Atlanta, GA; Memphis, TN; Fayetteville, AR; Branson, MO; Little Rock, AR; Natchez, MS; Baton Rouge, LA; New Orleans, LA; Avery Island, LA; Houston, TX; San Antonio, TX; Fort Stockton, TX; White Sands, NM; Tucson, AZ; Sedona, AZ; Flagstaff, AZ; Grand Canyon, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Northridge, CA; Palos Verdes, CA; Cleveland, Ohio

Some memorable moments from this leg of our trip:

Atlanta, Georgia

Southern Comfort and Coke — On our way from Charleston to Graceland, we found an unexpected haven in Atlanta, Georgia, where the Southern hospitality was rivaled only by the caffeine content in the drinks. We stopped in at the home of Todd & Tiffany Hoffine to see pictures of their recent Tibetan trek, and found our roadtrip sidelined by at least a day while we were pampered by the most gracious Southern Lady we know. While we’re still not sure we have Todd & Tiffany’s stamina to hit Tibet, we did take their advice on going to the mecca of the Cult of Caffeination: Coke World Headquarters. After paying our respects to the life-sized Coke bottles at the entrance (a bow, a hug, a pledge of undying love and fidelity on bended knee), we high-tailed it under the big Coke sign and lined up with the rest of the masses to pay our $6 entrance fee to learn the history of Coke commercials and sample Coke products from around the world (all the world travel we needed, our caffeine-deprived minds rationalized). Once our bloodstreams were duly saturated in the still-supah-secret syrup, we left the building with two thoughts on our minds:

1.) We just got suckahed into paying $6 for a Coke.

and

2.) It wouldn’t be the last time.

We missed Todd in Atlanta due to his hunting trip in Wyoming, but we left Georgia thinking of the trophies he’d be carrying home to his wife Tiffany, whose words of wisdom we carried with us: "Todd better not bring any carcasses home. We buy our meat at Publix, like God intended."

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