Ok, so it's a day late, but I promise it wont be a dollar short!!!

We arrived in Wilmington at 1:30am Saturday morning, just as planned. Amber and I were tired as all get out. We had left Nashville by 10am after having breakfast with Nicko and Philip. With only a short 1.5 hours pit stop in Charlotte, we drove straight threw!!! All in all the drive was fantastic. There were moments of intensity, mostly due to the emotions of two females trapped in a car for 5 days. For me it was a bitter sweet ending. A sweet feeling of accomplishing a coast to coast drive, and having a place I can set me feet for more than a few hours. The bitter was seeing a beautiful adventure come to an end.....

Amber and I genuinely had a fantastic time! We worked and complemented each other very well. I had a tendency to get board in the passenger seat, so I volunteered to drive over 50% of the time. Yet Amber would take the hard night shifts, and mountain shifts. So we both were happy with the driving portion. I'm so grateful to have taken this journey with Amber. We learned more about each other, and laughed more than we have in quite awhile.

I want to end this blog with a HUGE thank you to Michael and Joy. Truly without them, it would have been impossible to have such an amazing journey! Thank you both for your generosity, sacrifice and support. Love you both!

And as for all the faithful bloggers.... THANK YOU for reading!!!!! Knowing everyone was so interested made it easy to update you everyday.

Goodnight everyone, and we love ya lots! Jess

Just A Few More Miles...

Just so everyone knows, we made it. We're safely in Wilmington. Thank you for all your prayers. We'll post the finale blogs tomorrow and Sunday, with a special video/slide show of our trip with all of you beautiful people!

Much love,

~Amber

That's What She Said

I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for all of you who have been letting us stay with you! We just left the Ward's beautiful home. They are such wonderful people!

We got in really late to their home last night - somewhere around 2:30am. The last few hours from Memphis to Franklin were the hardest so far. We had been chasing a storm all day yesterday and finally caught up to the tail end of it. We drove through rain and fog on an unlit highway for a little more than 3 hours.

We didn't waste any time falling asleep when we got to Franklin, knowing that we wanted to get up early enough to catch Kathy before we left. The morning came fast, but not quite as fast as in Amarillo. I was so grateful to be in a place with lovely people that I was familiar with.

We enjoyed a nice little chat with Kathy and her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Analee. I love that girl! She's so much fun, as is expected with the Ward family. They had to be off for a yoga class and we were heading to breakfast next with Philip and Nicho before hitting the road again.

It was great to have a quick bite with those two guys. They're a lot of fun and gave us some ideas for things to look up on the internet when we find ourselves needing a good laugh.

I have to admit, I really like Franklin. It's a cute little town with a lot of history and some GREAT restaurants. It's been incredible to see all the various and beautiful landscapes that fashion this country. Not to mention the differences in the people that share the same heartbeat as a nation in all their various shapes, sizes, and creeds.

We have a decent drive ahead of us again today, but nothing like yesterday. We're going to stop in Charlotte to have dinner with some more friends, Vivien and Rebecca. We might stay and catch the final performance from a week long conference they've been at. It's going to be a blast!

Oh ya! We had been smelling this awful stench in the car for a while and couldn't quite pin point where it was coming from. We finally decided to go through the food we bought and throw stuff out that has gone bad. It turns out that there was a banana squished at the bottom of one of the bags! Sick. We threw it out and it immediately made a huge difference. We also bought an air freshener to help get rid of the residual scent. It's amazing how stinky things can get on a long trip.

We should be in Wilmington late tonight. I drove for a little while at first this morning and now Jessicca has taken over. Both of us are anxious to see Joy and complete this AMAZING adventure.

Thanks for taking it with us! We'll share more soon!

Much love,

~Amber

Remember Your Windshield Wipers

We made it to Franklin, TN. 14 hours ain't scurred no body!

Love you all! Good night!

~Amber

Go Big Or Go Home.

I don't know when our day actually ended and when it began, but Amber and I finally went to sleep at 3 a.m., with our alarms set for 7 a.m. We knew we had a 14 hour drive ahead of us today and the f-ing oil was still ALL OVER HER TRUCK, not to mention all over our bags.

By 9 a.m. her truck was practically washed out, with a lot of help from the hotel towels. So all we had to do was pack. We finally hit the road by 10 a.m. with salvaged suitcases and stinky clothes. I'm not quite sure how or why our stuff got so smelly, but I can tell you the next few days are going to have an aroma like no other.

After a short discussion we had decided we were going to hit the road hard today with very few stops - only for gas every 250 miles and one pit stop at every 125 miles. That lasted the first 200 miles. In Oklahoma City we decided we'd take a short break and have lunch. We found a cute little restaurant, owned by Toby Keith, at an area called Bricktown. At this point, we were looking at arriving in Nashville no earlier than midnight, so we both thought, "what's an extra hour?" So, we decided to go to the Oklahoma City Memorial. As you can imagine, it was both beautiful and emotional. For me, I felt God's promise of taking back ground.

We are now in Arkansa and I hope it is as good to us as Oklahoma. About 40 miles back, Amber got pulled over for going 84 in a 70. The nice southern man let her off with a warning (and no, Jeff. She did not flash him.)

We are still planning on being in Wilmington by Friday night and are grateful for everyone's prayers and encouragement. I'm truly having the time of my life.

Love you all and talk to you soon!

Jessicca

Follow the Semi's.

So, not only did we lose two hours because of the time change, but we rolled into to our hotel at TX and discovered that the quart of oil we bought in CA had somehow spilled all over the bed of the truck. It soaked our suitcases (though the contents are fine) and left a massive spill all over the liner. We thought we were going to hit the road early tomorrow to keep from getting to Nashville super late, but it turns out we'll have to wait until a car wash opens so we can get the liner all taken care of. Ugh. Sad, but funny.

I would have taken pictures, but both Jessicca and I were pissed and that just wouldn't have been cute. It's all good now...after an hour of cleaning and such. Hopefully we'll get a good night's rest and end up with another fabulous day tomorrow. We'll only get to see maybe another hour or two of Texas before we reach Oklahoma, followed by Arkansas, and then finally land in Tennessee. More good times.

New Mexico was definitely beautiful. The Enchanted State, as they call it, is full of casinos and trade posts. We stopped at both. Jessicca won 50 bucks playing video poker. It was great! The only thing I didn't like about New Mexico is the amount of construction they're doing on their freeways. Even so, they have some of the most beautiful desert landscape - minus the heat. Not to mention we watched a glorious lightning show from dusk until now.

Well, I bid you all good night. Much love! See you tomorrow.

~Amber

Note To Self: Install Misters Around Porch In Hot Climates

Everyone thinks their grandparents are the best, but mine really are. We had a FABULOUS time in Goodyear. We made it pretty close to the time we thought we would, even with the few unexpected stops to let the truck cool down.

There was a point when the "service engine soon" light came on and we got a little worried. The truck was also running like it was working really hard. We would turn the air conditioner on for no more than 10 minutes at a time. It was miserably hot outside.

At one of our stops, we popped the hood to check fluid levels and asked some one who was also gassing up if they could help us find where to check the transmission fluid. The gentleman we asked to help us not only found it for us, but then helped us check the radiator also. I bought a gallon of water and he put it in the radiator for us. After all, it was 115 degrees outside. It was very kind of him to do. I must admit, I am so grateful for chivalry and Jessicca's bravery in asking a stranger for help.

Once we got to my grandparents house, we broke into my grandma's liquor cabinet and pulled out a recipe for some of the best margaritas ever! It wasn't too much longer before my grandpa got home from work and we were off to dinner.

It was really fun to have my grandparents meet Jessicca. They are such fun people so it was an easy connect for all of them. Isn't that right, Grandma? ;) We all talked for a long time at dinner about food, the trip so far, new friends, family, and politics. I love hearing what my grandparents have to say about politics. They've got some great wisdom to pull from.

After dinner, Jessicca and I cooled off in the pool while my grandma searched the house to find as many pool toys as she could for us to play with. I felt like a kid again. It was so much fun.

This morning we got up and went to breakfast at this quaint little place called TJ's. It's only 45 years old. The food was delicious and incredibly inexpensive. It was almost like walking into a diner from the 50s and 60s.

After breakfast we went back to the house to gather and load our belongings so we could begin the next part of the trek. Grandma Myrna loaded us up with goodies and helped us clean off our windsheild and headlights. She even gave us some extra windsheild wiper fluid, just in case.

We hit the road about 9:30 and my truck is running GREAT! We gassed up, put a little extra oil in, and headed north towards the 40. About 30 minutes into the drive, I looked down and noticed the "service engine soon" light was no longer illuminated. It was so encouraging to see. Not to mention we are no longer in the in the 100 + temperature range, so there's less strain on my good ol' vehicle.

We're about an hour away from New Mexico. It will be an exciting first sight for me. Jessicca has driven through it before, so it won't be new...but it will be fun!

Thank you all for your prayers! Feel free to continue commenting! And Raelynn, we're workin' on a special way to answer your questions!

Much love!

~Amber