Well, I wanted to leave at 6:00am, hoping that the kids would sleep for at least 2 or 3 hours of driving, but last minute "loose item" loading into the minivan caused us to get started at the comparatively late hour of 8:30am. We stopped in Belleville for fuel and breakfast (my first trip to McDonalds in probably 2 years, and of course, they messed up our order[!]). Our first fill-up for this trip was a precious $2.96/gallon (yikes! This is going to be a long trip!).
We blew through Illinois and Kentucky, and stopped in Clarksville, TN (can you hear the name of this town without the Monkee's singing in your head?). We stopped for lunch (at Arby's - I can see my diet is going to hell on this trip), and fuel ($3.05/gallon, Lord help me).
Nearing the Georgia border, we went through what I can only assume were the Smokey Mountains. (NOTE: I have now been told that this was probably Lookout Mountain, part of the Appalachian range) The clouds came way down on us, and visibility was reduced drastically. But, it was beautiful - we were all suprised at how beautiful Tennessee turned out to be. Soon we were on the downward side of the mountains, and heading into Georgia. The sky continued to hang low as a steady mist fell for the rest of the trip.
By this time, the kids were heavily engaged, riding three abreast in the back seat, watching Hamtaro over and over again on the portable DVD player we had borrowed.
We finally made it to the Springhill Suites in Kennesaw, GA around 8:00pm or so. I had experienced a brain bubble regarding the fact that we were crossing into the Eastern Time Zone, and therefore would arrive an hour later than the driving time on the TripTik would indicate. Also, remember that we got a late start.
This was going to be our first overnight, and courtesy of Marriott and my frequent traveller points. The room was fairly nice - an Emabassy Suites style suite, shotgun layout of "kitchenette" (composed of a half-fridge, sink, microwave and coffee maker), office/living area with desk/tv/sofa-bed, room divider, and a double-double bedroom with bath. We dumped our bags in the room (we had the presence of mind to pack separate, small overnight bags), and headed for the nearby Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. The kids were exhausted and crabby (no pun intended). We should have gone someplace easier and quicker, but they gave us a coupon at the hotel for a free appetizer, and I really wanted some Crawfish Etoufee and a salad. I was pretty tired of fast food for one day.
Back to the hotel, and off to bed - what a long day.
Read all about Day 2...
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