Murfreesboro

Murfreesboro

The first leg of our journey to Florida brought us to Murfreesboro, TN. I had booked a VRBO rental that graciously allowed us to bring our cats. It was a cute little studio apartment attached to the hosts’ home. If you are looking to stay in Murfreesboro or near Nashville, check out the offerings from the host Glenna on VRBO. Possibly Airbnb as well.

There was a bigger apartment attached to the back of their house, which we had originally booked, but when we delayed our trip by 2 weeks, it was no longer available.

The studio we rented was perfectly fine with a queen bed, nice bathroom, a kitchenette, and a huge TV.

The pets all made themselves comfortable pretty quickly. The cats were excited to get out of their carriers.

Studio

We stayed at the studio for 2 nights so that we (mainly Jeff) could have a day of rest between driving days. We had originally planned to take in a bit of Nashville (30 mins away), but with the Omicron COVID variant being rampant, we decided against it. Maybe on the way back to Wisconsin we will do a little sightseeing there.

MAPCO

The first night there, I drove to a nearby gas station, a MAPCO that I could’ve walked to, so I could buy some beverages to get us through the next couple of days.

There were few people in the little convenience store and I was the only one wearing a mask. It was awkward. I decided to try and be less awkward and converse a bit with the cashier. I asked her how they were dealing with the snow.

The day before, a good chunk of southern states, including Tennessee, got hit with snow. That’s unusual for them. It was pretty minimal to Jeff and I, being from Wisconsin.

The cashier didn’t seem too fazed by it. She mentioned that they had gotten hit worse a year ago. So, perhaps they were more prepared this time around.

When I exited the MAPCO, I waited at a stoplight and realized there was another MAPCO kiddie corner to the MAPCO I had just left. I did a bit of a double take. They looked exactly the same. Maybe the other one had better beverage selection.

Rest Day

We spent most of our rest day watching TV, mostly The Golden Girls (RIP Betty White). Jeff ventured out twice to get us food from Shake Shack and Sonic. We hadn’t ever been to those places before. They didn’t seem super special. They were fine, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get either of them again.

I got out of the house for a bit to walk Charlie around the neighborhood. It is strange to walk around a neighborhood that is new to you. Some of the houses in the neighborhood were really cute and well kept. Others…not so much. There weren’t always sidewalks and cars seemed to drive kind of fast in the area, so I didn’t walk Charlie too far.

Milo

Both nights that we stayed in the studio, we were woken up multiple times by our cat, Milo, pawing at the door to the bathroom and meowing incessantly. On the second morning, I woke up with Charlie around 5 am to take him outside. Milo took this as his cue to start meowing again.

Carcolepsy

This woke Jeff up and we decided we may as well get dressed and get on the road to get to Florida sooner. I didn’t mind since I knew I was going to fall right back asleep in the car anyways.

And I did. Cars tend to make me fall asleep. Usually only when I am a passenger, though there have been some times that I had to pull off at a gas station to take a quick nap. I think I have Carcolepsy. I sleep easily in cars, for the most part.