Monday, April 28, 2014

US Hwy 70: Tennessee Tornado Threat Transit

Over coffee this morning, I reviewed my route maps and the weather forecasts. This is the first image I saw and my first thought was, "Well, of course!" You know my road trip weather history!



Pulling a trailer, I take weather warning seriously and am mindful about weather risks. That said, I also know that you can't cancel every expedition plan just because someone predicts the chance of bad weather. I had already planned on making a short hop today, and further research showed I was likely to miss the worst of whatever was out there. I decided to go ahead and I'm glad I did.

Among the many advantages (in my opinion) of driving the old US Highways versus the Interstates is that you drive slower, in less traffic, and you're rarely far from a place you can pull off if you need to. That was certainly true today. Although the sky was overcast and occasionally dark to the north, the road was clear, dry and practically empty the entire route west through the Knoxville area.



West of Knoxville, an enjoyably rolling, curving, climbing stint took me up onto what is called the Cumberland Plateau. (I'll try to find out more about the Plateau and report anything interesting.)



Shortly after noon — 1pm now that I'm on CDT — I arrived at a lovely campground under cloudy skies. Setting up my rig is pretty easy — and I'm well rehearsed! — so it was only a few minutes before I was very comfortably settled in.



We had a brief rain which cleared quickly, then Happy and I went for a nice long walk. As I write this, Happy has settled in under the picnic table — she is always under something! — and opens her eyes only when she senses I'm moving around.



The chance of storms is predicted to continue through tomorrow so I'm not making big plans, but the weather is supposed to be beautiful by Wednesday. There are a few things in the area that I want to explore, so… Stay tuned!

Click here to see exactly where I am posting this from on Google Maps.

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