2014 Trip - Day 18 - Driving Day

Nothing to really report today as we spent it in the car driving from Memphis to New Orleans.  This took us from Tennessee though Mississippi into Louisiana.    I still find it amazing that you can cross a state line and experience an immediate change in the roads, the culture, that overall look.

I would like to mention of something that I have noticed in Tennessee.  In every other state you have a Walgreens and/or CVS (to those that don't know...this is a pharmacy chain which also carries grocery lines) on every corner.  In Tennessee, and in particularly Memphis, there is a church on every corner.  And I don't mean little, quaint churches.  I am talking HUGE churches with the most impressive steeples.  I am not a Christian and am certainly not a church goer.  However, with steeples like that, I could almost (and I shall repeat....almost) enter a church to check it out, just because they have impressive pointy things coming out of it.  I can picture the American Negros, going to church in their very best clothes and singing loud and proud.  In fact, this morning we stopped to get fuel a little bit south of Memphis, and decided to get some breakfast at a McDonalds.  We went into the store as the drive through line was long.  Whilst we were waiting for our order, I stood back and listening to a bald, black man, who was sitting eating his McMuffin....and singing some sort of gospel song.  His voice was amazing....and despite my very non-Christian views, I found his singing to be just beautiful.

Crossing the state line from Tennessee into Mississippi the roads improved dramatically although there were a number of road works going on.   The scenery changed from the brown and "dead looking" trees, so green farmland and cattle.  Where there was not visible farmland, there were green fir trees and horses. 

The part of Memphis that was in Tennessee was almost embarrassingly dirty with rubbish strewn along the roads.   This was particularly noticeable along Elvis Presley Boulevard just up the road from Graceland where whole vacant lots and the streets were filled with garbage.    This was not evident in the parts of Memphis that were over the Mississippi side of the border although of course I cannot speak for the parts that I did not see.  The same could also be said for parts of Tennessee that I did not see.  There may very well be prettier parts.  Although I did like Jackson in Tennessee which is a nice, clean, modern town.  This is also the case for Jackson in Mississippi.

Mississippi

 

Crossing the next state line into Louisiana the roads took a little bit of a nose dive, and the landscape wasn't as quite as pretty as Mississippi, however the sky turned a deep blue somewhat like we might find in North Queensland.  Being as far south as we have become we have definitely got out of snow country, although the Bear believes it did snow in New Orleans this winter.  Being away from the snow and the tornados is a huge relief! 

 

We drove into New Orleans a little bit different to the road that we left by during our 2012 trip so I got to see things a little differently.  Today I saw what bayous looked like which I found very interesting.    I could almost imagine the "barking logs" (alligators) out there, as the Bear would call them and could picture the catfish being caught.  I was reminded of the pictures that Uncle Remus' s "Bre'r Rabbit" would bring to my mind.  Tar babies were exactly just that back in the day before learning about racism.

 

 A blue bayou? I have no idea what Linda Ronstadt was singing about.

 

        

Tomorrow we shall head into the French Quarter and visit the Lafayette Cemetery which we missed the last time we were here!

 

2014 Trip - Day 17 - Elvis and the Wizard of Oz?

We had one full day in Memphis and the weather was just crap. I know that I am a tiny bit immune to things that happen in the USA now given that this is my third trip over, however that doesn't mean for a single moment that I want new experiences.  Well I do.....just not bad ones.  Apparently I did not make that clear to my guardian angels today.

There was severe weather predicted for today.  We knew that a good 10 days ago although the weather alerts have been escalating dramatically over the past day or so.  Looking outside this morning, the sky was grey and heavy and it was ridiculously windy.  You cannot actually see the wind, because all of the leaves have fallen from the trees.  There is nothing really visual.    It is quite unsettling.

We went back to Graceland this morning.  When we went during the 2012 trip, I found it to be a little bit of an oasis.  Memphis, and actually Tennessee as a whole, does nothing for me.  It is brown and ugly.  Graceland is a beautiful spot away from all of this and is a place that actually feels like a home, albeit a sad one.   One would expect that Graceland is a large, spacious home, but its not.  It is actually tiny and very closed in.  It is warm and welcoming, although very garish.  It is a time capsule dated 1977 and not a single thing has moved on since then.  I do not think for a single moment that Elvis lost his life here, 16 August 1977.  I believe he gave his life away on that day and he chose to live the life of a recluse elsewhere.... away from the spotlight and away from those people who lived riding his coat tails. I truly believe that.   The walls of Graceland do still harbour such sadness though.

Graceland was more visible from the road this time given that the leaves were all off the trees.  Our first trip there was during Autumn and the leaves had changed but had not yet fallen.  This was like seeing it from the outside for the first time.

 

 

Going back to Graceland this time confirmed what I felt the first time. That the visitors are invading the privacy of a life allegedly cut short.  I am not sure whether it was the bad weather or not, but there was something about this time that made it seems so wrong to be there.  The Bear and I just wanted to apologise for the intrusion and leave as quietly as we came.  We chose not to take the audio tour this time, as we had done that in 2012.  We thought we wanted just to walk amid the property and take in what we may have missed previously.  Good lord.  I am not sure we had the chance.

We were the only couple NOT to be wearing earphones attached to a walkman.  As bus load after bus load of tourists arrived full of people wearing the earphones, we found ourselves in the midst of a human demolition derby.  Apparently putting on earphones and having the walkman turned up fully meant that people lost their sense of direction....and in fact lost their minds. Unfortunately as everyone is also travelling in the same direction, if you were run into by one crazy American, you were hit an additional 687 times by the same person.  And of course, if you heard them screech "SORRY YAWL!!!" loudly over the commentary once, it would only get louder and more unintelligible the next 687 times.

However, the loud and clumsy patrons were the least of my concern as we continued on our way.  My biggest problem was one very old, and very smelly old lady, that kept finding me no matter how hard I tried to lose her.    I tell you....this old bird stank bad. Really bad.  I think she had one foot in the grave, and her body had already entered a stage of decomposition. No matter how old this lady was though, she managed to keep up with us on the way around.  I think a lot of you know that I am night blind and cannot see at all in dark places.  It is very dark in Elvis's trophy rooms as this is where his outfits are displayed as well and the dark apparently helps to prevent them from deteriorating.  I am flat out seeing a thing in those parts.  As I stumbled around and felt my way along the hand rail and groped the Bear on the butt, I would know that this lady was keeping up because I could smell her.  I would attempt to flee whilst holding my breath until I thought my lungs would burst, but on at least two occasions I ran straight into her awaiting arms and walking stick.   My nose will never be the same again, even after the singed hairs regrow.

The weather outside continued to deteriorate and we decided after a bite to eat at the Rockabilly Café, that we would purchase some microwave dinners and retreat back to our hotel.  The storms that were headed towards Memphis were predicted to be severe, and it certainly felt like it.  I cannot quite explain how the atmosphere felt/smelled/looked different....but it did.  The sky was different to anything I had seen before, and the wind just felt odd.  The Bear said it was because a front was moving in, and whilst our Australian weather men have been known to say that a front was coming, we really never experience it in Queensland.  This however was a fair dinkum front moving in.

We did a quick stop at Walmart and bought some Microwave meals and salads before doing the bolt back to our hotel.  Turning on the TV every channel was displaying a radar and warnings were scrolling through at the bottom of the screen in red.  "Tornado Warnings in place until 5.15pm".   Hmph.  I had been hearing about tornado warnings for the last 24 hours, however I had not taken too much notice as they were things that only happened in the USA.  Hang on a second....we actually ARE in the USA!!!!   The Bear scrolled through the TV channels until he found something that was not a weather forecast, and I took a wander down to a lower floor to dry some clothes that we had washed. 

Once I got back to our room the Bear mentioned something about a siren that he had heard.  I told him that I couldn't hear it in the laundry, so he must have imagined it.  He was sure he had not. I looked out the window and the rain was pelting and the lightening was wicked.  It was just continuous unlike anything I had seen before.   Not a few minutes later, a siren sounded again.    This time there was no way that I could miss it.  I went and looked out the window and the howl of the siren became continuous, and was exactly like an air raid siren that you might have heard during the World Wars.  It kept getting louder and I started to worry.  I asked the Bear whether he thought this was a tornado warning/alert/siren and he felt that it was.  He switched the TV back over to one of the channels displaying the warnings, and they were becoming frantic.  There was a line of storms containing "rotations" stretching vertically along Tennessee right smack bang through Memphis. 

I think the horror on my face was apparent.  The fear was certainly genuine.  The Bear was prancing around in bright red heels and wasn't able to remember how many times he had to click his heels. He wanted to rename Schultz "Toto".   Well....ok....that wasn't true as much as I would like it to be.  In fact, he thought this was hysterical.  He also thought the fact that I wanted to know where the tornado shelters were, was an absolute scream.  He felt that the building that we were in was as safe as we could get despite being on the 5th floor and having large, plate glass windows beside the bed (the TV was advising to get down as low as possible and stay away from windows).  The tornado sirens screamed on as the storm raged on.  I lost count of how many twisters I saw barrelling towards the hotel.  As it turned out, they were not twisters.  They were a combination of my very over active imagination and the power of suggestion.  The closest tornado touched down about 50 miles away...which was still about 13,000 kilometres too close for my liking! In all seriousness, I cannot tell you how scary it is, being in the middle of a weather event when you cannot see what is out there.  The wail of the tornado sirens are haunting and I am fairly sure I never want to hear them again.  Mind you, I am very appreciative that the Americans are very practiced at this and are very prepared.  I had no doubt in my mind, should there be another line of tornados through the night, that the sirens would wake the dead to warn that you should evacuate.  And just for the record, the tornado shelter was in the basement of the building next door!

 

Tomorrow will be spent in the car driving to New Orleans.  There are no snow storms or tornados predicted there thank goodness!

2014 Trip - Day 16 - Nutbush City Limits....or not?

Off to Memphis today.  We will visit Graceland again and the apparent resting place of Elvis.  I say apparent because I have always believed in that conspiracy theory that suggests he did not die on 16 August 1977.  You already know that I am a nutcase so I wont need to justify that further.

On the way out of Nashville we decided to stop at Sonic for breakfast.  This is a chain restaurant that I mentioned in my blog during the first trip, where you order via intercom (just like at Maccas) but you park and the food is brought out to you, sometimes on roller skates.  We both had a tortilla but also tried some "French toast sticks".  I don't like most of the fast food in the USA but I did like these.  There was some weirdo after taste that curled your nostrils hairs, but it was so very brief and did not over-ride the initial taste of this food.   They were like deep fried toast soldiers with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.  Quite pleasant!

Heading for Nashville, I wanted to take a detour via Nutbush.  This is the birthplace of Tina Turner and is the place she sung about in "Nutbush City Limits".  (The song was actually written by Isaac Hayes who ironically was born in neighbouring Covington) Whilst most peoples bucket lists consist of sky diving and owning a Lamborghini, mine is to visit places that appear in song names, and owning 100 Miniature Longhaired Dachshunds at one time. 

It was my intention to do the Nutbush, in Nutbush although I didn't have Nutbush in my music list (sacrilege!).    If you can understand that, then hell.....give me some of that Moonshine to swig on too.   The Bear quickly established that he did have the song "Nutbush City Limits" on his own laptop which we are carrying with us so was able to transfer that to the music list on my phone.  Why did we not think of playing it off the laptop once we got to Nutbush?  Shut up.

So...off to Nutbush, to do the Nutbush in Nutbush, using the Nutbush on my phone. I am as sick as a dog with no voice (probably just as well as I am sure that NO town would be ready for my singing) and can barely breathe.....but hey.....this is the Nutbush in Nutbush.  

I wasn't sure what to expect.  Maybe Tina Turners name up in neon lights?  Maybe a restaurant in her honour?  Maybe a "Nutbush City Limits" sign illuminated with flashing lights?  Maybe a chorus line of dancing dogs and a talking goose?  I don't know but I should have taken heed of the actual lyrics of the song :

" A little old town in Tennessee,
That's called a quiet little old community,
A one-horse town you have to watch.
What you're putting down in old Nutbush".

Alarm bells should have been ringing as we drove along old Interstate 19 listening to Chuck Berry singing "My Dingaling" on the radio (and no.....I did not sing along to it.  Well....ok....maybe I did a little bit.  Fine then....a lot).   This is what we came across.....
 

 

No flashing lights...but its something I guess.  Maybe the bigger signs are ahead?

 

More of a country lane than an Interstate Highway...but that's ok!  The city lights must be ahead!

 

Or not...........

 

Ermm.......

 

Where the heck is the "Nutbush City Limits" sign????

 

Hmmmmmm.......

 

This is Nutbush?

 

No "Nutbush City Limits" sign (most towns and cities DO have city limits signs) so this will have to do!

 

I am guessing this is the gin house as mentioned in the song?

 

 

Nutbush City Limits

written by Isaac Hayes sung by Ike and Tina Turner.

 

A church house, gin house, a school house, outhouse
On highway number nineteen, the people keep the city clean
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits

Twenty-five was the speed limit, motorcycle not allowed in it
You go to store on Fridays, you go to church on Sundays
They call it Nutbush, little old town, oh Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits

You go to the fields on weekdays and have a picnic on Labor day
You go to town on Saturdays but go to church every Sunday
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
They call it Nutbush city limits

No whiskey for sale, if you get caught, no bail
Salt pork and molasses is all you get in jail
They call it Nutbush, oh Nutbush
Yeah, they call it Nutbush, Nutbush city limits

A little old town in Tennessee,
That's called a quiet little community
A one-horse town, you have to watch what you're putting down
In old Nutbush, they call it Nutbush

 

 

Well there is another tick off my bucket list.  I am a little disappointed that there was not a city limits sign, but that's ok!

 

The southern parts of Tennessee are a little better than the north.  There is obvious cotton farming here. The landscape is still very brown but it doesn't quite appear as poverty stricken as the north.  The roads seem wider although that maybe just because the fields are open rather than there just being mile upon mile of dead bush on the side of the road.  I particularly liked Jackson which struck me as a clean and modern town.  We did come across a multi vehicle pile up there, all of which were semi-trailers.  If you saw the drivers here, you would understand why. 

 

We drove through Covington which is the birthplace of Isaac Hayes.  It is only a few minutes from Nutbush.  I am blown away by the talent that emerged from southern Tennessee. Covington is a reasonable sized town which reflects a lot of poverty despite the fact that it is surrounded by some very, very large factories which I am sure would generate employment.

 

I am also quite fascinated by some town names.  My favourite today was "Bucksnort".   Hmmm...Bucksnort.  Where do you live?  Bucksnort.  Bucksnoooorrrrrt.  Welcome to Bucksnort. Yawl come back to Bucksnort ya hear!    The Bear saw a town which was named "Humboldt" and decided that would make a good dogs name.  I told him that if we got a male dog I would promise to name it Humboldt!  You will understand my surprise when he said "no" to that.  *rolls eyes*

 

I am quite fascinated by the fact that the interstates (highways) in Tennessee are almost dead straight.  There is very little in the way of the road curving.  If it does, it is ever so slight.  From the top of the state, to the bottom, it is straight and is almost overwhelmingly covered with cops.  Its just not worth breaking any road rule here because the state troopers will get you!

 

Tonight we dined in the Rendezvous Restaurant which a couple told us about when we visited Las Vegas in 2012.  We had also seen this place on Man V Food and it looked pretty darned good!  They are apparently world famous for their ribs, so who can go past that!  Despite the fact that the Bear (who is now unwell too) and I are not feeling flash, we walked to the restaurant which is a few blocks away from our hotel.  We wanted to get in early just in case they were busy so decided we would go there as soon as they opened at 4.30pm.  We were almost too late!  They were already chockers!  There was still room for us though which was awesome. 

 

 

 

The ribs are slow baked in an oven with vinegar and dry rub and are meant to be finger licking good.  I found them to be quite dry where as the ribs we have at home are very moist.  They are served on paper plates with plastic "silver ware" and come lying in a layer of vinegar.  They also come with a serving of beans - which are a barbeque baked bean with something like a taco seasoning in them.  They were extraordinarily yummo although heaven help the toilet bowl in a few hours time.  The ribs also come with a "slaw".  They don't call it coleslaw for some reason although it does resemble it.  The "slaw" is finer, and lighter than coleslaw and has an orange colour to it.  I imagine the colour comes from the seasoning that they put in it...which also tastes like a taco seasoning.  Whatever the case, it was yummo too!  I think if I went back there, I would pass on the ribs and have double of the beans and slaw!

 

We finished the night off with a stroll along Beale Street and caught a tram back to where our hotel is.  Tomorrow we are headed back to Graceland!

2014 Trip - Day 15 - Say what?

Just when I think this country cannot surprise me any more, it somehow manages to do so.  This morning on the news whilst listening/watching intently to the tornado warnings, a headline flashes across the bottom of the screen:  "USA suffers National Clown Shortage".   What the?????    This breaking news disclosed that apparently the numbers are down on recruits to Clown School.  *insert a raised eyebrow here*    I am fairly tempted to contact the television station to suggest that they approach the Australian Parliament because there are ample suitors there. Good grief.

So we are out of the heavy snow now, but as I said above, we are now experiencing tornado warnings.  Interesting.  I am wondering what sort of weather event we can expect to hear of next.  The snow storms are still raging up north so I am really glad we got out of there.  I am not sure that I would be particularly keen on being somewhere where there is a tornado, despite the fact that I have a small fascination with them.  I am wondering if I should shoot out and buy some red glittered shoes (or in Nashville, red glittered boots) so that I can click my heels three times and say "There is no place like home" should the need arise.    This being said, I can honestly say that I know that there is no place like home.

Driving around Nashville today we were glad to see the sunshine.  Second Avenue in the city is the happening place here, which has the infamous saloons like Coyote Ugly and Dicks Last Resort.  We saw another number of strangely named places, such as a restaurant up the road called "Cock on the Walk".  Yep ....okey dokey.  I wonder how they answer the phone there?   Interestingly, ALL of the restaurants and saloons here display signs saying that "Guns are not permitted" and "no soliciting".  That really must put a dampener on their fun!  You can get shot in a Walmart....but not in a pub!  The scary thing here is that the signs are serious.  Guns play such a prominent part of life here, I guess the warnings have to be put in place.

Finally we are southern enough where I can have my grits.  I do LOVE grits although the locals look at me a bit funny because I have brown sugar on them.  Apparently the usual is to have cheese or butter on them.  What are grits you might ask?  It is basically ground corn (sort of small broken bits of corn) where the kernels are prepared in different ways. This is then is cooked like porridge and would have the consistency of porridge that has been set (like jelly).  They are typically not eaten sweet.  Just as their names suggests they are gritty but not in an unpleasant way.  They can be cooked in milk and butter, or can be sliced and cooked on the broiler.  I have not had them that way as yet, although I would love to try.  I might seek them out as we travel further south.

We are off to Memphis tomorrow.  Hopefully I am feeling somewhat better so that my blog can be a little more interesting!

                                       

 

 

 

2014 Trip - Day 14 - Gun control? What gun control?

I am feeling slightly better today although breathing is a little bit of a struggle.  I have come down with a heavy head cold which is fast moving to my chest.  I am not very well at all, so my writing will reflect that.  Sorry in advance.

This morning we stopped at a 24 hour Walmart in Chattanooga before driving to Nashville.  We figured we might have been taking our lives into our hands given that someone was shot and killed in a checkout line at another Chattanooga Walmart yesterday.   How does this happen one may ask?  Well that might be because everyone, who is everyone has some sort of weapon in Tennessee.

Whilst it is common knowledge that every redneck has a gun, I had never really stop to think about it.  In Tennessee it is plain as the nose on your face though.  Even at the local Walmart there is a gun counter, with shot guns lined up for sale.  Seriously, it is bizarre when you can go to one place and buy your underwear, a carton of eggs, and a shotgun.

 

 

 

It is only a 2 hour drive from Chattanooga to Nashville.  However I got so darned confused at the changes with time.   Halfway through Tennessee there is a change in the time zone.  You are driving down the road and all of a sudden the time zone drops back an hour.  You don't cross any border for this to happen.  But....to get to Nashville.....you also do a little bit of a loop out of Tennessee, into Georgia, back into Tennessee.  And then.....if you are some sort of lunatic such as myself, who believes that to legitimately obtain a fridge magnet you must actually VISIT a state or city.....and insists on taking a detour into a state so that a fridge magnet can be purchased just to show you have been there (backward I know.  You really need to be in my mind to get this....so just work with me)...so therefore popped into Alabama.....the time on my mobile phone and our GPS pretty much had a mind out.   We went in and out of Tennessee more times than we have had hot dinners!

 

Tennessee does not get any prettier.  It is brown and ugly.  I seriously do not want to feel this way as apparently I have kin folk in these parts however there is little that I find endearing about it, with the exception of the southern drawl.  My great, great grandfather was born here so I effectively have roots here! I find myself understanding most people in the USA (although most people cannot understand us) but the drawl that people have here prompts a "pardon" from me every time.   Everyone is known as "Sugar" or "Darlin'" which was sort of cute on the first day, but has been irritating ever since although the Bear was called "Babe" yesterday which sort of tickled me.

 

Tennessee is also a state which promotes fire works and in a big way.  Between guns, fire works and moonshine I feel that there would be a huge market here for artificial limbs.   I vaguely remember fire cracker night when I was a little girl although that was a loooooooong time ago.  The Bear said it was legal to have fireworks in Tasmania until about 1987 so he remembers setting them off a little better than I do.  We decided to stop in at a fireworks shop (ok....warehouse) on the Tennessee/Alabama border.  I would have LOVED to have bought some just to set them off.  When we walked in, I was smashed back into about 1970.  There was something that set off a very vivid memory although it was gone before I could figure out what it was.  What an awesome step back in time though.    I am tempted to ask whether we are able to just buy them and set them off outside the city limits.  There doesn't appear to be any law that prevents you from doing so.

 

 

 

 

 

The whole way between Chattanooga and Nashville there are reminders of the fact that guns play a large part here.  From about an hour out of Nashville, right through to the city limits, there is billboard after billboard promoting firearms.  There are billboards reminding us that "silencers are NOT illegal" although I am damned if I can work out why this needs to be pointed out.  I don't mean this is on a couple of billboards.  I mean this is on EVERY billboard. I shall put some examples below.

 

 

 

I cannot quite figure this state out.  The one thing I do know though, is that there are more places selling guns and fireworks than there are McDonalds.  Now in this country THAT is saying something!

 

 

2014 Trip - Day 13 - Too crook to type

I wont be posting anything for today.  I have come down with a heavy head cold so I am feeling as though my head is going to explode.  Those razor blades that I must have swallowed are doing nothing for my throat either.

In short, we drove from Knoxville to Chattanooga today.  It is a very large city that fits in with the rest of Tennessee. There is quite a lot of history here though.  Its a pity I am not feeling a little better to enjoy it.

Hopefully I will feel better for the trip to Nashville tomorrow.

2014 Trip - Day 12 - And we thought we had bad drivers.

We managed to survive the night without being woken by rattling chains and ghostly calls.  The Hotel Roanoke is truly a place frozen in time.  It was an amazing find and the shivers that it gave me just added to the experience.  We had our breakfast in the most ornate of restaurants.  It was truly beautiful adding to our memorable stay.

We were on the road again after breakfast heading further south to try to avoid more snow storms.  But alas....we had not been driving more than a couple of minutes when it started snowing.  Again.  FML.   I am a nervous passenger under the best of conditions.  Driving through another snow storm (ok...not quite a snow storm.....but close enough in my books) absolutely terrified me.  The wind buffeted the car around and the snow swirled into the windscreen.  Interestingly, when it is snowing, you don't need to use the windscreen wipers.

The fact that drivers around us overtook at amazing speeds and threw their vehicles around like matchbox cars did nothing for my nerve levels.  However......nothing will side track me from my woes as much as a good accident will.  Not surprisingly, there were plenty. 

Our first taste of this was a small white sedan which had somehow jammed itself sideways across a snow covered median strip.  It would have slid across the road and landed there I guess.
 

 

A little bit further down the road, there was a large semi-trailer that had rolled.  I was too caught up in sticky beaking to remember that I had the camera and did not get evidence of such!  A little bit further down the road though, there was another on its side and I had the camera ready.

 

I couldn't believe this!  The roads are dangerous, and the loonie drivers are plentiful but I never expected that I would see this many accidents in a row!  And.....you guessed it!  A little bit further on, there was yet another accident.  Another large semi on its side.
 

 

Fortunately there were no more accidents that we saw between Roanoke and Knoxville.  We did see a dead skunk though which was a first.  Fond childhood memories of Pepe Le Pew had me choke back a tear.  Ok.....that might have been a crumb from the over stale chicken torpedo that I had for lunch......but the thought was there.

I am sick of snow.  So damned sick of snow.  I hate snow.  Snow, snow and more snow.  And....as though just to piss me off further....I have found that I cannot photograph a snow flake.  Lord knows I have tried.  I will photograph anything that moves.  There is 2000000000000000000000 billion trillion snow flakes on the car right now, and I cannot photograph one of them individually.  The snow is trying to have the last laugh.
 

 

Snow ploughs are everywhere.  I highly doubt that Australia would be that prepared if they were needed.   I turn my attention to the signs off the road to try to cope with my nervousness.  We pass a store somewhere in the middle of whoop-whoop which carried the sign "Jesus is Lord.  We buy guns".  Hmmmmmkaaaayyyy.  If it wasn't so dangerous to do so, I would have got the Bear to stop and turn around so that I could grab a photo.  A little bit further down the track....a road sign said...."First Exit - Winery.  Next Exit - Weddings".   This appeared to be a very serious sign.   Hmmmkay again.  

 

We are driving along just willing the white scenery to pass quickly and we are playing music from the Bears phone through the car.  Radio Stations in these parts have two types of music.  Country AND Western.  Given that this most definitely doesn't float our boats, we plugged in his phone.  Now the Bear and I have very similar music tastes a lot of the time, however we both have a streak in us that absolutely loathes the music of the other.  I was happy to take the risk with his music as Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton just don't do it for me.  Well that was until "Macho Man" came on.  I took a side ways glance at the Bear to which he exclaimed "I didn't put that there!".  Yep sure Bear.....sure.....

 

Crossing the Virginia/Tennessee State Line showed me that one thing is for certain.  My first impression of Tennessee back in 2012 was not exaggerated.  I still did not like what I saw.  I know it is winter and everything is brown (with the exception of the snow) but this has BORING stamped on it in a major way.  As we drove further  the snow began to thin and I was thinking that the state did have its upsides.  I noted with interest that that the contents of the yards had changed from one state to the next.  Unlike the sprawling ranches in Virginia which kept large herds of very healthy cattle and horses, the yards in Tennessee kept a minimum of 6 car wrecks, a few rusted tractors, someone's broken fence, a donkey and two chooks. The more affluent of residences also bore a collapsing henhouse.

 

We pulled into Knoxville early afternoon and had a little bit of a laydown before heading out to dinner.  I was so thrilled with the Golden Corral yesterday that I wanted to go again!  There is a Golden Corral Restaurant in Knoxville Tennessee so that was settled.

 

Well tie up your mothers people.  This was an experience.  Do you remember how I said yesterday that the Roanoke Golden Corral was like being on the set of the Duck Dynasty and the Jerry Springer Show?  Well dagnammit.....I have no words for this one. 

 

I was facing the food bar which was possibly mistake number one.  I witnessed some old coot drop a calamari ring which rolled under one of the bay maries.  He stuck his foot under it to drag out the food morsel.  I mentally congratulated him for picking up dropped food and disposing of rubbish.......until he put it in his mouth.  It was at that time I noticed the soiling on the back of his track suit pants.  I swear I had a little bit of vomit rise.  As I tried to ignore that, everything else around me was magnified.  Firstly it was a man (Shrek?) that was sitting across from the Bear (who was opposite me) who kept dropping his teeth.  At one point he actually took out his dentures to pull something off of them.  Like....come one dude! Second it was a bloke, for want of a better word, that kept getting up and down and running (?????) to the bay maries looking as though he had a ten cent piece stuck firmly between the cheeks of his very ample butt. I lost count of how many pieces of cutlery (lovingly known as silver ware over here) up his sleeve.  I didn't want to turn around in case he used one of the pieces to poke out my eye.    Thirdly there was a little girl, probably about 8 or 9 years old that was dipping her stick of fairy floss into the large dish of liquid orange cheese that was on the food counter.   Her parents thought it was majorly funny although in support of them, I believe they may have been inbred so wouldn't have known better.  There was more dribbling in this restaurant than done on a basketball court.  I think it was the lack of teeth that had people failing to keep their salivations to themselves. I got to the point where I could not eat and could not find a place to look where I wasn't going to be sick.  And I mean....I would have projectile vomited.

 

We left rather quickly although it took a few hours for my tummy to settle.  The Bear and I are definitely coming down with something, so that would not have helped.  Hopefully a good night sleep will have us feeling better.  We move onto Chattanooga tomorrow!  I have my fingers (and toes, legs, nostril hairs) crossed that there are less slack jawed yokels there!