Chicago to Miami- Day 2 (part 2)

On the second day of our big move, we drove from Louisville/La Grange, KY to Cosby, TN. Although the drive wasn't particularly long, we actually stopped twice on this day, partly because in Tennessee, we would be pretty much as close to the middle of nowhere as one could get. And partially because we thought it might be fun to stop by both Lexington and Knoxville, two cities that we had never been.

Lexington

In Lexington, the place that we originally had planned to eat wasn't open yet, so I did a quick Yelp search and found Stella's Kentucky Deli on the same street, which had a ton of people standing outside. They have an outdoor patio which is dog-friendly, but a little crowded for Bandit's abilities at the time so we ordered takeout and found a table off the sidewalk a little bit down the street.

We grabbed some coffee from A Cup of Commonwealth (really, really good iced latte and iced chai... as in, maybe one of the best) and walked around Thoroughbred Park across the street from the coffeeshop. Bandit was a little nervous of the horses statues at first, but still 100% curious.

And it was really cute how he approached the foal statue that looked he had fallen down while learning how to walk. Bandit was like, "Are you real?"

This picture actually perfectly encapsulates Bandit: incredibly sweet, curious, and lacking any acknowledgment of personal space.

Before this trip, Bandit had probably only been in the car for 1.5-2 hours at a time as we took small trips with him, mostly to visit my parents, or to hike at Starved Rock. He had always been awesome in the car but was definitely more stressed out this time, understandably so: our time in the car was longer, he had less space (since we packed literally everything into my small car), and he had already been stressed out from watching us pack everything. He was honestly really great, even when a pile of clothes fell near him. We aren't experts at traveling with a dog, but we tried to make things easier on him by taking frequent stops. We also packed bully sticks and other random chews for him when we got places (he doesn't chew or play in the car), which he didn't enjoy as much as he normally would. When we got places, he would chew a little and stop, which was also a manifestation of his stress. He was a trooper and did his best to make himself comfortable (although he ignored the easiest way, which would've been to just lay down since we extended his seat). It was sweet the few times we caught him sleeping, although it was few and far between.

Knoxville

I don't have many pictures of Knoxville because it was raining and we mainly wanted to just be able to walk Bandit around and grab some food for dinner at The Tomato Head.

We did, however, get to take him into Urban Outfitters and got some photobooth shots with him. My dream has come true. His dream come true is whenever he is allowed into a store, so he was in heaven too. Until the photobooth thing, at which point he was like WTF. He was too short for the camera unless we helped him keep his head up, which is why it looks like he is being strangled.

Cosby

After Knoxville, we headed for Cosby, TN. During this part of the drive, my phone lost GPS signal, but luckily Alex's phone has never failed us (and we have been to several places that we would expect to lose signal). Our Airbnb for the night was quite a drive. I remember turning off the main road of a small town, then driving through a small residential area (that did have a gas station, convenience store, and Baptist church), and then driving about ten miles beyond that. But it was so cool to be driving along a really nice paved road and see a tipi that was barely visible behind a lining of trees along the road.

On the other side of the road, we followed signs and pulled in. Our hostess was super sweet and showed us all the amenities, including a Norwegian wood stove.

 We used two oil lamps to light the tipi. 

Our hosts lit a wood fire underneath a claw-foot bathtub, which warmed the rain water after about 45 minutes. It was dark by the time the water was hot and Alex and Bandit had already taken a quick nap. I was so nervous Bandit would have a hard time sleeping here, but he seemed to go with the flow beautifully; he slept with us on the cot as well as on the futon.

He wasn't the only sleepy one.

Alex and I took turns bathing. It was amazing to sit in the tub in the dark and look up at the stars. I think that was one of the most unique experiences I've had. 

 Nights like these, I always wonder if city living is all it's cracked up to be.