Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie!! Memphis to St. Louis

It's laundry night…which works out well for me to blog while the clothes go 'round.

So this morning was an incredible parade of MINIs out of Memphis!  The Memphis Police Department did an awesome job escorting us onto the freeway from the FedEx Forum.  They even stopped westbound traffic on I-40 so we could go straight on!  I'm sure the people stuck in the traffic jam we caused were not as excited about it, although I did see a few smiles along the way.  Ya just can't help but smile when you see a MINI, let alone 600-800 of 'em!

My little Minion met some new friends from Nebraska

Cars staged on the top floor of the FedEx Forum parking garage

BlackJack is ready to roll!

This is me being sad because I didn't get to go to the Gibson store before we left town….<sigh>

So off we went, heading for St. Louis!  Sadly, though, a few MINIs had a bad time in the traffic as some cars came to an abrupt slowdown.  I heard that 8 cars were involved in a couple of wrecks, and that 3 of them had to be towed.  I sure hope it's nothing too serious.  The good news is there were no people injuries, just car boo boos.  

Yup, those are all MINIs behind me!

On the way to St. Louis, several of us stopped at a little Mom & Pop place in Poplar Bluff, MO for Pink Lemonade, courtesy of MINI Value Service.  It was sooooooo good!!  There were so many of us, that they put a sign on the door warning the locals that it might not be a good day to come in for lunch.  Lol!  And they weren't foolin'…I ordered a hot dog, thinking it would be fast, and it was a good hour before it was ready!  But it was good, as were the waffle fries!

The line of cars on the street for the restaurant!

I was by myself when I left Poplar Bluff, and I ended up missing out on a small part of the drive.  It looked like it would have been pretty nice, but I got confused by the signs, not having a navigator, and missed the turn.  I realized it immediately, but it was several miles before I had the opportunity to turn around, so I just let it go.  

Finally rolled into St. Louis around 4:15, found the hotel, and had to wait in a pretty long line to check in.  But once I got to my room and saw the view, it was worth it!  

I took a quick power nap, and then headed over to the evening event at Gateway Motorsports Park, across the river in Madison, IL.  I think I heard it's an up and coming race track!  It was pretty cool!  They had a giant arcade set up in the infield with everything from Centipede, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Foosball, Shuffleboard, and more!  I didn't stay too long, as I needed to get back to do the laundry.  

 Tomorrow, I think they're going to let us take a lap on the track!  I hope so!  Then we're off to the Windy City, my hometown!  The laundry is almost done, so I'm heading for an early night in the sack!  I'm finally starting to feel a little tired…!  Lol!

Goodbye Texas, Hello Tennessee!! Dallas to Memphis

  The Rise and Shine was at the Cotton Bowl this morning!  It's incredible how they can pack so many cars in together!  I had to say goodbye to Barb this morning.  Her sister (who lives in the Dallas area) came to pick her up.  I kept threatening to kidnap her for the next two nights, but decided to keep peace in the family by leaving her behind to spend some time with her sister.  Thanks, Barb…had an awesome time with you!  From Monty Python quotes to reminiscing our Navy days, and my newest vocabulary list now includes "Meerkat" and "Hair Blog" with entirely new meanings!  Hahahaha!!

Today's drive was mostly uneventful.  We stayed on the Interstate the entire way to Memphis, with one small detour to check out President Clinton's boyhood home in Hope, AR.  I saw the house as I drove past it, but never saw any signs or other MINIs parked, so I missed the opportunity to go inside or get a picture.  Oh well…I didn't vote for him anyway.  Lol!

Just outside of Memphis was some heavy duty construction.  Traffic was backed up for several miles, and creeping along.  I think it took 30 minutes to travel 10 miles.  Finally got to the hotel and discovered about 20 kids waiting to wash the cars for a $10 donation to St. Jude's Children's Hospital!  They had it set up like an assembly line!  A couple kids hosed it off, 3-4 soaped it up and wiped it down with sponges, the next 2 hosed it off again, and finally another 3-4 toweled it dry!  All in about 10 minutes or less!!  It was a great deal!

After the car wash I drove around to the front to check into the hotel.  About another 15-20 minute wait in line for that, but at least they had a room ready this time!  Got to rest a bit and catch up on the blog before heading out to Beale Street for another MINI party…Memphis BBQ style!  Chicken, Ribs, Pulled Pork, the works!!  Plus live music inside and on the patio!

I also walked up and down Beale Street, looking for souvenirs, but nothing really jumped out at me.  So I started walking back to the parking garage when I saw this….

All I can say is it's a good thing it was closed, cuz I'm sure I would have found a souvenir over there!!  And sadly, they won't open early enough tomorrow morning before we leave.  Dang it!!

Texas, land of cobbler! Austin to Dallas

We're halfway there!!

Yesterday morning (I'm a day late in posting this..) we took over at least 3 blocks in front of the Capitol in Austin!  It was pretty impressive!  But then, it's the same story every morning…lol!  I never heard an official count, but I'm thinking there were easily 500 cars lined up.  And of course we got our police escort out of town. It's always fun taking off from a town and waving at everyone!

Our first stop out of Austin was the Franklin Drive-Thru Safari!  I don't think they knew what they were in for when over 500 MINIs showed up at their door!  The zebras seemed especially excited for some reason, and a cute little javelina (I think) also came running to greet us!  There were so many MINIs lined up on the highway waiting to turn in to this place that they finally had to get the Sheriff's Department and the Fire Department to help with traffic control.  Fortunately, we were in the front third or so of the pack, so from the time we pulled in to the time we pulled out, it was about 1 1/2 hours, including taking a few minutes to park and check out a few more animals, gift store, etc…  

It was sooooo fun!!  We had the top down, so we were greeted face to face by camels, deer, cows, llamas, donkeys, buffalo, and a pretty scary ostrich!  

After the safari, we veered off of the route for a bit to visit my cousins, Barry and Peggy.  We were so close to "The Ranch", and I knew Barry would be so upset if I didn't stop, so we did.  He was so excited to see us!  And he just loved BlackJack!  He said he was going to run right out and get one for Peggy!  We could only stay a couple of hours, as we had to catch up with the rest of the MINIs in Dallas.  Barry was really disappointed we couldn't stay for dinner.  t think I saw a tear in his eye as we drove away…   Hopefully I'll be able to stay with them on my way home.  Maybe even for a week or more, instead of just a couple of hours!  (Thanks for the tea and snacks, Peggy!  Oh, and the awesome cobbler!!)  

The evening event in Dallas was in true MINI style!  We had a Texas sized party at Gilley's, complete with mechanical bull, live music by Mickey Guyton and band, and more awesome food!  And more cobbler!!  Lol!  I've had 4 different cobblers in the last three days!  

 This was Barb's last night, and she was glad to get to go to Gilley's!  It was a fun time, for sure!!  Tomorrow is Memphis, and I'll be sans co-pilot for a couple of days before I pick up my friend, Cindi for the next half of MTTS.  The adventure continues!!

Texas is a BIG state! Lubbock to Austin

We've got three stops in Texas!

Tonight is #2, and we're in Austin.  It was a fairly uneventful drive today, but still nice.  I met my El Paso friends in Lubbock to pick up "Flip" and "Flop" to continue their journey with Barb and I.  (I can't remember if I've told that story…my ELP friends were supposed to join me on the entire trip, but weren't able to because of needing to care for an elderly parent.  So they each gave me one of their MINI flip flops, and I've been taking pictures with them along the way to share the journey in a so Not Normal way!)  After the Rise & Shine in Lubbock, we all rallied up in Brady, TX.  Brady is known as the "Heart of Texas", as it is the geographical center of the state.  We all parked around the town square, where we were welcomed by the Mayor, and took a few photos before heading out to find some lunch.

Barb had heard someone mention "Cooper's Pit BBQ" in Llano, so we went there to check it out.  It was pretty good, although the sauce was a bit thin and vinegary.  I had the chicken, and it was good enough by itself, without the sauce.  I also had to try their Pecan Cobbler…O…M….G…..!!!!  A little taste of heaven that I couldn't finish, but neither could I leave it behind!  I'm thinking midnight snack, if it lasts that long!  Lol!

We actually got to the hotel in Austin early for a change!  So I'm getting a head start on the blog.  Gonna grab a quick nap before we head over to the evening event.  I'll write more when we get back from that…should be a great night!!

Ok…we're back!  An absolutely beautiful night in Austin!  We were at the Palmer Events Center.  MINI USA had a live band, a few live Longhorns, and live armadillos!  I missed the armadillo races, tho.  They're awfully cute little critters, but I know they do some damage to the local landscape!  There were also a few food trucks, and as always, a well stocked bar!  The Center was nearby the Colorado River, and the Austin skyline was just beautiful!

Tomorrow we head to Dallas!  The route sheet mentions a drive-thru safari along the way, so that should be fun!  Hopefully we won't have any large animals try to take over the MINIs!!  Goodnight!