Who had suggested getting up at 2 am? It had made sense the night before with a 1000 mile drive ahead of us, but the logic was absent when the alarm went off. Everyone arose fairly readily so I guess we were all eager to get going, with Janet and Kylie taking the first driving shifts. The roads were adorably quiet as we headed East, though unfortunately it took us too long to remember a fine dinner that we had left in the freezer!
The first mission was beating Baton Rouge’s heavy traffic, which we achieved uneventfully at 8am. We all took turns driving as we headed from Texas through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and clipping Georgia before arriving in Tennessee after a pleasantly uneventful 14 hours. Towards the end of the drive we passed a large truck that had driven off the Interstate, probably during some devastating tornadoes and flooding the day before, so we were blessed to be arriving a day later.
We hit our first heavy traffic immediately after crossing into Tennessee as Chattanooga’s roadworks compounded the 5pm traffic, though the number of 18-wheeler trucks on the road didn’t help. The sudden increase in billboards also indicated we were arriving somewhere interesting, but we still had 3 hours of driving to get to our destination.
After the long drive, it was great to sit down for a relaxed dinner at Junction 35 in Pigeon Forge. The town is very touristy and we can only imagine what it would be like in July.
One highlight of the day was knowing that Saydee and our house were being well cared for. Thank you Sems and Townsends!
The drive from Pigeon Forge to the cabin above Gatlinburg was uphill all the way, getting very steep at the end. The unfamiliarity of the final hairpin bend in the dark was especially hairy just before arriving! We had to wait until morning to appreciate our view.
I will take the liberty of including pictures from the following morning to describe our location.
Here’s to a fine time in Tennessee!
This page is part of our Tennessee set of posts.
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 