Day 1: Saturday, July 3rd
We drove down to Austin in my new Kia Soul! I love this car: great ride, gas mileage, sound system, and just plain awesome. I started out the day with a purchase from The Coffee Ethic for the both of us: Earl Grey for me and Caramel Latte for Chelsea. From there I picked up Chels and we were off to Austin, TX. We had our iPods stocked and ready to go for the (supposed to be) 11 hour drive.
The first major event of the day happened right after our pit stop at the McDonald's that stretches over the highway in Oklahoma. Right after paying the toll and driving into a construction zone, (with the flow of traffic, I might add, since there were no signs for the speed limit)I was pulled over for the first time in my life (after 10 years of record free driving)...by a state trooper!! When he came to the passenger side window, he never told me why I was pulled over, he just asked for my driver's license. So I decided to ask, "Was I speeding?" With a look that sarcastically said, "Are you serious?" he verbally responded, "Yes...you were going 65 in a 55 mph zone." After taking my driver's license he asked me to come back to the car. What??? So the first time to get pulled over and sit in a police car all in one day after only 2 hours of driving...not the greatest start to a trip. Well, to make the story short, he ended up giving me just a warning because I probably looked like I was going to throw up from the anxiety. When he asked me to sign the piece of paper with the warning, I couldn't even sign my name right I was shaking so hard. Oh yeah, and he wanted to know what kind of gas mileage my new car was getting. I think he just pulled me over because deep down inside he feels like he needs some Soul.
Soon after our incident with the state trooper, the hurricane from the south decided to water the earth and dump endless amounts of rain on the highway. What should have taken two hours to reach Oklahoma City ended up taking four hours. We decided lunch sounded like a pretty good idea, so we ended up asking Jillian to search for a Panera Bread close by (Jillian is the name of my Garmin.) She found us one that took 15 minutes to get to, only to find out that it was closed...permanently. We searched again and found another one about five minutes away. Chelsea had the smart idea to call before we drove to see if this one was up for business. Hallelujah it was open! Meanwhile, the rain is still pouring and flooding the earth. Needless to say, we ended up eating a hot meal at Panera and taking a much needed break.
As soon as we reached Oklahoma City, the rest of our trip was pretty uneventful. The plan was to meet Chelsea's family at a ranch three hours south of Austin, but decided against it after driving for 13 or 14 hours. Since all of the family was at the ranch, one of Addie's friends in Austin (Addie is Chelsea's sister) graciously offered for us to stay in her house for a couple of nights while she was away. This woman's house was the epitome of eclectic decorating: so beautiful. She didn't have a T.V. but there was a record player, which was just as welcoming! After a crazy day of driving, we hit our pillows within minutes of arriving.
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