Tennessee, Kentucky & Ohio

Brutal honesty: I love the "back roads"; I hate the Interstates!! Here I am 23 hours later--at Panera in Dayton, Ohio (5:30 PM). Such a grueling day!! I actually spent the night in a Cracker Barrel parking lot (not WalMart) in Pigeon Forge, TN. I departed at 6:00 AM and was, essentially, traveling for ten and one-half hours. I covered 345 miles--and 33 mph is a very poor "average" for traveling the Interstates.

There were times of torrential rain followed by gray sky and sometimes a hint of sunshine. The Interstates, and weather, had a lot in common: A few miles were delightful, a few miles were stressful. There seems to be a lot of construction on Interstate 75 and sometimes we crept along at a snail's pace. The last ten miles into Dayton, Ohio, were the worst!! I was determined to get to this Panera but my body was screaming at me to pull off and get away from the construction and congestion. I didn't want to overheat the KIA so did not have the air conditioning on. (Beautiful weather in Ohio, probably 82 degrees.) I had the windows down. The fumes were so bad I was sneezing and had itchy, watery eyes. But, Praise the Lord!!, I'm here safe!!

I plan to spend the night in the WalMart parking lot less than a block away. Tomorrow I want to visit with some genealogy "cousins" and see the new features at the Brethren Heritage Center (in nearby Brookville, OH). Normally I would put links to names like Panera and Brethren Heritage Center. Not tonight!! ~~ I hope it doesn't sound like I am complaining. Just being brutally honest.