On August 25th, I closed a very special chapter in my life. I worked my last day at the UNLV Office of Admissions. For two years, the office was basically my second home and I met many wonderful people during my time there. I made so many friends that I know I will be keeping in close contact with. They surprised me with a card and cake before my shift was over. I cried, of course. But I was very touched and hope all my coworkers know what it meant to me!
The next morning found my mom and I attempting (and eventually succeeding) to load a trailer full of my life and leave Las Vegas. A planned leaving time of 11 AM eventually turned in to 3 PM, but we eventually made it out. We spent an evening in Provo, UT that included smuggling my cat in to our hotel room and eating take out from Cracker Barrel at 11 PM.
I then spent around a week in my home town of Rawlins, WY. I got to see some of my friends (but, as always, not enough - I'll be glad to see them again in January) and spend a little time at home. I also made sure to make plenty of trips to the restaurants I won't get in Florida. But September 2nd came very quickly and I was off on the road again.
My dad and I made a four day trip across country to Orlando, FL (also known as the Tour de Fairfield - I'm pretty sure we've earned stock in Marriott/Fairfield now). Along the way, I decided to take a picture with each of the state lines we crossed. The first day of our trip was a long one, and brought us all the way from Wyoming to the middle of Kansas. In general, this leg of the trip taught me that Kansas is pretty indistinguishable from Nebraska.
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| Kansas |
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| Colorado |
The next morning brought us another long day of driving. We left Kansas and crossed in to a small portion of Oklahoma, in to Arkansas and to our final stop in Memphis, Tennessee for the night. We actually stayed in a small town right outside Memphis called Southaven. I was hoping to get a chance to see my friend Tara, but unfortunately time and weather were not our side. Tropical Storm Lee was making it's way in, and we would see much more of him tomorrow. We did get a free appetizer at the Longhorn Steakhouse next to this particular Fairfield!
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| Oklahoma |
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| Arkansas |
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| Tennessee, right outside of Memphis |
The next morning was a sleep in day. We took our time getting up, and then headed over to spend the morning at Graceland. Graceland was beautiful. The house was much smaller than I expected, but beautiful none the less. It was also very 70's. We got to tour the house (minus the upstairs, which were Elvis' private quarters as well as where he died), the yard and trophy building, his car collection, two airplanes and an exhibit of some of his clothes. The tour finished with a visit to Elvis' grave site in his former meditation garden. Afterwards, we ate lunch at the Chrome Grill and had meatloaf made from Elvis' favorite recipe.
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| The living room, including a 15 foot white couch |
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| A portrait of Elvis near the stair case to the upstairs |
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| Some of Elvis' iconic "Vegas" style outfits |
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| Elvis' grave site, including his eternal flame at the top |
It was a very interesting experience altogether. I expected it to be a popular place and see other people there, but it was SO busy! This may have been in part due to the fact that it was Labor Day Weekend, but we were very glad we got there as early as we did. If anyone has the FourSquare application on their phones, here's another reason to make use of it: I got a free poster just for "checking in" at Graceland.
We continued our driving for a short while after we left Graceland, crossing in to a small corner of Mississippi and Stopping for the night in Birmingham, AL. We both decided that we liked Alabama over the other states we had previously driven across. It's very, very pretty land. Despite dealing with people who consider sweet tea "regular" tea (seriously, what?), I enjoyed my time in Alabama.
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| Mississippi, with my Elvis poster |
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| Alabama |
The next morning, we were up fairly early to finish the last leg of our drive. We left Alabama, crossed through Georgia and at long last, made it into Florida! Unfortunately, despite our best efforts including exiting off the highway, turning around and driving part way back in to Georgia, we were unable to locate a "Welcome to Georgia" sign and I have come to the highly logical conclusion that Georgia doesn't believe in them. Instead, please enjoy the picture of a forlorn Steamboat Willie looking out the car window where the Georgia sign should be. Florida, the Sunshine State, greeted us with rain. But it did smell beautiful!
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| Georgia |
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| Florida |
We (once again) checked in to the Fairfield once we arrived in Lake Buena Vista. We had dinner at a nearby Carraba's and I was lucky enough to get to say hi to room mate, Ellen, for a few minutes. She had flown in, around the same time we'd arrived, all the way from California.
Now that we had made it, the craziness was about to begin! Expect an update about my check in day soon!
