Following I-40 from California to the Carolinas (PART II)

Driving across the country has to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done. It also has to be one of the craziest. As much as I love people, and as accepting as I try to be of each individual person's uniqueness, this road trip has done nothing but prove to me how interesting people can be :)

10 Best, Worst and Funniest Road Trip Moments:

1. Seeing a man sleeping next to the highway under the "Welcome to New Mexico" sign
2. 'Toad Suck Park' in Little Rock, Arkansas
3. Bouncing (serious bouncing) as we drove across the bridge into Memphis
4. Seeing the last In-N-Out Burger as we drove through Arizona, and not stopping (worst mistake EVER!)
5. Danny legally drinking a beer in the car as I drove
6. Kissing before crossing every state line
7. Leaving Memphis, we drove through Whiteville and then Brownville (we think they might still be a little bit racist there)
8. Watching a car in front of us maliciously try to hit squirrels as they ran across the highway (and succeeding in hitting three)
9. Hitting London, Paris, Versailles and Frankfurt in one day (apparently Kentucky has the inability to come up with their own town names)
10. Seeing a woman in a bikini trying to flag someone down to help fix her car

Following I-40 from California to the Carolinas (PART I)

Well, we did it! Danny and I departed our tiny apartment (after hours and hours of painstaking cleaning), packed up the kittens and hit the road. Our original plan was to drive straight to Indiana, board the kittens and head on a road trip through the South. But in a very non-Jill move, I decided I wanted to scrap the plan and go on a REAL adventure. So we decided to continue following the 40 to the east coast.

Spending five days in a car with someone is a serious testament to your ability to deal with all of their issues. For instance, Danny drives like a grandpa. On normal days, it isn’t a big deal. But when we are trying to cover 700 miles in one day, 50 mph starts to affect your sanity. And as someone who has grown up in Southern California, I find the flat terrain of the Texas panhandle absolutely fascinating. My husband, however, does not appreciate being woken up from his nap every 5 minutes to hear about what flat land looks like, or how far away I think that itty-bitty farm house is way out in the distance.

In a brief overview, we drove through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina on the 40, before heading into South Carolina to visit our friends. We had dinner with my friend Lindsay from college in Oklahoma City (and boy did she show off that city! Danny and I fell in love!) We had lunch with family in Little Rock, Arkansas. We had delicious BBQ in downtown Memphis. And we put our feet in the water on the coast of North Carolina.

It was an absolutely amazing trip that my husband and I will never forget. We just finished spending a week in South Carolina with our friends Tucker and Amanda, and tomorrow we drive up north to Indiana to get settled into our apartment. Not having a home for two weeks has been hard on my emotional state, and Danny’s too. But we cope by leaning on each other.

Now, off to Indiana! Let the true adventure begin!!!

P.S. Check back soon for a list of our craziest road trip experiences!!!