The Nomadic Princess....continued

Let's see, where was I? Oh yea, somewhere in the middle of Illinois at Chili's! Ok, after lunch we headed back on the road and landed in Murfreesboro, TN on Friday night. We arrived at my friend's place where she greeted us with home made spaghetti and meatballs, wine, and of course my dad had his vodka. He deserves it after driving that truck all day!

It was nice and relaxing night. My pug played with his new friend, a one year old fox terrier/whippet mix. Very cute! He also discovered "cow cheeks" are much, much better than "pig's ears", they smell better AND better for him!! I was able to hang out with my girlfriend for a while, then headed to bed. Dad was NOT kidding when he said he wanted to hit the road early!

Last day, our final stretch to North Carolina!! We had some coffee and headed out the door at 7:30 am! At least my dad didn't make us wait to find a Starbucks before having more coffee this time! :) We stopped for lunch somewhere in Tennessee, my dad INSISTED we eat BBQ for lunch. Twist my arm, dad, twist my arm!! I really wish I could remember the name of that place, but all I remember is that it was connected to a gas station somewhere past Knoxville....

Then we continued our journey through the mountains which was beautiful. Even with the dried up wintery trees, the mountains still hold themselves up to par. In the middle of the mountains you cross over into North Carolina....which is at the point where we started calling and harassing my sister. We were like two kids, it was pretty funny. Anyway, the rest of the long afternoon was spent trekking across NC to Raleigh. Oh, did I mention that it was raining ALL DAY LONG???

We arrived in Raleigh about 7:30pm where my sister had chili and refreshments ready for us. Yay! We finally made it and I was SO glad to be out of that truck!! 24 hours of drive time over 3 days with my dad and pug in a Penske truck...... wow. And I am still sane....I think.

The next day we took the truck over to the Penske place so we could get my car disconnected. After that, we headed to the storage unit and unloaded and packed all my belongings in a 7 x 10 foot room. The place is actually pretty cool - it's all indoor drive in access. My nephew and his friend helped, so my dad took us all out to lunch at the Mello Mushroom . YUMMM. I recommend the soft pretzels (even though they take 20 min) and the white pizza.

Then we took some things back to my sisters, went to Costco, Lowes, and Petsmart. We bought some shelving, almonds, dog dishes, and I also bought one of those handy "poop bag" dispensers for the leash....wow, why didn't I get one of those years ago???

Later that evening we went to 18 Seaboard where we met up with some of my friends I have not seen in a while. I had the Crab Crusted Big Rock Mahi Mahi (with tomato stewed potatoes, spinach, and a brown butter herb emulsion) . We had some laughs, wine, and dessert and then headed home.

In the morning we went to Big Ed's for breakfast which is downtown in the city market area. Since it was snowing that morning there was NO line and hardly anyone there, it was great! When it snows here, SO many things close down - it's crazy! We took Dad to the airport and then proceeded home to organize my new little nomadic space!

I have so much more to fill you in on.....but that is a wrap up of my trek across half the country with my Dad. :)

Stay tuned for more adventures of.......the Nomadic Princess! (Insert cheezy theme music here!)