Road Trip

[oogabooga]

Hey everybody. My best friend and I leave tomorrow to travel to the Tennessee shows this weekend. It should take us approx 19 hours to get to chattanooga and 3(?) from Chattanooga to Johnson City. We will be travelling through OK, AR, and TN.
Does anyone have any advice or tips on road tripping? I know this is a little bit off topic randomness...but since the whole thing is to go see Nickel Creek...I thought it might be more appropriate here....

I am SO giddy about this trip :D . I can't wait to see them again!!!

Katy

[mandoBob]

sign up for AAA (or something like it). it's worth it.
books on tape (especially mysterys) are good for staying awake, as well as frenetic music (I once preferred Phish or MMW) and chain-drinking of brisk iced-tea...drink a bottle, wait a bit, pit stop, get another bottle, repeat :-) you may think you're invincable, but listen to your body...we dont want to see you on the evening news...naps at (guarded) rest stops are a good thing!
beware of the roads in AR. you may lose an axel, or so I've heard.
see you here! parking's a nightmare for the festival, so plan to arrive early if you can.

[oogabooga]

How long would you think it would take us to park and how early would be a good amount to get to the N.C. concert stage?

Maggie and I have been joking that it is a good thing that it is just girls going on this trip because we will be drinking so much Diet DP to stay awake that we are sure we will need frequent pitstops. We have been planning it to give ourselves at least 4 hours of pit stop, road side picture, etc... time :)

Thanks for all of the info
Katy

[mandoBob]

you must be in the panhandle if you're estimating 19 hours? better safe than sorry. I'm really not sure how long it takes to park, b/c I work downtown and have a spot...a perk that is especially nice this time of year. but if I were you i'd try to be within city limits by 6. do yourself a favor and grab something to eat before you enter the gates. I recommend Lupi's pizza: 4th and Broad St. www.lupi.com But you may be in the mood for something faster? Panera is b/w 4th and 5th on Market. Anything to avoid McDs...that stuff'll kill ya! Whatever.
Once you're in the gates (if you go in the main gate), the stage is pretty much right there on your left (you have to go around to get to the front of it tho), so no worries there.

[oogabooga]

we're in mid-OK. Not too bad. With the webber's falls bridge out though we are adding about an hour for that. PLus I have to go to my parents house first (Ft. smith, AR) so we will do the first 3 hours seperately then we will meet up in Alma, AR...so we are figuring in moving stuff to the other car etc......

Do you think that there will be a big crowd for NC? I only know what is on the riverbend website and what you have told me, so I really don't know if being at the stage by say 7? would be early enough.

thanks again for sharing about Chattanooga. I am feeling much more confident about that part of the trip :)

Katy

[mandoBob]

I think the crowd will be pretty good-sized. Probably the biggest for that stage. apparently there have been record crowds for the festival in general (of course if you bring lynrd skynrd to a place like this, you get a massive crowd...yikes)
Anyway NC played here 2 years ago at a free concert put on by the city and it was packed. I'm a stickler for being early, but 7 would probably be ok...just dont expect front-row. she stage is next to a hill, so there's lots of good seats.

[nitejule]

just be careful i have done many a road trip!! just take it easy and be cautious!!

[oogabooga]

OK..... it is raining buckets here, but that's ok :)Hopefully it will clear out and be nice tonight.

We will be leaving around 7 pm. we think we will get into chattanooga sometime late tomorrow afternoon.....
We are just so excited :)

I know that lots of you out there are Christians, so if you wouldn't mind, if you think of us throughout the next few days, please pray that God guides us on our journey, that we arrive and that we return home safely.

Thanks a lot!!!
Katy