Steiner
We
left for New Orleans yesterday, allowing four hours in case of
construction on the road. We've been running into a lot of that
lately. We got here in three, and are staying in the Plaza
Suite right next to the French Quarter, and midway between both
shows. We played O'Flaherty's last night, and played very
well. Unfortunately, we didn't have much of an audience as the
club was tucked way back in the back of several nightclubs in the
same complex, and the posters I'd sent were never put up. We
had fun anyway, and went to eat at a restaurant on the corner
afterwards. We had delicious gulf shrimp and salads and I saw
the "go cups" at the end of the bar by the door. I
remember well the go cups from my youth; every restaurant/bar in New
Orleans (and in Fort Walton Beach, FL) had plastic cups so you could
pour your drink in one and take it with you to the next bar.
There was a gift shop next door to the restaurant (of course, you
can't walk two feet without finding a gift shop!) and we picked up
some Mardi Gras masks and beads for the kids. Tonight is the
show at Neutral Ground, and I've just discovered a time discrepancy
in my notes - looks like we're on at 8:00, not 8:30, and Richard at
O'Flaherty's said last night that we play for an hour. Guess
I'll find out tonight!
We're
off to play in the Quarter in the rain.
O'Flaherty's,
New Orleans, LA - 9/24/03
Photos
by Carey and by Susannah Barrow
July
4th, 9:57 am
Well,
we got home last night (yay!) and I'd had no opportunity to catch up
on the tour diary during the rest of the trip. So, let's see
how much I can remember! Well, I left off right before we
played Neutral Ground in New Orleans. After one aborted
attempt, we finally found the coffeehouse, which is tucked into the
back of one of the older sections of New Orleans. It turns out
that it's a membership-type of place with lots of college-aged
kids. It has a nice ambiance with games, books, couches, and
comfy chairs. The kids settled into a table and chair
arrangement and hung out reading, drawing, and playing with their
stuff. The bathroom (yes, only one!) hall was painted in
gorgeous colors, and even had elvish runes - naturally, being the
Tolkienite that I am, I took pictures of it. It was someone
named Bryan's birthday, so our original scheduled time (8:30) was
correct, due to the ongoing celebration. We had a really good
set, stayed for part of Gina Forsyth's set at 10:00, and went back to
the hotel.
Neutral
Ground Coffeehouse, New Orleans, LA - 06/25/03
Photos
by Carey and by Susannah Barrow
A
note on our hotel - we stayed at the Plaza Suite Hotel right off the
French Quarter, and it was probably the best hotel stay of the entire
trip. It's an old firehouse, and when you check in, you drive
your car right into the lobby to unload. The room we stayed in
was actually two; a living area with a foldout couch, and a separate
bedroom. Two of the nicest aspects of this hotel were
honest-to-God soft and fluffy towels, and a kitchenette. We had
stayed at Motel 6 and Holiday Inn and as everyone knows, most hotel
towels are pretty much like giant pieces of sandpaper, so The Plaza's
towels felt REALLY good!
The
Plaza Suite, New Orleans, LA
Photo
by Carey
To
pass time before our show at Neutral Ground, we went to the Aquarium
of the Americas and saw frogs, seahorses (I saw a pregnant daddy!),
jellyfish, sharks, piranha, and even a white alligator. We also
petted baby sharks in a tank, and found that they're actually really
very soft. The kids had a great time there, and we'd definitely
like to go back.
The
White Alligator
Photo
by Carey
We
left New Orleans on Thursday morning and made our way to our friend
Doc's house in Hattiesburg, MS. As usual, we found all the
construction on the Interstates! It was raining as we left, but
nothing serious - just the intermittent bursts of southern
thunderstorms amid the sunshine. We made great time and got to
Doc's in time to throw in a load of laundry (thank heavens for
washing machines!), shower, and relax a bit before the Pony Espresso
show in Columbia. I spent much of my time that afternoon on the
phone, talking to Motel 6 guest relations in an attempt to find out
who stole the lockbox out of our room in Knoxville the first night of
our trip. Not surprisingly, the mystery wasn't solved, although
we have a very good idea of who took it. We spent the rest of
the trip unable to take credit card charges, as the slips were in the lockbox.
The
Pony Espresso is about 30 minutes from Doc's house, so he got home
from his long commute and we followed him out of his subdivision (I
believe he termed the roads as "boiled spaghetti," and he
was right!) to head down 98 to Columbia. I had really been
looking forward to this show as Claire von Gahlen and I had hit it
off very well during my booking inquiries, and her place sounded so
cool. I was right, it was without a doubt one of the best
places we played during the trip, and we had such a good time.
Her store is half coffee/goody shop and half toy store. We
played outside in front of the store on a nice stage under a
tree. It was our only outdoor show on the tour, and we loved
it! The audience was so receptive and appreciative, and we had
such a good time with them. Doc took pictures, too. (I
have six instant cameras here at my elbow, waiting to be
developed!) After the show, we indulged in a Peach Freeze and a
Lime Freeze - heaven! If you're ever near Columbia, MS, you
should definitely stop in for a rest and a treat. Tell them we
said hi! Claire is one of the coolest people, and we're so glad
we met her. She gifted me with a tiny yellow toy turtle, which
became our tour mascot and perched on the dashboard for the rest of
the trip.
The
Tiny
Yellow Turtle,
Riding On The Dash
Photo
by Carey
The
Pony Espresso, Columbia, MS - 6/26/03
Most
photos by Doc Dunn
We
crashed back at Doc's house after the show, but didn't have nearly
enough time to hang out with Doc as he was up and out at 6:45 the
next morning. We had intended to spend two days with him, but
with the rain in Louisiana we decided to go ahead and stay one extra
day so we'd have somewhere to go in the afternoon before the Neutral
Ground show instead of wandering New Orleans in the rain for six or
seven hours.
We
left Doc's Friday morning for our 2:00 pm gig at WUWF
88.1 FM
in Pensacola. We got there right at 1:45, and had a wonderful
time. John Macdonell is the host of Acoustic Interlude, and we
found during our conversations that he and I had lived in Fort Walton
Beach, FL at the same time! Yep, it is indeed a small
world. John is a very gracious, fun, and friendly man, and we
had a blast doing the show with him.
WUWF
88.1 FM, Pensacola, FL - 6/27/03
Photos
by Susannah Barrow
Click
here for an MP3 of Carey's new song, Ten
Thousand Arrows,
live on WUWF!
|
Our
friend Leslie and her family |
After
that, we drove to our friend Leslie's house on Perdido Key, which is
about as west as you can get in Florida, since it borders
Alabama. Now, having lived in Fort Walton, which is about 45
minutes or so away from Pensacola, I was familiar with Perdido Key
and Pensacola. Of course, I only knew how to get to the Harley
shop and the biker hangouts back then, so a lot of it was unexplored
territory for me! I had been looking forward to seeing my old
friend Rusty
McHugh,
who's a regular performer at the FloraBama.
He invited me to come play with him there, and it had been about 25
years since we'd seen each other. I met Rusty and his partner,
Mike Fincher, when they came to Fort Walton back in 1977.
They'd come to town from LaGrange, GA, with ten dollars to their
name, an old Volkswagen Thing, and a dog named Barney. I was
the bartender the night they came into the Beer Gardens to
audition. During that time frame, I was bartending,
waitressing, and singing on my breaks. (I kept myself busy,
didn't I?!) Mike and Rusty were a hoot, and we became
friends. So, here I am years later, looking forward to our
reunion. Unfortunately, Mike passed away in December of 2002,
but Rusty is still going strong. We had a great reunion, and I
had a ton of fun at the FloraBama. It was much like playing the
Beer Gardens again, with bras and panties hanging from the ceiling, a
rowdy crowd, and beer and liquor flying over the bar in record
numbers. We ended up doing some of my more obscure tunes, such
as The
Older That I Get The Worse Men Seem,
which was in keeping with Rusty's songs, such as Daddy's
Drunk And Naked On The Waterslide
and Who's
Your Poondaddy?.
It was definitely old home week! But, I missed Mike terribly.
The
FloraBama, Perdido Key, FL - 6/28/03
Here's
some shots from when Rusty and I first met. Didn't we all look
young?! (It's because we were!)
I
ran into some old compatriots of mine, including Jimmy Louis, who
knew all the people I used to know. Unfortunately, as happens
with bikers, a lot of my old friends are dead now. However, we
did catch up on who was still alive, who was doing what, and who was where.
After
the FloraBama, Granger and I headed back to Leslie's house and
grabbed the kids (no, they didn't come with us!) and headed for the
beach. I sat on the white sand, humming "Beach Town"
to myself, and watched the waves and the sky while the kids dashed
about in the waves. Felt just like coming home again. I
gathered (as I usually do) about a gazillion seashells, felt the salt
spray on my face, got sunburned a little, added another few hundred
freckles to the ones I already have, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Leslie
treated us to dinner at her restaurant, The Oyster Bar, and the food
was soooo good! One of my favorite things is hushpuppies and
fried shrimp, and I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven.
Scrumptious! We went back to Leslie's after that and sat on the
deck overlooking the bay and talked for hours. There's nothing
like spending time with friends - can't beat it.
We
left (reluctantly) on Sunday for Atlanta, GA to see Granger's
brothers, Don and Mike, and their wives, Mary and Brandi. The
kids were glad to see family and cousins, and we had a blast. Mary
makes a mean apple pie! We caught up with each other and did
the family thang - it had been way too long since we'd seen each
other, so we were really looking forward to this part of the trip.
On
Monday night the kids stayed with the family while Granger and I
drove about 100 miles (there and back again) to Decatur to play
Eddie's Attic. We had a blast, got a recording of our set, had
some good food and heard some really good music, and had a night
out. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and enjoyed seeing our
friend Lea's name as coming in second at the open mic shootout!
(Yay, Lea!) We meandered back to Don and Mary's house in the
throes of tropical storm Bill, which was creeping up behind us as we
left the Gulf.
Sorry
- there are no photos of Eddie's Attic; we ran out of time and
cameras! We
do have a CD of our set though :).
The
next day (Tuesday), we were off to Spartanburg, SC to do our gig at
the Guitar Bar. We stopped for lunch in Carnesville, GA at a
Petro travel plaza. Unfortunately, during our stop, someone
stole my cell phone out of my purse and made off with it.
Luckily, Granger's was still with him and we made the obligatory
calls to the cell phone company, making sure service was turned off
before whoever took it called Timbuktu and charged it to me. (A
replacement cell phone was waiting for me when we got home - get
those service plans, folks - they're definitely worth the cost!)
We got to Spartanburg with no further problems, checked into our
motel, and headed downtown to do the show. We were originally
scheduled to play for 30 minutes, but ended up playing for two hours,
even though the rain had kept the crowds away. Scott, our
gracious host and co-owner of the Guitar Bar with his friend Marc,
even got up and played drums with us! Scott, Rose (the
bartender), and everyone there were so much fun and we look forward
to our return there. I promised Rose I'd re-learn Angels
Rejoiced for her, too - we both love that song!
The
Guitar Bar, Spartanburg, SC - 7/1/03
Photos
by Carey and by Susannah Barrow
By
Wednesday morning, we were starting to itch for home. We were
on Week Three of the tour, and the car was starting to feel really
small. But, we had one more gig and more friends to see before
the last leg home. On the way to North Carolina, we took a
picture of the giant peach on the highway - now that would make one
heck of a peach pie! Our last show on the road was at a small
coffee shop called Open Eye Cafe in Carrboro, NC, right outside of
Chapel Hill. Our friends Donna and Kim Ramsey were going to drive
over from their home in Nashville, NC to see us, and Kim was going to
sit in with us on percussion, but due to T.S. Bill and tornado
warnings, they (wisely) stayed home safe and snug. We got into
town early, and since we were staying Kim and Donna after the show,
we looked for ways to amuse ourselves until show time. We found
a fabulous restaurant called Amante's, which has the absolute best
pizza I've ever
eaten (and I eat a LOT of pizza). We spent about an hour there,
chowing down, and waiting for the rain to subside.
The
Giant Peach, somewhere in South Carolina
Photos
by Carey
With
rain coming in intermittent bursts, we headed over to Open Eye and
played to a small but friendly crowd, including my long-time online
friend, Jackie, and her husband, Greg. The kids, old hands at
amusing themselves during our shows by now, hung out quietly while we
played. They really proved to be quite the troopers during this
tour. Jackie and I had fun catching up with each other after
the show. After saying our goodbyes, we headed on to Casa
Ramsey (Donna and Kim's), knowing we'd get there around midnight
since they live about an hour and a half away from Carrboro. As
always, they welcomed us with open arms, and we stayed up until about
3:00 a.m. catching up with each other. They are such cool
people, and dear friends.
Open
Eye Cafe, Carrboro, NC - 7/2/03
Photos
by Susannah Barrow
The
next day, we had planned to leave at about 10:00 to get home in time
to pick up our cat from the boarding kennel and get to the grocery
store. Well, after staying up so late, we woke up a little
later than 10:00! We left the Ramseys and made our way home,
determined not to stop for anything until we were in Virginia.
We made our way up 95, looking forward to home and hearth, with the
rains still intermittent and heavy. We'd already seen one car
off the road thanks to T.S. Bill, and we were not going to be one of
them! We knew we were close to home when about 10 miles outside
of Fredericksburg, traffic became heavy and slow. After
stopping and going and stopping and going and almost getting into a
very bad accident due to idiots who were driving like there was no
bad weather, we decided we'd really like to get home in one piece and
we ditched I-95 for Route 17. MUCH better! It wasn't the
interstate, but it was moving! We got home in time to snag our
daughter Summer, our cat Tigger, and get to the grocery store to
replenish those bare cabinets we'd left behind.
So,
here we are, safe at home with great memories of places we went,
people we met, silly souvenirs, a lot of dirty laundry, and smiles on
our faces. We'll definitely be back on the road again next year
(if not sooner)!
We'd
like to say huge and heartfelt thank yous to the following people
who so graciously opened their homes and hearts to us:
Arnie
Reed
Becky
and Keith Cheney
Diane
Litke (and Susan, too!)
"Doc"
Dean Dunn
Leslie,
Steve, Parker, and Max Cole
Mary
and Don Helvey
Donna
and Kim Ramsey
We'd
also like to give huge thanks to Jayson
Hait
for working so hard and quickly on the tour t-shirts. She did a
great job! We still have some available, so e-mail
us
if you're interested in having one. Here's an up-close shot of
the front of a black and white one:
The
back of the shirt has all the tour dates :).
And
here's our Best/Worst
List:
Best
Place We Ate:
Becky's house in White Hall, AR; The Oyster Bar in Perdido Key, FL;
and Amante's Pizza in Carrboro, NC
Worst
Place We Ate:
Stuckey's (one without a DQ)
Worst
Hotel:
Motel 6 (any of them!)
Best
Hotel:
Plaza Suite in New Orleans, LA
Best
Video the Kids Watched in the Car:
Osmosis
Jones
CD
We Listened to Most:
CPR (all of them)
Best
Assortment of Yummy Goodies:
The Pony Espresso in Columbia, MS
Best
Gift Shop:
The Gator in New Orleans, LA
Best
Gas Price:
$1.29 a gallon, Roswell, GA
Worst
Gas Price:
$1.50, Stony Creek, VA
Worst
Traffic (besides DC):
Dallas, TX
Granger's
Favorite Bar With Bras On the Ceiling:
The FloraBama, Perdido Key, FL
Funniest
Town Name:
Bucksnort, TN
Most
Ominous Town Name:
Fate, TX
Best
Key Lime Pie:
Neutral Ground Coffeehouse, New Orleans, LA
Looks
like we'll be on the road again next year, so stay tuned!
P.S.
We found 49 states in the license plate game, everything except
Hawaii :). |
