Day two started well. The night before we decided to drive
through to Memphis. I was upset, because I had wanted to stop and eat BBQ in
Nashville and see the Sensuous Steel: Art Deco Automobiles at the Frist Center
for the Visual Arts
This would make a nice 2 hour break in our driving, but what
to do with the pets? It wasn’t far
enough of a drive to justify stopping for the night, so change the plan. Spouse was right (don’t tell him I admitted
it though *wink*), we couldn’t do these things since we had the pets with us. I
love my furry babies, they are family members and a great addition to our life
– during a cross country move they just add an extra layer of fun to the
adventure. Also since Mooshu is kept in the pet carrier all day I was worried
about pushing his day past 7-8 hours – one can only hold it for so long, then I
would be looking at a cat bath again and frankly I like the skin on my
arms. So through Nashville on I 40 to
Memphis, the state was lovely for driving as we came out of the Smoky Mountains
and into woods and farm land. Other than the continued songs from Mooshu which
came and went without reason, the day was uneventful and we arrived at our
hotel. This evening’s adventure will be at a Drury Hotel in Memphis TN.
I had not heard of this hotel chain, they offer a dinner
buffet, with 3 adult drinks for each adult. They bill themselves as a family
hotel, “The
Extras Aren't Extra at Drury Hotels!”.
We needed to make it there before 7:30 to take advantage of the dinner. We
still own a home in NC and need to continue to save for mortgage payments. Let
me take a minute to explain how the military pays us – we get a housing
allowance which you can use to pay for housing (like we did in NC), but if you
live on Post in their housing they take that amount of money out of your pay. Once
we sign for housing at Fort Bliss they will take that money out of our check,
it makes sense but it means really tight budgeting for us once our safety is
gone. I am good at saving but I don’t have 12 months of mortgages saved, so
bring on the included dinner buffet!!! We made it by 5:30, so we could unpack
the car, set the pets up in the room and breathe for a minute before dinner.
Drury Inn of Memphis was nice looking,
right off the Highway, had a grass area for Hemi - with doggie bags, (this past
year I took my tree hugging to a new height and got really good at bringing my
own cloth bags, alas when it was time to move we really needed plastic bags –
car trash, kitty litter, dog . . .well you get the idea). The dining area was just like a breakfast
buffet area at most hotels, but with a small bar. It was pasta night, with
salad, baked potatoes, and hot dogs. It was a pretty nice spread for the money,
my favorite part the 2 glasses of Zinfandel I had – AHHH relaxation. I did
notice that there were rather small children everywhere, which is what I figured,
accounted for EVERYTHING in the dining area being sticky, but with wine
everything gets better! Back at the room I didn’t even notice that Mooshu was
sharing his opinion of our hotel choice. I announced to no one in particular that I was
going to sleep and they needed to find our next hotel. Hubby took Monkey to the pool and enjoyed the
hot tub, they got some exercise and found a different way to relax.
Hemi and Mooshu felt it was important for
me to wake up early since I went to bed early, their first wake up call was at
4:30, so by 6 AM Hemi and I took a long walk in an empty grassy field across
the street from the Hotel. It was good for both of us to stretch and get some
fresh air. I returned to the room and started packing and waking the family. We
went to breakfast in shifts so Hemi wouldn’t be alone, I still worried about
him barking and disturbing others. Over
breakfast I asked about our next hotel, and got blank looks, so together Mike
and I had a working breakfast, finding a place to stay on the west side of
Dallas. This was a good thing since the sticky was getting to me, I was
dreaming of a bucket of warm soapy water, rubber gloves and a sponge.
Seriously, EVERYTHING needed wiped off!! Mike found a Navy Lodge at the Naval
Air station at Fort Worth TX, so we were off on the third day of driving aiming
for west of Dallas.
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