Where have I been?

Well, not in the car much. Summer just flew by. We haven't taken too many trips, at least not as a full family(and I don't usually take photos when I'm driving). With the fall and winter here, we've gotten out a bit more. But illness and broken limbs are keeping us sidelined far too often.

I'll be adding some photos from the last few trips out and backdating them, one per day starting with yesterday. Just a way to get some thrown on here before I try to get back to adding more often.

Not that anybody looks at these photos anyway. Heh.

Which way is up?

This intersection always cracks me up. So, if I go straight I'll be going North AND South at the same time? Cool.

What is it?

We saw these go by on Interstate 40 in Middle Tennessee a few weeks ago. There were at least 5 of them that we saw. And on the way home a few days later, we saw one of them broken down on State Route 840 in Wilson County.

Some sort of tube or tower? Not sure, but it was interesting.

Old advertising barn

This one has seen quite a few advertisements in its days. It seems one of the oldest mentions "koffee kups" at a 76 (gas station). Most of the white area seems to be a Justin Boots ad, extremely faded. And something about "famous" in the black letters on the upper right area.
Located along Interstate 40 west of Crossville on the south side of the freeway.

I see you!

Wonder if it smells bad in there? This horse was peeking his nose out of the trailer, trying to get some fresh air it seems!

Porky's BBQ

Snapped this one quickly while driving through Crossville recently. I wonder how their bbq tastes? Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Hurricane Katrina

This was taken from the car-because, well you couldn't really get out safely around here. This is in Gulfport, Mississippi, about 2 weeks after Katrina devastated the area. My sister lived in Gulfport at the SeaBee base, my mom in an apartment in Long Beach. We got passes to cross the railroad tracks just south of the base in order to head west along 90 to get to my mom's apartment. This boat was several blocks inland in someone's yard. The wood was mostly from cargo trucks that had been parked at the Gulfport port-about a mile away.

There was nothing left of my mom's apartment.

Road music

This is what we've been listening to for the last few years while on the road. Brad Paisley. Garth Brooks. Toby Keith. Or any country radio station we can manage to pick up.

And this one sort of sums up our road trips-Time Well Wasted. :)

Look out!

Gotta watch out for those hazards in the road. In this case, a tire(probably from a truck's retread) on I40 somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville.

Spandex Road Trolls

Not my saying! I heard that on the radio one morning. They were discussing whether or not bikers should be on certain dangerous roads in the area.

These are on a back road somewhere between Franklin and the Natchez Trace.

Yummy!

Gotta love the trucks that show the product they are carrying-especially if it is food! And even better-ice cream!

Bringing the bikes

Playing with the zoom lens. I like this shot. Kinda wish I had gotten more of the canoe in the shot.

Corvette Museum

This is as close as I've ever gotten to it. Not that I like Corvettes or anything. I'm more of a Porsche gal myself.

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Construction

This was an odd construction set-up on the interstate. Two lanes in the middle were singled out. I can't even remember why-it was just strange, not like anything I'd ever seen before.

Gas prices, sheesh

So this was last July. Price for regular was 3.79. And this was why we didn't take to many trips for the last few years.

Welcome to Kentucky!

I love Welcome signs. :)

Nashville

Apologies for being absent for awhile. Things have been crazy. Two computers crashing and my kid broke her arm. Will try to make up by adding a few today and post-dating them(4-28-09).

All the ones I add today will be from the Kentucky trip we took on July 12, 2008. This is a view of downtown Nashville as we went by on Interstate 24.

Good Friday

Apologies for the short break in posting photos. We had some bad storms come through on Good Friday. An F3 tornado ripped through 15 miles of Murfreesboro. At one point it crossed an area about 6 miles south of my house. This is a shot I got yesterday from the car(had to get out to check on Stones River National Cemetery-it had several trees down, a section of wall taken out, not certain if any headstones were damaged.

Rain

It rained almost the whole trip to Kentucky in July 2008. Had to take some photos of something!

Covered bridge

Just as we came off of the Cherohala Skyway into Tellico Plains, Tennessee, I spotted this beauty. I actually got the shot by turning around to my right in the passenger seat and shooting almost behind me. The road curved more to the right and I took a second shot in case the first didn't come out, but the first one-this one-is actually much better!

Turns out this probably isn't a very old bridge. It is the entrance to a fancy new subdivision called Telliquah Preserve. I couldn't find out any more information so I suppose it could be a refurbished older bridge. Who knows. I just know I loved how cute it was!

Brad Paisley!!

In honor of Brad winning the Best Male Artist last night on the Academy of Country Music Awards, I had to post something about him! He also won Video of the Year("Waiting on a Woman") and Event of the Year("Start a Band" with Keith Urban), but those were not shown last night. And Brad wasn't even there, he is home here in Nashville waiting for Kimberly to have their 2nd baby, awwww!

I got this shot along Interstate 24 near Bell Road a few months ago when Brad was scheduled to play at the Opry. I had actually missed the shot while headed north(it's a rotating billboard, there are 3 or 4 other things that could be showing) and got this shot while we were headed back south east sort twisted turned around and almost over my shoulder. But anything for Brad!

If you died today...

...where would you spend eternity? Interesting billboard! Thought provoking, of course. I am pretty sure that on the other side of that billboard, just behind those trees, is a cemetery and beside it of course is a church. I'm not certain which church, but I am pretty sure this is in Smith County, Tennessee along Interstate 40. I wonder if it has ever provoked someone into attending church?

See Rock City

I absolutely love photographing the "See Rock City" barns. And it seems that many of them that I catch, I have to catch while we are driving along. And sometimes you don't see them until it is too late! This one is located along Hwy 129 southwest of Maryville in Blount County, Tennessee. Luckily we were going about 5mph behind a tractor and a line of cars at the time so I had time to line the shot up. It's probably my favorite "See Rock City" barn shot that I've taken.

Extra support?

A few years ago some construction was done at Interstate 40 on the west side of Nashville at Briley Parkway/White Bridge Ave. The road was widened and new HUGE offramps were added on the north side. And for some reason this support column was built in the wrong place! Or they changed their mind at some point!
You can see the new offramp on the left of the photo. Maybe they wanted a direct access offramp coming from the eastbound traffic? Not sure, but this thing sure stands out. It can even be seen in this Google Street View-but not the overhead photo. The overhead image is pre-construction.

I wonder if they will ever finish the offramp or eventually take this down?

Tennessee's Finest

Doing their job! Slow those people down. I hate speeders. And tailgaters. And people who don't use signals. And basically anyone that breaks the law.

Obey the laws and this won't happen to you!

That's just odd

Somewhere between Michigan and Kentucky in 2003. Conditions not favorable-sun in my eyes and a dirty side window(we had gone through rain earlier and had not cleaned it off yet)-but I HAD to have a shot of this! Yes, it is a casket trailer. And the vehicle pulling it was a hearse with a similar paint job! Are they toting Grandma along? Or is it just a really unique way of hauling extra gear? Not really sure, but I have to say this was one of the most unique things I've ever seen on the road!

Don't try this!

Taken on the trip to Virginia, somewhere along I-81 in December 2003.

Yes, yes, I took this with my little digital camera while I was driving. I know, stupid. But honestly, I still had one hand on the wheel and I never took my eyes off the road in front of me. I actually took several shots, in the hope that one would come out decent-and one did.

All that being said, I am in no way a Junior fan! In fact, he is my LEAST favorite Nascar driver. And whether or not this is actually one of the semi's that hauls his stuff or just a huge fan, I have no idea-but I still thought it was cool enough to want to get a shot of it!

Stuck in traffic

And sometimes all you see are lots of other cars. This happened back in July of 2008 on Interstate 40 west of Knoxville when a tanker full of Titanium Tetrachloride overturned. We sat in traffic, finally inching our way along 40 to an off-ramp and then along Highway 70 to get back on the interstate-it took us 4 hours!

The things you see

This is what I love about travel by road. Oh the things you will see! And the fact that I have a camera that I can attempt to capture some of these images now so that they are not only relegated to memory only makes it better.

This is at the Cave City exit in Kentucky. We didn't visit Dinosaur World, but we did take the exit to go see the Wigwam Motel!

Photos from the Car

Yes, I am trying again. I want to post my photos, I've just been looking for the right 'avenue' to run them up. The right 'trail' to take. I was looking for a sign.

And then it happened. One morning, a morning that I lingered a few extra moments in the car listening to a caller on the talk radio show I listen to every morning. After my kid had caught the bus, at a time when I normally would have parked the car and gone inside. But I lingered for some reason. And then it happened...

This caller mentioned the "Tail of the Dragon". He mentioned how he, a motorcycle rider, often rode this road in East Tennessee and the danger(the topic of the morning was bicyclists on certain area roads being a danger). I had never heard of this "Dragon" but I was certainly intrigued! I ran inside and Googled it. I came across many websites and I KNEW I had to visit this place.

As luck would have it, my husband and kid both had the following week off from work and school for vacation, and East Tennessee isn't that far away. So we went. We ended up driving on 3 scenic roads that I had not heard of before and had a blast doing so! More photos will be coming from the "Tail of the Dragon", the "Devil's Triangle" and the "Cherahala Skyway".

The above is one of the many winding parts of the "Tail of the Dragon"(318 curves in 11 miles!). It was a fun ride and I can't wait to get back and ride it again! Just be careful when you do and obey all of the laws, it can be a dangerous road.