Down HWY 5, our trip begins

We didn't get to leave Sacremento until 5 pm on Monday, mostly due to UHaul forgetting to reserve Kanya's truck and dolly. We should have clued in right away we would have trouble with the dolly as we got stuck in farming country trying to check on the chain. Our first night was rough as we adjusted to trading off and on driving, sleeping when we could and getting her two cats who were with us to calm down and not throw litter at us - Ubu, that's you!

After a rough early morning and an indicent running into a poll in a Needles gas station, Kanya and I got into a good pace on our second day. It also helped that the cats settled in and, despite his best attempts, Ubu seemed to enjoy the ride. We passed through northern Arizona, which is not all desert as one would expect, had thunderstorms in New Mexico, which is a place I want to visit again, and by close to midnight, we made it to Amarillo, TX, a place I never want to visit again. In fact, Texas, in general, seemed like another planet.

Old lava fields in New Mexico

Churches are the nicest buildings in Amarillo

Unfortunately, our luck ran out and at 2:30 am just as we crossed the border into Oklahoma, the chain in the dolly broke and we were forced to pull over. We had to wait until the next morning at a hotel (after two hours on the phone with Uhaul) to get it fixed. By then, we decided to turn in the dolly and just drive both vehicles straight through to Knoxville. Luck did shine on us as the Uhaul affiliated guy came and was very helpful. He agreed with our unflattery assessment of Uhaul and graciously took our dolly.

We left at 10 am and continued across Oklahoma, which was very beautiful after Oklahoma City, with rolling hills and trees. We also had the best grilled cheese I've had in a long time at a grill within a Shell gas station. Arkansas was very green and had the best rest stop on the trip, but, the samey topography bored after awhile. He drove into Memphis just at sunset. It was beautiful seeing the city on the waterfront just at dusk. It wasn't until 4:30 am that we made it to Knoxville and met up with Kanya's mom in her hotel. All in all, we drove 17 hours straight through that day.

Kanya and I managed to get four hours sleep and woke up Thurday in time for her and her mom to go sign the papers on her condo. Kanya was nervous as she had never seen the condo in person. But, her agent took us to the house to look things over and drop off the cats. It was amazing. The place needed to be cleaned, but, had crown molding, lots of closet space and tons of trees. Welcome news for a trip that was a rollercoaster.