Vacation Blog '10 - Day Six - The Long and Winding Road

I told Natalie that we were getting up early to come home on Friday, but I failed to actually set an alarm. Fortunately my bladder was on its regular schedule and we awoke about 7-ish. We packed and and checked out (after a little flirting with Alex, the cute kid behind the desk), we were on the road by 8:30 am and feeling good about ourselves!

Just a couple of things prevented us from making the trip in a cool 11 hours like the trip down. First, mine and Natalie's bladders were not on the same schedule like they were on the trip down from Indiana, so our potty breaks were doubled. Second, we stopped for gas several times instead of just the once like on the trip down. And finally, there were a variety of side trips that had to be made. But I digress.

The mishap of the day happened about an hour into the trip when Natalie realized that she couldn't find her cell phone. So she used mine to call Alex at the front desk to see if they could look in the room to find it. After a couple of calls, supposedly housekeeping looked and didn't find it. Natalie thinks that it was in the bedlinens and that housekeeping probably accidentally washed it in with the sheets. And frankly that is a logical assumption in my book. However, just in case, we also called all of the restaurants that we visited since the last time she remembers having the phone. As of this writing, still no phone. I suppose I should have turned around and gone back to the hotel, but we were already an hour away and if we'd gone back, it would have added two more hours onto an already long trip. I still feel guilty though.

To make Natalie feel better about losing her phone, we stopped at what I think must be the official state restaurant of Alabama - Waffle House. I swear there were a good 20 Waffle Houses that we passed in Alabama! God alone knows how many we didn't see!

Back on the road, just past the Alabama/Tennessee state line, Gnarley pointed out that we probably ought to stop and get gas. I should have been able to see that he was up to something, but I stopped. When I get back in the car after filling up, he's gone! Where did we find him?? As you can see below, he was on his way across the parking lot to the Boobie Bungalow! Good thing Natalie can run fast! She caught and nabbed him, and I sped out of there. He spent the rest of the trip fuming in the back seat... didn't say much, but you could hear him muttering something about mutiny.

The remainder of the trip, I'm happy to say, was uneventful. We got back to Wadesville about 8:30, got all of our loot inside the house, and Rose was in bed by 10! Whew! A whirlwind trip if ever there was one and it's time for bed and to dream of the next adventure... of course, we'll have to keep a leash on Gnarley. G'night!