Today was pretty hectic/exciting/nerve-racking as I prepared to leave home and head to Gardner-Webb so we could leave on our ROAD TRIP! Ben Perdue, Ben Humphrey, Sarajane and myself met up at Sarajane's house around 3 o'clock, loaded up the van, grabbed some groceries and we were off!

The first leg of our trip was not a horribly long one. We set out on our way to Tennesse and eventually Paducah, Kentucky, where I now sit in the Thrifty Inn writing this blog. We didn't make it very far to begin with until we had to get some food and we decided that a trip to Cracker Barrel was needed. And, it is Wednesday, so it was Broccoli Cheddar Chicken special night at Cracker Barrel which made the meal even more amazing! So, after we loaded up on the starchy goodness of Southern home cooking, it was into the van and off we went. Tennessee took about four hours and we didn't stop the whole time. It was really neat to drive through Nashville where we were this summer for TheCall Nashville! It brought back fun memories of the heat and sleeping on concrete and eating way too much food at Waffle House when everything was over. As we made our way through Tennessee it was raining and drizzling but not too cold.

Next was Kentucky, a state that we've only seen in the dark so far, but hopefully we'll see more if tomorrow morning. We stopped right over the Kentucky/Tennessee line in a little town called Oak Grove at the local Pilot gas station/rest stop/McDonald's/everything you could possibly cram into a convenience store. We stood at the back of the van for about thirty minutes and ate sugar-filled junk and chips and granola bars.

From the gas station it was about another hour and a half to Paducah. When we got here Ben ran in and checked in for us and we unloaded the car as we also froze! And it's only 36 degrees here now...it's going to be a lot colder in Chicago, but it'll be alright, we can make it.

So, here are some funny quotes from our adventure so far:

1. Ben Perdue - "She went to the door and looked through the pee hole."

2. Tyler McCall - "I forgot to tell you guys I have a black eye."
Ben Perdue - "I thought you said you had a black guy."
Sarajane - "Where is he?!?!"

3. Ben Perdue - "I can't believe I hit that tire!" X 5,000,000

4. Sarajane - "I forgot my coats! All this stuff is useless!"

5. Ben Humphrey - "We didn't have analogies on our SAT."
Sarajane - "Oh...I didn't even know, I thought those were ratios."

6. Ben Perdue - "Are we going to be in Western time?"

7. Ben Perdue - "I feel like Mr. Shuffle has something good for us!"
Sarajane - "Mr. Shellfish?"

8. Tyler McCall - "Lare-in-get-us?"
Ben Perdue - "Laryngitis?!?!"

Tomorrow we'll load up the van pretty early and head on to Kansas City. We plan on stopping in St. Louis to see the arch and then we'll be on our way! We should arrive in Kansas City around 5 or so tomorrow evening then we'll meet up with our host family and begin our time in Kansas City!

Labels: Kansas City, Kentucky, Road Trip, Tennessee