Leaving Virginia

Well, here I am! Blogging has been difficult to do lately as the unpacking and organizing process is underway here in San Diego. I'm so excited to share bits and pieces of my new place with you once everything is all set! For now, I want to talk to about the cross country trip from VA to CA since I hyped it up so much.

It was amazing, to say the least.
It made me fall even more in love with this beautiful country that I call home.

First, I said goodbye to my childhood home. The one on the hill with the big, red door.

Then, we loaded up the car Sunday morning and spent most of the day driving through boring Virginia. Don't get me wrong - I love driving the Eastern route of VA down to the beach but the Western route through the "mountains" just does nothing for me. As we crossed the border into Tennessee, the sunset greeted us and boy, was it beautiful!

We made a stop in my favorite Tennessee city, Knoxville [Go Vols!]  for dinner and I was nicely surprised when I saw a McAlister's! I had McAlister's once in Alabama years ago and just had to go back!

I tried taking Stella out of her carrier to feed her and give her some water. Do you realize how difficult it is to do this in a car? I felt like the mother of an infant. I had to put some music on for her so she wouldn't hear every single sound in the parking lot and hold her while pouring water and food. It was a spectacle but she ate so I felt better.

We drove a few more hours in the dark [driving in the Winter is horrible since daylight is scarce!] and stopped for the night in good ole Nashville!

1. Downtown Nashville. Love the "Batman" building. (That's just what I refer to it as.)

2. We stayed on "Music Row" so the hotel decor was all music themed with guitars and saxophones, etc.

3. Stella enjoys exploring.

4. Early morning in Nashville, looking at a neat statue.

I must admit, as someone who's not into country music, Nashville impressed me. It was a neat, little city with lots of character! Then it was onward to Day Two where we conquered the remainder of Tennessee, Arkansas, and most of Oklahoma! So, check back soon for that.

By the end of Day One and start of Day Two, I was feeling great. Day One was a 13-hour day and while it was exhausting, it was also exciting to know the journey was finally happening and that there was still so much more of the country to see!