HC01

Traffic Pro was a good companion, helping me make the right turns and estimating my arrival in Pikeville at 6pm, my arrival in Knoxville at 1030 pm via Pikeville, Ky. Traffic Pro doesn't take up any valuable space either. :)
I sorta tried to out fox Traffic Pro- and I did, arriving in Pikeville at 5pm. Traffic Pro would sometimes lose touch with the satellite, using just an arrow to point the direction. I knew it was back in synch with the satellite when Bernie (that is the name I gave the male voice I choose for Traffic Pro) would say, "Please follow the road."
All the way through West Virginia and into Kentucky I waited to find a nice roadside restaurant- preferably BBQ.
None to be had.
Only fast food joints.
Every so often I would hit the left knob on Traffic Pro and see if I was making better time to destination than it thought I would. I did. :)
I stopped in Pikeville and asked some local ladies if there was a restaurant down the road a piece. They suggested Kentucky Fried Chicken.
This was somewhat bizarre and absurd considering I was in Kentucky at the time and they were suggesting KFC.
After ranting at them for a few moments about how I didn't drive from New York City to Kentucky to eat KFC, I saw that look in their eyes where they are considering calling the sheriff and thought perhaps it would be wiser to just get back on the road, hungry.
I stopped at a Pizza Hut for the first time in my life, ordered a personal pan pizza. It took a while but it was good- although I burnt my tongue pretty bad.
Getting back on the road, I got a call from Jon. He was 120 miles from Nashville. I was a little lost. I had made the same sort of mistake with Traffic Pro that I had earlier. If I had wanted to head west to the Daniel Boone Parkway to head South to Knoxville, I had to go North first on 23.
I had told Traffic Pro to take me to Pikeville, Ky and then Knoxville, Tn, but I hadn't asked it to route me via Williamsburg, Ky, so it routed me through Virginia.
I also hadn't read the part of the manual that told me all I had to do was hit one button and Traffic Pro would have told me the route. Oh well.

Have I mentioned how much I hate Virginia? Poised on the Virginia border, I had to find a way around it to Knoxville.
Jon was a big help. For one thing, Jon stopped in Charleston, WV too- we had probably just missed each other by a couple hours. (He stopped at Exxon, I stopped at Mobil.) For another, he had taken the route I was on last year, and he had gone to Virginia from exactly where I was.

We figured out that I could take this twisty road, 119 down towards Williamsburg and into Knoxville- and off I went. I left pretty quick because there were a couple state troopers practically pacing the stretch of road in front of me, like hungry lions at the zoo near feeding time.
It was getting around 8pm by now, and darkness was a big threat. The same roads I love like crazy in the daylight I fear in the dark. On the other hand, it is a good thing that it gets dark at night - else I would never stop driving this car.

Traffic Pro said it was 30 miles to Williamsburg.
The first 20 miles of 119 southwest of 23 were outrageous twisties and I was getting a little worried that it would be 30 miles of outrageous twisties when the road spread out and got fast. When I knew I was past the Virginia state line below me, I let Traffic Pro lead me in to the Knoxville Hilton.
Traffic Pro took me right down 23, cutting off the extra miles to Williamsburg. It took me down 33 and routed me through a campus.
I had no idea where I was most of the time, just relied on Traffic Pro. I was starting to get worried and called the numbers of all the folks who had offered to stand by the phone- but of course I was in a place where there was no cell service.
And Boom! I was there.

Hilton Knoxville Airport
Traffic Pro told me I'd be in at 630 in Pikeville- I made it at 5pm :) It was dead on in Alcoa. Arrived at 1015, spent.

W.B. and Connie had just gone to bed- but W.B.came down to yak for "just for a minute"- so we yakked for 2 hours. We snuck into the Concierge Lounge and used their microwave to heat up the ribs that he and Connie had brought me back from Cardin's Landing.
I knew right then that the Blur had begun.
Washed the bugs out of my hair until almost 2am.
Tuesday Mileage:
46488 End
45920 Begin
568 miles/12 hours driving with stops

Driving alone is getting me even closer to the car, it's running perfectly, and God I hope it doesn't stop.
Traffic Pro is almost an unfair advantage.

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