July 17, 2011
Dear Mom and Dad-
Our first stop is Gatlinburg, Tennessee and since we have made no accommodations ahead of time for this trip, Dave requested an old school type roadside motel. Here is where I point out that we made a decision to throw caution to the wind and let the road take us where it may, reservations be damned! Now we all know that Dave is very much Type A, with a blazing capital A marked with a fine point red pen and I, on the very other hand am...not.
He is the official driver and I am his "copilot", a term I use loosely as most of the time I have been slamming my passenger side brakes in between not so gently reminding him of the speed limit on whatever highway we are currently on. This is where, my dear parents, that the little genius section of Dave's brain kicked in and immediately got me the supplemental job of finding the next lodging set up on his new iPad while he drives. I have been enjoying the little 3-5 hour jaunts as I surf Priceline for the best deal.
The downside of this partnership is that I have no control of the radio station selection. "The DRIVER needs to be concentrating on the open road and enjoy singing out loud while all the passengers tend to their iPods and iPads!!! I don't want to hear about the level you achieved on Angry Birds!!! Can someone PLEASE hand me a Twizzler! Can anyone name the number of albums Keith Urban has released? Hey, look kids, Big Ben!"
While control of the music sounds like no big deal to the average traveler, consider the fact one of us is a big Country Music fan and the other likes Rock'n'Roll. (Yes, Dave is a little bit Marie Osmond, making me a little bit Donny) I would rather sit in the back seat on the cooler in between the boys on Goldfish crumbs and used lollipop sticks than listen to country music.
And the Official Driver has thrown down the gauntlet. While this car is in Tennessee, ONLY Country Music will be played! And I swear to goodness, the minute we crossed the Tennessee line, I was in the realm of old trucks, whiskey, cowboy boots and young love done wrong. I did manage to come up with a favorite: "You and Tequila Make Me Crazy" by who the hell knows.
