The day before the Wedding

This was a fun day. We met David and Paula in downtown Nashville and visited a thousand gift shops. Had to have a t-shirt you know, and of course a visit to Starbucks. We drove to Franklin, 20 minutes south and had lunch with our friends Scott and Leslie Lehman. They moved here from the Quad Cities and he has a most interesting occupation. What a great couple!

Then we went to the wedding sight for the rehearsal and so David could do interviews with the bride and groom for a video production. After that the four of us had a very relaxing dinner.

Franklin is a fabulous town, very quaint, and very nice people. It would be a great place to live!

We've done lots of driving in this large metropolis and I don't know how we would have found anything without the GPS. That, along with the cell phone adds a lot of convenience to life.

Incidentally, I used the GPS to find an Apple store yesterday. Long drive. After not being able to use my phone for two days, I was anxious to hear the verdict. We were met at the door by a friendly young lady who asked if she could help us. I told her that my IPhone was dead. She took it from me, pushed two buttons to reset and it was fixed in 3 seconds. Boy, did I have egg on my face. Don't we all have to be humbled from time to time?

MEM to BNA

Got to sleep in a little longer today because we only had a 4 hour drive to Nashville. Arrived at the RV Resort at 2pm. This place is really nice and only a half mile from The Grand Ole Oprey. It's where the stars stay that have those deluxe motor coaches. Now for the punch line....We are parked right next to "Larry the Cable Guy!" He was thrilled to meet me....just kidding. I said hi but that was about all the conversation we had. We'll see if he gets any friendlier in the next few days. What went wrong today you ask? Well, my fancy dancy Iphone quit working! How did we live without them? So my project the first thing in the morning is to find an Iphone store.

Going to sit outside now that the sun has gone down and have a drink. Life is good.

OKC to MEM

You gotta love life! You know why? Because everyday is an adventure, and that's what we had today. We left the Oklahoma City KOA, which by the way was very nice, and headed for Memphis.

East of Little Rock, Arkansas we stopped for fuel. In some stations it can get awkward with a big rig. There were semi trucks all over the place and to get to the pump I had to make a tight turn. Too tight, as in the turn we heard an explosion. The corner of the RV hit the back window of the truck and we had glass all over the place. We filled up and since we were an hour from Little Rock we had little choice but to make the trip with a lot of noise.

Now you can imagine this gave a whole new meaning to moving down the highway. We had the feeling the RV was coming through the big hole at our back. My co-pilot plugged in "Auto Glass" in the GPS and it took us to Safelite. I had visions of being hostage in Bill Clinton's home town for a week while they ordered the window.

After maneuvering the rig into their small parking lot I walked in the office and told my story to the receptionist. She said "Would you like the plain, the heated version, or the tinted one?" I couldn't believe my ears. I said "Well, the one that I did have was heated and tinted. She said, "You got it." I thought this is going to cost a fortune. The bill was only $174 installed, and we were out of there in an hour. Thank you to the Safelite team! (The are all over the U.S.)

When we arrived in Memphis we again stopped for fuel and would you believe I had to back up and pull forward about 100 times to get out of the spot I was in. By now I'm frustrated and tired after another 9 hours of driving. I'm really looking forward to the Memphis KOA and a glass of wine.

I missed the exit, went 10 miles out of the way to get to our RV Resort arriving 4 minutes before the office closed. Plugged in the water and electricity, went inside and poured that glass of wine. Setting up my computer and monitor I moved the table slightly to plug in a USB cable and spilled the wine all over the place.

We are safe and sound, no one got hurt, we made a memory, and I'll sleep like a baby tonight.

Short drive to Nashville tomorrow.

ABQ to OKC

Nine hours on I40 today. At one fuel stop in Texas I was parked next to a burly man driving a flat bed truck. The bed was loaded with salt blocks for the farm animals and sitting on top of the blocks were his two dogs. We talked about diesel prices and he said in his Texas drawl, "I was very happy the other day drivin' down the highway after just payin' $3.82 a gallon, and then I had to laugh at myself!" Isn't it funny how we are now thrilled to have prices under $4.oo. The further East we drove the better the prices and at our last stop in Oklahoma City it was $3.73. The KOA here is very nice with lots of trees and a mile off the Interstate, much quieter than last night. Interstate 40 paralells old Route 66 so the big gas stops have plenty of stuff related to that era. "Get your kicks on Route 66!"

You know, when you sit driving for that long, there's plenty of time to think and most people will bring back memories. Good memories are fun to relive, but so is living for today. We have a saying on the back of our RV which states: "Heal the Past, Live the Present, Dream the Future."

Tomorrow morning it's off to Elvis' home town.

PHX to ABQ

Wonderful trip today with a light sprinkle in New Mexico, just enough to ruin the wash job on the truck and the RV. Not complaining. At a fuel stop in Winslow Arizona a rig pulled up next to us at the diesel pumps and I struck up a conversation with the driver. Said they were headed for Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and that's our second stop after the wedding in Nashville. We'll be there at the same time. Small world.

Tonight we are in an RV resort in Albuquerque with much milder temps than Phoenix which is a delight. In two weeks this town will again host the annual hot air balloon festival, the most photographed event in the world. Maybe next year we'll be here for that.

Monday it's Interstate 40 all the way to Oklahoma City.

Be Kind to Your Computer

We pick up our RV today and will be spending tonight and Saturday loading her up for the trip. Church Saturday evening and hit the road Sunday morning.

I'm working on October's Cyber News and included a paragraph about getting mad at your computer, so I thought I'd give you a sneak peak. I remember a few years ago, here in Phoenix, police were called to a residence with a report of gun shots. You guessed it. The guy was so mad at his computer that he shot up the monitor! True story. I took this photo last summer out in the desert while riding our ATV. I guess that person lost his temper too, or just maybe it's the same guy that was in the news!

Look for a video in next month's Cyber News that will really make you think twice before you get mad at your computer!

Enjoy your weekend.

Our Septembr Trip

This week we're busy preparing for our month long trip. So much to think about, like paying bills ahead, cleaners, food, clothes, etc. The great part about this is we are not limited as if we were going to fly. The RV holds tons of stuff!

We'll depart PHX on Sunday 9/21 and spend the first night in Albuquerque. The next night in Oklahoma City, third in Memphis, and arrive in Nashville on Wed. We'll meet our friends David and Paula there and we'll attend my friend Spike's daughter's wedding.

Will leave Nashville on Sun 9/28 and the four of us will travel to Smoky Mountain National Park and stay there for a week, then north to the Quad Cities. We'll stay there about 10 days, time enough to visit family and lots of friends. Life is good!

Lisa & Jason

We received good news today that Lisa and the kids will be able to return to Houston on Thursday, 9/18. They have been in a motel in San Antonio for the past week, escaping the rampage of Hurricane Ike. Jason stayed behind to guard the house and has had no electricity since Ike hit. Limited food in the stores and no gas in most stations. Over 2 million people without power. They still don't have power at their home, but utilities, gas, food, etc are slowly returning. We are just glad that they are safe!