It was a three-hour drive to Decatur, Alabama, from Dadeville. Check-in was at 7:30 a.m. and the latest they could leave was 4:30 a.m.
To get ready for the pageant, Mariah Ford put her daughter's hair in rollers while she slept, loaded the car and made the back seat as comfortable as she could for her kindergartener to sleep through the ride.
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