Day Five: Fort Smith, AR to Cookeville, TN (578 miles)

Only two states, not as many miles as we would have liked, and the muskiest hotel we've stayed in, but ultimately it's all good, because by tomorrow we will have reached our destination of Raleigh, North Carolina. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's what went on today:

Had to gas up the car, clean the windshields, and get coffee (we've had some pretty good luck finding Starbuck's the last two mornings) before we started out this morning. Our plans were to drive through Little Rock and see the Bill Clinton Presidential Library (OK, I kinda wanted to see it...Michelle had no interest) but by the time we figured out that we were close to Little Rock, we realized that we had to take a different route than the one that we were on, so we decided to skip it. No offense Le Petit Roche...

Next on the agenda was Memphis. Our first stop was Graceland, but due to doggy-sitting responsibilities we really couldn't see much. Michelle was able to get out of the car to take some photos, but you can't do much of anything without paying Priscilla a ton of cash and promising to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches in the Elvis Cafe once the tour is over. I've seen it once, my life is complete...Michelle will have to wait until she's secure enough to travel cross-country without a guard dog.

After Graceland we drove around Beale Street, and we took quick pit stops at the Memphis Pyramid and a park on the Mississippi river. Memphis is not the most beautiful of cities, but there certainly is a good amount of history to sink your teeth into (the Blues, civil rights, Elvis, etc.) when you have the time. We didn't, so we moved on.

From Memphis we drove to Nashville, and I was pretty psyched because I had never been there before. As soon as we got off the interstate, we saw a temple...no, a fortress...no, a castle...a White Castle! It was the first White Castle spotting of the trip, and Michelle hasn't been to a White Castle since she was 11. Needless to say, we were both ecstatic. Michelle requested to peruse the menu for a moment before ordering, as things usually change in 22 years. But not at the Castle. We ordered 4 hamurgers each, an order of fries, and an order of onion rings. It was heaven. The food seemed to bring out the creativity in Michelle, as she was inspired to photograph the food from several different angles. Quite the ar-tist.

From what we saw of Nashville, I was impressed. I really want to go back to check it out more in depth (and see the Grand Ole Opry), as we were only able to drive through the center of the city before moving on. We decided that we'd drive another hour or so to Cookeville, and then set out from there to Raleigh tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that we were in the same geographically locale as the World's Longest Yardsale, and many hotels were sold out. We ended up at the ever-so musky Alpine Lodge and Suites, the worst hotel of our trip. There was, however, one redeeming quality to the hotel. Two words...vibrating bed. 'Nuff said.

Charley cuteness was off the radar today (as I write this he is laying on my bed snoring like a madman). There was slobber, drool, and a ton of cute sleeping positions.

Michelle texted Ben the following Charley photo. Ben's response is right next to it.

Before closing, I have to give a huge shout-out to Michelle's navigation skills. She has gotten us out of a number of cities when it didn't look too promising that we'd find the Interstate again. That girl can read a map like it's nobody's business...

Tomorrow we're planning on eating a McGriddle, stopping in Knoxville (home of one of the best rock bands ever - Superdrag), and barring any unforseen circumstances, landing in Raleigh around 6 or so. Seems like the trip just started. Thanks again for all the comments guys and gals...hard to believe it's almost over.