Day 2 in Tennesseeeeeee

 We took the Subi in to get a headlight fixed in the morning. This fifteen minute job turned into an hour-long job, because, well, we were in the South, and when they heard we were doing a trip across country, they did a safety check and changed all the fluids free of charge :). Only a little behind schedule, we were on the road again and headed toward Tennessee. We’d had an uneventful couple hours before finding ourselves following a certain, ahem, very manly, truck… 

Dying with laughter, we followed this guy for a while, his truck’s balls swinging in the breeze. 

Before long, we saw some very ominous-looking clouds on the horizon. Hoping the storm wouldn’t hit us, we drove on – and right into it. The windscreen wipers on full blast barely made a dent in the deluge of rain pouring down on us. Mum, white knuckled, steered us through the worst of it, and we could only hope that everything on the roof wasn’t completely soaked.*

Our next little adventure began when, all of a sudden, the “check engine” light came on and the cruise control kicked off. Q assured us that engine lights come on all the time, though, and that it was probably fine. So we kept driving… Big mistake. Without warning, the AC shut off and the temperature gage went from normal to completely off the scale! Ahh!! Q pulled over and called the insurance company for a tow.

We all rode in the tow truck to Darryl’s Auto Shop, middle of nowhere, Tennessee. While they checked out the car, we had a great chat with Darryl himself. He’d lived all his life within a couple mile radius, he showed us his license which authorizes him to carry a concealed handgun, and he told us about his dogs that run free around his neighborhood: “I said to ma neighbor, ‘If that dog ever bothers you, don’t say a word, you jus’ take your shotgun and kill it, and it ain’t gone never bother you again.” We stood there, mouths open, thinking of our pampered puppies – how we fluff up their bedding at night and make sure we give them a treat every time we leave the house…

After finding the temperature in the engine to be normal, despite the reading on the gage, we were given the go-ahead to drive to Nashville where they’d have the parts we need to get it fixed properly. The drive was hell. Two hours, 93 degree heat, no AC.

But we made it! And had the best Southern dinner you could imagine at the Loveless Café! Biscuits, fried chicken, pork chops, hash brown casserole, pulled pork, caramel sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, and cole slaw. We took two pieces of pie and four serious food babies back to the hotel, and fell into bed.

*Everything wasn’t completely soaked, somehow only Hannah’s stuff got wet :(