Kat's Journey: An unforgettable time in Nashville

More than a week has passed since I last wrote. I honestly haven’t had a spare second to write since then. This trip has been absolutely amazing. I knew it was going to be incredible, and that God had something in store for me, but I had no idea it was going to be this blessed and wonderful!

I’m currently in the passenger seat of my car for the first time. My Dad arrived in Oklahoma City last night and I picked him up at the airport so he could take part in some of the fun and keep me company on the last leg of this journey. I’ve driven 3,497 miles so far and have been in my car for 61 hours! Granted a lot of that includes gallivanting around cities or driving in circles like last night because my GPS was trying to tell me to get on a ramp that was completely blocked off and was offering no alternative. Thankfully a nice gentlemen directed me to 40 West. Apparently the GPS systems haven’t updated their systems for Oklahoma City, which is just crazy! Anyways-can you believe it? I’ve made it 3,500 miles pretty flawlessly. No car issues and I haven’t even got lost!

So I’ll catch you up on the many events of this past week! I headed to Elon University in North Carolina last Tuesday, from Leesburg, Virginia. I visited my friend Brooke (from an American music Abroad trip in High School that only lasted 18 days). We made such a bond in that trip that I’ve seen her almost every year since! It had been more than a couple years since I’d seen her last. Boy was it good to see her! We went to her Intervarsity service, which is a Christian worship service on her campus very similar to Evensong. What a blessing it was that I came on a Tuesday and got to attend that service! Brooke showed me a song that she really loved at the moment called Oceans, by Hillsong United, which ended up being my song of my trip! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy9nwe9_xzw

I headed to Nashville the following morning. It was a 7 hour trip and it surprisingly flew by. I was shocked at how easy 7 and 8 hour days flew by pretty seamlessly. I thought driving alone would be awful, extremely boring and painful. But it was really the opposite! They flew by quicker than when I’ve had company actually. I just jammed out and sang at the top of my lungs to a bunch of great music I just downloaded. I listened to a podcast, a devotional, a sermon, and part of Catching Fire audiobook, but honestly time flew the quickest when I was energetically singing along to music! I didn’t dare listen to podcasts much because sitting there in silence made me sleepy. On the way to Nashville I was pleasantly surprised by the Smoky Mountains! I drove through them, on the windiest road I’ve ever been on. It was a 2 lane road with tractor trailers constantly on my side. We had to detour at one point because a tractor trailer was on its side! I drove with few stops on my way to Nashville, anxious to get there before dark..and just to get there in general! About an hour outside of Nashville I saw a winery right off the exit, so I decided that would be a nice break before the last leg. I had a nice chat with cute lil old ladies who were pouring wine, and sparked some interest in being life long learners for Semester at Sea!

When I reached Nashville I went in to Dick’s last resort and had a local beer while chatting with the staff there. I just love chatting with new people. I had some awesome encouragement and support for what I’m doing after telling my story. The bartender came up with a stage name for me. He wasn’t a fan of Kathryn Krick. Krick “sounds angry” apparently. Ha! He came up with Andie Coddington. (Andie for Andes, and Coddington for the street I lived on for 2 years in college.) I’m not sure if I’m sold on that name yet… ;) As I waited for Angela to get done with work I walked to Broadway street, the famous street in Nashville where numerous bars with live country music in just about all of them. Angela met up with me and we had the best time catching up! What an awesome and fun gal! We had dinner and then went to bars with live country music. I LOVED IT! We were singing and dancing to our favorite country tunes. I wish they had that everywhere…it was one of the most fun times I’ve had out! We rode a bull and sang karaoke- Carrie Underwood and Shania Twain of course!

I had plans to go to Atlanta, Georgia the next day (which was about 2 hours away). I planned to stay with a couple I met at Mahogany Grill this summer who were so kind! Angela talked me into staying another night in Nashville instead. I’m really glad I stayed…it turns out that was what God had planned for me. The next day I slept until 2PM! I needed it..I hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep so far on my trip, and we went to bed extremely late…or early. As I waited for Angela to get done with work I went to a beautiful in winery in Arrington. (Sense a theme in my trip? :)) We then went out to dinner with her adorable son Sebastian and her fiancée.. Then Angela and I went to the Opryland Resort/Hotel. It was the most beautiful hotel I’ve ever seen. There were really tropical plants and waterfalls inside. It was unreal!!! There were lights cascading from the ceiling, and it was truly like being in a tropical rainforest with a roof over us. So incredible! Next Angela and I made our way back to Broadway street for some more live country music. We made plans to leave by 12 since Angela had work at 7AM again and I had to drive 8 hours to New Orleans the next day. All of a sudden it was 2AM and we forced ourselves to leave, grudgingly, as we were once again have an incredible time. On the way to the car we approached a guy with a gray beard, cowboy hat and guitar, playing and singing with a couple other people. Usually we’d walk by something like this on the street, especially at 2AM on a very cold night…but something stopped us. We listened, sang along, and enjoyed each other’s company. Angela made everyone be quiet and listen to me sing-I sang my audition song for Cinderella of course..haha! There was a hotdog stand right next to us, and I was hungry, so I went up to the stand, ordered my hotdog, and then started a conversation with the hotdog man, who was 63 years old-looking like my Dad…a peculiar place for this kind of guy. I told him about my journey-how I was roadtripping to LA where I was moving. Turns out his daughter is an actress and singer there in Nashville. I forget how it started..but all of a sudden, he was………..prophesying to me. God was giving him all these things to tell me and he looked off to the side, receiving the information, and then spitting it back out to me. I was in shock. This had never happened to me…and it was all so..real. He told me that my trip would be surprisingly smooth, and I would settle in to LA rather smoothly…but after a bit there will be some waves. These waves are very small in God’s eyes and God wants me to know that they are small and so insignificant in his eyes, and I need to stay strong and just get through them. He continued talking to me…telling me what God was telling him, for at least an hour. I was just standing there, eyes wide, in awe. This guy, Fred, is an ordained minister and God told him and his wife to minister by working a hotdog stand on Broadway in Nashville at night. I was standing there shivering, in shock and overcome, trying so hard to soak in everything. How I wish I could remember everything he said. He told me that there are relationships I will have to get rid of. He said that I will have to stay strong, and I will stay strong. He said that I have a great awareness of God, but I can have an even greater awareness…”God’s communicating with us all the time, even when you’re brushing your teeth.” He himself was pleasantly surprised by all of this himself. He said that all of this was encouragement, not warning. There was so much that was said, and that I was desperately trying to take in..before I knew it, it was 4AM and the gray bearded cowboy came up to is and said “boy, you can see God all around her eh?” Turns out this guy is friends with Rick the hotdog guy, and was told by God that he needed to minister by playing on the street at night. So Angela and I headed home after this. I was in awestruck wonder! There’s even more to this story…if you want to know more, please ask, I just don’t want to post more publicly.

I just knew that God was up to something…that something was going to happen on this trip, that there was something he wanted to tell me, and that there was a reason I needed to go alone. I had no idea it would be this…I feel so blessed, and overcome by this intimate message from God.

And that was a week ago! A lot of adventures have happened since then, but I’m in my hotel in Albuquerque getting a little sleepy. I just had an amazing dinner at El Pinto with my Dad where I had the most incredible, authentic New Mexican food and THE BEST margaritas I have ever had! We are off to Phoenix tomorrow, and I will post about the rest of my journey in New Orleans, Texas, Oklahoma and here in Albuquerque. Thanks for reading!

Driving through the Smoky Mountains: