Walking in Memphis...Literally

From Branson we decided to skip Little Rock and drive on to Memphis. Little Rock was heartbroken, but we had to soldier on. We arrived late Friday night and checked into our hotel. On a side note here, we've been really lucky with all our hotel choices during this trip. We only had one hiccup back in Oklahoma City, but were able to find a better place right away. I judge a hotel by the water pressure in the shower. So far, I've been pleasantly surprised every step of the way.

Anyway, Saturday morning we got a little bit of a late start, but finally got showered, packed and navigated, so we could spend the day with our friends Heather and John and their new baby Django, who has the genetic promise of being talented and gorgeous and thin. Heather and I went to college together. We met in Modern Drama class, where she would invade my personal space by reading my Entertainment Weekly over my shoulder. It took another year, but we finally became the best of friends, terrorizing the Drama Department and our fellow students along the way.

Heather and John just relocated to Memphis from New York, so they had lots of knowledge to share with us about moving to the South. Just as we've noticed about the people in Asheville, Heather and John commented on how nice everyone is. It's very sweet, if not a little disarming. I plan to keep my guard up, though. I've seen enough movies to know that the nice town folk will probably end up eating me or turning me into a robot.

We walked to their favorite breakfast place and had our first biscuit and sorghum of this adventure. Sorghum is sort of like molasses, sort of like honey, but has a really unique flavor. It was yummy. Everyone back in California gets a bottle of sorghum for Christmas! Woohoo! The visit with Heather, John and Django was fun, and I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had lofty ideas about driving from Memphis to Asheville in one day. We could have done it, too, if it hadn't been for me. In Knoxville, I decided I didn't want to creep into Asheville in the middle of the night. I wanted to take more pictures of the journey and see Asheville in the daylight when we arrived. So Michael agreed to spend the night in Knoxville.

So today the trek across America ends. We will be in Asheville this afternoon and a whole new adventure will begin. It's exciting, but scary. I'm going to do my best to make the most of this year and this opportunity. And I'm going to do everything I can to avoid becoming food or a robot. Wish me luck!