the BEST trip ever

We had the BEST time on our girls trip. It's going to be impossible to describe it in words, but I'll do my best.
We left in the middle of the night on Thursday morning. Our flight was at 5:50, so we left the house at 3:40! Whew! All was fine going through security and we boarded no problem. It wasn't until we reached Cinncinatti that we had a little bump in the trip. Apparently I booked mom and Anna on a flight that left at 9:30 and me on a flight that left at 10:15. (why that happened is another LONG story...) so they boarded without me (I couldn't change planes because I had checked baggage.) They arrived in Pittsburg and waited for me in baggage claim. As I am coming down the steps into baggage claim - there they are holding a little sign that says MARY BROWN. Ha!
We gathered our bags, got our little rental car, and plugged Maggie the Magellian in and we were off. We were headed to downtown Pittsburg to take a ducky tour of the city. We were driving along, minding our own business, when out of nowhere- IKEA!!! We all screamed with delight! Mom and Anna had never been, so I was pumped to take them. We continued on into downtown and did the ducky tour, and Anna even got to drive the ducky boat in the water.
Let me just say that Pittsburg is a really cool city. I didn't expect much, pollution and grime, and nastiness- but it's a really clean young, fun city. After the tour, we raced back to the car, entered Ikea's address in the gps and headed that way.

What a blast we had in Ikea- we were only there for like 4 hours....needless to say many funny, funny stories- like when mom hit Anna and me cause she was so excited.
After Ikea we decided to head on to our hotel in Newell, WV and check in then eat. Ok, so Newell is in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE- It was like Deliverance. As we are getting closer, I say, wonder where the worlds largest teapot is, we round the corner and BAM- there it is! We, of course, get out and take pictures.


We get to Newell about 8 o'clock. I go into check us in to the ONLY hotel in town and ask where to eat dinner (we had only seen a McDonald's on the way in) The nice lady says "oh, It's 8, it's getting late.... there is either a Subway or a McDonald's in the next town over" Well, great, thanks. We decide to drive on into town (and I use that term loosely) to see what we can find. Crazy, but Newell, has a casino.... totally random, and totally not nice, but a casino none-the-less. We opted to stop at Dollar General and get some "snacks" for dinner... see below

To be continued....