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