Got up, waited for SDL and Miss A to get up, took a shower, packed, hugs and kisses all around, and headed out. My goal was to leave between 8 and 9am and I split that down the middle! I was out the door at 830a exactly! Highly unusual for me, btw!

I got on the road and headed to meet MM at Nellie’s Southern Kitchen in Belmont, NC, a little over 3.5 hours from SDL’s house, no problem. I stopped for gas, got something at Starbucks along the way, oh, and dropped the top on the beetle bug, it was 77 degrees out after all! Yes, I said 77, don’t get too jealous, I told you it was that fabulous all week, but…I was heading back to the frozen tundra, so…

We found each other at Nellie’s, sat down and started catching up. The beautiful thing about our relationship, like many of my friendships, it doesn’t matter how much time there’s been between visits, we pick up where we left off.

Nellie’s was nice, when I went to the restroom, I was looking at all the decorations, and there is a hallway that had a lot of Jonas Brothers memorabilia, photos, press releases, newspaper and magazine covers, gold records, albums, and I looked it up, the restaurant was started by Kevin Jonas Sr, his wife Denise, and their four sons. The restaurant is named for the Jonas Brothers great-grandmother Nellie Jonas, go figure!

It has a nice atmosphere and feel, it was crowded, you definitely need a reservation, there was live music and a general warm feeling. It helped that it was a very warm day in Belmont, NC, so people were not only in Nellie’s but crowding the small town’s streets.

After lunch, we walked around town, there was even a winter market in the park. I have to chuckle because a winter market implies winter temperatures, we were with everyone else in shorts and tee shirts walking around enjoying the 77 degree winter weather!

After a bit, it was time to get back on the road, I had another 8 hours of driving, best get to it! MM and I hugged our goodbyes, I got in the car, plugged in my phone, dropped the top and away we went, and by we, me and Black Betty, the beetle bug!

Something PSM and I do when we drive, we go until we’re at about half a tank, pull off the road, fill up, take care of business, maybe get a drink, and generally get the wiggles out, then back on the road, it makes the trip easier and you get to move around a bit.

It was great, it was about 77 degrees out most of the drive, I had the top down, sometimes listening to a podcast, sometimes blasting my music and dancing down the highway, what could be better! Don’t get too jealous, as soon as I got close to West Virginia, the temperature dropped, and quickly. It went from 77 to 65, then 60 in a flash, I got to West Virginia, pulled in for gas, and all of a sudden, it was 55! So…top back up and back on the road.

I drove through 7 states total, Georgia > South Carolina > North Carolina > Virginia > West Virginia > Maryland > Pennsylvania. By the time I got home…it was somewhere between 25 and 30 degrees, see…told you not to get jealous! One of the things I love about using Google Maps is when you cross a state line you get the pop up “Welcome to…” and whatever icon would represent that state. My phone did something funky just as I was crossing the border into Pennsylvania, hence, no Welcome to… oh well…

I pulled into the driveway about 1030p, it was clear, thanks to PSM who spent FOUR hours on Sunday breaking through the ice and snow, THANK YOU! I made it into the barn, unloaded my bags, headed into the house and got attacked by puppy love, not a bad way to be!

I can drive for a long time as long as it’s daylight, I’m ok at night, but if it’s been a super long drive, that last hour can be tough. Sometimes I pull into rest areas and service stations a little more often, but I make it to my destination.

Overall, not a bad day, I know it took closer to 11 hours total driving, but it wasn’t bad. Come on, what could be bad with a convertible and manual transmission?! Come with me next time, we’ll drop the top, blast the tunes and say wheeeeee!