Sorry for the delay for those reading. We rarely have service. Right now we are outside Roanoke, Virginia.
"America or Obama. You can't have both." "If you died today, where would you spend ETERNITY?" "Guns! Sale now!" After driving by several giant billboards with these words, we were pretty sure we were in Tennessee. But what a country Tennessee is. Giant fields and tree groves, green as far as the eye can see. And then there are the decrepit faded barns, still smoking with tobacco. There is a strong air of tradition in Tennessee and the whole South that continually makes it the unique world it is.
After leaving Nashville, we arrived in Knoxville, a few hundred miles east, to have lunch with my cousin, Jacob, and his wife, McFall. That was very pleasant. The buildings of downtown (The Old City as they call it) are almost all made of brick, worn and faded. They give the city a distinctly turn-of-the-nineteenth-century, Old West feel, which is fun. Jacob also informed us that Cormac McCarthy is from Knoxville and has written books set in the city, which is cool.
After Knox we were supposed to go to Asheville, North Carolina and meet the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we decided instead to go big and head into Great Smoky Mountains National Park and meet the parkway there. But before we could enter the park, we were forced to drive through the hell that is Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a classic exploitation of the heavy traffic that enters a national park. It's filled with obnoxious in-your-face novelty attractions like Ripley's Believe It or Not museums, amusement parks (in this case, Dollywood), and restaurant recreations of everything from the Titanic to Medieval castles. Personally, I feel like it would make more sense for all this garbage to be in the middle of nowhere, where there is nothing to do. I mean aren't the Smokies enough entertainment for one area?
Anyway, the Smokies were really awesome as expected. As one might imagine, a thick layer of blue haze (the "smoke") dominates the park's atmosphere. Ummm, anyhow we have to go and probably lose service for now. Stay tuned.
"America or Obama. You can't have both." "If you died today, where would you spend ETERNITY?" "Guns! Sale now!" After driving by several giant billboards with these words, we were pretty sure we were in Tennessee. But what a country Tennessee is. Giant fields and tree groves, green as far as the eye can see. And then there are the decrepit faded barns, still smoking with tobacco. There is a strong air of tradition in Tennessee and the whole South that continually makes it the unique world it is.
After leaving Nashville, we arrived in Knoxville, a few hundred miles east, to have lunch with my cousin, Jacob, and his wife, McFall. That was very pleasant. The buildings of downtown (The Old City as they call it) are almost all made of brick, worn and faded. They give the city a distinctly turn-of-the-nineteenth-century, Old West feel, which is fun. Jacob also informed us that Cormac McCarthy is from Knoxville and has written books set in the city, which is cool.
After Knox we were supposed to go to Asheville, North Carolina and meet the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we decided instead to go big and head into Great Smoky Mountains National Park and meet the parkway there. But before we could enter the park, we were forced to drive through the hell that is Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a classic exploitation of the heavy traffic that enters a national park. It's filled with obnoxious in-your-face novelty attractions like Ripley's Believe It or Not museums, amusement parks (in this case, Dollywood), and restaurant recreations of everything from the Titanic to Medieval castles. Personally, I feel like it would make more sense for all this garbage to be in the middle of nowhere, where there is nothing to do. I mean aren't the Smokies enough entertainment for one area?
Anyway, the Smokies were really awesome as expected. As one might imagine, a thick layer of blue haze (the "smoke") dominates the park's atmosphere. Ummm, anyhow we have to go and probably lose service for now. Stay tuned.
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