Day Two... the second day

We woke up bright and early so we could get on the road and make up for lost time. We ate breakfast at Perkins because it was close and convenient. My camera batteries were not charging, but I wasn't too disappointed because we hadn't seen much that was photo-worthy at this point. Do you hear me, Virginia? You are not worth the space on my flash card! We were on the highway, stopping at rest stops, and eating at chain restaurants. Not the typical Beth and Kurt trip. You know, where we don't stop at the designated rest stops, but rather, pee by the side of the road. And we don't stop at chain restaurants - we eat whatever mushrooms and berries we can forage in the woods... anyway, I had to get some better batteries before tomorrow, though, because we knew we would want pictures of Graceland.

We drove through North Carolina and into Tennessee, which is a long state going east-to-west. It had been raining all day, and as night fell, neither the darkness nor the continuing rain made for a pleasant drive. We made it to a town called Cookesville (somewhere in between Knoxville and Nashville) and our GPS, dubbed Dame Judy for her British accent and terse manner, was telling us there were no Motel 6's in this town. One of the neatest features of the GPS unit, though, was that you could find locations in a serach by name. Then you could get the address and even the phone number - kind of like a Google search of what's near you! After I found the phone numbers of a few motels nearby, I started calling. The local Super 8 didn't allow pets. We decided to go to Days Inn and just sneak Harry in.

When I walked into the lobby, the girl behind the counter asked if I had ever been there before. I said, "No." She then told me I had a twin that stays at the hotel occasionally when she visits from North or South Carolina. While we were chatting it up I noticed a sign on the counter that said PET POLICY. I read it quickly and found out that I could bring a pet into the room if I paid $10 or I could take a chance of them finding out and pay $50. Not to mention the bad karma. I immediately mentioned that I had a pet and they told me that was fine, but we had to stay in a "Smoking Room". Yuck! It was too late now. At least we didn't have to hide Harry. We set Harry up in our rank room and quickly found out that our toilet did not work properly. I called the front desk and the woman told me, "I have a plunger that you are welcome to come and get." Service with a smile!

Although it was within easy walking distance, we drove to the Cracker Barrel (literally 100 yards away) to avoid the downpour. I wasn't really hungry, so I just ordered a cup of vegetable soup. Our waitress, a white-haired woman with a Germanic accent was shocked that I just wanted soup. She tried to talk me into something else, but I told her that I just wanted some soup. She then said,"That's it?" Turning toward Kurt, and shaking her head toward me, she said, "That must be how she stays so skinny!" As soon as she walked away I commented to Kurt that to get her off my case I should have replied, "Well, I am just going to go into the bathroom when I am done, and soup comes up a lot easier than anything else". We laughed for a long time about that one. It's a great comeback anytime someone makes a comment about being "skinny".

While we waited for our food we challenged each other with that little wooden triangle game with the golf tees. On my first try I left three, which meant I was "just plain dumb". Dirt Doc, PhD gave it a try and left four, qualifying as an "eg-no-ra-moose". I tried two more times working my way up to "purty smart" and then "Genius"! To our waitresses dismay, I barely ate any of the soup. It was mostly lima beans- Eww. I also bought a Yankee Pumpkin Pie candle to light in our stinky room. It was a good idea, but it was no match for 25 years of cigarette smoke.

Stay tuned for the next entry, because "We're Going To Graceland!"