Signs

 Joining Tom at Signs2.

Wordless Wednesday Wordless Be There 2day

January 2025

From our winter road trip.

Hilton Dayton OH

Buc-ee's

Monday Mural

 I'm linking up at Monday Mural

January 2025 

Some murals from our winter road trip.

Huber Heights Hilton Hotel

Nashville TN Grand Ole Opry

Best Coffee

 

January 2025 - Conway AR

Palm Desert CA

Saturday we finalized our winter road trip and booked a couple of hotels. We also got our travel medical insurance.

More food items were frozen.

We went to the library downstairs to select a couple of books for reading. Normally we both read on our phones or tablets, but it is nice to have a book for reading in the sunshine.

I decided to take my DSLR camera for on the road, it takes better photos from the car and saves on phone battery.

I started picking out clothes.

Sunday when I got up at 7 the temperature was -6 C (21 F) feeling like -13 C (8 F).

I needed to look up the Toronto property tax date payments as we will be away.

2025 Regular instalment due dates

Bill Type Date Date Date

Interim bill March 3 April 1 May 1

Final bill July 2 August 1 September 2

 

We started packing. They are piles around the condo, books, electronics, cables, cameras, non-perishables, travel glasses, cameras, clothes for cold and warm weather.

I worked on getting my travel days posts ready.

We got a lot done!!

Monday we accomplished some more stuff (organized more cosmetics, froze the cream) before I headed out to Burlington for a chinwag with my BFF. And it was cold out!

John started packing up the car.

Tuesday I baked 2 gluten free cranberry pumpkin loaves to take with us. Those free hotel breakfasts sometimes don't have GF options and/or stuff is not very fresh!

Cleaned out wallets, put passports, US cash and car key in my purse. 

John went for gas and put his golf clubs in the car. By late afternoon he had the suitcases loaded.

Overnight bag (essentials for the duration of the drive) is ready to go. The cooler will be filled in the morning. Lunch to be made in the morning.

Wednesday we were up at 7, had breakfast, made egg salad sandwiches for lunch (enough for 2 days), tidied up, put garbage out and were on the road by 8:15. 

We stayed in a Hilton in Huber Heights just outside Dayton OH.

Thursday we had a good breakfast at the Hilton before leaving for Nashville. It was cold -11C when we left!

Click here for the day's overview.

Some random photos.

In Buc-ee's! If you’ve been to Buc-ee’s, you may already know that this friendly neighbor along the highways has the cleanest restrooms in America. In 2012, Cintas ran a nationwide restroom contest and made it official! Yes, they are!!!

Once we checked in at the Quality Suites in Nashville we went for a walk.

Duke of Hazzards.

At the Grand Ole Opry.

Friday what a day! Click here for the snowy details from Nashville to Conway.

The view as we packed up the car. 

The orange Duke of Hazzard's car from yesterday has been covered up.

Cleaning off the grill so the front radar sensors could work!!

The Memphis Pyramid, formerly known as the Great American Pyramid and the Pyramid Arena, and colloquially known as the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, is a pyramid-shaped building located in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, United States, at the bank of the Mississippi River. Built in 1991 as a 20,142-seat arena, the facility was owned and operated jointly by the city of Memphis and Shelby County until Shelby County sold its share to Memphis in April 2009. Its structure plays on the city's namesake in Egypt, which is known for its ancient pyramids. It is 321 feet (98 m) (about 32 stories) tall and has base sides of 591 feet (180 m); it is by some measures the tenth-tallest pyramid in the world.

Bridge crossing the Mississippi River in Arkansas.

Lunch as we drove.

We were happy to get into our room at the Hilton Garden Inn, there is so much snow here!

I booked the rest of our hotels.

We received a free breakfast voucher after I mentioned we had unplugged the fridge as it was noisy.

Dinner was okay, salmon for me and steak for John. It was not one of our better Garden Inn meals. As John said, we should have gone with burgers.

LOOK at the taxes!!!! We received a $20 food credit on our invoice.

Andrew, I thought you'd get a kick out of this! Josh Matlow is a city councillor calling for an investigation into the delays. Work began in 2011 and Metrolinx previously announced completion dates of 2020 and 2021.

COOKING

Supplies are getting low, we are using up what we have.

Saturday steak frites with dip

Sunday turkey Alfredo (frozen Xmas turkey)

Monday chips and eggs and bacon

Tuesday ordered Swiss Chalet chicken

Wednesday on the road Huber Heights OH cheeses cold cuts crackers. Interesting wine California low calorie and  0% sugar. 

Thursday on the road Nashville salads

Friday on the road Conway Hilton John steak Jackie salmon

WATCHING

Midnight Run 1988 A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.

I didn't keep track of what we watched on the road. We both did our own thing with our laptops or phones.

ON THIS DAY (OTD)

On This Day (OTD) this week in 2013 - Las Vegas NV

Meal Plan includes Ramsay's Steak and Neon Boneyard

READING

When at lunch last week with a new acquaintance, we were talking about our upcoming road trip and he mentioned a book he had used many years ago on a road trip. I found the 2011 edition at the library. The last version is 2014, still quite old.

Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 800 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More

I found some that are still around and added them to our guide.

I finished The Girls We Sent Away. I'm not sure why it says "girls", the story really only focuses on one girl. It's the 1960s and their precious young daughter gets pregnant, clutch your pearls!

Of course, the boy washes his hands and walks away to college. 

The Teacher  DS Cross is on the autism spectrum. He has the highest rate of solving crimes in the force. He has trouble understanding and communicating with people, but his analytical and observational skills are honed to perfection. 

Day 2 Dayton OH to Nashville TN

 January 9 2025

Day 1 Jan 8 Toronto - Dayton OH

Dep 8:20 Dayton -11C

Arr 2:30 

Time Diff -1 hour Toronto

Ohio - Kentucky - Tennessee 

We were up at 7, actually we were awakened by the alarm clock at 6:15, why can't housekeeping check this? I overheard another guest complaining that his had gone off at 5.

Breakfast at the Tru Hilton in Dayton was great. 

John packing up, it was cold -11C.

Interesting HOV? (High Occupancy Vehicle) lane or is it a lane for cars that are not exiting?

Slow going around Cincinnati.

Kentucky had lots and lots of snow!

We did a bathroom break and it was gorgeous outside.

Soon after, we stopped in Elizabethtown for lunch (sandwiches from home) and gas.

Since we gained an hour we decided to stop into Buc-ee's. they had the most gorgeous bathrooms!

We picked up salads for dinner.

Suddenly, around Millersville TN we were bumper to bumper going 18 km in a 112 km zone. There was some police activity on the side of the highway. We would see this again in Nashville where they were handcuffing the driver.

According to the GPS "we have reached our destination". I don't think so, does this look like somewhere I would stay? That is John confirming we are 10 minutes away from our booked location.

Nashville TN

1992 Nashville contains links to other trips

HOTEL  

Quality Inn® Nashville – Opryland Area hotel in Nashville, TN, situated right next to restaurants, Opry Mills mall and the historic Grand Ole Opry. 

Checked in and we walk next door.

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action comedy television series that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of 147 episodes. It was consistently among the top-rated television series in the late 1970s and early 1980s (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS's Friday night schedule).

I had a sense that we had been around the shopping mall before and said we went to the Ernie Tubbs Record Shop and Museum here but it was now closed. Sure enough it was!

We knew the Grand Ole Opry was not open but we thought we'd get some photos anyway.

We also tried to find the entrance to Gaylord's Opryland Hotel, but couldn't. We did find a self-park for $37 and said no, thank you.

DINNER salads

BREAKFAST Free