Alarm, What Alarm?

I got up much later than I wanted to (6:30 AM) due to the fact I forgot to set my alarm to get me up. Not that it mattered; I really did not need the extra time. It was far too cold to shower at the bath house. A church group has reserved many of the sites but they are being very respectful about noise.

After I ate my granola bar, banana, yogurt and drank my energy drink, I went to the bath house to use the toilet and brush my teeth. When I walked it, a very large (read fat) black man was dancing around….NAKED. I may never get that image out of my mind. I am afraid that it is etched in my gray matter for all eternity. I really was not expecting to see anyone there since it was pretty cold at that hour, but I guess he figured no one else would be up yet. He guessed wrong.

I hit the road just at 7 AM, driving east as a blinding sun was rising to greet me. I was glad I remembered my sunglasses because I am not sure I would have been able to handle the drive without them.

The route I had planned for today was new to me. I wanted to see the eastern part of TN and then cruise through western VA on my way north to WV. I had not been in the southern part of WV in about 5 years and was yearning to see it. I knew the route would take about 1.5 to 2 hours longer but I was sure I could deal with it. I was wrong. I was about to die before I finally arrived.

The drive across TN along I-40 was long and I had to stop for bathroom breaks 3-4 times during the day. I only stopped once for food and that was at a Wendy’s in Bulls Gap, TN. The food was OK but the service was lame.

Gas was purchased twice, once in Kingston, TN ($2.09 a gallon) and once in Mt. Nebo, WV ($2.29). Gasoline was expensive everywhere I went in WV. I guess I should thank God that I got such good pricing on gas in all the other places.

I saw the results of two accidents during the day. Both were on Route 19 North in WV. The first was a flipped over car and the other involved an 18 wheeler crushing (read running over) the front of a small car. Neither slowed me down and I am not sure if there were any injuries.

The foliage in TN and WV was very pretty. The amount of color was very interesting. Since I do not get to see much of that in Dallas, driving in October has been a real treat. I was glad (at this point) to be travelling in the fall.

I arrived at my mother’s home about 7 PM eastern time. When I got there I had a massive sinus headache so I took some meds but failed to eat anything which of course made me sick to my stomach. Since I did not feel too well, I went to lay down. I did not get up until the next morning, about 7 AM or so. I was able to call my wife once I arrived (yeah…Cingular covers north central WV as local now) but I did not talk long.