The trip, post-Archon, to date has added a lot of miles. First it was Collinsville to the Great Smoky Mountains. I drove down through the park to Cherokee, then up to Asheville, NC (the place where it flooded). Then over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and about 100 twisty-turned miles, many of them in heavy fog.
Today I spent far too many miles on the interstate, (there was a backup where I spent over an hour creeping along at a walking pace) heading toward Natchez Trace Parkway.
Natchez Trace is one of my favorite roads and I’ve driven it many times in the past. It’s about 450 miles long from Nashville to Vicksburg and of course I didn’t do any research. I know almost every pull-out and hiking trail on the thing.
So when I planned to spend the night at one of the free campgrounds, I subtracted the destination, mile 191, from the current mile number on the post beside the road, divided it by the speed limit (50) and asked Siri when sundown was due.
Mistake number one: Siri gave me the sunset time in one timezone and my math assumed another, so I was driving in the dark for an hour. I did see a deer and either a small coyote or a fox.
Mistake number two: I didn’t do my research. I didn’t notice the posted message about construction and the closed section of the road, which included the campground I hoped for.
So, exit the park at the detour and pull out my handy guide to Interstate Rest Areas. Fifty miles later, I at least have a place to sleep (in my car), a restroom, and a row of vending machines.
