Day 6: So Long Kentucky!

Airports are funny places.

Funny like, often emotional roller coasters. Leaving can be fantastic. Leaving can be depressing. Arriving can give you a sense of dread, or a rush of adrenaline. It's just one of those things in life.

But back up a little. In my search for local food fare, Kyle mentioned the one thing he could think of (sans bourbon) was Ale-8-One, a soft drink. I promised us that we had to get one before I left. Turned out to mean the morning I left! But that's alright, I thought it was pretty good. It took me a minute to get used to it but, it was paired well with some krusty gas-station Krispy Kremes. #departuredepression



I gave my Trin a hug good-bye and tried not to cry. But as I am writing this and looking at this picture, I can't handle that we are no longer together. :'(

I got to the airport acidentally too early, I'm greedy for every minute I could've spent with my brother. :/ To top it off the plane was super super late. Like I've mentioned though, I'm a total airport wizard now, so it wasn't a worry at all.

Rainbow made it through security like a champ, if I may add.

In all my waiting I was on the hunt for the perfect horse souvenir to commemorate my time in horse country. Couldn't quite find it, but I found some runner-ups.

Also, the Louisville airport is small and really cute. I thought these Kentucky Derby jockey jerseys were pretty fun. They hung by each terminal. 

Perhaps the smallest commercial jet ever, three seats across total.

I had a stop in the Chicago airport on the way back, that was cool. On the way to Chicago:

Chicago is really topping my list of next cities to visit. Especially since I have gotten to hear my best friend Brigette tell me all about her family's trip earlier this year. All this Cubs stuff made me miss my lil Asher. 

I arrived safely back in Utah and got some pretty awesome aerial shots. 

I really love looking out the window of the airplane. I wish I had a map with me that would show the plane's location as we fly over cities and landmarks. At one point the captain said that we were flying over the Grand Tetons. I think that must have been the middle picture.

It's always a funny feeling, flying back from vacation. Always a little bit of sadness that sets in and lingers once it is all over. 

Rainbow never has jet-lag when she travels in comfort

I had an absolutely amazing trip and it was beyond fantastic to see Kyle, Ryan, and Jen again. 

So, until next time...!

Kentucky Trip Day 5: Heading Back

Sunday was a little bit of a bummer, not only because Ky and I knew we had to head back, but the gloom of me departing the next day, and facing possible traffic (PTSD) was a bit depressing. Jen made us a delicious lunch too boot! Goodbyes are never fun, but we said them and embarked on the return journey to Kentucky.

My pillow pet Rainbow (as crowned by Ryan) helped us navigate. 

I think maybe this is the Mississippi? Too lazy to look at a map and (obviously) too lazy to straighten and crop this pic.

Boredom sets in quick and you start playing with the panorama function on your phone. Not half-bad if I didn't get cock-blocked by that guard rail. 

Hanging out with Kyle must bring out the comic-fiend in me because the first thing I thought of when I saw all these buses in a row? 

The JOKER.

Yeah. And an appropriate non sequitur would be my inability to ever get over billboards like these.

Have I mentioned, "Hello Bible Belt?"

Also, I am not ashamed to confess that we stopped at Zaxby's on the way back. 

It was a long drive back but it was fun to hang out with my best Trin on our mini road trip. The longer I stay the more I never want to leave. Family is too good to be true. 

Week Wrap Up #6

This week's Week Wrap Up is brought to you by the letter K. For Kentucky. And Kyle and Kristen.

Also the letter "T" for Tennessee, "M" for Mississippi, "R" for Ryan, "J" for Jen. "A" for Arkansas, "I" for Indiana. You get the picture, I've got around. As I mentioned in a social media post, this West Coast girl is confused. It's been a good geography lesson for me. And a great adventure! Tomorrow I fly back to Utah where my life will still consist of living out of suitcases but with a lot less fun. 

But before I do that, I need to share the pictures that didn't fit into any of the other many posts.

HUGE roadside dino. I love dinosaurs, so it seems only right that this should make it in. It is advertising an attraction called "Dinosaur World." And although it doesn't sound as cool as Jurassic Park, maybe someday I will make it there. 

The next two photos go together for many different reasons. 

First reason is they are both vulgar, second reason is they made me laugh, third reason being they are still tacky, fourth reason is summarized simply by the phrase, "God Bless the South." That is all I have to say. 

Saw this at my now (blog) famous Zaxby's. It's pretty obvious someone just went to the asphalt with a paint roller and dotted out a handicap symbol. Who needs stencils and spray paint? 

I love my Week Wrap Ups because they are perfectly random. Continuing the trend, here is a granny square type crochet project I am working on. American flags! It has been a fun project to work on and I love the small squares because I have a short attention span and I can finish each one in a reasonable amount of time. 

That wraps up it all up for my Kentukcy trip. It has been real. Real fun. 

Walkin' In Memphis (Kentucky Trip Day 5)

"Dirty soul, Bootleg Version of Nashville"

That quote is brought to you by my brother Ryan (how many siblings does she HAVE?!), in reference to.... Which USA city? 

Memphis, Tennesse! 

Saturday morning'a adventures involved chilling, enjoying the World Cup, and discovering my brother's hidden talents for nail art. Yes, that is an intricate palm tree against a gradient sunset. 

After a nice lazy morning Ryan and Jen drove us (across state lines) to Memphis. 

Jen suggested a pit stop at a Nike outlet and Ryan and Kyle, having grown up with sisters, kindly said they didn't mind. I was super glad I went cos I got these amazing pants/ tights that have already changed my life. 

Next we headed to Graceland, and keeping in line with our baller on a budget mantra, just peeped around the wall towards the house. I'm not an Elvis fanatic so I was okay with not selling my soul to take the deluxe tour.

We drove around the city, I saw where Jen works and Ryan goes to school. And we passed some cool historic places like Sun Studios where Elvis did his first recording. 

We went to a park by the Mississippi where all I could think of was whether I would take my wagon on a ferry, ford the river, or hire and Indian to help you cross #oregontrail.

We were walking for just a few minutes when it started sprinkling and we decided a moment too soon it was time to head back. 

After our poor Widdison wisp-thin hair got rained on, we re-couped, re-grouped, and headed to the Civil Rights museum which is next to the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. It was a weird feeling to be in a place with such history. When I learned about this stuff in school it always seemed a bit abstract and distance. Yet here I was. 

After that we went to the pinky-out Peabody Hotel, with plenty of history. The WORLD FAMOUS Peabody ducks (don't tell anyone I haven't heard of them).

There's a story about whiskey and duck decoys and circus masters but it boils down to everyday the duck guests at the Hotel march down from their rooms at 11am, hang out in the fountain, then march back to their roof rooms at 5pm. 

The event garners much attention, it was pretty fabulous. 

I wonder if in my previous animal life, I was a duck in the Peabody fountain. I really hope so. Maybe that comes in my next, higher life. 

The Peabody is really fancy so we took a turn in the lobby and saw cool stuff. Including the company where lots of famous people bought their wardrobe. Elvis, Johnny Cash, etc.

I love Ryan's Elvis duck greeting card find.

After the Duck March we got some Memphis BBQ! Ryan and Jen knew a place and let me tell you, it was just as insane as I expected it to be. The meat just fell off the bone. We got a bunch of stuff to share ribs, brisket, pulled pork. And of course that obnoxious toast which is good, but why would I eat like 3 slices of toast?

The weather, which was predicted at 30% chance of rain took another turn south (har har) and started pouring rain.

With our bellies full of BBQ we did some more driving. We drove over to Arkansas, purely so I could rack up yet another State.

Then the Heavens parted and Voila! There was a break in the rain, so we hurried out and did some walking on Beale Street.

Please cue Mr. Marc Cohn. The cloudy dark skies gave the neon a special kind of feel. I loved it.

We had fun browsing the shops, finding everything from the rare to the kitschy. It was too good to be true, and before long it started pouring again. We did some sharesies with the two umbrellas we scrounged up, and headed back to the car.

It was a long day in the best sense of the word. One of those days when the morning pedicure from your brother seemed like earlier in the week. I never want to leave.

Kentucky Day 4: Tennessee Road Trip -ZAXBY'S-

When Kyle and I left Nashville for Memphis we had no idea the terror that was awaiting us.

For. Reals.

It's one of those traumatic events that is so traumatic you can't even re-hash it. The pain is still so fresh and real. But just one word:

Traffic.

Some of the cars were behaving strangely

Being from the Los Angeles area, I know traffic. I'm a bit of a traffic snob. But this was by far the most horrific traffic I've ever been in in my LIFE. Unfortunately there is only really one road to Memphis from Nashville. And as luck would have it, everyone in the midwest-South-United States wanted to go to Memphis. Aaaand, there was a very severe crash on that same highway.

So we sat in traffic for several several hours. Kyle and I were starting to get a little loopy and hungry after all those hours of tiny inching forward. Eventually we found out that we weren't going around and accident but rather, a whole stretch of freeway was simply closed. That was crazy because had we known, we could've gotten off a lot sooner. So here we were, who knows where in some random place in Tennessee, starving, lost, and it starts to pour rain so hard we couldn't see where we were going.



When it rains it pours right? Well, lucky for us, we saw a bright shinning rainbow in the midst of the storm.



My best friend Katie is from Georgia and she always raves about Zaxby's. I had wanted to try it during my visit, but I didn't want to be pushy about it. But as luck would have it, there was Zaxby's our shinning neon rainbow of hope. Kyle and I quickly ordered and snarfed down our food in silence. It was such a holy moment. And in that holy moment, I think that Zaxby's chicken may have been the most delicious meal we had ever consumed.

It was exhausting to know how much road we still had ahead but grudgingly we got back to the car and on the road. We figured out a tiny back road to take and the sunset was beautiful (albeit a bit misty and ghost-filled). 

Where am I? I love this place. 

It wasn't until around midnight when we finally made it to Mississippi! We were so excited to see Ryan and Jen. Bring on the weekend!!

Kentucky Day 4: Tennessee Road Trip -Nashville-

Since obviously Kyle and I couldn't find enough to do in Kentucky (jokes). We decided to take a road trip to Mississippi via Tennessee.

It was a pretty chill morning and we got going before too long. My east coast/ southern culinary adventures continued and I tried Dunkin' Donuts for the first time. Pretty good.

I always enjoy the sights at truck stops, specifically. But I was a little bummed that I couldn't afford a huge Rice Krispy, I found no humor in this shirt, and had no need for a truckers chapel. Boo.

When I found out that the national National Corvette museum was right here in Kentucky, I decided I better stop to take some pictures for the 'vette fan Ross. Kyle was happy to let me make a pit stop. Us being us, we didn't pay to go in, but that didn't stop us from taking a few pictures and popping in the gift shop. 

From there it was straight through 'til Nashville.

We were pretty hungry by this point, so directed by some pointers from Ryan and Jen, we decided to check out Pancake Pantry. The line went out the door and around the block.

It was intimidating at first but remembering my roots, I knew that lines out the door usually means it's worth the wait. About 40 minutes later we were seated. 

I got pancakes that had a lemon apricot compote, and let me just tell you, it was the second best breakfast (Dad's is always #1 of course!) I have ever had in my entire life. If I lived here in Nashville I'd probably eat there every meal. It was that amazing. But then again, it's not like Nashville has a shortage of amazing places to eat. 

After lunch we walked around the Parthenon. Not in Greece, but Nashville of course. 

Flash thought it was pretty cool.

It was a pretty day, but also pretty hot and humid. We jumped back in the car and navigated to downtown Nashville to walk around a little. 

I still can't get enough of the buildings over here. Love the Batman skyscraper.

One of the first things I noticed about Nashville. #1 fan of America!!

It was fun to walk around and see all the country everywhere! So many boots and bars and Elvis lovers. 

But my favorite part was Savannah's Candy Kitchen. You could smell the fresh candy being made from outside the shop. Kyle and I were offered a piece of homemade  praline and in the hustle and bustle of patrons we almost missed our opportunity. But we took a bite, then looked at each other, and had the same "OH. MY. GOSH." look on our face. Needless to say, I bought some. We will see if they last. 

Before too long (aka before we ran out of change to feed the meter) we hit to road, Memphis bound.  Ryan and Jen or BUST!