April 24 - The Road to the Smokies

Back on the road again. We really enjoyed Nashville, and could have stayed a lot longer, but we need to be in Washington, DC by the 1st of May, which means.... rolling time!

It looked like it was going to be a lovely day for driving, but you can never take anything for granted with a motor home. We were no sooner onto 155 when we hear a sound which has become all too familiar!!!!! The awning over the big slide had let loose again. This is the third time it has happened..... three times too many!!! But at least we now know what it is and how to deal with it. Fortunately the next exit was only a mile away and was in to Opry Mills shopping center, so we could pull off safely, into the parking lot, fix it and get back on the road.

After we parked, Clive put the jacks down, I got out to watch and make sure it went out properly, and as the slide went out, I was showered with little "wings" (seeds from the trees we were parked under in the RV park in Nashville). I guess they had piled up as we brought the slide in earlier, and had prevented it from latching properly. With that fixed, we checked everything again, and hit the road.....a little flustered, but together again. Except the road markings in this state leave just a little to be desired, and I didn't quite understand what Maggie was telling us, and we ended up making the turn onto I-40 West instead of East. And then to compound it, Clive started to take the turn to the AIRPORT!!!! Just imagine us driving around in the NASHVILLE AIRPORT with the motor home, Miata in tow!!! NOT!!!! Maggie, the TomTom, can redirect us faster than I can even think, and so I just relayed her instructions to Clive and he made the turns accordingly. The only problem was, the road she directed us to was old, bumpy and STEEP. She was right though. With just a couple of turns we were back on the right track, heading east on I-40.

The dogwoods are still in bloom, but that is the only thing about I-40 that is similar to our wonderful Natchez Trace drive!!!

Cars, trucks and whatever.....speeding down the road!!!!

It's hard to relax after starting the day with two such hair-raising incidents..... but Chico seems able to rise to the occasion no matter what!!!! Clive seems OK at the wheel, too, so on we go to our next destination--the Smokey Mountains.