American History Road Trip 2016-Day 7 - The Roadtrip Part 3 - Tennessee, Kentucky & Indiana

[miss_mouse]

Trip Report Index

NYC - DC- Virginia - Tennessee - Kentucky - Indiana - Illinois

Day 7 – Tuesday 29th March 2016 - Back to the Future!

Day 3 of Road Trip – Virginia through Tennessee through Kentucky to Indiana – 440 miles

Just to start, I'm Lisa - the planner and reporter. Ade is my hubby and he's our driver and there's Hollie who is 16 and Louis is 14.



Day 7 started at 5.20am. Ade and I woke just before the alarm.
It had felt very hot in the night and I’d had bad dreams too (which isn’t an unusual thing for me, but still annoying).



We got showered and sorted whilst the kids slept.
We woke them at 6.30am.

It was a little frustrating as the only mirrors were in the bathroom and they were all steamed up from all the showering.
I wish hotels would include mirrors in the bedrooms too!

We left the room and checked out just after 7am.
Ade and the kids took all the bags to the car and I headed to the Starbucks counter in the reception/lounge area to order breakfast to take away.







Two medium lattes and Hollie’s iced latte which was $10.
Then when they all joined me we added another large choccie chip cookie, slice of lemon cake (for the boys) 4 sodas and 2 waters for the car. $20.

It was really handy having that in the hotel.



We left the very quiet hotel.
It was looking to be another nice day again.
It had been a quick but very pleasant stay.
£115 for the night paid in advance through booking.com

We struggled with the satnav to start with.
Suddenly all our maps had vanished.
Not great when we had 440 miles to drive today.
It took a while but Ade fixed it and at 7.40am we were finally leaving.





It was a really sunny day again with blue skies.
38F

I was really excited about driving over the Tennessee border. I’d done so badly with the previous state lines.
Sure enough….as we drove past, unfortunately as we were in the middle lane, a truck went by as we neared the Tennessee sign and we missed the lot! Typical. Another major fail.





But we did get the giant guitar which we’d seen when studying google maps when I was researching and it was on my list of things to look out for.

Not only had I written down lots of rest and food stops, I’d also made note of things to look out for.



It was one of those times where everything just felt perfect.
Everyone was so happy and relaxed. The sun was shining, we were enjoying our roadtrip play lists, having a laugh and chatting with the kids in the back.
Louis was really chatty which was great as quite often we have to ask him to remove his headphones and be involved in a conversation.
And I was actually going to be seeing my Dad ‘today’. Every time I remembered that I’d get a huge lump in my throat and feel so teary.

During car chats, Hollie (the queen of burgers) did comment that she couldn’t believe she’d been ‘burgered’ out this trip!







We drove past a sign for Davey Crocket’s birth place.
I never knew he actually existed.

The roads were so much quieter than we’d expected.
There was us planning for rush hour around 8-9am.
This was rush hour in Tennessee.

This was something my Dad laughed at when we told him this.
He says he laughs when he’s at work in Indiana/Kentucky and people moan about being stuck in traffic, but it’s like 2-3 minutes of slow moving. He said they have no idea what rush hour traffic is.



We stopped at another lovely rest stop between 8.50 – 9.05 am.







Another spotless rest area.
I just could not imagine this at home.


Loo selfie



We picked up a free local detailed map.



We carried on driving and went past the road sign for Dollywood.
I had looked at coming off to visit when we were planning the trip, but we didn’t want to add another day on to the trip or have any less days with dad.

We loved this whole area around Galinburg.
It was so beautiful and somewhere we all said that we’d like to explore more on another trip.



We drove through Knoxville at 9.30am.
We’d already done 100 miles today.
The roads were really crap and it was much more built up.
Ade said the junctions here felt more like in Florida than anywhere else we’d drive so far on this trip.
The speed limit was 55 and yet we still had trucks over taking us.

The plan was to stop at a place called Farragut.
It was a really nice open planned and very pretty shopping area which again really made us feel like we were in Florida. Those Florida pangs again!

There was a Super Target, Hobby Lobby, Bed Bath and Beyond.



We made a quick stop and grabbed our Starbucks ‘I am here’ Tennessee mug.



Then as planned we stopped for breakie at Cracker Barrel.
It was now 10.10am.



I can’t find the actual photo, but I have a photo of Hollie 10 months old in a rocking chair outside her first Cracker Barrel also in Tennessee.

















We had a really good breakfast stop.
We did have to swap Ade and Louis around as Louis is always kicking and was driving Ade mad.

Why is it that the staff in Cracker Barrel are always OAP’s?
I was pretending that my Little Nanny’s friends were working.



There she is in the background….Little Nanny’s friend.
She was very helpful. Bless her!



Food was good.
Louis had bacon, sausage and hashbrowns.



I think Ade had everything off the menu looking at that!
Peach French toast, bacon, eggs, 2 pancakes and a sweet tea…(we are in the South!)



I had bacon, scrambled egg and hashbrown casserole which was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. Cheesy hashbrowns!



Plus 2 pancakes.



But poor Hollie had peach French toast and couldn’t eat it.
It was covered in cinnamon and she can not stand the stuff.
I wanted to say something as it didn’t mention cinnamon on the menu although we know they love their cinnamon out there.
She wouldn’t let me say anything though, so I ended up swapping my breakfast with her’s.
That toast was amazing!



It came to $41.34



Another loo selfie.
I always have such curly and soft hair in the US.
I love the soft water so much!





We had a mooch around the store.
Picked up a really cool US map which was free.
Louis bought 3 bags of candy for $5.



And Ade quite often remembers this phrase now…..so true!



We were back in the car for 11.30am

The satnav was saying we had 306 miles still to go which had us arriving at Dad’s at 4.18pm.

We set the satnav for a Starbucks in Nashville next. Ade had found this place searching in the satnav as we had wanted the Nashville mug. It was a little detour.













It was 58f.
The roads were perfect again.

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[miss_mouse]

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The kids were watching Superbad in the back together.

We saw a hitch hiker and didn’t stop….seen to many of ‘those’ kind of movies!

We were up in the mountains now.

Something so odd happened….

….we went through a time zone.
I actually saw the clock on the car go back an hour.
It felt so weird to be 12 o’clock something and then suddenly be 11 o’clock something.
We actually went ‘back to the future’.

This also meant we’d be with Dad an hour earlier!

The mountains were so beautiful.
We saw a huge dead animal on the side of the road.



At 11.35am we stopped for fuel to top up.
Plus Ade wanted a restroom stop and some air and a mini break for driving.
He was surprised that the loos were really clean.
Still only $19.60 to top up the car!

We changed the go pro battery and left at 11.58am.



We were driving in the mountains now.
5% decline and all our ears were popping.



At 12.30 we stopped at the prettiest rest stop.





Mountains, river and wifi!
You couldn’t ask for more.



Oh and Dolly!

We whatsapped this photo to Mum and she believed it!




Enjoying the wifi!

There was a really nice historic centre inside and someone was working on the information desk inside.

Feeling refreshed we set off again.





At 1.15pm we stopped at a place called Lebenon for a Starbucks rest stop.
It was now 63f.







It was a nice big empty Starbucks.
Ade and I had a latte each and Louis chose a cinnamon bun. I think Hollie must have been full still. They’d been snacking in the car, but Louis would never turn down a cinnamon bun!

Ade bought himself what I call a manmug. It’s big, black and ugly! It has a thick cork bottom and a lid too, but is big and round and just really ugly. He loves it!

I’d hoped to be able to grab a coffee with my friend Doris. We were stopping at her local Starbucks, but she’s a school teacher and was working at the time.

We left at 2pm and were back on the road.



Driving past these road signs.
We have a friend who lives in Chattanooga and after seeing her photos would love to visit. We are now in the midst of planning a roadtrip for Summer 2018 which we plan to start in Chattanooga.

Ade was now on a mission for a Nashville Starbucks mug.
He’d googled Starbucks whilst we were taking our previous coffee break.
I didn’t want to take a detour off the main road.
He promised me that it wasn’t much of a detour at all.



So we came off and drove past downtown Nashville.

But could we find this Starbucks? !
We were driving and hunting….
The area we were in was horrid. A little run down, lots of rough looking corner shops, all the over head messy cables everywhere. It was just horrid!
The Starbucks was supposed to be in a larger store, but despite the satnav saying we were there, we really weren’t there.
I was fed up as I hadn’t wanted to come off the main road.

He gave up and we drove back to the interstate.





Half an hour later around 3.30pm we were entering Kentucky.
Finally got a state sign! Well half on one by the looks anyway!





It was like almost instant the mountains were gone and it was all flat farmland.
The difference was so noticeable.

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[miss_mouse]

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Just inside the Kentucky border we had our final rest stop of the road trip.





It was lovely and clean just as all the others had been.
We’d really liked stopping at these places.



We picked up an Amish map.



We left 15 minutes later and now just 1.5hr to go.
Exciting!







We spotted a huge dead white fluffy animal on the side of the road. No idea what that was and there were lots of dead beaver looking animals too. Dad thinks there may have been groundhogs when we asked him later.





Our first sign for Evansville where Dad lives.



This is the road where Dad works.

I was messaging him now feeling so excited!



And that’s the Ford dealership where Dad works.

It was funny now driving the route that Dad does to and from work every day.





Over the river Ohio.



The Ellis Park race track…..where we get locked in a couple of days time!



Over the Indiana state line.



And finally in to Evansville.

The butterflies and tears really building now.



My first sighting of Dad stood on his driveway on the left.



It felt so odd.
My stepmom said it felt so normal, us pulling on to the driveway as if it was something we always do.
Dad kept saying how strange this felt.
It was so good to see him.

We took all our bags in and had a wander in the house. Hollie and I haven’t been since she was 10 months old, so 16 years. Louis and Ade had never been.



Janet had prepared a lovely feast. A baked ham with lots of sides.
We ate out on the deck.



And we caught up, chatted lots and chilled in the den in the evening.
Although we haven’t been here for so long, Dad comes to us every year, so the kids know him really well, plus we phone, skype and whatsapp all the time.



Ade, I and the kids had the whole of the upstairs.
Everything is so beautifully decorated and so American.



All of our bathroom was all kitted out and so pretty.



The den with the huge TV, recliner sofas and patch the parrot.
Also where the kids slept on big inflatable mattresses.



And our room off the den.





It was another great travel day.
It had gone perfectly, despite the detour for the Nashville mug!
Perfect weather, perfect roads, no traffic, good food, 3 different states, 2 time zones and we got to see Dad!

Tomorrow we go exploring in Kentucky and Illinois. We have some really cool adventures. We find a ghost town and we go Amish hunting and have Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky!

Thanks so much for reading x

[Melbatb]

What fabulous scenery! It must have been so lovely to see your dad!

[KittyBlackDog]

Yay another day! What a great drive. Was Ade exhausted after all that driving? All the rest stops looks 👍🏻 great.

Laughed at 'rush hour'.

Loved your selfies with Hollie, such gorgeous girls 😘

Aw, you've arrived at your dads. How lovely that he was waiting outside for you ❤️

Looking forward to reading more as always 😁

[fa$$a]

I too love driving around Tennessee the scenery is stunning isn't it? Had a lump in my throat too when you finally got to your dads 💜💜 Can't wait for the next day 👍🏻👍🏻

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by Melbatb

What fabulous scenery! It must have been so lovely to see your dad!

See more...

Thank you.
The scenery was amazing. We were so luck to have those blue skies.
I was beyond excited to see Dad.

Thanks for reading

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by fa$$a

I too love driving around Tennessee the scenery is stunning isn't it? Had a lump in my throat too when you finally got to your dads 💜💜 Can't wait for the next day 👍🏻👍🏻

See more...

It really is beautiful isn't it?!
The plan is to go back next Summer and start in Tennessee and Dad will join us there and we will then work our way down to Florida.
We just want to see more of that whole area.

Thank you so much for reading

[miss_mouse]

Originally Posted by KittyBlackDog

Yay another day! What a great drive. Was Ade exhausted after all that driving? All the rest stops looks 👍🏻 great.

Laughed at 'rush hour'.

Loved your selfies with Hollie, such gorgeous girls 😘

Aw, you've arrived at your dads. How lovely that he was waiting outside for you ❤️

Looking forward to reading more as always 😁

See more...

Hey!
No he wasn't funnily enough. I think because the driving feels so stressfree and he loves the car, he just didn't feel that.
The time was stopped for petrol he was feeling that he needed air and to stretch his legs though. But that was the only time.

If only our rush hours were like that

It was so bizarre driving up to Dad's house.
I miss him so much.

Thanks for reading lovely xxx

[disneylover]

Beautiful scenery there Lisa. Very lucky with such sunny skies too. Can't wait to have that French toast with you on our trip.