Discount shades, storebought tan, flip flops and cutoff jeans

Milage: 1,239. Best rando: Parthenon replica

Would you consider it lucky or unlucky that on my first trip to Nashville I just so happened to witness the hottest temperatures in the city's history?

I guess if heat is what I wanted it's what I got. As per the wonderful Phil Swaney's suggestion, I tried Silly Goose on Friday night followed by Jeni's ice cream. I wasn't at all disappointed.

Despite setting my alarm wrong, I still woke up at 7:30 Saturday and drug my butt out to the park to do an 18 mile bike ride around the city. If there's any doubt, cycling is the best way to see a city fast.

In the afternoon I attempted to get Belle out so I took her to the Shelby dog park. She was interested for all of five minutes before she conked out in the shade. Even walking across some of the stones was too hot for her paws- she basically got stuck and I had to go rescue her.

We did a brief tour of Vanderbilt and Centennial Park that was broken up by a delicious Ben & Jerry's stop. Two of the sweetest high school kids took pity on Belle and gave her a dish of water and let us sit in the shop.

In the evening I checked out the Broadway scene first before moving on to the cooler, hipper club with some locals. Safe to say I didn't get near enough Nashville.

Ain't going down till the sun comes up, ain't giving in till we get enough, rolling around the world in a pickup truck

Milage: 1,162. Best rando: Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln.

The part of Kentucky I drove through today is all cornfields and old tractors. Thought I'd be cool and get a picture of the trip meter when it turned to 1000 but then I forgot that it only hits 999.9. So I have a picture of it starting over it zero. Luckily I'll definitely hit that number again so I'll be more prepared the second time around.

Again no shortage of country stations down here. I did catch a little NPR this morning talking about the Supreme Court decision, but it just felt wrong to be catching up on news. I feel like a step back in time.

In one sense that's true. Driving down I-65 in Kentucky I saw a sign for the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. And, being a Gettysburg girl, I decided I needed to go see that. I feel very Forest Gump in the way I've been making decisions.

It also put me on some backwoods Kentucky roads, which I totally just ate up.

Mammoth Cave, our second stop, was breathtaking, and probably would've been more so if I'd done a real tour. We did discover a little river off the regular path but my anti-water dog wanted nothing to do with it, no matter how refreshing. At the end of the hike we caught a "natural AC" breeze from the caves below.

Many thanks to Val and Joe for being wonderful first hosts!

We are young enough to say oh, this has got to be a good life

Milage: Similar to yesterday, as Louisville is about 13 miles away. Best rando: Giant gold sculpture of David.

Louisville (Lou-e-ville) is hot.

I realized an americano may have been a bad coffee choice when I was flat out sweating in the shade at 10am. However, if you know me, I wasn't at all miserable about it. Just sat in a park, read my kindle and sipped my hot coffee on a hot Southern morning. I could get used to them.

The rest of the city day was pleasant. Lunch with Val, a walk along the Ohio. Kind of dirty but beautiful bridges. Gave myself some extra rosiness on my cheeks by spending the hottest hours of the late afternoon sleeping by the pool. Hey, it's vacation.

Tomorrow is a day for exploring and like ventures. Granted, they'll all be pet-friendly, (Belle is well!) but they will be adventures.

Here's a little of Louisville:

Heading out west with my headphones on

Milage: 848. Best rando sighting: Noah's Ark.

There are a lot of Christian music stations and wildflowers in Western Maryland. Neither of which I have a problem with. Also did you know that they're rebuilding Noah's Ark? I guess that's a good thing. You know. Just in case.

West Virginia is actually lovely. There's no shortage of country stations, which I love, and I even saw a sign for moonshine. I probably should've stopped to check it out, but Belle was getting a little antsy around the middle of the day. I guess the dog that loves car rides doesn't really love 12 hour car rides.

I also passed the Amazon customer service center. Kinda does make sense to put it in West Virginia since people here are so friendly. One man at a gas station had about half the teeth he should have but he smiled at me and Belle very politely.

And one question I had to ask myself some point in western West Virginia was,"Am I still in the same time zone?" Usually I move through them at the speed of a modern jetplane. I'm definitely not used to ambling along, crossing state lines like I'm hopping scotch and resting for a while on each square. The answer, I discovered much later, was yes.

I also wondered as I drove through the Daniel Boone National Forest if that's where the name boonies came from. While I often affectionately use the term to refer to where I live, being in Kentucky and seeing the whole slew of trees that seems to make up the better part of the state gave it a whole new meaning.

I'll be phone-blogging the rest of this trip so look forward to rising milage and hopefully more share-worthy landmarks.

And I gotta get a move on before the sun

Leaving in less than a week on this adventure and now I'm getting down to business on this planning ish.

Anyone who lives between here and Kentucky and Florida and the southern east coast, LEMME KNOW and I shall visit you! I'm definitely hitting Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta and Charleston. So what should I see there? What should I do? Suggestions encouraged – the crazier the better.

Also looking for great roadtrip snack suggestions, both recipes and the regular buy-it-in-the-store types. I'm definitely thinking trail mix, juice boxes and roadside fruit stand goodies. Anything else from your experience that will make 3,000 miles that more awesome?

Meanwhile, I did a little pre-trip excursion yesterday and I'll end with a little representation collage of the beautiful Belmar Beach, NJ.

Burgin.

This makes me remember why having a really good hometown is a really great thing.

Don't be scared to walk alone/don't be scared to like it

How good is the new John Mayer album?

Well if you don't know, get acquainted. I plan to have all but memorized that sucker by the time I return home from my sweet road trip, which begins in t-minus 20ish days.

If we're friends and right now you live anywhere between here, as far west as Kentucky and down to Florida, let's hang out. I'll be bringing this gem with me, but she's cute as can be and only 16 lbs. That's less than the bags of dog food I buy for her weigh.

I have almost three weeks squeezed between summer concerts (um, it's been too long since I last saw DMB) and the little rascal and I are going to see the world. Well, America. About a quarter of it. So that's something?

Also I'm currently taking suggestions for must-see landmarks (Foamhendge in Virginia, to name my favorite so far). Leave a comment, let me know what to see. 

I'm packing, planning, preparing and getting in my last doses of homecooked meals before Clif bars become my best friends. As JohnnyM would say,

But I am tempted to keep the car in drive/and leave it all behind.