Disney family Epic, Day 1

11 March

3:30 am...alarm goes off at 3; water running thru the basement, up under the stairs, steady rain and upper 30's.  Drove in rain until south of Iowa City...6:00 am the kids wake up.  Sunrise was beautiful and 50's greeted the family near the IA/Missouri border.  Hannibal was breakfast and driver switch, and Kari drove us through brilliant sun and climbing temps (60's by St. Louis) and guided the fam under the arch and into Illinois.  Lunch stop near Carbondale (wondered if I'd get punched for wearing a UNI sweatshirt today there), then I took the wheel thru Kentucky and finally into Nashville around 3 pm.  73 was the highest I saw today...absolutely beautiful!  On the 'odd' side...check engine light comes on after running for nearly 700 miles like a champ; something about the gas cap and e-vapor code (thanks, Adrian @ the Aamco shop in Nashville)...reset and we ready to roll.  Traffic jam heading downtown, saw the Ryman (no free Lady Antebellum tix, but we tried!) and dinner at the Paradise Park, a redneck lovin' greasy spoon burger joint and rock bar.  Too much fun...Oh yeah; the SEC men's tourney is in Nashville, started tonight.  8 bazillion Kentucky fans crowded the streets...lots of musicians chasing the dream downtown...also walked around the Grand Ole Opry -- a pretty cool sense of history in these places, standing where so many greats have sung.  So now, 8:30 pm, and we are all done.  Cooked.  Needing sleep in the worst way.  The kids travelled day one like rock stars; let's hope Atlanta is kind and we get there in good time tomorrow.  10 hours or so left...Orlando or bust!

Goodnight, all...