Journey: Reston, VA to Knoxville, TN
Number of times I gave the finger: 2.5
Cups of coffee: I brought one from home, bought one at a roadside Starbucks, and was given a free extra one by the barista. So that’s approximately a quart of espresso. I’ll sleep next Tuesday.
Trucks filled with live chickens: 1
Grocery stores with clientele I hope to never see in a dark alley: 1
Notable location: Cave Mountain Lake, VA…the birthplace of indecision.
Food of the day: Snapea Crisps. They’re horribly addicting. I didn’t even make it 50 miles from my house before opening the bag and was done with all 3.5 servings in a few hours. Try them. You will thank me (and curse me). Even my husband – who hasn’t eaten a vegetable in this millenium – likes them.
Today was the trip from home to my first overnight stop in Knoxville at a place I found through Airbnb. Hooray for staying with strangers! The drive was uneventful – I spent 95% of the 7 hours on 81 south with every single truck in this hemisphere. As I drove through rural southwest Virginia, I felt completely at home right about the time I started picking beef jerky out of my teeth with my pocketknife. Now I’m in a very chilly bedroom in downtown Knoxville planning to drop in on a local group ride tomorrow and trying to figure out if my host would mind if I burned her furniture for warmth.
