06/11/2026
We took a solo road trip. Joel (Daddy) had a week long class in Chattanooga and Madi and I invited ourselves for a few days.🤩
This was our experience:
Every Goodwill we came across near I 75 North (We avoided the Atlanta area) was picked over. I wouldn't call it junk because I like junk, I'll just say it wasn't for us. Our first full day in Chattanooga was going to be filled with every Antique Store we could find and some department store shopping too! Now remember we're solo. Daddy was in a class. We're just two small town ladies taking on the big city. Well somehow we always have to add a lil' bit of excitement to our life. We make our way to the vehicle chatting about our plans, I hit the start button and......nothing. Absolutely nothing. My battery was graveyard dead. Thankfully the manager was able to give me a jump and off to buy a battery we went. Thankfully it wasn't far. Do I know how to buy a battery, no. Can I purchase a battery, yes. A battery was purchased. Did I need to buy the most expensive one, no. Did I hear my Daddy's and husbands voice in my head saying you get what you pay for, yes. I bought the $260 battery. 🙃 After buying the battery it was then added to our excitement that they couldn't install the battery, due to the store policy about removing parts to get to the battery. (Blah,Blah,Blah) They make new vehicles absolutely impossible to work on. The guy helping me, was really apologetic and said he wish he could do it, however the company didn't allow it. So I needed to think, and fast. I told him look, I'll give you $50 to put this battery in. We'll turn my vehicle around away from the store cameras. I need that battery in. I have got shopping to do! I honestly think he thought I was a lil' batty but he agreed. 40 mins later and $310 in the hole, off we set, to spend Daddy's money! Two hours into Antique Store hopping we realized that Chattanooga was too rich for our blood and we liked our small town Antique Stores better. So we finished out our day at the Department Stores and supper at the Cheesecake Factory. We headed home today. We decided since our luck was bad on the way up we would hit Atlanta on the way back. Let me tell ya, the sketchier the Goodwill the better! We were definitely outside of our comfort zone and Joel would have had 5 fits if he knew the area we were in,but we had the best time! We had the best time. We found all the 7 brews, Tropical Smoothies, and Dutch Bros. we could find, I listened to music I didn't even know I liked, we people watched the crazies on the interstate, we problem solved a mechanical issue, and we had the best time together.
❤️
I'll post soon our finds along the way.
XoXo
Amanda
