By the time we set off towards Destination #5, I was getting pretty tired of driving. We still had quite a few miles to log before we could head home, though. I bucked in and buckled down and pointed my car to the northwest.
Over the course of my trip, I created the most perfect Pandora station ever. I started with the Jimmy Buffett station, and through a two-week series of driving, gave the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” to enough songs that the end result is now one of my most coveted possessions. Jimmy Buffett, the Zac Brown Band, the Eagles and Alan Jackson kept me company while the kids listened to their DVDs. I didn’t even know that I liked the Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson before I set off on the trip (I’m not traditionally a country music lover), so I learned something new about myself on the open road.
About 30 minutes from our destination, I had a terrifying experience. We were on some back country roads somewhere in Alabama, and the sky opened up. It went from sunny to stormy in about 2 minutes, and I have never driven in such a bad storm in my life. This was the exact area that a few tornadoes ravaged earlier this year, and I just knew one was going to drop down on top of us. Lightening quite literally struck a few telephone poles right next to us, but there was no where for us to pull off and seek shelter. I was on the verge of tears, Zack was yelling that he needed a bathroom, and had to rely on my TomTom GPS to not only know where to turn but to “see” where to turn. The whole time, I was thanking my lucky stars that I had Janice by my side. She even rerouted me a few times during the monsoon when she found a shorter route.
Janice and I on a sunnier day
The storm lasted only 20 minutes, and the end result was a beautiful, full rainbow. I was still shaking when I got to our destination, and believe it or not, it didn’t rain a drop once we got there. Figures!
We stayed there for a few days and got to relax and visit with family. The kids enjoyed vegging on the sofa instead of being strapped into their car seats, and I enjoyed being connected to WiFi for the first time in about a week. I also got to go and have lunch with two of my blog friends, Gina and Angie.
At lunch, Emma was again quite the handful, and afterwards she fell asleep in the car before I even pulled out of the parking lot. We were all wore out at this point!
Where was I? This one is going to be a little more difficult to guess, but y’all are doing so well that I thought I should kick it up a notch. Your hint is: An Amish community and this guy are from the same place.
What’s your guess? Get your brain in gear, because the huge giveaway centered around the answers to my hints comes at the end of this week!
Sheffield, Alabama!
I know Fred Thompson is from Alabama and Wikipedia tells me he is from Sheffield, AL. I did not know they had a huge Amish community there. Something tells me you are talking about some place in Tennessee.
Lawrenceburg, TN?
my guess was going to be Lawrenceburg, but Alicia beat me to it…
Sheffield, Alabama!
Lawrenceberg, Tennessee. Fred Thompson served as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee and was also the D.A. on Law and Order. He is a really cool guy!
I’d say TN.
TN.
Lawrenceberg, TN
I think Lawrenceberg is the answer!
I’m going to have to say Lawrence TN. I know there is a mall in that area that sells some of the Amish products. We stumbled across it on a day trip from Nashville one year. Having made almost the same drive you did thru Alabama, I totally understand those sudden storms pooping up in the middle of nowhere!
Lawrenceburg, TN
Lawrence, TN
Lawrenceberg, TN
etheridge , TN