The New Cowboy Boots Chelsey surprised me with from Tennessee for my Birthday!

A new location this time around instead of the usual Missouri. This time we meet at the Tennessee airport ~ this trip will be to meet her mom's sister, Aunt Mendy and to see a new part of the US. As usual I can't wait to get off the plane and see my girlfriend! Long distance is starting to really suck but it is so worth it knowing how strong our love is. I have arrived and excited for more adventures with Chelsey. Here we go...

Tennessee Airport

One might think that you can just pull up to the airport and grab your passenger and go, however, not this trip, shaking my head and laughing. Chelsey is to pick me up at the Tennessee airport as I am waiting curbside for her arrival. This arrival ended up taking over a half hour as I stood holding my luggage on the phone with her circling the airport, ending up near the tarmac, and completely lost! Yes, completely lost. I stood there on the phone with her while she went round and round not knowing where to go. I watched passenger after passenger greet their rides one by one by one. Still waiting for Chelsey to find me. This is how our trip started. Somewhat funny as this is typical of how are trips usually start, something funny and ridiculous. So I wait....

Finally, after literally 30 minutes, she pulls up! We are laughing and now off we go to the Hillside Crossing Nashville Ramada by Wyndham Hotel (or maybe I should say motel) that we booked through the Hopper App on my phone. I mean, it looked nice from the pictures! Not so much. I mean, it was a place to stay, that is about it. It was a little seedy for our liking, so much so that Chelsey decided it would not be a place we would leave her dog during the day so we took her with us. It was, however, a place to sleep and honestly we didn't plan to spend much time in the room, but rather see the sights of Nashville. We were only staying in the room 2 nights anyway as we planned the last night to stay with her aunt so it turned out fine. Well, actually it was quite an adventure... Read on!

The Hotel (MOTEL)

Where to start with this Beaut! Well for starters it is grayish black with lime green doors (similar to the color of the not so luxurious pool!) and it is laid out like a motel 6. You could smell smokers outside on the walkway, hear every little thing (more to come on that front), and the rooms had an uncomfortable queen size bed with record albums and records displayed as a headboard on the wall (most peeling away). The floor was filthy as we could see from our feet as we stepped into the wet shower, a Keurig coffee machine with no pods to make coffee, a refrigerator where we found frozen egg sandwiches left from the previous guests, and a tv remote that didn't work to watch movies off the Amazon Firestick that I brought from home. Our first night there we hit the little bar downstairs called The Lost Paddy (or the Paddywhacker ~ what I called it). We walked in and it was so dead they were closing early so we ordered a drink to go and walked back to our lovely room to drink them. How romantic right? Well, not so much, but WE were together and that is all that truly mattered. The first night was fine in that lovely motel, however the 2nd night.... I think there was a jackrabbit on the other side of our bed wall! I am not exaggerating. Not an actual jackrabbit but rather some guy that was banging his guy/girl, whomever, so fast that we thought, "NO way is that real!" it was so fast!! Bang bang bang bang bang bang went their bed against our headboard wall. This went on for a while! We couldn't help but laugh our asses off and then I kept yelling "Get IT!!!" everytime he would speed up and then the faster he went. I am laughing writing this as it really was unreal! Overall our stay there was nothing short of entertaining and romantic for us. Just time together being close, filming TikToks, and our own conversations made the stay just fine. Oh and no.. we did NOT swim in the GREEN pool!

Venturing Out ~ Nashville

Friday morning has come. We get up, get showered, and pick out clothes for the day. We are going to head into town and grab coffee at Starbucks before we head to her Aunt Mendy's house to drop off Petunia (Chelsey's little Pug). Once again, Chelsey is driving so we will inevitably get lost, which we did (she is so cute though, we just call it another adventure). We finally find the Starbucks and I go in to order our coffee while she stands outside with Petunia. Yes, I order her coffee, I know what she likes because this isn't my first rodeo with her and her unfamiliarity with Starbucks (remember, I am a Seattle girl, Starbucks is life for me!). So I go in and get her an Iced Caramel Machiatto with extra caramel drizzle. I, my typical Tall Americano (HOT). I head out the door and we get into the car with our drinks in hand. We are off to meet her Aunt!

Aunt Mendy

With our coffee in hand we are off. We start driving to get out of the craziness of downtown Nashville and on the road to her Aunt Mendy's house. I am excited to meet her in person. I have briefly met her over Facetime a month prior when Chels was with her and I was on the softball field for a tournament that I was playing in. She is very sweet and has the largest laugh you have ever heard. Quite infectious actually and that damn Southern twang... so adorable. I wasn't at all nervous to meet her or her family. It felt normal and afterall, I had Chels by my side so my nerves were at bay.

We pull up to the house and get Petunia out and head up to the door. She greets us with her two sweet pups and welcome us right in. I'm a huggy kind of girl so I get the introduction and go right in for the hug! After that she walks us in and we cozy up on the couches. Chels sits on the couch across from me and I sit at one end of the long couch with her Aunt at the other end. She is drinking iced coffee from a Mason Jar (big thing in the South/Midwest) and we sit enjoying our coffee as well. We talk and she is so excited to hear all about our journey thus far and for what is to come. We talk about everything and get nothing but awesome support and excitement from her. It felt so natural. We had decided to leave Petunia with her overnight that night so we could explore Nashville and have a night to ourselves. We were excited to spend some time just being US without worrying about her dog so this worked out great since we were coming back to spend the night the next day. We hung out a bit longer and then decided we were hungry and ready to explore. Mendy suggested we go to the mall and Cheesecake Factory so that was where we decided to go first. We said our "see you tomorrow' and off we went.

Nashville Mall/Cheesecake Factory

We arrive at the Nashville Mall parking garage and for some reason we were so tired. We sat in the car for a bit talking and kissing and not wanting to even get out of the car. We were talking about why we were in a new city/state and of all places, we are at the mall? We did realize that we needed to look for clothes for a wedding we were attending in Bellingham, WA the end of October, a formal wedding that we didn't have the proper clothes in our closets and knew we needed to find them elsewhere, but we just weren't in the mood to shop. We kissed a while longer in the car then decided we better get out before we ended up in the back seat in a parking garage! We get out and start walking toward the Macy's entrance. We shop around a little and I found a cute pair of Adidas soccer shorts that I vowed to come back and grab on our way out, which I did. We then venture into the mall. It was a nice mall but again, we just weren't in the mood to shop. We decide we were super hungry so we go to the Cheesecake Factory like her Aunt mentioned. We sit down and start perusing the menu, which if you have been to the Cheesecake Factory anywhere, you know it is overwhelmingly huge! We decide on drinks first. I stick to my usual Lemon Drop while Chels always has to try something different. Her drink sucked. Haha. It was downright nasty. We sent it back and she got a Lemon Drop as well. We both wanted a French Dip, which to our surprise they didn't have on their huge menu. So we opted to share some appetizers (all fried) and find a French Dip place for dinner, which turned out to be a horrible decision as you will find out shortly. We eat a few appetizers, drink our drinks, and then head back out to the mall. We hit the VANS store, Chelsey favorite, and she buys a shirt and a little VANS keychain. We continue walking the mall and decide to start heading back toward the entrance because we just aren't in the mood to shop. Best part of the "Mall Experience" has arrived and I can't stop laughing about it even as I am writing this. Now, keep in mind, we have not known each other that long. There is still those uncomfortable times we haven't experienced quite yet. Yep... you know where I am going with this.... POOP!

We are venturing our way through the mall to get back to the car when I look over at Chels and she is sweating! Like literally, sweating. I ask if she is ok and she says, "I have to go pee", then proceeds to start peeling off layers of clothing, while we are walking! We find a bathroom and I had to pee too so we both go in (looking back, I don't think that was her plan!) We go in and pee and head back out. We are walking toward Macy's and she says, "I need to go to an "Appointment"" This is code word for "I need to take a shit". We established this on the phone a couple times. Also, might I mention that in the beginning Chels told me that she only has such called "Appointments" on Wednesday nights around 7:00pm. What the hell? People actually have scheduled poop times? Interesting, but ok I believe her. Months later I have realized that is NOT an actual reality with her, but a good story on her part to say the least, I believed it! So here we are walking into Macy's and she says she has to go... NOW. So we find an employee working and ask where the bathroom is and of course it is upstairs. Up the escalator we go and I can tell Chels is dying!! We get to the floor and there is the bathroom. I say, "I am just going to walk around up here and look at things, so find me when your appointment is over" with a laugh. Let's just say this was one of many breaking points in our relationship, I mean, let's be real... Everybody Poops!

Donuts!

I am not sure if I mentioned this before in a prior blog but Chels and I LOVE DONUTS! Like to the point where we have made an agreement that we will not eat donuts unless we are together. 1). We don't want to gain 50 pounds each 2). It is something special we do now. So, one of the things we like to do is seek out new and different donut places and why not do this while in Tennessee? We find "Five Daughters Bakery" (https://fivedaughtersbakery.com) I am attaching the link to this blog because they are AMAZING! They are like croissant donuts, they have a hundred layers to them! I am not joking, known for their 100 layer donuts! So good. Little did we know (until after we left there) that they have actually been showcased on The Travel Channel ~ that is how good they are. Chels got the Vanilla Buttercream Donut and I got the Strawberry Cream Donut. We didn't eat them that day. We actually stuck them in the refrigerated at the hotel/motel and took them to Mendy's house to share with her on Sunday morning. We split them three ways and all sampled them. They were so good. You should try them if you ever get the chance.

A Night Out in Nashville

After driving around Nashville looking for a donut we decided to head back to the hotel to change and go out. We googled local Gay Bars in the area and decided on The Lipstick Lounge (https://thelipsticklounge.com) because, well.. why not? Providing the link for this place too as it was one of the highlights of our trip for a few reasons. 1). We could watch Karaoke (which was surprisingly good. This place has people that can actually carry a tune and a fantastic drag queen as the MC). 2). It was the first time I have ever seen Chels just a tad tipsy, so much so that I drove us home. It was a great mixed crowd of people both straight and gay. The Karaoke was great with all sorts of people really getting into the songs they chose to sing. The drinks were on point with the perfect amount of alcohol, everyone was friendly (which we found everywhere we went!), and Chels and I got to hang out as a couple and just be as we are ~ affectionate. We had a great time.

After the gay bar Chels decided she was hungry and she wanted Taco Bell. Who doesn't like Taco Bell when they have been out drinking? BOY was this an experience with Drunker Drunkerson in the passenger seat. Not only does she tell me she isn't very responsible (not sure where that came from other than her digging in her glovebox and then saying "I hope I have insurance on my car"... What? She did, but ummmm.... ok:) Then she yells across me "A chalupa and two tacos"... I think to myself wow.. she is hungry! I then say, "I guess I will have a crunchwrap supreme". The woman on the end says, "Is that it?" and Chels yells, "You know what that is... You work at Taco Bell!" Ummm ok..she didn't ask "What is that" she said "Is that it?" aka "Would you like anything else? Oh My Lord! I say yes and pull ahead. I'm trying to explain to Chels what she said and we get to the window and she is still blah blah blahing and THEN says, "Yo, You like Cardi B?" omgosh NOOOOO... My girlfriend is trying to be the cool chick cranking the radio... hahaha. Let's just say that at this point I just want the chick to hand us our food so we can be on our merry little way. Finally.... the small talk is over and we are on our way back to the seedy motel we are calling home for one more night.

Dinner and Romance (a little graphic be warned)

We get back to the motel and proceed to get cozy and eat our Taco Bell gourmet dinner. Well let me clarify, Chelsey at hers, I had two bites of mine and then she ate the rest of mine too:). I wasn't all that crazy about it and honestly food wasn't what was on my mind! I wanted some alone time with Chels. Some intimate alone time. We go weeks, months sometimes, without seeing each other. I miss that closeness and I know she does to. Time to take control (as if that is something new) of the situation and time we have together since the next night we would be in the company of her family.

Once she finishes eating we brush our teeth and get ready for bed. Tonight we will do things differently. Tonight we will put on some music and we will enjoy the time we have together at a slower pace. I will admit, usually we are like vultures with each other when it comes to intimacy because we want to get as much in as we can in such a short amount of time, understandable because we rarely see each other, however this this shall prove to be a lot different because I am in the driver's seat and I want her to remember all the details this time. Every little detail. Every kiss, every touch, every sound, every beat to the music, every glance.... Everything.

She crawls into bed and picks the playlist. We lay there together with her on her back and me leaning over her in bed. I get to look at her with no interruptions. One of the many things I love to do. Just look at her and see her looking back. Whether we are in the car driving, walking together, or just hanging out I am always looking at her. I have no reservations of her love for me. She not only tells me every single day, multiple times per day, but she shows me everyday as well through her actions whether we are together or 2000 miles away. Tonight I get to look at her differently in a way that is slow and intentional. We kiss, how can we not? Her lips are so soft and pouty. She is so sensual when she kisses me. She is letting me just kiss her as we listen to the music and I run my fingers through her hair, pushing strands away from her face. She is beautiful. A different song comes on and I can feel her hands on my back. I can feel her wanting more, but not tonight, tonight it isn't about that, it is about everything else. I tell her "slow" just focus on everything else between us. This went on for quite a while until it didn't (I will let your mind wander from there, afterall, I have all age followers). She at one point tried to take control and pin me down, but that was short lived as she had been drinking remember? Haha my terms tonight. The night was perfect and in all honesty one of the best nights we have had together as it changed any insecurities either of us had between each other. If you ask Chels she would say the same... It was one of her favorite memories of Nashville as well and maybe some payback for our jackrabbit neighbor!

Saturday ~ Aunt Mendy

We woke up Saturday morning to the "Jackrabbit" again that I mentioned earlier ~ Good Lord! We got up and got in the shower, got ready, and packed up all our things. We checked out of of our room and headed out to once again get coffee then be on our way to her Aunts house for the day/night.

Mendy had told us to stop at this coffee stand, "The Sip" that she really liked and said we would love it too. When we pulled up to it we questioned, "this is it?" Literally it was a little drive thru coffee stand. Clearly she didn't realize how big of a coffee snob I really am, the coffee was terrible! Sorry Aunt Mendy! We picked her up her favorite Chai Tea Latte and she didn't mention she likes a Dirty Chai (this is where they add espresso to it) so it had no coffee in it. Luckily I had just ordered an Americano (espresso and water) so when we arrived at her house, I was able to pour some/most of my coffee into her drink so it was more to her liking and since I didn't like mine, I was perfectly fine with it:) We sat and visited with Mendy for a while discussing our evening and planning the day we were about to have with her. She wanted to take us to the Opry Mall in Nashville (I wanted to look at authentic cowboy boots) and then we planned to go to lunch later. But First......

Waffle House

I know some of you may or may not agree with this section but let me explain. In WA we do NOT have a Waffle House. I have wanted to try it since my first trip to Missouri as they are like Starbucks, one on practically every corner. Chelsey kept telling me NO because she said they are disgusting, but this time I insisted. We told Mendy that I really wanted to go there so she told us to go and then when we got back we would head out on the town. Off we went ~ I love a good Waffle! We arrived and walked in. They are so quaint with literally one page of choices, with pictures! I got an orange juice and the All Star Special which included a waffle, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and bacon. I am going to be completely honest... IT WAS AMAZING! Chels got the breakfast sandwich and she ate it all so must not have been that bad. Overall experience A+. I even tipped the cook because he did my over medium eggs PERFECT! We left there and headed to the pet store to get Petunia more dog food because Mendy gave her all her food that was supposed to last her all weekend ~ Woops! I grabbed Tuni a little purple tennis ball and a little pink Piggy and she still plays with them all the time! We headed back to Mendy's to head out to the mall. Waffle House is great, try it if you haven't.

Opry Mall

Once at Mendy's we visited for a bit before deciding to go shop. We arrived at the Opry Mall and went into a couple souvenir stores before stumbling upon a massage place. We all decide, Why Not? We head in and decide we are going to spoil ourselves with a 30 minute foot massage. I won't go into too many details other than for me and Chels, it sucked! Mendy got the good massage so she was happy, that was all that mattered, one of us enjoyed it. We left the massage place and headed to the boot store. I have always wanted a good authentic pair of cowboy boots. I tried on a couple pairs and then THE PAIR. I fell in love with them. Chelsey said they looked so good on me and both her and Mendy told me to buy them. They were rather pricey so I said I would think about them. I stashed them far back in the boot section just in case and took a picture of the tag with the information just in case I didn't come back and decided to just order them later. After we left the boot place we landed in the dollar store called "Five Below" (another place they don't have in WA) to grab me some snacks for the flight home. We walked around the store for quite a while and then decided to leave and go grab something to eat before heading back to decide where we wanted to go for our evening adventure and our last night in Tennessee, Mendy wanted to go so that would be fun!

When I travel I like to emerge myself in the culture of that state. I like to try new places that I have never been or places that represent the types of food that people like in that state. This trip proved no different, we went to Crackle Barrel. This is considered a "comfort food" restaurant. They started us out with corn bread, butter, and honey. I then ordered a steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli. It was so good! While at dinner Mendy decided that she didn't want to go out with us later that night, bummed, but ok with her decision and Chels and I decided to hit up another gay bar in Nashville for a little bit. We finished eating and visited the little store attached to the restaurant so I could get some licorice and where Chelsey bought me some Salt Water Taffy (another fave of mine). We headed for Mendy's house so we could get ready for the night. I have to add that the whole time we were in the car Chelsey was sitting in front of me in the front seat and she had her hand reached back behind the seat rubbing my leg, just her little way of showing me she loves me and that she is there. It's the little things.

Tribe Gay Bar / Hustler Hollywood~ Nashville

Chelsey and I decide to go to the Tribe Gay Bar in Nashville (https://www.tribenashville.com) for our last night in Tennessee. We changed our clothes and headed out the door. This is actually a really cool bar. What we really liked about it was that all the guys were dressed so nice. They were wearing nice pants/shorts and button down short sleeved dress shirts and all looked really well put together. There weren't many girls in the bar so we didn't stay long, but long enough to grab a drink at the bar, sit over by the pool tables to watch some pool, and take a few selfies of us. The music was great and had we not been so tired and just wanting to spend time alone for our last night, we probably would have stayed later. Great gay bar if you are ever in town, link attached.

We leave the gay bar and decide to walk a block down the street to the sex store, Hustler Hollywood. Another first for us, a sex store:) We walk through and look at literally everything. We laugh and question and laugh some more. The shit people use ~ WOW! Caveat, we don't use toys.... Yet:) I know crazy sounding in the lesbian world, but honestly, we love what we have and our intimacy is not lacking in the least so, as of now, no toys. It was an experience nonetheless and that is what we are all about so we ventured. Realizing it was getting late and we still wanted to spend our last night being close, we headed back to the car to head back to Mendy's. Luckily as soon as we got in the car for some reason I remembered that Chels left her card for the tab at the bar! So we head back in to sign for our drinks, grab the card and off we go to Mendy's to snuggle up and watch some tv in bed before our love session and sleep. We had to be quiet, duh, which set us up for laughter and a late night. I love us so much and it was another great night full of laughter, love, and fun.

Last day in Tennessee

Well, as you have all seen, the last day is always the worst for us. Saying goodbye doesn't get any easier. I wake up crying like always. I am sad to have to leave again today to head back to WA without Chels. We snuggle in bed for a little bit before slowly throwing on some cozies and heading downstairs to grab coffee and chat. We get downstairs and Mendy offers me a cup of coffee. She is so excited to give me a nice hot cup of "Folgers".... I start singing the little jingle, ".....the best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup". We all start laughing and she says, "No, this is the best roast, you will love it". Ummmmm it was not good, but I pretended to enjoy it because she was so excited about it. She then discussed that she was going to make a frittata for us for breakfast, I have never had one of those so I was excited to try it. I sat drinking my coffee and Mendy sliced up the donuts we brought from Five Daughters Bakery. We sat and nibbled on them and drank our coffee while she made the frittata. The frittata was great then we sat and visited a bit. We discussed plans for the day before Chels had to take me to the airport. Chels had French Dip still on her brain and wanted to go to a place down the street and one, or at least that is what she said. I found out when we left that she wanted to get me a real cup of coffee to enjoy so we went to Starbucks. She is so sweet like that.. She always knows what I am thinking. We went to the french dip place too, but neither of us were hungry so we just grabbed me a coffee and headed back. We didn't get to relax too much because I had to be to the airport by 3 but we spent as much time as we could just sitting together. As I noticed time slipping away, I decided to go up and get ready and get in a much needed shower. I got ready and came downstairs with my luggage all ready to go. We said our goodbyes and left Mendy's so we had time to stop for a sandwich before heading to the airport.

Heading to the Airport

Chels and I tried Jersey Mikes sandwich place on one of our trips to take me to the airport in St. Louis and we actually really liked it so we decided to stop at the one in Nashville that was on the way to the airport. After we grabbed our sandwiches we sat in the car and ate them and just talked. We talked about our trip and how bad it sucks to keep saying goodbye. We talked more about those boots I wanted at the mall but realized we didn't have enough time to stop and get them. I told Chels it was ok, I would just order them when I got home. We finished eating and kissed a few times before heading off to the airport.

I swear the drive to the airport is always the worst! I start crying as soon as I see the airport sign and it doesn't stop until I board the plane. My weekend was, as usual, amazing. Our love is so real and so rare. We are best friends and lovers and honestly, what could be better? She pulls up to the departures area and I kiss her one last time before we say our goodbyes and I leave her with tears streaming down my face all the way into the airport. Goodbye Tennessee... Goodbye Chels.

As I was sitting in the airport I couldn't help but notice that most all the girls walking by were wearing cowboy boots. Cowboy boots with dresses, skirts, cutoff shorts.... So cute! I was on the phone with Chels and telling her that I was disappointed I didn't get those boots. They are so cute and to have a pair that I actually purchased in Nashville would have been so cool. Chels said I should just order them when I got home and I told her I agreed, I needed them! (of course I did).

Flight Home/Home

On the flight home Chels and I text the entire time. This time was different though. We ended up getting into a little bit of an argument. Petty argument, but an argument at that and through text which is the worst. I am not sure if I was just irritable because I had to leave her again or what, but I was being a brat. Chels had a long drive home from Tennessee and I am sure my texting her didn't make her trip any easier. Ugh regrets. What made it worse is that little did I know, my sweet, thoughtful girlfriend wasn't on the road immediately. She made a stop first.. Aunt Mendy's.

Chelsey had arranged to go back to her Aunt's house prior to us even leaving for the airport. She dropped off Petunia and got in the car with Mendy to head back to the mall where I tried on those boots! Chels FaceTimed me after I got home from the Seattle and she was crying. (because of our argument). She said, "I wanted to wait until your birthday to surprise you, but I don't want you to order them". She turns the camera around and sitting on her kitchen counter are the cowboy boots I tried on. She went back and got them for me for my birthday! OMG... Who does that? She does! She is beyond thoughtful and sweet. I was so happy and so excited!! She even bought me the boot protectant so I can keep them perfect! I told her how happy I am that she got me those boot and how much I love her! I apologized for being a brat and said thank you so much! I love them. (Picture of the boots are at the top of this blog).

Family member meet and greet ~ Success! Tennessee is in now in the books. Next stop.... Chels is coming to Seattle for my Birthday! Stay tuned for the next chapter in this series of "My New Journey To Love. Chapter 7: Chelsey is coming to Seattle~Birthday Weekend! Chelsey has never been west of Missouri and she has never flown alone! Check back soon for more adventures and as always....