Out and away from Asheville NC, bound for Tennessee. A couple of stops along the way, at the Tennessee Visitor's Center and for lunch, and in mid afternoon (allowing for the time change from the Eastern to Central time zone) we arrived in Nashville, TN. Along the way we booked tickets to tomorrow night's performance at the Grand Ole Opry. The brilliant colors of the hillsides are still a highlight of the driving day, but the leaves are falling fast now. In today's photos you see more bare spots than before. The show of colors in the south has been even better than what we saw in the maritime provinces, which surprised us. We may have been early up north, but we hit it just right coming back from England.
Most of the way on I40, a high speed route where you can't see much of the surrounding countryside, especially with speeds averaging 120kph. Lotsa lotsa trucks on this highway, moving very fast. Mostly OK, but everybody jammed close together as we picked up the beltway into Nashville. Very tense at the end and I pushed the car harder than I should have, it was running a bit rough when I shut it down at the hotel. After we checked in and got the bags into the room I went back down and started it again when it was cooler. Everything was normal regarding engine idle speeds, etc, and all gauges and lights in the green. We'll hope for the best and trust to BCAA if it doesn't work that way.
Wandered about tonight before and after dinner. All day today was bright sunshine, warm windows-down weather, and tonight was tee-shirt weather too. Why do we even try to put up with the rain up north? This is better. Had dinner in a bar a couple of blocks from the hotel, listening to a couple of guys trying for a Brooks and Dunn sound for their act. Had fries and cheese sauce and a Budweiser, country agrees with me. Jan more restrained with white wine. Less heartburn that way. So far, considering weather and people and the look and feel of the city, Nashville is a great place.
