Starting off.

First day on the road and we covered Georgia, Tennessee, spending the night in Kentucky. Apparently in Tennessee there are a couple of touristy things: Ruby Falls (I swear the local tourist people paid their citizens to put a “See Ruby Falls” sign on their land anywhere for advertising)…Didn’t matter where I looked, it was on the tops of barns, in fields and on the side of the road.  Lookout Mountain, which I vaguely remember going to years ago. Of all that, the things that stuck out for me was when we were coming into Chattanooga on I-75 and as you turn the corner at the top of the hill, that first view of the city was amazing. Seeing mountains that had been carved down so we could drive through them and a booming city nestled in the hills was beautiful, even if I only saw it from the window. The other thing was passing an SUV whose engine had caught fire and was BLAZING. Thankfully I think everyone got evacuated in time, and thanks to Hollywood I was expecting an explosion but didn’t get one at all. Drove through Nashville and was surprised to find that it wasn’t the big sprawling metropolis I had thought it would be. I figured the great seat of southern music would’ve been decked out like a Texan had run the show but it was unassuming, and even looked smaller than Atlanta to my eyes.  Driving through the rest of Tennessee was playing on my fear of heights though, as going around the sides of the foothills I would gape out the window and not see the bottom of the hill! I probably spent at least an hour with my mouth hanging open taking it all in. I’m starting to see how landscape artists would be inspired by some of these views. I will try to get pictures at every possible opportunity.

One thing’s for certain, when you head east of the Appalachians, the land sure gets flat quick! Today was a long one, starting at 5am and driving across Kentucky and Indiana to get to Urbana, Illinois. My assessment of those states: a LOT of farm land. The occasional oddity…a pair of elephant statues, pink and white, a yellow bull, and fully decked out bright yellow limo complete with bull horn hood ornament.  I’m sorry to say I was unable to capture images of all these as the camera was fully loaded and needed emptying. Not to worry though, our next load is headed to Memphis so chances are we might get to drive by them again. As I should have guessed the weather is getting steadily colder the farther north we go.  What doesn’t help in the Midwest is the wind. It’s constant here, and unless you have something strapped to you, it might get blown away. James tells me to just wait until we get to Wyoming and says he’ll throw me a rope before I get out of the truck so I can stand up straight. I honestly have no idea how much he’s joking on that one. More to come soon! And WITH pictures!