OK, OK!...

I've been really lazy. I've been kicking around Tullahoma for the past couple of days instead of getting back on the road. The combination of free food, clean sheets and a welcoming home is a hard one to pull away from, even if one is very excited to get back on the road. The true deciding factor is that I wanted to hang out with my brother a little more, which has been difficult because he's such a busy guy and I keep getting in conversations with my father that are too interesting to pull away from. Also, I've been taking a lot of naps.



It's not been all lazing about, though; I've made it up to Nashville to scoot around in the Hillsborough neighborhood a little bit as well as having a brief tour of Murfreesborough and downtown Tullahoma (such as it is). Much of central Tennessee is made up of old and picturesque towns scattered among rolling, rock-strewn hills. Lakes pop out of the scenery here and there as you drive through the countryside and old general stores or quaint townships stand wearily in the shade of lonely hollows. You'd be hard pressed to go anywhere in rural middle Tennessee without passing a field of soybeans or corn and most of the nearby famrhouses are old and drafty enough that you can see the setting sun through the slats in their sides. It's lovely out here, really.



This area is the home of many things that are distinctively American, too. There are quite a few sippin' whiskey distilleries out here - My father's creek feeds into the George Dickle distillery, not three miles from his property, and Jack Daniels comes from Lynchburg, only a few miles away. Tennessee Walking Horses come from just over the hill in Shelbyville (pronounced locally as 'Shub-vul'), and I don't guess I have to tell you what Nashville's famous for (although that's changing. Not only is country music shifting it's heart to other US cities, but lots of other kinds of really good music is coming out of Nashville recently. Check out Hammock, for instance). This is a beautiful and unique part fo the country and I'm glad I have a reason to keep coming back here.



I have decided to leave tomorrow morning, however, and make for Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee before continuing on to Alma, Arkansas and my friend Kevin's house. I'm all packed and gassed up again and I even bought some cheep raingear in town (I've been warned by everybody I know who has been through this part of the country that rainstorms kick up with little or no warning here, so I set aside my devil-may-care bravado and bought some protection). I'll be camping at Reelfoot Lake, so this will be the first real field-test of my camping gear and food kit. Hopefully I won't have to contend with too many tourists up there, but I brought along a flask of Laphroig (scotch) just in case I do.

Thanks to everyone who has commented to this blog or emailed me with good wishes! I'm glad to know some people are reading this and following my progress. It'll be a couple of days before I can write again (for real this time), but keep checking back. Take care.