T5: Getting to Tennessee

We left on a Tuesday morning before 7am - the Tuesday right after all the big storms and flooding hit Southeastern Arkansas, Mississippi, and Western and Central Tennessee. We had heard I-40 was closed over the weekend and we were hoping it had opened again. I turned in my pager and we set off. I had never, never, ever seen so many semi-trucks on a road in all my life or imagination. They were everywhere so it seemed to be a little slow going since they were all trying to pass each other. Really, we made very good time even with losing an hour. Kyle slept a lot since he had worked until about 10pm the night before and then driven to Arkansas. I drove 7 hours and he took over from there.

We got through Memphis, and then Nashville with no problems. You could see debris beside the roads from the water carrying it over. There was a semi in a ditch and other signs of high water but it had all receeded by the time we went through. We got to Knoxville and then to Pigeon Forge -- thinking, wow, it looks a lot like Branson. Now, Kyle and I aren't much for all the shows (okay once in a while but we tend to enjoy other things) or the "As Seen on TV" stores, etc. But as we drove through to Gatlinburg that improved. There were more shops and ice cream stores and interesting places to visit. There were several camping and hiking stores -- our weakness. We stopped at catfish place with outstanding homemade hush puppies and not-so-good banana pudding but we were starving and it was good. We made a tentative plan for the next day to explore the town of Gatlinburg and to enter the park (Smoky Mountain National Park) and the associated visitor centers to gets maps and information.

The drive was long, uneventful, and a little tedious but it was definitely worth it when we got to the mountains. Stay tuned for further adventures and pictures!!!