Roadtrip part 3

Still on the road and a long day it was. Logged 644 miles today. From Wilmington NC to Nashville TN. What a crappy driving day. Rain and wind. I did dip my toes into the cold Atlantic this morning as promised and got a surfer dude to take my picture whilst in the water. Then it was back to driving. The route today was really easy to follow. I-40 West. Leaving Wilmington I noticed a sign that read Barstow Ca. 2550 miles. Wow, I-40 must be long. I went pretty much due west across North Carolina, over the Appalacian mountains and into Tennessee. The area right on the border of the 2 states is unimaginably rugged and beautiful. To think that someone once said "hey, we should put a hiway here", totally blows me away. The hiway is in excellent shape. Easy to follow with no real need for my navigation thing. Getting through Knoxville Tn at rush hour is a challenge but I made it. Probably should have heeded the bypass sign just east of Knoxville. Oh well all is well and no new dings or scratches to report. I am staying the night at the Holiday Inn Express in Juliet Tn. Nice place, the front desk clerk upgraded me to a king suite and it is really nice. Yea priority club!! Tomorrow may be my last day on the road depending how late I sleep in. Mapquest says its 525 miles home from here and thats a pretty full day. I have enjoyed my time out on the road. Someone once said we sometimes need to go to our happy place. I think my happy place is on the road, driving with no real destination and only a loose time schedule. I have often thought it would have been nice to have a friend along to chat with and bounce ideas off of, but when I'm just driving to think and get my head straight, a passenger may have been a distraction. I would have liked to stop more along the way and see and do different things but experiences are more fun when you have someone to share them with. Perhaps another roadtrip is in the future. One complete with friends and adventures. Maybe I will go West next time. I always wanted to see whats out west. Deserts and cactuses (cacti?) and the sun setting in front of me. The rocky mountains are beautiful and I have seen some of them from the road. Mostly in Canada though. A houseboat trip on lake Mead might be fun. Never seen the Hoover Dam. (take all the dam pictures you want...got any damn bait?) Yeah its from a movie. Im off to sleep now. Will write more tomorrow if the cat lets me...he will be needing a good scratching when I get home. Goodnight friends!