Because we took an hour at Cracker Barrel (the nice lady in the store kept helping us shop), our total drive time was ~11 hours. By the end my mother was driving like me. It was kind of humorous. The Boy's family owned his cabin which is a real house. Our cabin somewhat resembled those tiny houses you see cropping up. We had a small bedroom with 3 metal walls that comprised the shower, the living/eating space and bathroom, and the glorified porch I was sleeping on. It had enclosed walls but I promise there was no insulation in those walls.
The insulation was relevant since It stopped being nice by Tuesday. Friday I spent the whole day in sweatpants and a hoodie. Every night I slept in that hoodie for warmth either on a crappy pullout sofa bed from the 1970's or a size too small bed with an extra firm mattress at The Boy's parent's place. All of this was occurring 90 minutes from the bathroom break Wal-Mart mentioned in Baker's Dozen Challenge Book 12. This was considerably more rustic than I was accustomed. The keys for our cabin were right inside the unlocked door on the porch. We ain't in DC no more.
The town we were staying and and it's larger neighbor had a bunch of great shops. The Boy had a present waiting for me which was a stuffed black bear I named Picnic. I found some very cool souvenirs including a necklace made from a monarch butterfly's wing (it died of natural causes), a tie-dyed multi-fabric skirt from a hippy store, a cherry blossom glass necklace, a book called "Your Socks Are on Fire" and a much needed pair of sweatpants. The bookstore in town had little flying pigs with magnetic noses that were stuck together. It was to show they were magnets but it made me think of The Boy and I. Neither he nor I were the best bets on paper at the start. I went back into that store at the end of the week to grab something for our neighbor and found 3 pairs like that.
The neighboring town had a 'hardware store' that was more well stocked than most Wal-Marts. Upstairs was camping gear and outdoor and kitchen furniture and downstairs was a hardware store. Connected to that was fabric, candy, cookie cutters, cookie jars, mugs, plates, towels, pot holders, and other kitchen items. Connected to that was several boxed recipes and baking items. Behind the baking was clothes, toys, and puzzles. Next to that was bedroom furniture including mattresses, pillows, futons, bedframes, dressers, and decorative fans. Behind the clothes and puzzles was the book section separated into a general book section with classics, fiction, various genre fiction, and several young reader sections. Behind that was all local books including guides, maps, histories, and regionally based novels. Back to the front and beside the baking stuff was the yarn and sewing section. Did you get all that?
In town there were only 2 places to eat. A breakfast and sandwich place that closed at 3 and a sports bar/video store (with DVDs and actual VHS tapes) that opened in the afternoon. There was a bakery with bagels the size of your face for only a couple of dollars and epic doughnuts. My favorite place in town was the ice cream stand.
We went there almost every day. The Boy loved the soft serve, my mom was a sucker for a hard vanilla ice cream with M&Ms and fudge fish, and I loved me some gelato. Forest Berry FTW. The Boy's family and mine went to the fancy Italian place in the next town over one night. I had to figure out what 'mountain nice' meant. Casual Friday in the city as it turns out.
Shopping and eating were a large part of this trip.
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