Memphis Arrival

Picked the correct hotel this time :)

What I learned today.

1. That covered wagon/crossing country/Oregon trail stuff they taught us in elementary school is a myth. I'm having trouble crossing it in a modern automobile with restaurants/lodging/fuel choices at every exit. Nobody did this on horseback, that was clearly a fairy tale and I feel lied to.

2. I don't care what side of the highway I am on, what color you are or I am, I just want to buy a cell phone charger for my car, you cant imagine how fast the battery runs down when you are running the GPS!! No I don't need someone to walk me to my car. What part of what century are people in the center of Tennessee living in??

3. It doesn't hurt a bit to jump back an hour when you cross into a new time zone.

I left Knoxville this morning in search of Memphis and Kudzu.

Kudzu is a vine-like plant that actually comes from Japan. Someone apparently brought some over here and now it's just all over the place in the southeastern part of the United States. I passed many examples of kudzu on the road to Memphis. It's actually quite beautiful when you consider the fact that it climbs dead trees and makes them look full of life. I guess the trouble is it also overpowers living trees. I heard it also crawls into windows at night and steals babies. It also explains the Japanese obsession with tentacles.

The drive between Knoxville and Nashville is simply stunning. I was driving along at one point thinking I was just driving with a tree line on either side when the trees on the left side opened and I saw nothing but sky. I was actually on the side of a mountain, the view actually took my breath away and I swear I saw the Gulf of Mexico. Sometimes the drive looks familiar and the next moment it looks like something I have never seen before as I swirl along roads winding through mountains.

Then you pass Nashville and things start to get flat and it basically looks like North Carolina again.

I stopped to get carbs at a Crackerbarrel somewhere about halfway between Nashville and Memphis. Why do they hide Crackerbarrels? But more important than finding the Crackerbarrel was my need to buy a cell phone charger for the car. I have been using the GPS app in my phone and it simply killed the battery in my phone. I drove to the right looking for some place to buy a cell phone charger. The area seemed very nice and the road was well populated with veterinary clinics? I turned around went the other way passing the highway again and crossed to the other side. I was looking for a Tmobile or any place where I could buy a charger. I read the names of stores off to myself and I heard myself say Radio Shack. That should work! I parked the car and walked into the store. The two ladies behind the counter jumped when they saw me come in. "Hi...I'm traveling and I desperately need a cell phone charger for my car." Clerk: "oh honey you on the wrong side of the highway??"...Me over by the cell phones..."oh...well that's okay...you have what I need right here...do you know where the Crackerbarrel is??"...Clerk: "yes mam it's on the "other side" of the highway...here's your change and you go back over to the Crackerbarrel and be safe."...Me in my mind "be safe???"....so I got back in my car and went back over the highway FOUND the Crackerbarrel and when I walked in I realized...hey??? Where did all the black people go???? Seriously????

The car phone charger works great... :)

My waitress was from Queens...she could tell I was from Pennsylvania...from my accent...???

She told me to have a good trip and "be safe".