Tennessee is loong.....

10 minutes into the morning, we went into Tennessee. And we have yet to leave…. It’s a big-ass state.

Erin realized this morning why she could never live outside of major metropolitain areas - she can’t handle coffee that costs less than $2. The road broke her spirit this morning, forcing her to pick some up at a roadside gas station.

We finally listened to the mix cd’s that Chris and Timmy gave Erin. I especially like the note on the cover – “Graduate school: It’s like looking directly into the bulb of a high-powered flashlight for two years, only more expensive.” Nice, boys, nice.

Road music is an odd thing. Sometimes it makes perfect sense, like listening to NPR while driving through the Shenandoah Valley, which makes us feel smart, cultured, and proud of some parts of America. Then there was listening to Latino hip-hop and dance last night while going through small towns in Virginia that had street names like “Backwater Alley.” That put me more in mind of being in a foreign country, and not one I’d like to be in, either. This morning was William’s karaoke mix of the best of Abba, Journey, REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar, which I’ve found is good music for any geography.

As some of you know, I have a goal of tasting wine from every state in the country. Today we checked off Tennessee, at Stonhaus Vineyards, which was, well… eh. I also picked up a bottle of wine at the supermarket from Virginia. Don’t know if it’s any good yet.

We stopped for awhile at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, which is where that photo of Erin was taken. And folks, if you’re going to go to school in the South, this seems like a good place to do it. They have the coffee shops, the row of Irish pubs, the Thai food, the Mexican, and the Quiznos, all within a few blocks of each other. We didn’t actually make it to the rest of the city, but there was a billboard overhead as we got on the highway with a cartoon cowyboy waving and saying ‘Yee-haw, come to Chevyland,’ all in rainbow writing, and that was good enough for me.

Erin made a new speed record for driving from Nashville to Memphis. We did 220 miles in a little under 3 hours. She’d like you all to congratulate her. And our hotel in Memphis? Well, we got there, found that much of the a/c didn’t work, neither did the ice machines, then we found the room. You know that scene in Annie Hall where Woody Allen comes over to Diane Keaton’s apartment to kill a spider, then runs out of the bathroom, saying ‘That spider is the size of a Buick!’ That was me, about an hour ago, until Adina came to my rescue and made the spider go away. Two rooms and two failed door locks later, we’re ready to go out and explore the town. Have a good night, y’all, I’ll be talking to you later!