Day 7 - Memphis, TN to Columbus, OH

Today was our first full-tank day; we've got a bit left, but we drove from Memphis to Nashville on yesterday's tank and were done with the new one by the time we hit Columbus this evening.  That's 591 miles on about 1.5 tanks of gas. I love my hybrid. :)

It was also our second time clearing entire states in one day - first time was Oklahoma, that we entered and left on the same day. Since TeKay's home is only about three miles inside the TN state line from AR, it's safe to say we covered all of Tennessee, Kentucky and a goodly chunk of Ohio today.

So after experiencing them all today, we have both agreed that in our survey of the nation's roadside rest stops, all three of those states' are mostly forgettable. Points to KY for having airdryers so powerful it took under 15 seconds to dry our hands. :)

We hit the road a little after 8am, planning to do a full day, and pulled into Columbus after 9pm local time (we lost one hour in hitting EST). It was bizarre driving through the end of sunrise as well as well after sunset, but if all goes well we'll be able to hit the Canadian border before the Customs office closes at 5pm tomorrow, so we can start the 72-hour hold on my car by end of day Monday. Fingers crossed!

All along, it's been up in the air whether we'd get to visit with her family or mine along the way. I really wanted to head up the coast and see my family in New England, spend the last night of the trip in Montreal with my folks, and then hit Toronto at the end of this week, but with yesterday's "ack" moment decided to shoot straight north from Tennessee - which took us within two miles of Beth's mom, and not that much farther away from her boyfriend and one of her six brothers (I have been offering Beth to do the blog, but she prefers to edit over my shoulder, so the above phrasing is Beth-approved).

Me, Carol Brumleve (AKA "Mom"), Beth, Dan and brother
Ron. 

So we stopped to meet them at a restaurant less than half a mile from the highway, and enjoyed a fun 1.5 hours over food. After much hugging and unloading of some of Beth's extraneous items, we ran for the car, and Beth gave me a bit of a tour of her past (pointed out the highway exits to her house and her childhood home, and the hotel at which the Junior Achievement conference she and her late husband met at when they were 16 took place, etc).

We're now in a beautiful and romantic hotel suite in Columbus, both wishing we were with other people. [grin] The room's a little drafty and having someone to snuggle with would improve the situation. :) I'm letting Beth take the bed, I'm taking the pull-out in front of the drafty fireplace.

Tomorrow's another 8am day; no idea what city, state or country we'll be posting from tomorrow!

Oh - funniest sign so far of the trip: Bucksnort Trout Ranch. Dunno why, it just tickled my funny bone.

Not actually taken by us. There was
no sign on the highway when we
passed; probably taken down to
put the new governor's name on it.