Smoke on the water

Was planning on going to the beach with Chantel today, but of course with Murphy's Law, the whole town  was covered in smoke. There is a fire south of the city on the Virginia/ North Carolina border in a swamp. You could barely see and it smelled horrible! So we decided to wait a bit and then go to the aquarium. The coolest part of the aquarium was the otter out front which was free to see! A little later Pam and I dropped off Chantel at the airport and she unfortunately has a delay there now. It's weird to see Chantel go because it's like the vacation that I felt like I was on isn't a vacation and it's official. Not sure how I am feeling right now, slightly sad but slightly excited for the change. I'll keep you all updated on how things go tomorrow!!

Washington DC!!!

Went up to Washington DC with Chantel to go see Jess Barnes and her fiance Mike! It was a super fun weekend and we stayed with them in Alexandria, VA which is right outside of the city for Saturday and Sunday night! It was amazing getting to see all the sights that I've heard about and seen in the news. We walked all over the city (and sometimes even while being rained on) and got to see some awesome sites like the Washington monument, Capital, Lincoln memorial, White House, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Holocaust Museum and went up the tower of the old post office building for a great view of the city! Mike and Jess were awesome hosts and we also got some delicious cupcakes from Georgetown Bakery. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes in the rain for those cupcakes, but they were definitely worth it! Here are a few pictures from the trip: 

Settling in VA Beach

Sorry to be so slow about posting! These past two days have been pretty busy. Yesterday we woke up early to go to breakfast in Nashville at this delicious restaurant, Pancake Pantry, honestly the best pancake/syrup I've ever had! Then we made the long drive to VA Beach and made it to the house at about 11:30 pm! I was sooo happy to finally just get here, I was starting to think the driving would never end!!

Slept in till about 9:30 this morning and after some breakfast burritos that Pam made us, started moving everything up into my room. It only took about an hour with Chase and Chantel's help, but oh man does humidity make you sweaty!! After moving we went to Rudees for lunch and then Watermans. After an orange crush, we walked around on the beach for a bit and called it a day after that. I started to unpack everything this evening and it's coming all pretty well... I'll post a picture once I get everything unpacked and hung up :)

Never been so happy to see Tennessee!

Escaped Brinkley, AR yesterday!!! They tried to hold us prisoner by not having the right piece for my car and then charging a lot to install the other piece that would make it work yesterday. Although the 4 people we interacted with were very friendly and went above and beyond to help us, I have no desire to ever go back.

Last night we made it to the suburb Chantel's aunt lives in and went to dinner with her grandma. We're really bummed that we missed our day in Nashville for a day in Brinkley, cause quite frankly there is no comparison between the two. One has awesome bars, shops, and a long history of music celebrity. The other has sonic, closed shops, and an obsession with the ivory billed woodpecker. So the better choice is obviously clear but apparently my jeep decoded it really wanted to try to see one of those woodpeckers... But hopefully this morning Chantel and I will get to spend at least an hour I'm Nashville to at least see the city as we eat breakfast.

Today is our last long drive, thank God.

What can go wrong will go wrong...

My car randomly broke down on the side of the I-40 right by the guard rail... apparently the worst place to be stuck.  We called AAA, but since I'm towing a uhaul it's not covered under my plan so we had to call another tow truck company and were stuck on the side of the road for 45 minutes with semis and cars whizzing by in the heat and what looked like a swamp behind us. The tow truck driver was awesome and took us to the small town Brinkley, AR and brought us to the auto repair shop where luckily the owner happened to still be there after hours. The mechanic took a quick look at it and thinks at least our electric fan is shot because it smelled like an electrical fire, but there was also fluid leaking from the car so who knows. The awesome tow truck driver then took us to McDonalds to get some food and then to the nicest hotel in town because according to him there are some not very nice areas. We were instructed to stay in our hotel room and not to wander around town. The hotel is okay... kind of like a motel 6... and this is where I am now... I'll keep everyone updated on the progress tomorrow!!

This is horrible

Chantel must be a masochist and I am sadistic for doing this to her, because there is no fun in waking up at 3:50 am to get ready to drive for 16 hours for the second day in a row. Teleportation needs to be invented NOW.

Stopping in the Lone Star State

It was very bittersweet leaving Phoenix this morning. I'm sad to leave my family and friends, but excited for all the new experiences. Chantel and I headed out a little late and the uhaul was a little scary at first, but we're getting used to it. Stopped in Amarillo, Texas because we're 4 hours behind the plan because of how slow we're going and we hit a couple storms on the way. We're both excited to be out of the car and sleeping for a bit before we wake up early and head back out on the road.

Miss everyone so much already!