Time of departure:  7:45 A.M.

Temperature:  58 degrees

Elevation:  982 feet

Total Mileage:  192

“I told her she was gonna have to go to court to keep that baby.  She don’t think she’ll have to, but she will.  He’s a no good you-know-what”, said the nasally voice, in the accent I had been preparing myself to hear for the last week. 

Over the past 24 hours and 300 miles, houses had become less pristine, vehicles older, and people, (um...., how should I say this?), well......, more Toby Keith-ish?

Pickup truck license plates are proclaiming sentiments like, “Rebel”, “Redneck”, and, the always classy, “Get R Done.”

We rode south from Jellico, TN, continuing through the Appalachian mountains.  Scenes of emerald mountains kept our eyes busy, along with the sign that proclaimed, “Slow Drunks At Play.”  Ambiguity is always best if you’re drunk, or maybe the result of being drunk.  It’s better to let the reader decide if the drunks are slow walkers, or slow thinkers, or if the sign maker wants the driver to be slow.

The drought here has really taken its toll.  All streams and rivers we crossed were very low, or non-existent.  Ozone Falls was maybe a quarter of its flow from last year.  Although it was still very impressive.  A 100 foot fall is always impressive!

We arrived in Sparta, TN late in the day, a nice town that seems to have come up in the world in the past year since our last visit.  I mean, how can getting its own Italian restaurant not be a step up.  Although, Sparta did already have the Lester Flatt Memorial Museum.  So, there wasn’t much room for improvement anyway. 

I’ll step out of the way now, and let the pictures do the talking.

See y’all down the trail.

Ron and Meredith

June 23