T E N N E S S E E   T O U R

Tuesday, November 9, 2004

It's up and at'em at 9am. You know, I really must have been tired last night, at best, I was semi-conscious when I parked the van. Oh well, at least I managed to park the van perfectly perpendicular to the parking stripes.

The weather looks to be severe clear today, another perfect day in vacation paradise. Well, not paradise in the sense of scenery, rather, in the sense of I'm on the road and adventure awaits me.

I decide I'll take the road less-traveled on my journey to Memphis, TN, effectively adding an additional 2 hours to my trip. My westbound route will take me across Tennessee's central and southern reaches, and in the process, I hope to capture the essence of rural Tennessee.

My planned 9 hours of driving will serve up all sorts of sights, all in random order. The best way to describe my tour day will be to categorize what I see along the way. Categorization, and not chronology, will be the theme of today's travel writing.

When you think of rural Tennessee, what immediately comes to mind? Let's see if my list of sightseeing goodies matches yours.

I drive along miles upon miles of country road on my way to Memphis. Most, if not all, are well-maintained and very drivable. I typically drive 10 mph over the speed limit, and on the rare straightaway, maybe even more. Sitting high up in the van, 70 mph seems like 55 mph, so it's really easy to speed. Knock on wood, no speeding tickets as of yet on my trip.