Day 1 Knoxville, TN

Our trip began this morning at 8:30am when I left Anderson to head to Knoxville, TN. Dad helped me pack and organize the car yesterday - I think there's just enough room for Brant's ONE bag when I pick him up on Saturday! We definitely have a lot more stuff than I thought! It took about 3 1/2 hours to get to here. I spent a lot of time yesterday downloading music on my Ipod, so I had plenty of good tunes to pass the time! I am staying with my two good friends, Jennifer and Valerie - the two girls I lived with when I did my pediatrics rotation at East Tennessee Children's Hospital last winter. Jennifer and I went to Clemson together, and Valerie is her roommate that I met when I came to live with them. Jennifer was home when I got here, and we went out for lunch to Calhoun's for some Tennesse BBQ! She caught me up on all of her wedding plans, and then she took me by the dress shop and tried on her wedding dress for me - which is gorgeous! (No pictures - sorry!) She's getting married on December 6th and we won't be able to be there :( We hung out at her apartment for a little bit and watched Oprah until she had to head off to work- she's a physician's assistant in the ER at Children's Hospital. Valerie got home from work, and we headed to downtown Knoxville. We had sushi and wine at Noma's down at Market Square, walked through a few of the shops, and got ice cream at Marble Slab. She gave me a very lovely tour of the University of Tennessee campus where she went to college. We came back to the apartment and hung out for a little bit before hitting the sack. I'm leaving tomorrow morning to drive to Fort Campbell, Tennessee to stay with our friends Erika and Jake! Two more days until Brant gets to join me!!

Our Roadtrip Itinerary!

Wednesday, July 30 (200 miles)

Day 1: Leave Anderson, SC to Knoxville, TN

Thursday, July 31 (260 miles)

Day 2: to Ft. Campbell, TN

Friday, August 1 (384 miles)

Day 3: to Jefferson City, MO

Saturday, August 2 (592 miles)

Day 4: pick up Brant in Kansas City :) then on to Mitchell, SD

Sunday, August 3 (317 miles)

Day 5: to Custer, SD

Monday, August 4 (267 miles)

Day 6: to Cheyenne, WY

Tuesday, August 5 (407 miles)

Day 7: to Grand Teton National Park, WY

Wednesday, August 6 (350 miles)

Day 8: to Great Falls, MT

Thursday, August 7 (200 miles)

Day 9: to Glacier National Park, MT

Friday, August 8 (300 miles)

Day 10: to Banff National Park, Alberta

Saturday, August 9 (430 miles)

Day 11: to Dawson Creek, British Columbia

Sunday, August 10 (350 miles)

Day 12: to Fort Nelson, British Columbia

Monday, August 11 (595 miles)

Day 13: to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Tuesday, August 12 (400 miles)

Day 14: to Tok, AK

Wednesday, August 13 (320 miles)

Day 15: Arrive in Anchorage, AK!!!

Let the Countdown Begin!!

Welcome to our blogspot :) We thought it would be fun to keep this online journal for our friends and family to stay in touch with us and follow our trek to Alaska and beyond as we begin our lives together - FINALLY!! Our journey will begin on July 30th and we plan to arrive in Alaska on August 14th. Hopefully we'll get a chance to update everyday with fun pictures and stories :)

A little bit of catching up since the wedding..Brant and I both graduated - yay! Brant was commissioned as a captain in the US Air Force just after his graduation. The movers came to Birmingham, AL and packed up everything we owned including Brant's truck -which are all currenty in a storage unit in Alaska awaiting our arrival! We also went on our belated honeymoon to Negril, Jamaica and had a wonderful time!

We moved back to Anderson and got to spend a little bit of time together relaxing with our friends and family before Brant headed off to COT (Commissioned Officer Training) in Montgomery, Alabama for 5 weeks - and he only has two more weeks to go! I have been living with mom and dad since he has been gone - spending most of my time studying for my physical therapy boards which I plan on taking before we leave for AK.

I am planning on leaving Anderson July 30th and will travel for a few days, staying with friends along the way and picking Brant up in at the Kansas City airport on August 2nd. With me leaving a few days before Brant graduates from COT, we'll have a few extra days of travel time!!

I'll be busy the next week with my last week of studying for boards, but hopefully will be able to update after July 28th!!