#KatAndKenTakeAmerica
On August 19, 1015 I packed my bags (multiple times) to fit
my life into my small Honda Fit, Finn. I pushed down his back seats and piled in
three suitcases, my memory foam mattress pad, a box filled with shoes, a
trashcan, two plastic containers filled with random necessities, and much more
until I could barely see out of my back windshield. Even when I stopped at my
friend Kennedy’s house to pick her up I had to leave a few items behind.
I was heading to the mountains of Colorado to move in with
my two new roommates and I was taking Kennedy back to school in Dallas. After
Kennedy and I managed to squeeze everything in, the two of us headed out west
to start our road trip.
On the Road
Day 1
Woodbridge, VA – Oak
Ridge, TN
~8 hours, 500 miles
Before I left, my mom bought me three books on tape: Closed
Vacancy by JK Rowling, Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, and Italian For
Dummies. Kennedy had already read Closed Vacancy and Italian was only my
interest, so naturally we started our journey with Cold Sassy Tree. Let me tell
you, this book did not get interesting until Day 5 of our trip.
Not only did we listen to that book on tape, we also jammed
out to my Spotify playlists: Throwbacks of the Early 2000’s, Just Chilling
(lots of alternative tracks), and (Kennedy’s favorite-maybe in name only) Shake
That A$$. The funny thing about this last playlist is that when I first read
the name aloud, I read it as “Shake That A Dollar Sign Dollar Sign.” It was our
first inside joke.
Our first stop was my grandparent’s place in Oak Ridge. They
were kind enough to let the two of us stay for the night. It was great to see
my family and eat scones. In my mind I had Colorado pictured very similar to TN
because there are so many mountains. (Colorado, now that I have gotten here,
does not actually remind me of TN anymore.)
Kennedy told me about her guy troubles and we gushed over
the drama in each other’s lives.
Day 2
Oak Ridge, TN – Murfreesboro,
TN – Nashville, TN
~3 hours, 200 miles
In the morning Kennedy and I headed to Murfreesboro to see
my great grandma (going to casually brag and say she’s an incredible 101 years
old). It was nice to see my great grandma, my two aunts, my second cousin and
her daughter (Autumn). Autumn was the highlight of our day. Kennedy and I told
her that we were going to CO and asked if she wanted to join us. Autumn being 3
years old naturally wanted to come. It was cute when she would let us know
every 5 minutes that she was going to CO with us. It wasn’t until we finished
lunch and had to go when it settled in that telling her she could come meant
true disappointment and heartache. As I said goodbye I picked Autumn up and
tried to cheer her up. She proceeded to attach herself to me like a sloth
clinging to a tree. Finally I was able to pry myself loose and we continued our
journey.
We showed up to our friend Chip’s place around 2pm and soon
set off towards downtown Nashville. We checked out a cute hipster coffee shop
that had lots of men with man buns, walked inside of a honky tonk, and had some
great BBQ. After dinner we headed to trivia at a local restaurant. I have been
to a variety of trivia nights and I can tell you this place was not meant for a
young audience. The questions were way more difficult than it needed to be and was
geared towards an older crowd. Thankfully Chip’s trivia guy was there and
helped us rise from last place to 6th. Afterwards the three of us
headed back to Chip’s for a wine night and late night talks.
Day 3
Nashville, TN –
Enterprise, AL
~5.5 hours, 370 miles
This was the worse drive. The last 2 hours seemed to drag
on. By this time I think we weren’t used to the car yet and we thought this was
going to be a super easy drive so when it became dark around 8 the two of us
were so done driving. We had left Chip’s around 3 and took a detour to see a
small bookstore my cousin recommend that was an hour out of the way. I bought
the first Vampire Academy book and Emma by Jane Austin.
So when we showed up to Tyler’s around 10pm, all Kennedy and
I wanted were waffles and sleep. Needless to say, neither was granted. The two
of us stayed up late hanging out with his friends and four roommates. Their
house was gigantic-over 6,500 sq ft of crazy huge bedrooms, a large movie room,
a pool, and secret room closets. We also played Exploding Kittens and that was
pretty cool.
Day 4
Enterprise, AL –
Destin, FL
Destin, FL –
Enterprise, AL
~4 hours, 200 miles
Wake up time: 6:45am. Tyler woke Kennedy and I up with some
pump up music and dancing with stuffed animals-highly entertaining. When we got
to the beach, the weather and water was perfect. The water was clear and you
could see down to the white sand. When we first showed up, there were fish
swimming everywhere. This one fish was attached to me. It was the type of fish
that swims on the side of sharks eating the pests and algae that grow on them.
I don’t think I was dirty, but the shark fish stuck to me like white on rice. It
was a perfect day at the beach. Kennedy and I threw the football around, and we
all had a great time lounging on the beach. All of us were burned to a crisp at
the end of the day.
After we all got back and cleaned up, we ordered pizza and
watched If I Stay. I recommend only watching that movie if it’s with a bunch of
guys who make fun of it the entire time because otherwise it’s not a great
movie.
Day 5
Enterprise, AL –
Dallas, TX
~11 hours, 720 miles
This was the first time I fell asleep during our road trip.
I was so worn out I was starting to loose my mind. Kennedy’s stuffed animal
Penelope helped me stay sane throughout the trip. I took videos of her dancing.
As we passed a car I made Penelope dance and the faces people made as we passed
by were priceless. Late in the afternoon the two of us needed some coffee. I looked up "coffee" on Google Maps and a small coffee shop popped up on the Mississippi River. It was right off the road so we decided to try it out. It directed us towards a casino. That was a little weird, but we didn't' think much of it at the time. All I could think of was coffee and lounging by a river. When we pulled off of the highway we were directed into the casino parking lot. After driving around we realized that the coffee shop was in the casino. We had a good laugh but didn't go in. (Penelope was disappointed because she is avid gambler.) The Louisiana welcome center had coffee (we felt very welcomed).
We arrived at Dallas around 10pm.
Day 6
Dallas, TX – Houston,
TX
~4 hours, 250 miles
I couldn’t have asked for a better driving buddy. It was so sad
leaving Kennedy and continuing on to CO. (I promise Kennedy, I cried in the car
when it actually hit me that I was going to listen to Cold Sassy Tree alone.)
Houston with my cousins was great. We had this amazing Thai
food and played Ticket To Ride Europe. Perfect casual night and I had the best
sleep that night.
Day 7
Houston, TX –
Amarillo, TX
~9 hours, 600 miles
I don’t think I’ll go back to Texas any time soon. What I
saw of Dallas was nice, but I was not a big fan on Houston. I also got stuck in
a lot of traffic. After I left Houston, I hit west Texas. I really enjoyed the
scenery in west Texas. It was desolate and beautiful. The towns were sketch
though. I don’t know how those towns survived being in the middle of nowhere.
It could be because they charge almost $3.00 for gas-please Texas take all my
money. You couldn’t just pass these gas stations either and hope in the next
few miles you could get gas somewhere else. No. When I was driving, once I hit
half a tank I became paranoid that I was going to run out of gas in the middle
of the hot Texas desert, forever stranded and having to walk to CO. The towns
were so spread apart that I was worried I wasn’t going to make it.
I stayed at the Days Inn that night in Amarillo. Won’t go
back.
Day 8
Amarillo, TX – Lone
Tree, CO
~6 hours, 420 miles
As I drove to CO, I passed through New Mexico. That was the
most beautiful state I have ever driven though. I’m glad I’m only a couple
hours away because I would love to go back for a weekend. Once I passed New
Mexico and started climbing the CO mountains I was still gushing over the
beauty of this area. I literally started crying from happiness. I have never
cried from happiness before. Let me tell you it’s a weird feeling.
I made it to my new apartment around 4pm. It’s on the first
floor and newly renovated. My large window looks out over a basketball court
and pool. My closet is pretty large which is good because I brought mostly
clothes.
My roommates and I celebrated by arrival!
Approximately in 8
days I traveled….
50.5 hours
3260 miles
**This does not include the few times Kennedy and I missed a
turn or decided to take food and bathroom breaks.
If anyone wants to visit please stop by! I have no bed (I am
just sleeping on my memory foam right now) and no furniture, but a full closet.
It still doesn’t feel real, but I am excited for this next chapter in my life.
