Our Kodak Moment

...or "We'll Get Some Sleep Tomorrow Night".

This was our saying every day from the moment we touched down in Oklahoma to the day we finally made it to my Grandparents town in North Carolina, five days later.

We flew into Oklahoma late on June 4th, after an afternoon flight to Dallas and a short connecting flight out of the same gate. Got home by June 5th. We slept in a while, had a swell breakfast at Jimmy's Egg, back at home, we cleaned out the car to prepare for the trip, then managed to get his car tags renewed (even though it meant getting help from the Marine recruiters for the military discount). For dinner that night, made burgers, fries and corn-on-the-cob while we watched some funny Mystery Science Theater 3000 shorts. Was especially entertained by the CONN commercial called "Mr. B" about a Peter-Pan type character who gets a little boy to fall in love with a trumpet.

On June 6th, we didn't sleep in so long, and again had our usual scrambled eggs and waffles at home. That afternoon we drove down to Lawton to go out to dinner with family, and ended up after much deliberation to go to the Cracker Barrel, as they had the turkey dinner special that night. And that's what I got too... it was delicious! And as usual, Mike and I stayed a few hours longer at Judy and Dickie's, just talking about everything under the sun. It was a bunch of fun, as always. Took the dog for a walk around the neighborhood when we got home, although it was pretty late. I misplaced my phone right after we got back, and we ended  up running all over the place at about 3am, looking for it before I found it in my backpack when we got back again.

June 7th was the first  day on the road: from Norman to Memphis. Left at about 4pm after doing all the packing and such... picking up one last thing from here and there, and having taco bell before heading out - we arrived to our Memphis hotel at about 2am (ten hours) with Mike driving the whole day.

Saturday the 8th was spent entirely in Tennessee, and not by choice. Everything was going just fine, even though we didn't have much sleep at all. Mike started out driving, but I relieved him after an hour or so. We had KFC for lunch around Jackson, after nothing much for breakfast besides granola bars in the car. Nashville was nice to see again, even if it was a drive-by. We stopped every now and then for the pets, but our serious halt came about 9pm, about 10 miles past Knoxville, just after exit 398 I later learned, when we suddenly lost acceleration just after I was figuring out how to turn on the headlights. The AAA guy told us it was the timing belt... and found us a great little repair place nearby called Grandpa's Auto Shop in Kodak, TN. He took us there, and we rode in the car on the flatbed with the animals. Grandpa took a quick look at the car and took us to a nearby Motel 6 so we could get a little sleep, but once we got there, we spent most of our time winding down and making plans. 

June 9th was a wild morning. We got an early taxi ride to the airport, 33 miles away, rented a car from Hertz, and continued on to see my grandparents in North Carolina as planned, except arriving at noon-ish rather then the night before. I-40 across the Smoky Mountains was exciting as ever, beautiful and scary as we drove past the semi-trucks. Made it in time to relax and have some sandwiches at Grandpa and Grandma's after checking into the hotel. Soon after we went to the local playhouse in Flatrock for a performance of Evita, then had a wonderful dinner at the regular... a Mexican restaurant called Papa's and Beer.

June 10th we finally slept in a good deal. Very late breakfast at G&G's, relaxed a good while, worked on their latest puzzle, and went over to my Aunt and Uncle's for a dinner of burgers on their porch overlooking their little lake. Four deer even came out of the forest to munch on the corn that my uncle put out. :) Stayed with my grandparents at their home that night a little longer, then said our goodbyes. We needed to leave in the morning.

It was a wise decision to drive home on the 11th... took about ten hours, plus. Had to go back to get the car and turn in the rental, then it was straight on to home. Took I-81 from Knoxville all the way up the Shenandoah in Virginia, the cut across I-64 to Richmond, where we stopped for a local fried chicken dinner, then gloriously, spent a night in our own backyard and finally, bed.

Wednesday, June 12th, we were home. Went out to breakfast because there was no food in the house. Then we spent a little time unpacking, getting groceries from the commissary and local grocery stores, and then decals from the housing office and the Navy for Mike's car. Had a lovely salmon dinner with lots of fixings as we watched Finding Nemo. A very pleasant affair.

Jw