Day One: Maiden, NC, to Lebanon, TN: 360 miles

Today is Sunday, November 13th! This morning we performed with the Cockman Family at Friendly Chapel Baptist Church in Maiden, NC. Immediately afterward, we packed all of Mama Jane's bags into the rental car, and started on the first day of our trip!

We are on our way to Albuquerque, NM, to compete in the National Yodeling Competition at the annual Western Music Awards (WMA) Showcase and Awards Show at the Albuquerque Marriott. We plan to arrive on the 18th and stay until the 20th. We are each competing in the Junior Yodeling competition, and then we also plan to compete in the Harmony Yodel and Youth Harmony competitions.

We are driving out with Mama Jane, who will stay with us until she flies home from Albuquerque next Sunday. Daddy is flying out to meet us on Friday, and then he will drive back home with us. We should arrive at home on the Saturday after Thanksgiving!

We are very excited, but so sad to leave Daddy. You can tell by the look on Lolo's face! Don't worry though, Grammy and Papa are going to take good care of him while we're gone. Bear and Pippen (the dogs) and Nuvie (the cat) will help look after him too!

 

PS ~ Be on the lookout for the Chippy Gang and all the Junktown crew as we go along. We each were allowed 5 animals and then we successfully lobbied for another five apiece. That means 20 of the gang are stuffed into the car with us! It's a bit tight, but it will be worth it for so many of the Animallanders to get to see the old west. Chippy, for one, is very angry about the way he was cropped out of the above photo!

We've only been on the road a couple of hours, and we already have the Highway 40 Blues. Just think, this is the same road that runs by the Marriott in Albuquerque, 1600 miles later! We stopped at the NC/ TN State line. Mama Jane wants to stop as soon as we enter each state so we can pick maps and information!

Lorien, Arwen, and Mama Jane at the state line!

Arwen arrives in Tennessee!

 We then traveled on to Knoxville where were had dinner with Aunt Margaret and Uncle Dwain. They made us spaghetti! They also gave us three wonderful horse books to read on our trip. We then traveled on to Lebanon, TN, where we spent the night.

Little Bear and the books that Aunt Margaret and Uncle Dwain gave us

Diggs updates his blog while Chippy and Dalen enjoy some hot chocolate and a dip in the hotel pool

We look forward to another wonderful day tomorrow!~

Arwen and Lorien Cockman (The Butterpats)