Tennessee

Tonight I am in Tennessee. I drove for 12 hours today, over 750 miles. I should be able to finish up the last leg of my trip tomorrow. The only stop I made (besides getting gas three times and stopping at Whatta-burger in Russellville, AR for some lunch) was to get a birthday card for a friend. I mailed it specifically from Russellville since I think he will get a kick out of receiving a card from a town named after him. Or, rather, he won't notice the postmark at all and I will have wasted an hour of my life. :-)

I am actually starting to get pretty tired of living out of my truck. Today is the first day I thought, it would be nice to have some different clothes. I've been living out of little outfits packed in gallon Ziploc bags. And they are for traveling, so we are not talking High Fashion here. When I walked into the Hilton in downtown Santa Fe, I was wearing the grungy capris that I had worn while wading in the creek in Moab to catch crawdads, a baseball cap, and the fleece pullover from my Admissions Desk uniform at the Calvert Marine Museum. The man behind the counter definitely raised an eyebrow at me. I would also like to do my laundry at someplace other than a laundromat. I also am starting to miss my library, oddly enough. I'd love to sit down and read a book. However, it has been a fantastic trip and I am lucky to have made it such a long distance -- driving solo -- safely. The only time I had a passenger/second driver was the trip from Moab to the Grand Canyon and back. The rest of it I have driven on my own. Today I got pulled over for the first time. This after 5300 miles! I got a warning for following the car in front of me too closely. I was trying to get away from the man behind me who had been bothering me, smiling and waving, and alternating between passing me and then slowing down and following me. He was making me uncomfortable. That's no reason to be unsafe on the road, though, so it was still my fault. Then the man waited for me to catch up to him again after my warning and kept gesticulating. I ignored him and hung out in the slow lane until he got bored. Other than that, I have had no other adventures of the unpleasant kind. I've been very lucky.

Tomorrow I hope to write that I am home safe & sound!