Day 31- Driving from Oklahoma City to Memphis, TN

We all were woken up by a knocking on our door this morning.  It was "housekeeping" coming to clean our room!  We were all sound asleep at 8:30! After a nice breakfast, we packed the car and headed out to get the oil changed in the car.  People have reminded us of how slow people in "the south" are but we didn't really listen. The guy at the oil change place was SLOW. He moved at a snails pace which drove us crazy because we knew we had another 450 miles to drive.  When all was said and done we got in the road by 10:30.  We stocked the cooler with ice and had things for lunch "ready to go" on the top for easy access.  From there on we only stopped to grab food, get gas, or use the restrooms. We made it to Memphis for 6 pm.  The guys all got their suits on and went for a swim.  We had called Len's cousin Sandy and she met us at the hotel.  We visitied by the pool for a bit and then got in her car to go to dinner. We had such a nice visit with her.  She was diagnosed with MS several years ago.  She looks fabulous!  When I told her as much she said,"Well, thank you. I work very hard to be "this healthy."  Currently she teaches dance lessons, does Tai Chi and is getting certified to teach it soon, is a spokeswoman for a new medication she is taking for the MS, and counsels people who have been newly diagnosed with the disease.  She is the perfect "poster child" for someone who has dealt with an MS diagnosis. We visited for over three hours.  You would never know that we hadn't seen one another in almost 12 years!
Back at the hotel it was easy to get the kids to bed.  Although we aren't doing much when we are driving, the last couple of days have been exhausting.  It was nice to remain in one time zone today! Tomorrow morning we plan to sleep in and hang out by the pool for a bit.  After we check out of the hotel we'll stop by a couple of stores to accomplish some errands and then we head northeast to Nashville. Although the road to home hasn't held the excitement and wonder of National Parks and places new to us, it has been so nice to see people.  We are really looking forward to seeing Brooke and her family tomorrow afternoon!