Tennesse...

Well, time and travel got the best of us, so apologies for this very delayed post. With a rare bit of downtime, we're going to do our best to catch up. Now, where were we?....

Oh, yes, Tennessee! Like true 90s kids, we broke out into "Tennessee" by Arrested Development as soon as we crossed into the state. This sort of silliness is common when we're road-tripping. All it takes is one 90s hip hop classic to throw us into multiple hours of throwbacks: O.P.P., Jump Around, Regulate, Gin and Juice, The Humpty Dance, etc. It's a regular dance party in our car, and we're not deterred by the strange looks we get from other drivers who pass us by. Video below from previous cross country trip. 

Our petsit in Nashville was arranged several months ago. Deb, a friend of Sonia's, reached out when she heard about our nomadic adventure, and she pleaded with us to watch her furry family while she and her partner, Karen, went on an Alaskan cruise. With two loving dogs and three sweet cats promised, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. 

Here's the gang!

Dorian's introduction. As you can see, Maggie was instantly in love.

Little did we know that we'd be caring for a mini lion! 😂 Isn't Tripp beautiful?! He loves getting his coat groomed, so they have fun with his style.

All of Deb and Karen's furry bunch are rescues. And let me tell you, these animals won the jackpot when they were picked up by these two. Deb is extremely dedicated to protecting  animals. And I mean all animals. When we first met in 2014, I was sitting in her studio helping her finish some work (she's a sail maker) when a spider crawled across the floor. I went to grab the spider and she yelled out, "Oh, no, no, no! This is their space!" She explained that spiders were there first, so if anyone was the guest it was her. She then gently picked up the spider with a piece of paper and escorted it outside. If it came back, then it was welcome to stay. It was at that moment when I knew we were going to be fast friends. 

As such, it was no surprise when we saw the esteemed place with which their pets were held in their household. The guest room functioned as a dog den, and the basement had been converted into a play room with catio furniture. The coolest thing was the pet patio they had built off of the main house. It was a ~10'x10' enclosure which the animals accessed through a pet door from the kitchen. The cats especially loved having a safe space for them to be "outside" while still be protected. It's one of the best pet projects -- pun intended -- that we've seen!

One of the couches in the basement cat space. 

The sign says "Smudge hiding place (not a real couch)". 

Circle is where Smudge was hiding 😂

Though Deb gave us a thorough run-down on the daily routine, she neglected to mention that the animals weren't allowed on the living room couch.  Maggie, the greyhound mix, must have picked up on our naïveté because she inched her way onto the couch through our initial days. When she took up permanent residence on our third day, I finally asked Deb if the animals were allowed on the couch. She laughed and said, "No. Did someone say otherwise?" In true Deb-spirit, she let the offense slide. With Maggie leading the couch charge, the other animals weren't far behind.

When we weren't hanging out on the couch, we explored a bit of the Nashville. I (Sonia) have cycled through the city many times, but it was remarkable to see how much the city has changed since my last visit five years go. Nashville has experienced a recent population boom  and the metropolitan area has jumped 21%, to nearly 2 million people, in the last ten years. This growth was easy to see as we drove through downtown. Skyscrapers had popped up everywhere, and endless construction cranes indicated more were coming. The change was even more visible on Lower Broadway, the main street with all of the Honky Tonk bars. While the area has always attracted tourists, it was rarely overrun. I could usually stroll into one of the less popular bars, pull up a seat, and listen to a local musician strum their guitar and sing an original tune. On this trip, however, Lower Broadway felt like the Las Vegas strip. Bars were overflowing, roads were clogged with party buses, and establishments featured cover bands playing recent pop songs. It was nice to see the city thriving, but it was disappointing to see much of the small town charm had been plowed-under. Given the drunken, downtown, hoards, we passed on Lower Broadway and continued into the quieter reaches of East Nashville. Like boring, forty-something adults, we were thrilled to find a quiet vegan restaurant to spend our evening. 

All in all, we had a wonderful time hanging out with the furry bunch and exploring the Nashville area. Deb and Karen have future travel plans, so it's likely we'll be back when they jet out of town. We can't wait to to return and teach these animals more bad habits (just kidding, Deb and Karen!). Until then... thanks Nashville!