And So Our Trip Begins

Abingdon, VA to Memphis, TN

 Oct. 4 - Oct. 5

And our heroes are off...slightly to the left! On Friday, Oct. 4 we packed up our Penske truck, had a delicious "last supper" at Mellow Mushroom, and spend one last night in Abingdon. Around noon on Saturday, we finished a few last minute things and said goodbye to our Southwest Virginia home. 

Ryan drove the entire first day, which was pretty impressive since handling this bad boy (AKA the truck) was rather difficult. 

State #1: Tennessee 

 We lived 19 miles from the border, so we crossed into our second state fairly quickly. Tennessee was beautiful and were very sad we didn't have the chance to explore it more while living so close. 

Stop #1: The Minister's Treehouse in Crossville, TN

O.M.G. This was too flippin' cool! We were able to explore the treehouse which is over 90 ft. tall and has 80 rooms. 

It was sad to see that it was no longer in use, but pretty cool to think about when it was. 

Here's some examples of the graffiti on the walls. Of course we had to take a picture of the shout out to JJ! 

**Alright, now time for the big reveal for those of your who**

**followed our trip via Facebook posts.**

The first picture is the view from the very top of the treehouse, over 90 ft.!! Next, is Ryan's favorite picture. He just loves how he captured pure fear as I slowly came down from the bell tower. The last one is me feeling so accomplished! I hate heights and when I finally reached precious solid ground, I realized how far up I actually went. WHOA! 

Stop #2: Nashville, TN

We got back on the road and continued West on 40 towards Nashville. We had planned to stop for dinner there, we had a recommendation from JPoo to stop in for BBQ at the Wild Horse. Unfortunately, we arrived in Nashville on a very busy Saturday night making maneuvering our truck through the streets slightly difficult. The only place large enough to fit the behemoth truck was in a paid parking lot, we had to pay for 2 parking spots! Once we got the parking situation settled and found the Wild Horse, it was packed and required a cover charge. Ryan and I agreed that we much rather spend our hour speed walking around Nashville than only seeing one place. Here's some of what we saw within our race around the happenin' town!

Since we were in Nashville, we had to see the Country Music Hall of Fame & Museum. It was HUGE! 

There were horse drawn carriages everywhere. Some even had puppies helping the drivers guide the horses. 

1. We stopped to take a picture of the Wild Horse, even though we weren't able to enjoy their BBQ. 

2. CMT building

3. Part of the Arena 

Schermerhorn Symphony Center

1. Shelby Street Pedestrian Walking Bridge. 

2. A grainy picture of us before walking the bridge.

3. Cumberland River and LP Field where the Tennessee Titans play! 

We saw so much, so quickly it was hard to capture it all. We walked down 2nd Ave. and around Broadway, which has all the hot spots and night life. Of course we happened to choose the night of a college football game...one where a Tennessee team was playing. There were so many people cheering in the streets, it was crazy! My family part of our race through Nashville was seeing a bride and groom (in a beautiful white dress & tux) with their photographer stop traffic in the middle of Broadway (a VERY busy intersection) to take an amazing picture surrounded by night life and city lights. 

Final Destination: Memphis, TN

Around 7pm we were back on 40W heading for Memphis, where we would stay the night. Ryan was responsible for writing down the details of this part of the trip and here's exactly what he wrote:

- Arrived at Memphis at 11pm- NO MOTEL!

-Car Problem--NOT TO BE DISCUSSED!!

-Stayed at Econolodge- CHECKED IN AT 2AM! 

I'll just leave it at that. I feel like his words sum up the night pretty well. 

Holy cow! I didn't realize how much we did in one day, our first day at that!

xoxo