Monday, September 11, 2017

Day Four: Lincoln & Final Stats

Day four of Graceland 2017 brought us home through three states (Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota).



We started the day at Lincoln's Home, another national historic site that should not be missed.





The rest of the day was spent on the road. Not all that exciting, but it included hours of conversation with two ladies I seriously enjoy. It was Renata's first American Road Trip, and I hope she got a little taste of this great country of ours.

Final Stats: Graceland 2017

  • Eight states
  • 2,144 miles
  • Three National Park Sites
  • Lots of great food and drinks
  • Three happy ladies
Below is a list of our expenses. We used Cost Split, an app, for tracking our expenses. This app is seriously fabulous. It tracks all your expenses and allows you to split each one as you wish (the others paid for all the gas), and at the end tells you who owes who. It removes all the guess work, and makes being together more enjoyable!



EXPENSES
DescriptionDatePaid byAmountPaid for
Lori KarstensenRenata LehmanRae Ann Prasnicki
Graceland9/8/17Lori Karstensen$159.75$53.25$53.25$53.25
Saint Louis9/8/17Rae Ann Prasnicki$96.35$32.11$32.12$32.12
Gas: Waterloo9/8/17Renata Lehman$15.45$7.72$7.73-
Gas: Saint Louis9/8/17Lori Karstensen$16.23$8.11$8.12-
Lodging: Memphis 9/8/17Renata Lehman$304.03$101.35$101.34$101.34
Gas: Love Station9/9/17Renata Lehman$13.74$6.87$6.87-
Graceland Parking9/9/17Lori Karstensen$10.00$3.34$3.33$3.33
BBQ 9/9/17Rae Ann Prasnicki$44.97$22.48-$22.49
Pecan Pie9/9/17Lori Karstensen$24.00$8.00$8.00$8.00
Drink #29/9/17Rae Ann Prasnicki$18.00$9.00-$9.00
Memphis Breakfast9/10/17Lori Karstensen$46.49$15.49$15.50$15.50
Civil Rights9/10/17Rae Ann Prasnicki$45.00$15.00$15.00$15.00
Gas: Road North9/10/17Lori Karstensen$17.80$8.90$8.90-
Springfield Hotel 9/10/17Rae Ann Prasnicki$71.00$23.66$23.67$23.67
Gas: Springfield 9/11/17Lori Karstensen$18.90$9.45$9.45-
Gas: Wisconsin 9/11/17Lori Karstensen$17.80$8.90$8.90-

SUMMARY
PersonTotal costsBalance
Lori Karstensen$333.63-$22.66
Rae Ann Prasnicki$283.70-$8.38
Renata Lehman$302.18$31.04
Total$919.51

PAYBACKS
FromToAmountPayback info
Lori KarstensenRenata Lehman$22.66
Rae Ann PrasnickiRenata Lehman$8.38

Happy travels my friends. My next trip will be in December, when I bring my girls to Europe for the first time...London and Paris.

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Day Three: Civil Rights, Cotton & Pizza

Day Three of Graceland 2017 brought us another 400 miles through three states (Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois).



We started the day at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. It is an excellent museum, and cannot be missed.



We got back on the road for our return trek and found a cotton field along the way. 



We ended the night in Springfield Illinois enjoying some pizza that we would like to consider Chicago Style...since we were in Illinois. 


Saturday, September 9, 2017

Day Two: Four States, Graceland, BBQ & Beale Street

Day two of Graceland 2017 started in St. Louis. We drove 400 miles through four states (Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi). 




We arrived at Graceland, and did the tour. It was fun.






We ate some BBQ, and have a few drinks. The drinks are better looking.


We checked into our posh hotel right off Beale street (Westin), where you can have a guitar in your room! Crazy...so we went to the room and pretended like we could play. Despite messaging Renata and Lori's musically inclined sons on how to use the thing, we just strummed a little and posed for photos.




We ended the night walking Beale street and listening to some great music. 







Friday, September 8, 2017

Graceland 2017

Greetings Driving the Dream readers. As you know I visited all fifty states with my two lovely daughters earlier this year. I will use this blog moving forward as a way to document ALL my travel adventures. I am excited to announce my first 'non-fifty-state-travel-with-the-girls' trip was with two of the most lovely ladies in my life; Renata and Lori: Graceland 2017.

I met Renata at a Revolution concert at First Avenue (Minneapolis) in September 2016. She is from the United Kingdom, and since that memorable concert celebrating the life of Prince, she has visited Minneapolis numerous times. She wanted to visit Graceland, so a road trip was in order. My other companion was Lori, one of the kindest women I have ever met, and have the privilege of working with every day.


We departed from IndiGO (my place) with coffee in hand, and hit the road. We traveled through three states (Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri).





Our main goal on day one was to get to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. We did. However, as we walked up to the ticket booth she closed the door. We missed it. Ugh. But the arch is truly spectacular, so we just enjoyed the view from the ground.




We ended the day at an Art Fair in St. Louis.