Sweet Home Alabama

Saturn V

We weren't in Huntsville very long, just a couple of days. Which frankly, is enough for me. But, we did make a fun discovery- thanks to my sharp Wikipedia skills, we learned that Huntsville is quite the engineering hub, and has lent many a hand to NASA. In fact, it is currently the home of Space Camp, yes the Space Camp!

Why this even matters, is that Trent's grandpa, Claude, was an engineer for the Saturn V, the first rocket to the moon. He did the heavy hydraulics on it. Well, this said rocket happens to be on display at the Space & Rocket Museum in Huntsville! And even better, it's outside, so even though the museum was closed today (once again, a Tuesday, what's up with not being open Tuesdays, museums of the world?), we managed to snag some shots of it!

Trent said he always wanted to be an astronaut when he was a kid. Then he asked me if I did too, to which I replied, "Oh hellz naw". Ok actually I said "not really". But the whole idea just seems a little freaky to me. I think it takes a lot of guts to want to do something like that. Maybe one day, when it's a common thing to go to the moon, I will consider it. :)

But yea, Alabama was good. Some parts definitely live up to their reputation, but other parts were absolutely breath-taking. And they have 2/3-sized ducks! They're cute and 33% smaller than your average duck. Very cool. Oh and we passed the Alabama fan club and museum- for Alabama the band, which is in Alabama. Hah. Yea it's a pretty awesome state.

PS- Check out this parking lot sign, and tell me what is wrong. I'll give you a hint, the error is on the bottom half. Maybe it's just me, the spelling freak that cares. :)

Nashville Returns!

I know it might seem strange, but I quite enjoy re-visiting certain places in our journey. We returned to Nashville for another round of shows, and while there were able to visit Opry Mills (an outlet mall, akin to Franklin or Potomac or Grapevine, etc. Mills). I kinda wanted to visit this mall again, so I conveniently made sure we stayed close by to make this happen for us. The good news is, the hotel was actually pretty sweet!

We stayed at a Hampton Inn, which usually are like glorified Holiday Inns. However, this one, seeing as though it has to compete with all the fancy schmancy Nashville hotels (and being in close proximity to the Grand Ole Opry), was totally decked out and fun- very my style!

Oh and then we went to Knoxville, where we got snowed in for a couple days, but on the way out of town, the trees were lined with ice, and it was the most beautiful, magical thing! I tried to take some pics, but I don't know if they do it any justice. It was simply gorgeous.

Not too much excitement occurred, but it was fun!

Memphis, TN

"I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we, as a people, will get to the promised land"- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Ah yes, Memphis. Well, the original plan was to swing through here on the way to Nashville, so we could see Graceland. Sadly though, upon discovering that a good quality visit to Graceland would set us back $70 a pop, we decided to forgo that and instead, opted for the much-cheaper National Civil Rights Museum. After all, who isn't a fan of civil rights?

Now, although I am generally a fantastic party planner, I might have dropped the ball and ignored the fact that the museum is CLOSED on Tuesdays- of all days of the week! I know, I know. It definitely explained why there were no cars in the lot, and how we managed to find parking downtown for a 45-foot motorcoach. But, we still took some photos of the Lorraine Motel, where MLK was assassinated (which is now the museum), and enjoyed a lunch in the Arcade Cafe, the oldest diner in Memphis:

.

It was neat to see the MLK tributes, because let's face it, he was pretty awesome. Trent felt the peace sign was an appropriate symbol of MLK, and I agree. :)

Also, there are tons of old trolleys floating about in the streets. I had fun watching them from the restaurant window, and hoped to get some great photos, but only ended up with a couple pics. They took me back though, to like the mid-20th century, and I could really feel an interesting energy from those trolleys. I wish I could live in the hey-day of these trolleys.

Overall though, Trent and I pretty much decided we weren't very impressed with Memphis. Perhaps it was because our hotel was in the middle of a ghetto? Maybe it's because I saw a dead chipmunk that was standing up? Or could it be the hair I found in my queso at dinner? Who can tell? Though, I honestly wouldn't mind going back and seeing some of the museums, the recording studios and DEFINITELY Beale Street (which we drove past quickly, and it looked awesome- my dad would love it!).

Bonus: On the way from Missouri to Tennessee, I saw the sun rays breaking through these clouds and managed to capture it- on an iPhone too! Actually these iPhone cameras take some decent shots!

Meet me in St.Louis!

So, I was actually pleasantly surprised by St. Louis. I had been there once, long long ago- 10 years ago, to be exact- so it was a nice refresher course in good ol' Saint Louie.

Of course, we wanted to take the coach down to the arch so that it could get its picture taken. I wasn't sure how we were going to do that, imagining hordes of tourists and next to no parking, but great news everyone, there was ample room for a cute bear bus to get its picture taken!

Now, we unfortunately could only stay in the bus pick up/drop off area for 10 minutes, so I let Trent out of the cage so he could explore the arch area a little (can you believe, he has family in Missouri, but has never been to the arch!), and then we took off. It was sweet and simple.

The next day, we had our event at a The Kemp Auto Museum in Chesterfield (St. Louis suburb).

When I first heard it was an auto museum, I was thinking one of those decrepit roadside museums that litter the midwest highways. However, we were pleasantly surprised at what the venue turned out to be- check out some of these sweet, one-of-a-kind cars for yourself:

Cool, right?! There were more where that came from, too. I was not only impressed, but honored that our beautiful motorcoach could (sort of) join the ranks amongst those fancy automobiles, if even just for a short day. :)

Well, that pretty much was the extent of our Missouri adventure. We learned a good lesson about Missouri, though: If you hear the name "Sarah Palin" in a sentence but don't know what they said about her, just tell them you're a fan of hers, too. :) We went to some japanese restaurant, the kind where they have commune tables, and this guy across from us said something about how he was a big fan of Sarah Palin, and Trent, having not understood the man exactly right, replies "Yea, we're not a big fan of hers, either", to which the man says, "What?! What was that?!", as hostile-y as I typed that. I'm not going to lie, I thought he was going to hop over the grill and beat us down. I nudged Trent under the table, and muttered "We are fans of hers, Trent, remember" to which Trent said "Yea we're fans of hers too". The man simmered down and was fine after that. So yea. We learned our lesson. :)

Til next time!

Arkansas

I was excited to get to Arkansas because I've never been there, and I wanted to check it off my list. Here is the only photo I took in Arkansas, and I think it safely sums up my visit there:

I realize it's hard to see what exactly that photo, so I'll tell you- it's a table of clowns. There were five fully decked-out clowns, and two humans, sitting near us in Chili's (naturally the only restaurant within walking distance from our Arkansas hotel). One of the humanoids was once a youth pastor. Yes, I like to eavesdrop, though sadly, they didn't drop any clues about what exactly they were doing dressed up in clowns. I'm guessing they'd just finished up scaring the s%^$# out of a bunch of 5-year-olds.

But based on the sum of the whole of the state, we decided Arkansas' new slogan should be: Arkansas, where everything is just a little bit slower. :) J/K- it is actually a beautiful state, I wish I could've seen more of the Ozarks, and I am putting Hot Springs on my list for next time!

Dallas, TX (still!)

So, we are in TX still, though I think we are escaping as of Friday. Phew! Anyways, this trip has been kinda fun. Here is the beautiful view from our hotel room:

Not bad, huh? It's a really pretty lake, and we were excited to find a path going around it, but unfortunately, the path keeps ending, then starting up like 30 feet later, but in all random places. So, a bike ride didn't work out so well.

We also lucked out at having an event right next to the Dallas Galleria, which is a high-end mall in the area. I'd been eyeing this mall, so it worked out well that we were in walking distance.

Yes, there are palm trees inside the mall! And it is like 3-4 stories, depending on what part you're in. Tyson's Corner in Mclean, VA definitely has it's run for the money! Sure, Tyson's has a sushi-conveyer-belt bar in the middle of it, but look what the Galleria has?

That's right, a skating rink! Awesome right?? I enjoy ice skating, so I'd love to go, but I don't think Trent is a big fan.

But speaking of Trent, he wanted me to tell you that, in his mind, the one redeeming thing about being in Texas, is that they have Dr. Pepper at every single restaurant. Even Diet Dr. Pepper, which is unusual. It's all because Dr. Pepper was founded here.

And, he took some sweet photos today, so we will posting them...next time!

Texas Part II

So, we have had a nice tour of Texas. It's a huge state, and we are covering tons of ground! Here's an idea of where we went:

Houston > San Antonio > San Marcos > Austin > Houston (again) > Harlingen > Brownsville > McAllen > San Antonio (again) > Dallas

...then holiday break, but when we return...

Dallas > Plano > Grapevine > Leaving TX!

...so all in all, I think we have covered a lot of ground so far.

In Houston, we stayed at a lovely full-line Marriott, which we don't usually get to do because they rarely have parking accomodations for a 45-foot motorcoach! :)

Marriott Westchase- Houston

It was a nice property, and even better- we were there when Houston got its earliest snow on record!

Earliest snowfall in Houston's history via motorcoach :)

Needless to say, we were excited to head down to the Texas-Mexico border, and even though it was cloudy for part of the time, it was nice and warm!! Very enjoyable, especially in December!

Cute Palm Tree in McAllen, TX

On our way north from Harlingen-Brownsville, we had to stop through somewhat of a border inspection stop. It was kinda funny to see the search dogs sniffing our coach to make sure we weren't harboring any illegal substances/immigrants!

I also discovered the most delicious Red Velvet Cupcakes ever! Ok, so they're actually just Cheesecake Factory brand from Starbucks (they sell them in B&N Starbucks), but they are sooo good! I had to take a photo to pay homage to the amazingness that it is:

Then, we went to Dallas, where we visited the site of JFK's assassination, and actually, I will probably post an entire entry on Dallas but here is a photo of the city from my iPhone:

Dallas, TX

And we've still got a bit of time to spend in TX, so I will be sharing the rest soon!