Smokin' through the Smoky Mountains - May 23

My trusty 'Lonely Planet USA' guide highly recommended the mountain pass through Smoky Mountain National Park on the border between North Carolina and Tennessee, so I figured it would be worth the extra few hours it would take. The road connects Cherokee on the south with Gatlinburg on the north and passes through some of the highest mountains on the East Coast. The mountain air was crisp and clear and we stopped at least a half dozen times to enjoy the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. Here are some of the shots I got:

View of the Smoky Mountains, which straddle the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Another shot of the Smoky Mountains.

This creek ran through Smoky Mountain National Park.

We didn't leave the mountains until late in the day and my mother thought we spent too much time enjoying the views, but I thought it was totally worth it. The rest of the way to California is going to be pretty flat so I wanted us to take our time. One thing I realized today is that Tennessee is a huge state and we'll be driving all day today just to get through Nashville. I was hoping we could make it all the way to Memphis but that's not going to happen. The cool, crisp mountain air disappeared quickly as we left the Smoky Mountain area and we started to feel the Southern heat as we drove down I-40 West. I checked the map today and someone can drive from East Coast to West Coast on I-40 alone.

My mother has been entertaining me with stories about the Hindu Temple she attends. Based on her stories, it seems like the Indian women there fall into 3 categories:
- those who don't say "hi" to her
- those who don't invite her to their dinner parties
- those who are jealous of her and try constantly to undermine her

I think we must be becoming more patient with each other because we only yelled at each other twice today. One thing I've noticed when you're stuck in a small place with the same person hour after hour, day after day is that they can really get on your nerves. If they have any annoying habits or idiosyncracies, traveling with them will intensify all of them. But I'm definitely glad that she came- she's helped a lot with the driving and it would be lonely driving to California all by myself.

When we started the trip, I was excited about using the tent and sleeping out in nature under the stars. But we can get such good deals on motel rooms that we haven't camped at all. Our hotel here in Tennesse was just $29.95 and had 2 double beds, a TV, air conditioning, wireless internet, private bathroon and a lot of other amenities! A campground has a shared bathroom and still can cost anywhere from $10 to $30. And on top of that, we would have to show up before sunset in order to put the tent up properly. Maybe we'll camp a little bit later....
When we finally arrived at our hotel (which we found in a motel coupon book), we were totally exhausted. It was around 10 or 11 at night and after checking out some of my day's photos, I fell into bed like a pile of bricks.

Tomorrow we'll be visiting Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee!