Day 01 - Home to Knoxville, TN

Last night we were surprised by a Great Horned Owl hooting in the tall pine tree behind our house. Rob was in the backyard refilling the bird feeders and heard it. Michele saw its dark shape and telltale "ears" through her binoculars. Its calls were loud and frequent. What a big treat for us!

Our day started at 39° with sun and blue skies. As we pulled out of the garage Rob turned on the mounted GPS he uses for long trips, which is his motorcycle Garmin unit pre-loaded with details of each day’s route and destinations. He said, “Well, this will be a short trip.” It didn’t turn on. The 12V plug wasn’t working with the GPS, so he used another 12V outlet and thankfully it fired up just fine. Out of the driveway at 8:20 AM. Let the adventure begin!

We drove west on Route 7 and picked up I-81 South in Winchester. Michele enjoys seeing what cargo the trucks are pulling. Early on our route this vehicle had a Canadian license plate.

This oversized load looked like a building module or some kind of utility/operations room, according to Rob, as it had electrical panels on the side. It used one pilot vehicle behind and another half a mile or so ahead, as it certainly had an overhang well into the right shoulder. Michele got this shot through the car's side mirror and reversed it in editing.

We stopped at 10 AM to stretch and take a bathroom break. The wind picked up as we headed south, shaking the car at times. At 11:30 AM we stopped for lunch in Hollins, Va, near Roanoke, at a Jersey Mike’s. We considered eating outside since the temps were near 60F in the sun, but it was so windy the mulch was being blown out of the garden beds and onto the outdoor tables. The place was very clean and lunch was delicious.  

After lunch we continued on I-81 and Rob commented that traffic was not as bad as he was expecting today. He thought there would be more truck and car traffic clogging the route, especially up the mountain sections past Roanoke. Not long after we fondly passed the exits for Virginia Tech and Radford. Michele said she would love for one of her nieces to go to Tech. 

Our next stop was in Atkins, Va for fuel and a bathroom break. Around Bristol, Va the wind improved.

On this trip, Michele said she hopes to see a cactus so large that it will amaze her. However, she does not want to see any of the following: rattlesnakes, scorpions or tarantulas.

Once in Tennessee we picked up I-40 West. This road will be our primary route all the way to Las Vegas! Three miles from our hotel exit in Knoxville we finally hit traffic. 

We were through it in about 10 minutes and arrived at our hotel in Knoxville at 4:30 PM. We had a little time before thinking about dinner so we walked three loops around the hotel to stretch our legs. Rob spotted a red bellied woodpecker high in the trees behind the hotel. We ordered dinner online and drove down the street to Calhoun's to pick it up. We enjoyed hickory chicken, salad, and sweet potato fries in our hotel room. Yum!

Today’s mileage was 469 miles.

Tomorrow we continue west across Tennessee and into Arkansas. There is a storm moving east so we expect a lot of rain in the afternoon.