I am sooooo tired. We didn't make it to the hotel until 2am last night because of all the time we spent at Cooter's Place (Dukes of Hazzard Museum) and Dollywood but it was completely worth it. It was sunny the whole entire trip right up until a couple of minutes ago when it started raining. My sister is currently on her way back to Oklahoma (flying of course). My mighty Subaru was a trooper and held strong the whole trip even when we were winding through the Great Smoky Mountains. I died a little inside when I tallied up all my gas receipts because with our detour to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN it was a grand total of 1200 miles one way which makes me really glad that I got an oil change before I left.
We took I-40 all the way out there. I think every bug in Oklahoma and Arkansas died on my car windshield. We drove past 52 Cracker Barrels (we might have missed a couple but pretty close). By the time we made it to Little Rock, the sun had already gone down and so there wasn't much to see but I did see a couple of signs for Bill Clinton's Presidential Library. We drove through Memphis and it really sucked because it was late at night and they had two lanes of I-40 closed due to construction. We made it through and stopped for the night at a Hampton Inn in Jackson, TN. Even though we didn't get there until 2am it was worth it because then we had less of a drive on Saturday and more time to do stuff. Plus this Hampton Inn had only been open since the beginning of this year and IT WAS AWESOME. Big plasma tv, granite shower, a bed that we had to take a running leap to get into and it was really nice to stay there after such a long day.
Driving through Tennessee was GORGEOUS. I still can't get over all the trees that are in TN and NC. It is like some big enchanted forest. I had promised my sister that we would be able to stop along the way and do some touristy things. One of my old co-workers had told me that Ben "Cooter" Jones from Dukes of Hazzard had a museum called Cooter's Place. My sister and I grew up watching Dukes of Hazzard on tv (i saw some of them when they originally aired) and so when I told her about it she said we had to stop. By a twist of fate we happened to go there on a day when Cooter himself was going to be doing an autograph signing. I was a little nervous waiting in line due to the excitement of it all but it was all worth it. He is one of the nicest people and nicest celebrities you will ever meet. He talked to us and even posed for pics and signed our souvenirs and even gave me directions to Raleigh! I am going to frame my autographed picture and proudly display it when I move into my apartment. It was a neat place. there is a gift shop and memorabilia to see and a good representation of the vehicles are on display.
Next door to Cooter's Place was a little musuem called Willie Nelson and Friends Museum Showcase. It was started with some memorabilia purchased at Willie Nelson's tax evasion auction. It had some cool stuff in it. it was one of those things where we were like why not and I don't think that either one of us wanted to get back in the car right away. there was a Wax Museum next door but we didn't go through it because it was going to be $9 each and it looked like it wasn't going to be that fancy.
Finally we were on our way again. We took a slight detour so that we could go to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. Neither one of us had ever been there before but I am a huge Dolly fan, so I knew that we had to stop since we were going to be so close. Pigeon Forge is like a mini Branson. It seemed like we constantly had to stop for stoplights and there was a lot of traffic. It is one of the prettiest theme parks I have ever been to. It's nestled in the Smokies and there are trees everywhere which was nice because then it wasn't as hot. We only got to spend a couple of hours there since we got there just before closing but it was so much fun. There was a lot of craftsman demonstrations that were interesting and I was able to get some pins at the pin shop. I definitely plan on going back.
Driving through the Smoky Mountains wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but we did drive through a couple of tunnels and there were some places where we had to slow down to 45 and 50 mph because of the steepness and curves. We drove by Asheville, NC but it was pitch black by then and late at night so I didn't really see much driving through there. By the time we made it to my temporary home aka the hotel it was 2am and all we wanted to do was hit the sack.
This morning we slept in. the whole Eastern time is really messing with me. It feels like i am getting gipped an hour but I finally got all my clocks changed over so that I knew what the hell time it was. We watched some tv and then we headed over to the apartment office as soon as it opened since I wasn't going to have much time before I had to take her to the airport. The apartment complex is gorgeous and clean and QUIET. I actually got to tour the actual apartment and it is really nice and very white. No 70s decor here. everything is painted white and I have a light beige kitchen and a balcony and a walk in closet. it is a very pretty area with lots of trees, sand volleyball, tennis, a pool and fitness center. Unless it turns out that I have some criminal background that I don't know about then I should be able to move in on Tuesday which would be great because then I could check out of the hotel early and hopefully save a little money. It is all electric so that saves me from having to call another utility.
Anyways, tomorrow is the first day of work so hopefully everything goes well. i think it will be fine, it's just kind of the big scary until I get there and meet my department.
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