Tuesday the 3rd: DAY 6

Today was a relaxed day because we were to stay in Salt Lake and visit a few friends of Jamie's. Amy and Brennan were at work and school for the first half of the day, so we went out to brunch with Trisha. She really wanted crepes so we looked up a place online. After getting lost a few times we finally made it to the restaurant only to discover it was no longer there but had been replaced by a Philly Cheesesteak place. So we decided to go to the Italian restaurant next door. Here we had a delicious Margherita pizza and fantastic dessert of chocolate cake with Italian cream. It was quite delicious.

(That's a LIE! Ashley is so funny because she will spare no verbiage while describing a days meals, but when giving guilty desserts she falls shamefully shy of the truth. We each ordered a different dessert. One was a chocolate and Italian cream cake with white and dark chocolate shavings. The second was a cream topped chocolate cake with fresh strawberries layered in the whipped filling and frosting. The third was a warm apple pie-lette, served a la mode with French vanilla ice-cream. You may be asking yourself "now what's so shameful about that?" The answer my friends lies in the proportions served to us (which, mind you, we had no control or inkling of). Each piece of cake was literally a fourth of a four tiered 8"round cake. And the apple pie-lette was actually a pie, just wrapped funny to be fancy)

We then headed back to Amy’s where Trisha, Jamie, Amy, and I all sat on the floor and chatted for a while. Amy, Trisha and Jamie got all caught up and were just having fun seeing each other again.

(Psst- Amy is almost halfway through her first pregnancy! Don't tell her I told!)

Trisha had to leave to get back home after a while, so then Amy, Brennan, Jamie, and I headed to temple square in downtown Salt Lake. We did not have time to walk around to all the buildings, but we were able to walk around the temple and see a movie about Joseph Smith. The movie was fantastic! It really made us realize the sacrifices Joseph Smith and the early saints made to restore the Gospel. We also thought it was neat to have been in Nauvoo and then to travel to Salt Lake. We were able to see the distance and topography the pioneers traveled by foot as they too started their trek in Nauvoo and finished in Salt Lake.

After the movie we were going to head to Café Rio because I was told I needed to have their pork salad, but it was closed by the time we made it there, so we settled for a bowl of cereal, goodbye hugs, and an early bedtime back at Amy and Brenan’s house.

Monday the 2nd: DAY 5

I guess we never mentioned that it is Jamie moving to WA, not Ashley. So just to be clear, Ashley is the amazing friend and roomie who offered to take the ride of her life across the country, just to make sure Jamie got there safely. It is true: Jamie is spoilt! "I couldn't have asked for a better travel buddy or friend!"

I woke up early to go running in the hotel exercise room. I then got Jamie up and we headed out around 7:30 after enjoying a lovely breakfast at our hotel. Today was a long day, but super exciting! We were headed to Salt Lake which would take about 12 hrs but about 14 hrs knowing us. So the beginning of the day was pretty boring! We drove a lot. I actually started driving today which was a change of pace. Jamie bought state magnets to show all the places she has been in the U.S and to kind of document our trip. Other than that we were pretty much on the road, listening to Eat, Pray, Love which we happened to finish this day.

So once we made our way into Wyoming on the long stretch of Hwy 80 we ran into some major traffic in Rock Springs. We literally moved less than a mile in 30 minutes. We decided to use our GPS, Dale, to give us an alternate route. We knew this route might take us away from the amenities, so we fueled the truck and checked the air in the tires. As we began to follow this “alternate route” we were led onto a dirt road which looked as if it would switch back along the side of the mountain. Unfortunately, the road was a more direct route taking us straight up the mountain. It was rough, I'm not gonna lie. About 8.7 seconds into the first hill of this “alternate route” our tires began to slip on the gravel, as Jamie quickly switched the truck into 1^st gear, to give what little more girt we could, she calmly stated, “This is the time when we start praying!”

(Breathe)

After making it up this portion by weaving and faith, we looked for a place to turn around because heaven knows we can’t back up the trailer. We found no loop to turn around (as there was a healthy ditch on either side of the road) so we kind of just stopped.

(Can I just say, I prayed so hard: nothing eloquent, but one of those stupid prayers that need immediate answers, “Please, please, please, please!” I tried to stay calm, for the sake of all involved, but I just knew any second I would hit a bolder- filled- pot- hole wrong and lose a tire to the gaping ditch. The dust and heat did not help, and this is the very moment I learned what rear wheel drive actually means!~Jamie)

Luckily, there was a bigger truck descending the mountain. Jamie flagged him down and explained our problem (6 cylinder truck, 2 wheel rear drive, 2 ton U-haul trailer, on a steep loose-rocked dirt mountain). He was so nice and offered to turn the truck around for us. Don’t worry Jamie took her wallet and phone and we kept an eye on his truck idling nearby. He was so kind though and turned the truck around so we could proceed down the mountain. We were very blessed and grateful for his help.

So the other problem of standstill traffic had not disappeared by this time, so we decided to see a movie at the local theater, which was right off the exit. We saw Dinner with the Schmucks which was kind of crude but mostly hilarious. Jamie liked it more than I did but it was a fun adventure.

We also saw the advertisement for the movie of Eat, Pray, Love which we are both excited to see. It comes out August 13^th. We decided to compare notes on the movie since we won’t be together to see it L

After the movie we continued our trek to Salt Lake after eating Taco Time for dinner and taking a dinosaur ride. Note: we got what we though was the vegetarian taco, and it had sunflower seeds in it. Turns out that's a good choice for soft TT tacos!

(I must chime in again to emphasize that we had Taco Time Drive-thru! It was the first and last time I tried that one. Nothing bad happed, but I was so stressed the whole time about how things where lining up and where all my corners where that I couldn't eat my burrito right away! Ashley doesn't know this, but that is really why we took the dinosaur rides!)

We found our way to Salt Lake but needed to head to Lindon, Utah to Amy’s house for end destination. Apparently there are two zip codes for the Lindon area, so at 1am in the morning we went to the wrong area of Lindon. After calling Amy, and getting her correct area code we made it to her house where we hit the bed as soon as possible.

Sunday the 1st: DAY 4

We were able to sleep in today which was very nice since we were both fairly exhausted. After showering, we went down for breakfast where Tessa and her mom made us delicious French Toast. Afterwards, Tessa took us on a small tour of Burlington.

We were able to stick our feet in the Mississippi River, go down Snake Alley (an extremely curvy road once used for shipping ale in the winter), and see the beautiful architecture of the old town.

It was a very nice morning. We then left Tessa’s around 12:30 pm to head to Kearney, Nebraska. We left a little later that afternoon because all we had waiting for us I Kearney was an empty hotel room. It was much more fun to spend our time with Tessa.

After leaving Tessa we drove and drove with mini stops in between. We got gas and made a dairy queen run…gotta love ice cream. We tried to stop at a Danish Windmill and Museum town but it was unfortunately closed down by the time we arrived. We tried to take pictures with the monuments so that the excursion would feel worth the effort. (Ironically, that was when the statue-less Hans Christian Anderson monument block bit me, and the camera froze in front of Ash-Lee's cottage) We stopped for dinner at an Italian place because we were craving spaghetti (I blame this on Eat, Pray, Love where she talks consistently about eating in Rome). The Italian place we found was kind of fast food, kind of sit down. It was not the greatest meal. Jamie ordered cheesecake for dessert and it came in a plastic wrapped package. It was pretty awful especially compared to the cheesecake we had at the Race City Diner. Also, my stomach did not feel so well after the meal but that might be because I have been eating many many sweets on this road trip.

After the not-so-good Italian place, we ran to the store to pick up some stain removal goodies because Jamie had a few spills during the day. She managed to go through three shirts today either with ice cream stains or tomato sauce. It was quite entertaining J We also picked up a cord to hook the ipod and the computer to the radio for more entertainment. We then headed on our way to Kearny, Nebraska. We stayed at the wonderful Holiday Inn express this night because Jamie unfortunately knows no one in Kearny, Nebraska. We got in around midnight and headed straight to bed because we had an early morning the next day.

Saturday the 31st: DAY 3

Day Three was kind of adventurous, well we drove a lot. So you know how we thought we would be just fine with going to bed late and getting up early… That did not work out too well for us. We needed to leave Beccy’s by 4am so we could make it to Nauvoo, IL early in the day. We wanted to explore this historic city because it was a city the pioneers of our church settled in the late 1830’s. Nauvoo is now a tribute to these early pioneers with demonstrations on how people lived in the that time from rope weaving to running a brickyard. Well, Jaime thought I had set an alarm and I thought she had set an alarm. Never assume. Beccy came in at 6:30am to wake us up. We changed super fast and were out the door by 6:45am. Today was not a day for stopping. We had to get going! So we drove and drove.

I started the drving this morning because Jamie was pretty exhausted. She was up a little later than me. We stopped once at Panera Bread for a bagel and a cheese loaf to nibble on. We stopped a couple times for gas as well, but we pretty much drove most of the morning. We were able to make it to Carthage, IL by 1pm.

(Who knew you could get to IL via MEXICO!)

We stopped in Carthage because here is the jail where the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred. They have restored the jail and now give tours to visitors. We were able to take a tour and really reflect on the sacrifices of Joseph Smith and the early saints. We both felt a strong Spirit as we pulled up to the jail and were guided through the tour.

We then headed about 30 minutes down the road to Nauvoo. Here we were able to walk around the beautiful temple, see various demonstrations on brick-making (they even gave us a souveiner brick), games played, and iron-making (we got prairie diamonds here).

We also went shopping of course in the general store where we got a few postcards. We also went to the fudge shop. Who can resist delicious fudge.

Later that evening our friend Tessa who we know from Athens met us in Nauvoo. She is staying with her mom in Burlington, Iowa which is just 40 min from Nauvoo and they offered us a place to stay for the evening. So Tessa met us around 6pm in Nauvoo and we went to this amazing restaurant for dinner. It was the Historic Nauvoo Hotel. While they have a hotel in the upper portion of the home, the bottom portion is a very nice restaurant. We all three had the buffet which consisted of an amazing salad bar, entre and side buffet, and a dessert bar. Jamie’s favorite dish was an orange salad while I enjoyed the rice/stuffing bake and Tessa loved the mashed potatoes. It was all delicious though and we were all stuffed to the brim after that big meal.

We then headed to the Nauvoo Pageant. This was like a musical/play about the pioneers in Nauvoo. Church members volunteer their time to perform in this pageant. It was a beautiful show, very tastefully done, and inspiring.

After the show Tessa led us to her mom’s home in Iowa where we stayed the night. We do have to mention how wonderful and hospitable Tessa, her mom, and stepdad were to us as well as how gorgeous their home is. They live in a beautiful Victorian townhouse with a clawfoot bathtub and ceilings you can trapeze in. Tessa’s mom is also an antique collector so we were able to see gorgeous furniture pieces, dishes, etc. She showered us with undeserved but much treasured gifts.She was just too sweet to us. We were very blessed to be able to stay with Tessa and her family.

Friday the 30th: DAY 2

So after sleeping in Memphis in the wonderful Hampton Inn we got up fairly early on Friday and headed out for Bolivar, Missouri where we were to stay with one of Jamie’s best friends, Beccy and her family. Jamie started out driving to at least get us out of the city, but she actually ended up driving the whole day. We stopped a lot though so she was totally fine. I promise I did offer to drive J

Our next state we entered was Arkansas, again another state we did not realize we would be going through. On our morning travels we listened to our new and Joe inspired Elvis CD. We loved it tender. As we made our way through the beautiful rolling hills of Arkansas and Missouri we decided to Antique shop. We stopped and found a nice blanket, Indian Wedding Jewelry (Jaime loves the Indian culture), and lots of children’s books for dirt cheap(I will soon have an abundance for my classroom). We stopped in Cabool, Arkansas for lunch. It was a very quiet and small town and they had a nice Mexican restaurant which is where we decided to eat lunch. Here we did some more antique shopping finding more children’s books, movies, and Jamie found two crystal potpourri dishes which were of the exact make she inherited from her grandmother.

Along our route we also found a huge camper/ trailer turned into a pink seashell. We wanted a picture but our camera died before we could get the picture. Our camera dies quite often L While in the car we were able to listen to Eat, Pray, Love which Jamie and I are both loving.

Finally after much driving and a few wrong turns (Dale helped us out), we made it to Bolivar where Beccy and her beautiful family were waiting for us. We visited for a little while with them and then we headed out for dinner. Beccy took us all out to Bandanas which was a local bar-be-cue place. It was really good and it was so nice for Beccy to take us out. Jamie held Evelyn the youngest girl all evening because she just could not get enough of that sweet baby. Nelly who is two was such a cutie and loved her butterfly wings Aunt Jamie brought her. That night was filled with Jamie and Beccy catching up and visiting. It was nice to see them together and meet one Jamie’s very best friends, We went to sleep fairly late that night even though we needed to have an early morning. We thought we would be just fine…

Thursday the 29th: DAY 1

Our goal for today… Memphis TN where we were to see Elvis! On our way through the great state of Alabama where we discovered the Talladega Nascar track. We say discovered because we had been seeing Talladega signs for the last 30 minutes. Talladega Forest, Talladega home cookin’, Talladega yada yada yada. So when there forest breaks to reveal the race track itself, clear as day, Jamie was uber excited. You see, for Jamie’s Birthday she got a Dale Earnhardt Jr. GPS to have a little Southern with her on the journey home. The “Dale Earnhardt Jr.” actually speaks the driving prompts to us and we are even a racecar on the screen as our arrow. We ate lunch at the Race City Diner where we had the pleasure of enjoying a truly southern lunch buffet which consisted of fried chicken with gravy, green beans with bacon, sweet potato soufflé, franks and sauerkraut, fried okra, rice cake, succotash, and best of all CHEESECAKE!

Back on the road (and anticipating many more detours) Jamie decided to put in an audio book she had burned for the trip. It was Sense and Sensibility and Sea monsters… I fell asleep through a good portion of this because it was not really my kind of book. We are going to try to listen to Eat, Pray, Love soon which I am excited about! When we were not listening to the book, we were both singing “ I put on my blue suede shoes and boarded the plane…touched down in the land of the delta blues in the middle of the pouring rain.” We could not get it out of our heads, it seemed our Memphis theme (though ironically, not written or ever performed by Elvis).

In Mississippi (which we did not realize we would be going through, another Talladega like reaction) At a Mississippi rest stop we had our first sighting of Elvis (a paper cutout). I gave him a kiss on the cheek! I took the wheel after this rest stop, me driving is something you may not hear about often, not that I don’t offer, Jamie is just crazy obsessive about her truck. We passed through one horrendous rain storm (Jamie has named the storm “the 3 minutes of terror”) until we started getting close to Memphis. (Really it was just off and on rain showers, Jamie is too dramatic). Keeping in theme, Memphis surprised us too! One minute we were driving along the interstate, the next we were surrounded by cars and halted at a stop light. There was not a great place to stop the truck so at the next stoplight we did an old school Chinese fire drill and she took the wheel again. It was quite exciting. It has been a while since either of us have done one and never with such urgency.

So we were finally in Memphis! Yay! We found the Rock n’ Roll Café easily which is where our Elvis would be performing and decided to tour around the sites until the show. We were not allowed to go up and look at Graceland, having missed visitor hours, so we took a picture by the gate, and then our camera died. After setting up the camera to charge we did what any self respecting set of girls would do…we went shopping of course! We bought an Elvis CD and Elvis postcards. Jamie got some Elvis matches…she likes to get matches wherever she goes. Oh and we found these awesome gold sunglasses which I wanted real bad. They looked super cool. Don’t cha’ think!

The Joe Kent Show (dinner included) began at 8, we arrived early to snag great seats and order dinner before the show. We were pretty hungry and ended up ordering a lot of food, which included the famous Elvis Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Then I got a Turkey Melt which was not as great as I thought it would be. Jamie got the Hunka Hunka Burnin’Burger which was HUGE! Then we settled in for our Elvis Impersonator, Mr. Joe Kent!

He was Fabulous! He was funny and a pretty good singer (lucky for us). We were right up front and in the action. Jamie had a love song sung to her by him and I got a kiss… let me explain. He was giving out these scarves and I wanted one of course, so after several other requests had been given to him that night. Jamie wrote a request for a scarf for me to take to him. He said “well of course you can have one. I just need some sugar on my cheek.” So I went to give him some “sugar” on his cheek and he totally turned his face at the last second, giving me a kiss on the lips. I was totally embarrassed and all Jamie could do was laugh. Oh Elvis! It was a great show though.

(This picture was taken as he stood on our table. . .)

We are having a blast so far and it is just the beginning. More adventures to come J

The Goalmitemoilneutidwa Road Trip!

That's right friends! The title of this adventures is the the Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Utah, Idaho, Washington ROAD TRIP (other wise abbreviated above). Each post will be written in the car as we go. So far, so survived! We will update with details tomorrow!

xoxo

Jamie & Ashley