Day 12 (Thursday, January 10th)
Anything extraterrestrial has always fascinated my science fiction-loving brain. Daniel may have been most excited to see the Grand Canyon on Day 11, but I was more excited for our stop on Day 12. We left our hotel later than intended and made our way out. I had not told Daniel about this destination, but I plugged in the address to his phone maps. We drove only for about three hours before we pulled into the parking lot of the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico! What a fantastic way to start the day! We even got some live footage of aliens with their ship and spent more money than we should have on gifts for our friends...but it was just too good to pass up! We realized that we were running about two hours later than intended and tried to rush to our next nightly stop.
Amarillo, Texas was about halfway between Roswell and our stop on the Oklahoma border, and I wanted Daniel to get a little taste of some Texas beef. He opted to have this in the form of big, juicy 16oz bone-in ribeye with minced garlic on top at one of the weirdest cowboy-themed stops I have ever seen. They had an eating contest that challenged people to completely finish a 72oz steak and ALL of the trimmings in under an hour. Daniel and I kept our spirits up and our stomachs quiet by watching via webcam as three people attempted this. One person even ended up winning! This stop ended up tacking on extra time to our trip that we hadn't planned for. We ended up getting to our hotel at nearly one in the morning. It was out in the middle of nowhere, too, which was a bit unsettling. The room was amazing, however, and we were able to rest and recover, since the next day's drive was not as taxing.
Day 13 (Friday, January 11th)
Rain greeted us as we stepped out of our warm hotel lobby on this morning. We opted to just push through in the hopes that we could outrun the worst of the storm. This choice saved us some discomfort in the end, but not before we encountered some seriously slippery streets! Honestly, the only thing we really remember of Oklahoma between sheets of rain was the overwhelming and pervading smell of all things cow and dirt. There was a nice little Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way as well as a fairly decent gas station that had some really cool gifts for our family. The people we encountered were friendly and helpful, but we were very excited to finally reach our hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Day 14 (Saturday, January 12th)
More rain attacked our hotel windows this morning. Luckily, breakfast hours are extended on the weekend at our hotels, so we were able to catch on some much-needed sleep and enjoy a nice waffle and cup of OJ. We also called in an order to the most highly locally recommended BBQ joint around so that Daniel could experience Memphis's version of the southern staple that is BBQ. I thought ribs would be an appropriate choice considering the location, and we were not disappointed. Next on our agenda was Graceland, but we though it wise to cross this off the list on a different trip, since the rain had started up even more heavily again. It was our pleasure to spend some time with friends just south of Nashville before heading down the home stretch of our journey to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It is still raining here as I type these belated blog posts while our pile of laundry is being washed and while Daniel and I shove pizza in our faces and dream of passing out until about noon tomorrow. I will likely not post more of the trip, but I truly appreciate all of your time and attention in helping us achieve this huge goal of ours! I also appreciate you sticking with us and reading through all of this text! Congratulations! Go, you! You should be proud of yourself!
Thank you all so much for your prayers, well-wishes, and contributions. Daniel and I hope to send some nice things out to people within the next few weeks, so be looking out for that. Have a wonderful week, and stay tuned for our post made entirely of pictures!!
~*Mrs. Simpson*~
Anything extraterrestrial has always fascinated my science fiction-loving brain. Daniel may have been most excited to see the Grand Canyon on Day 11, but I was more excited for our stop on Day 12. We left our hotel later than intended and made our way out. I had not told Daniel about this destination, but I plugged in the address to his phone maps. We drove only for about three hours before we pulled into the parking lot of the International UFO Museum & Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico! What a fantastic way to start the day! We even got some live footage of aliens with their ship and spent more money than we should have on gifts for our friends...but it was just too good to pass up! We realized that we were running about two hours later than intended and tried to rush to our next nightly stop.
Amarillo, Texas was about halfway between Roswell and our stop on the Oklahoma border, and I wanted Daniel to get a little taste of some Texas beef. He opted to have this in the form of big, juicy 16oz bone-in ribeye with minced garlic on top at one of the weirdest cowboy-themed stops I have ever seen. They had an eating contest that challenged people to completely finish a 72oz steak and ALL of the trimmings in under an hour. Daniel and I kept our spirits up and our stomachs quiet by watching via webcam as three people attempted this. One person even ended up winning! This stop ended up tacking on extra time to our trip that we hadn't planned for. We ended up getting to our hotel at nearly one in the morning. It was out in the middle of nowhere, too, which was a bit unsettling. The room was amazing, however, and we were able to rest and recover, since the next day's drive was not as taxing.
Day 13 (Friday, January 11th)
Rain greeted us as we stepped out of our warm hotel lobby on this morning. We opted to just push through in the hopes that we could outrun the worst of the storm. This choice saved us some discomfort in the end, but not before we encountered some seriously slippery streets! Honestly, the only thing we really remember of Oklahoma between sheets of rain was the overwhelming and pervading smell of all things cow and dirt. There was a nice little Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way as well as a fairly decent gas station that had some really cool gifts for our family. The people we encountered were friendly and helpful, but we were very excited to finally reach our hotel in Memphis, Tennessee.
Day 14 (Saturday, January 12th)
More rain attacked our hotel windows this morning. Luckily, breakfast hours are extended on the weekend at our hotels, so we were able to catch on some much-needed sleep and enjoy a nice waffle and cup of OJ. We also called in an order to the most highly locally recommended BBQ joint around so that Daniel could experience Memphis's version of the southern staple that is BBQ. I thought ribs would be an appropriate choice considering the location, and we were not disappointed. Next on our agenda was Graceland, but we though it wise to cross this off the list on a different trip, since the rain had started up even more heavily again. It was our pleasure to spend some time with friends just south of Nashville before heading down the home stretch of our journey to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It is still raining here as I type these belated blog posts while our pile of laundry is being washed and while Daniel and I shove pizza in our faces and dream of passing out until about noon tomorrow. I will likely not post more of the trip, but I truly appreciate all of your time and attention in helping us achieve this huge goal of ours! I also appreciate you sticking with us and reading through all of this text! Congratulations! Go, you! You should be proud of yourself!
Thank you all so much for your prayers, well-wishes, and contributions. Daniel and I hope to send some nice things out to people within the next few weeks, so be looking out for that. Have a wonderful week, and stay tuned for our post made entirely of pictures!!
~*Mrs. Simpson*~
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