Asheville trip recap (alt. title “Us versus Them”)

Well, folks, we finally made it home. Apologies for not providing updates on the return trip as we sped across the South at the speed that a child’s bladder fills, but we didn’t have reliable computer access for the past several days. As best I recall, my last update was from Asheville on Wednesday morning, so I’ll pick up the trail from there. Here are the highpoints from the last half of the week:

WEDNESDAY: We had a great hike and nature walk at the North Carolina Arboretum outside Asheville. The kids really enjoyed spotting lizards and mushrooms, eating wild blueberries (esp. Jack), seeing the tree that was planted in memory of Matt Henry, and eating a cookie in the rocking chairs after the hike. From there we headed to the old standby ChikFilA and then on to Wall-E. The kids—for that matter, the adults, too—enjoyed the movie. Sammy enjoyed the first 30 minutes, at least—then he fell asleep in Daddy’s arms. We were all really impressed by the messages about waste and conservation that the kids got from the movie. After we got home, we had a huge Wii tournament—Jack knocked out Uncle Sambo, much to Sambo’s chagrin—and then the adults headed out for the evening to a show in Greenville, SC. The show—Avenue Q—was a lot of fun; the best description is an R-rated, cynical version of Sesame Street. As this is a family show, further description isn’t appropriate, but I did manage to find out (finally) what the internet is for. (See http://www.avenueq.com/soundtrack.html if you’re not sure.)

THURSDAY/ASHEVILLE: Early Thursday morning, while the rest of the troops were continuing their destruction of the backyard, Sambo took Jack to Waffle House for a little Godfather-godson bonding. As the rest of us were starving after packing up our week’s worth of gear and cleaning—as best we could—up S&K’s once-lovely home, we repacked the car and headed back to downtown Asheville for our obligatory trip to Tupelo Honey (www.tupelohoneycafe.com). Wow. That place never gets old and the food is incredible; what a great way to cap off a fantastic trip to Asheville. After our meal (Eggs Betty for Cathy, a granola sweet potato pancake for me) we had to walk off our food coma before getting on the road, so we set off to Mast’s General Store, where the kids each got a t-shirt and I got a bag full of hard candy…for the kids. (Incidentally, you inevitably learn something about people when you travel halfway across the country with them. Despite the fact that Cathy and I have been together for so long, I learned [or re-learned, as the case may be] on this trip that Cathy doesn’t like hard candy. Sorry, sweetie!) On the way back to the car, I stopped at Jack of the Wood (a favorite pub where we didn’t have the chance to stop for a beer, unfortunately) and bought a pint glass and t-shirt for myself. Jack had a hard time getting in the car after all the special time with Sambo, but we eventually got everyone strapped in, said our goodbyes, and reluctantly hit the road. It was an awesome time with Sambo and Kendra—thanks again for the great visit and wonderful hosting!

THURSDAY/ROAD: With Asheville in our rearview mirror, we started our trip back to Texas with our first planned stop in Decatur, GA. What a beautiful drive. We headed off west along the southern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park into the Nantahala National Forest in western NC, and then on into the Cherokee National Forest and the Ocoee Recreational Area in eastern TN. We didn’t move too quickly here, but the scenery was well worth it. Most of the driving was done alongside rivers, and we saw a lot of kayaking and white water rafting—especially at an unplanned potty stop at the whitewater kayak venue for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics! What a fortuitous stop—and a great facility that they’ve kept up for travelers. We got some good pics on a suspension bridge over the Ocoee River there. I’m now regretting not buying the t-shirt I saw there that said “Paddle faster…I hear banjo music!” We’ve decided that we need to return when the kids are bigger to explore this area more and take everyone rafting. We finally drove out of the Appalachian Mountains and skirted Chattanooga to the south, with a brief dip into Georgia (our 5th state of the trip). I made my first big navigational error looping around C-Nooga when I missed my exit to look at a low flying jet. It was only 10 miles (!!!) to the next exit. Oh well…once we got back on track, we headed west and south to Huntsville, AL (state no. 6) where we made a detour to the (then closed) US Space and Rocket Center. We could see the 363 foot tall Saturn V rocket they have standing up outside the Center for about 5 miles before we got there at about 6 pm. What an amazing site—we got great pictures of the kids looking up and standing under one of the five huge rockets. We also saw a stealth fighter and a Space Shuttle outside the Center—we were able to drive right up because Space Camp was going on at the time, and we just pretended we were supposed to be there! After this very fun detour, we drove another 15 miles to Decatur and our lovely and gracious hostess, Jackie Goode (and her dog, Kuma). Miss Jackie thrilled the kids with the news that she had a pool—and that they could swim! This was incredibly our first swimming of the trip, and the kids had a ball. While the kids and I were swimming, Cathy went to the famous Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ joint (www.bigbobgibson.com) that was a mere 3 minutes away and returned with smoky pulled pork, tender ribs whose meat would fall off the bone if you looked at them cross-eyed, wonderful coleslaw and other delicious sides. After a great meal for us (and much complaining by the under 9 set, except for our carnivore Jack, who liked the pork), we finally put some tired kids to bed. Sam lasted all of 45 minutes on his pallet, and then he kicked me out of the bed and I spent the night on the floor in the kids’ room. While at Ms. Jackie’s, Cathy and I enjoyed looking at all of Jackie’s original art, as well as some classic pictures of her daughter and our friend, Christy.

FRIDAY: We had an early morning on Friday, as Miss Jackie had already warned us that she was not a morning person (!) and we had a ways to go. We made a trip through downtown Decatur, but since one of the kids blinked we made another trip back through. Actually, Decatur was a very nice little town. We got to see Miss Jackie’s store and lots of quaint little cottages. On the way out of town, we filled up at Waffle House and then continued our trip towards home, first heading south to Birmingham and then cutting west towards Tuscaloosa. (I should note that I was outvoted in our route, as I had wanted to head west from Decatur to Tupelo, MS, which is Elvis’ birthplace. Not to mention the link to our favorite restaurant in Asheville. Or the Van Morrison song. However, as I was driving and not navigating, I was given different directions. Oh well.) We really lost our mountain scenery the day before, so this day was shaping up to be a relatively flat and boring drive, so we wanted to make the most of what we could see on the road. We actually had a specific goal in Tuscaloosa, which was to visit (of all things) the Best Western. On our return trip from Sambo & Kendra’s wedding, we stayed in this Best Western and were amused to find three huge elephant statues outside the lobby. We took pictures but knew that Will would LOVE the statues…which he absolutely did. He was overjoyed to see them and have his picture taken riding the baby elephant. In fact, when we got home, the first thing he asked for was a print of the picture of him riding the elephant! It is hung with pride at the head of his bed. After leaving the Best Western, we continued through Tuscaloosa and stopped at the open air US Veteran’s Memorial. It is curiously placed in front of a strip mall, but the kids loved looking at and reading about the jeep, antiaircraft guns, tank, jet fighter, and other equipment they had on display. They especially liked the Huey helicopter that was a replica of what Big Mike used to fly. After an unremarkable lunch (honestly, they all started to blur together), we continued to head south towards Meridian (passing up the opportunity to see the Jimmie Rodgers Museum) and then west toward Jackson. We had a reservation in Pearl, MS that we actually tried to change to Vicksburg because we made such good time, but there was no room at the inn in Vicksburg (thanks, La Quinta) so we stopped as planned. Our hotel (located conveniently for others near the Jackson airport) was not special, but for three things: the availability of a pool, the breakfast, and the scenery at breakfast. After swimming, there was dinner, which was again unremarkable.

SATURDAY, a/k/a OMEGA DAY: Saturday dawned in Pearl, MS a bright and sunshiny day full of promise. At least the promise of home at the end of the day—a figurative light at the end of the tunnel, or a garage at the end of the road trip. We sallied forth from our room and headed out for the breakfast buffet at LQ. It was a hit in many ways: all the kids enjoyed the donuts, Annie and Jack noshed on the hardboiled eggs, and the little boys hit the Fruit Loops, while I went for a sausage-egg-and-cheese biscuit and then a chicken biscuit. In my humble opinion, it was the best free hotel breakfast of the trip. (Faint praise, however…it was one of only three and we skipped the one in Cookeville, TN. Or was it Crossville?) But even better than the breakfast options was the viewing at breakfast. Our first notable scenery came with the super-tatted “Ed Hardy” couple who came to breakfast in their jammies. She was, well, very well enhanced—you might even say pneumatic, and she called him “Babe” incessantly. “Babe, do you want a biscuit?” He was too cool for school, and he mostly ignored her. “Babe, do you want a hard boiled egg?” They had very prominent tattoos and I was amazed at our kids’ restraint in not commenting on this couple; Cathy and I didn’t do as well as they did. “Babe, did you see her…?” I hadn’t seen anything that graphic since Avenue Q. The couple went upstairs to their room, and we had relative peace until the second act started, beginning with a young man with what was probably the best t-shirt of the trip. It was black, had the sleeves cut off, and a picture of a present on the front. The tag on the present read “TO: Women, FROM: God.” He was a piece of work, as was his inappropriately clingy sister, the tattooed mother, and the grandmother who was laying on a guilt trip for them not visiting more often. It didn’t take long for us to realize, upon “Babe’s” return, that they were all related. This definitely started our morning on a high note.

After getting packed up, we headed west to Vicksburg, where we paid our $8/car entry fee and parked right in the front row, Bob Uecker style. Our car was right in front of a period rifle and cannon exhibition, and we had a personal demonstration of the loading and firing of a rifle by some local high school volunteers. Jack especially loved picking up the spent primer caps all over the ground. Next came a hands on demonstration of the firing procedure of the Napoleon cannon, and Annie and I were picked out of the crowd to play roles (Number 2 and Number 1, respectively). My job was swabbing the bore with a wet sponge (keep your mind out of the gutter, kids) and Annie got to load the cannon. The rest of the kids got to take part in a later demonstration: Jack played the gunner (called out the signals for all of the “Numbers” and aimed the cannon), Will was Number 5 (he pulled the lanyard to fire the cannon), and Sam was a reluctant Number 2.
After that, the volunteers actually went through a drill and fired the cannon. Very cool…but it was incredibly hot. We couldn’t believe that the volunteers were wearing authentic woolen uniforms! After the demo, we made a short trip through the gift shop, where everyone got a little something (Annie a bonnet, Jack and Sam replica coins, and Will a puzzle), and then we headed off on the 18 mile tour, guided by our CD. It was a very neat tour, just a little long after the hour spent outside at the rifles and cannon. We made a brief detour to see the restored wreckage of the Union ship Cairo, saw a turkey running through the Union cemetery (the largest final resting place of Union soldiers in the South), and stopped for a picture of the Texas monument. All in all, it was pretty cool—just long. We abandoned our plan to drive through historic Vicksburg in the hopes of feeding our troops, miscalculated badly by passing up a McDonalds right outside the gates of the Vicksburg national park, crossed the Mississippi for the final time, and ended up 20 miles later at a McDonalds in Tallulah, Louisiana. (Incidentally, we had deliberately avoided McDonalds and other fast food restaurants on the trip, with the exception of ChikFilA in Cookeville…or was it Crossville?...opting for more traditional sit down fare where we could. However, as we’d pushed the kids with the over-long stop at Vicksburg, and as it was the last day, we thought that the kids deserved it…and that the stop might buy us a little peace. And it did.) After lunch, it was a sprint toward the finish line. We had 7 minutes of rain in Louisiana, during which the temperature dropped from 98 to 80, and then immediately back up to 98 after the rain stopped. It was 189 miles across Louisiana (Monroe, Ruston, Grambling, Minden, Bossier City—but no gambling, and Shreveport were the highpoints), and then finally back home to Texas! At the state line, Cathy had the wise idea of playing Pat Green’s “Way Back, Texas,” which the kids loved and sang along. A brief stop at the welcome center with a pic at the Texas sign, and then homeward bound! We tried—but just couldn’t—make it back home without stopping, so we stopped at Two Senoritas in Canton. Ugh. Not the welcome home we anticipated. In any event, we finally drove in the driveway at 8:40 pm, 8 ½ days, 9 states and 2240.6 miles after leaving home. We had the kids inside, the car completely unpacked, and the kids in bed by 9:15.

All things considered, it was a great trip. We have so many people to thank for the great times we had—Sam & Kendra for being our hosts, Jackie in Decatur for being our hostess, Barbara for trading cars with us for the week, Dennis (next door) for ignoring my instruction to “forget” to feed the cat… With some introspection and discussion since the trip ended, Cathy and I have decided that we need to become travel writers. You know, a combination of Rick Steves and “Jon and Kate Plus 8.” We’ll call it, “What Not To Do When Traveling With Your Kids, or Us Versus Them.” This way, everyone can learn from our mistakes…er, experiences.

We’re in the process of putting together a Shutterfly album of our pics, including selected pictures from the kids’ cameras, as well as the pics that S&K graciously gave us on disk before we left. If you’re interested, let me know and we’ll forward on that information when it’s ready.

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re a glutton for punishment…or you’re a grandparent. Sorry it’s taken me this long to finish the recap—we returned to Dallas tired, poor, and to a computer on the fritz! Thanks for reading…and stay tuned for the next Hutton roadtrip! Signing off, I’m Clark Griswold…

Asheville trip: update #4 1/2 from Asheville (alternate title, "I was seduced last night...")

First off, apologies for not providing an update last night. As the alternate title suggests, I was seduced last night and distracted from providing an update. No, not the seduction you may have been thinking of...I was seduced by Dale's Pale Ale, Highlands Gaelic Ale, and King's Hard Tail Ale. But more on that later...

It is a beautiful morning here in A-ville. We're sitting outside on the patio eating breakfast. It's about 65 degrees, sunny with a hint of a breeze and children's screams on the air.

Yesterday was beautiful as well. S&K had to head to school for a meeting, so we were on our own for a while. After breakfast (and a little quesadilla crust throwing incident I've managed to not yet tell S&K about, sorry!), we ventured downtown. On the way, we stopped at Starbucks (how can S&K not drink coffee? not American...) and I got a cup with a hole in the bottom (thanks, Starbucks). We then went to the Children's Museum at the Pack Place. Very fun. The kids were fascinated by "Mr. Bones," a bike riding skeleton, and all of the hands-on exhibits there, especially the golf ball momentum games and the "dizzy tunnel." Yet again, we gave the kids their cameras and I fear that we will have a lot of pictures of carpet and other pictures. Oh well.

After a well-spent couple of hours at the museum, we headed over to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch. Yum. Cat and I had been there before--twice, in fact, the weekend of S&K's wedding. After some very creative coloring of the mushroom castle (Annie), a colorful copperhead (Jack), and a herd of baby elephants (Will), the kids demolished the pizza (you can go ahead an nominate me for parent of the year for letting them have pizza 2 out of 3 consecutive meals). I continued to support the local brewing economy and had a couple Kashmir Pale Ales.

After lunch (and a brief stop for a cookie treat for good behavior), it was back to the house for naptime, and I continued to set a good example for the boys and took a nap myself on the inflatable mattress that they've been sleeping on. This is a good time to explain our sleeping arrangements: the kids begin each evening with one taking a turn on the sleeping bag on the floor [a coveted position], and 2 on the king sized mattress, all in the office. The 4th starts on our [Cat's & mine] bed in a different room, and eventually gets moved to the inflatable when I head off to bed. Anywho, I managed to get a little snooze in with the boys.

The afternoon was spent in the wonderland that is the backyard, terrorizing the cats Py and Maggie (much to Sam's secret pleasure, sorry Kendra) and making up fun with the hammock, wagon, and S&K's firewood. Later we headed to the park to watch the first of S&K's kickball game (go Last Ones Picked!), where we also enjoyed throwing the frisbee and kicking the kickball. Between games, the kids got to run the bases and practice their kickball skills. Much fun. Also, Sambo and I reminisced about our kickball glory days at good old UP Elementary. The kids made a new friend (hi, Jeremy!) and cheered on our favorite kickballers.

We left the second game early and got a table at Beef O'Brady's to feed the ravening hordes and await the arrival of the victorious LOP's. (Or is that LO'sP?) There I was introduced to Dale's Pale Ale and I reintroduced mysself to the local Gaelic Ale. The kids were very well behaved--we were proud as all of them tried something new, fried garlic mushrooms, even though there were no real fans. Annie thought it was some kind of fish, which may have turned the rest of them off. Will actually managed to eat an entire one--very bravely--and then almost sadly let us know that he really didn't like them. But everyone was very grown up in at least tasting them. (I've just realized that we had a mushroom theme going on yesterday...)

Eventually, the kids wore themselves (and us) out, and we headed home to bed. Well, the kids went to bed at least. The grownups (at least the boys) watched the All Star Game (way to go Michael Young!) and the ladies enjoyed the cool outdoor weather on the patio.

All in all, it was a fun day. The kids' favorite thing was watching Aunt Kendra and Uncle Sam play kickball and playing at the park. No significant traumas, real or imagined. I think that the kids really appreciated spending consecutive nights at the same place--and not in a hotel! Today we're off to the NC Arboretum, perhaps a trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a viewing of Wall-E.

Asheville trip: Night #3 in Asheville (a.k.a. "free" birth control for Sam & Kendra)

Whew. After roughly 1040 miles of wrong turns, detours, U-turns, and driving while looking back over my shoulder and calmly & quietly redirecting my children's energy into constructive pursuits, we finally made it to Asheville! (And there was much rejoicing...yea!) Here's the daily recap:

After logging off last night, I resisted the urge to finish the 6 pack (really) and climbed into the Shrek sleeping bag on the spongy carpet. (Sam had earlier reneged on his promise to sleep on the floor after about 17 seconds there.) Well, I didn't quite make it all the way in the sleeping bag, or rather, it didn't quite cover me--it came up to roughly my hips. That lasted at least 30 minutes and then I moved a sleeping Sam into Shrek and went to bed.

I woke up around 6 with Jack "the Limpet" and Sam "the Leech" making me a very sweaty Daddy sandwich. I managed to push them off for about 45 minutes and finally got up after all 4 kids had piled in the bed with me. Jumped on the interwebs, found that the Interstate had been opened at 6 am (thanks, Tennessee Department of Transportation!) We loaded the car (after I finally found, on the 3rd travel day, the straps that are suupposed to be used to secure the overhead luggage bag to the roof rack, which made it much easier), made a pass through Starbucks and then dropped $26 on breakfast at ChikFilA (!!!!), and hit the road. Not surprisingly, Sam had to go to the bathroom 27 miles later, which triggered a urinary chain reaction among the rest of the under 9 crowd. (Thanks, BP!)

There really wasn't much to mention about driving today, with a few exceptions. Sam enjoyed entertaining the troops with his stuffed Curious George monkey, and he takes requests from Will and the Bigs to alternately "Squeeze his brains!" and "Squeeze his bottom!" That invariably results in gales of laughter from the rest of the car. We had to quickly quash the "Super Georgie" game which Sam invented by throwing George around the inside of the car--not so good on the curvy roads heading into Asheville. The kids insisted on me honking the horn when we crossed the state line, which I did gladly. Everyone enjoyed the trips through the 2 tunnels immediately inside the NC state line. We felt like we'd offended the karma of the traffic gods late in the drive when we hit stopped traffic on the interstate less than 20 miles from Asheville. It ultimately turned out to be "just" a wreck, but we did all have a flashback to yesterday's nightmare in TN.

We finally made it to Sam & Kendra's house around 1 pm CST, which was actually 2 pm EST, and we found 2 very patient but hungry hosts waiting for us in their very cool and freshly renovated home. After a brief tour and introduction to their 2 cats (who would have thought Sam was a cat man?), we walked a few blocks to Firehouse Subs where we promptly added at least 2 years to the first possible time S&K will consider having kids. Sam refused his requested PB&J, Jack turned his nose up at his requested ham & cheese, and Will put on an unsolicited kung fu demonstration in the restaurant to the chagrin of the employees (not to mention his parents). Sam encouraged this behavior by laying full length on the mat in front of the cash registers where one otherwise would stand to place an order. Good thing we weren't there during the lunch rush.

We returned to the Henry house where the bar was very quickly opened. The kids were sent outside with their fire hats from Firehouse Subs, which they apparently thought were helmets because they acted like live crash test dummies running around the backyard and taking wagon rides down the hill into Sam's very new (but very sturdy) fence. They also made a secret hideout out of a tent and beach umbrella, made a campfire out of stacked rocks and sticks, and continued to terrorize the cats. As the ladies had the kids under control (actually, they were just contained by the fence but that was enough), Sam and I were sent to the store to acquire mojito ingredients. We managed to find some beer there as well, believe it or not. We abandoned our tentative plan to go to the NC Arboretum, as the kids were having fun in the backyard with their homemade wagon-luge course with the hammock obstacle (even better when the hammock was occupied), so the grownups had
happy hour while the kids ran amok.

We finally decamped for Kendra's parents' house, picking up pizza on the way in Asheville. We weren't at Steve & Suzanne's 10 minutes before Will fell in the koi pond. While I didn't see this, it was suggested that Jack hip-checked him into the pond...accidentally. Riiigggghhhht. Luckily, there were no koi injured in that stunt (they were, unfortunately for the koi, bear snacks) and Will only got about 2 inches of the bottom of his shorts wet. So we laid down the law about the pond (no more rocks, no more water, stay back, etc) and then had dinner on the deck. The weather was incredible! Beautiful sky, nice cool air, wonderful scenery, and SPLASH! Will was back in the koi-less pond. This time, wet to his armpits, reportedly pushed in by Sam (that's the 3 year old not Uncle Sambo, believe it or not). Needless to say, Steve and Suzanne were impressed to no end. Luckily, Cat had packed PJs so Will didn't have to run around naked and shock Steve
any more. Sam and I were sent downstairs with the kids where we played pool and checkers, and then we headed home. Steve and Suzanne were great hosts but I'm not sure they were prepared for the force 5 hurricane that is the Huttons.

We finally headed home, watched Josh Hamilton's amazing first round of the Home Run Derby (thanks, Josh!) and his eminently Ranger-like collapse in the finals, and then put the kids to inflatable bed. Sam and Kendra enjoyed the first 8 hours we were here so much that they're leaving us tomorrow to go back to school. (Again, we're available as very reasonably-priced birth control for anyone in need of same.) Tomorrow, we'll probably go terrorize downtown A-ville and then watch Kendra and Sambo's kickball game in the evening. Today was a really fun day and everyone (except perhaps S&K) is glad we're here.

Asheville trip: night #2 in Crossville, TN (alternate title, "The Best Laid Plans...")

(Ed. note: As described below, this is posted out of order because it was originally "published" by e-mail installment on the date it was written. If you don't like it, well, you get what you pay for, and I don't remember you sponsoring this blog. But I'm open to offers...)

Hello, all, Clark Griswold here with installment #2 of the Hutton's July 2008 cross country trip. We're in lovely Crossville, TN tonight at the Hampton Inn. Very nice place, damp spongy carpets notwithstanding.

We didn't make it as far as we'd wanted today--one of our fellow travelers was not so lucky (see http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/13/i-40-closed-sunday-afternoon-cleanup-continued/ for details) and that shut down I-40 for us. Short version: tanker spill in Crab Orchard TN that created a cloud of hydrochloric gas closed the interstate. Apparently that's not good for growing bodies. Not wanting to detour to Chattanooga tonight, we just decided to stay put here. But how did we get here, you ask? Excellent question...

Had a slow start this morning. We had three different shifts hit the breakfast bar at the La Quinta in Memphis (technically, Germantown TN but who's counting?) and we still didn't get filled up. Hardboiled eggs were on the menu for the Bigs and the Littles chowed on Froot Loops. FINALLY got out of the hotel and headed to Graceland. On the way, we stopped at Sun Records (cool but not as much for the kids as for us) and then on to Graceland. Got out, walked around the fence and took pics at the gate (awesome pic of Will hitting a mighty lick on his air guitar) and passed up on the $27 per head entry fee.

Instead, headed back to Beale St. for a little lunch with a plan to go over to Mud Island afterward. Big mistake. We chose poorly on lunch (Pig on Beale does not, in contrast to the advertising, have good bbq nor are they very service-oriented; also, Jack didn't believe us when we told him he wouldn't like the bologna sandwich, but I ate it up) and the kids hit the wall there. We trashed the original plan, headed back to the car and started heading east again. In the car the kids had a picnic lunch out of the cooler on I-40 while watching a movie.

We made pretty good time once we headed out of Memphis--at 1:30--and didn't stop in Nashville. On the east side of N'ville, we saw highway signs that alerted us to the highway troubles ahead. We checked it out best we could with the highway radio info station and calling our resident traffic guru in Asheville, and finally hit traffic just outside Crossville, where we'd planned to stop for dinner. We took the atlas inside Chili's and got lots of suggestions from the waitstaff and Sambo on the phone. Ultimately, we decided to head south out of town and cut east again in Sparta, TN. That was not to be, as the local Red Cross chapter was redirecting traffic and that's where we got the news that we would be heading to Chattanooga. Everything eastbound was shut down for about 60 miles. At that news, we made a 180 and headed back to Crossville, found a room at the Hampton Inn (thanks, desk clerk Gretchen!) about 6 blocks from the Chili's we'd left an hour before,managed to get our reservation cancelled in Knoxville with no penalty (thanks, LQ Rewards person!), and got into our spongy hotel. The kiddos got baths while I ran out and got a 6 pack of beer, and again at 10:30 with 5 sleepers, that's the rest of the story.

It looks like they're going to re-open some of the east bound roads by the morning, so we'll probably try to press on in the direction of Knoxville. If not, we'll head south toward C-nooga and then east and north through the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park. Either way, it will be an adventure. Good thing we packed our gas masks.

Some funny things from today: Sam got his camera at Graceland. Took a picture or two of the gate and fence, but really enjoyed taking pics inside Barbara's car. At one point in the car, Will said "Daddy, smell!" We finally figured out that he'd tooted and was very proud of it. He's truly Cathy's boy. Annie didn't feel so great most of the day and had a rough day. She seemed to be bouncing back at the very end, however. Jack really enjoyed having his camera but there's no telling what he took pictures of today. He really wanted drumsticks from Sun Records but we decided that between drums and his current fascination with kung fu, not to mention the close confines of the car, we were not going to buy them at that time.

So far I've done all the driving, and my constant checking of the soft-sided luggage bag on the top of the car, I truly feel like Clark Griswold checking to see if Aunt Edna is still up there. I'm still waiting to see Christie Brinkley drive by, however...I do hear that she's single again.

Until Asheville...

Asheville trip: Night #1 in Memphis

(Ed. note: this series is what really started me thinking about writing a blog. I wrote a series of updates for friends and family about the Hutton family's driving trip to Asheville in July 2008. I'm posting them and back dating them to the original dates and times I sent the e-mails, so these posts will predate the actual beginning of the blog.)

Well, since Cat wouldn't let me live blog our drive to and from Asheville this summer, I thought I'd let y'all know a few highlights of the trip so far. By the way, it's 10 pm on Saturday night, 7/12/08, and we're safe and sound in Memphis at the La Quinta. There are 5 (I think) sleepers already in the room, so I'm trying to stay quiet.

Today was hot. Not going to lie about that. The car (thanks, Barbara!) is riding great and the AC is nice and cool, but with all of the potty stops, gas fillups, leg stretchings and other assorted stops we have to make, and with my need to tinker with the roof-top luggage carrier each time we stop, I've started and stopped sweating approximately 73 times today. So I've got that going for me.

The drive was relatively uneventful. Nice but hot weather all day. We started around 9 am (maybe a few minutes earlier) and didn't have to make our first stop until Greenville. Yep, we went an entire 40 minutes without making our first stop. And guess what? We've trained the kiddos so well to pee or at least try whenever we stop that everyone had to get out of the car that time...and the next time...and the next... At least there weren't any accidents. That I know of, that is. One thing we discovered in Greenville was that our absent minded professor kid Jack FORGOT HIS SHOES AT HOME! Grrr. He was only reminded about 6 times this morning, but went and got in the car without them anyway. So anytime that he wanted to get out of the car, I gave him a piggyback or he had to borrow Annie's shoes.

We had a rest stop picnic lunch just east of Texarkana, then a rest stop/sweet treat at ChikFilA in southeast Little Rock. I ran to the nearby Walmart while the kids played in the CFA playland to get Jack some shoes. He almost got a $1 pair of pink flip flops to help him learn his lesson, but then I found a $2 pair of sandals and had mercy on him. From Little Rock, we headed east to Memphis--only 3 stops along the way, but one was at my request, so I can't be too upset about that--and we headed straight to Beale Street.

Fun, mini Bourbon Street like atmosphere there--we got there about 7 pm, walked a few blocks and then got a table at a good but overpriced burger joint called Dyers. They use the same grease that they've used since 1912 when it opened! Yum. The kids were running on fumes when we finished, so we piled back in the car, drove to the hotel, threw everything in the room and piled in bed (everyone but me, that is).

On the way to the hotel I asked everyone what their favorite part about the day was. Unedited, here are the answers: Sam--the fire we just saw on top of the building (it was venting from a manufacturing plant of some kind that we had literally seen about 5 minutes before), Will--the brown horse I saw this morning (at about 11 am, still in Texas), Jack--the fun day of driving and being nice to my family (which Will then said was his second favorite thing, a little hero worship going on there), and Annie--the Elvis statue we saw on Beale Street.

Tomorrow, we're going to do a driveby at Graceland and then head to Knoxville. A relatively easy day--well, easier than today--and hopefully a long swim at the hotel pool. I'll try to let y'all know about tomorrow, tomorrow night!