Cartersville, GA

Back on the road, at last! Now everyone relaxed... almost a little bored.

By Saturday (the 5th) the cold snap had passed. we went to our last ASL mass for a while (they really are very hard to find) and said goodbye to all our friends. Sunday morning (the 6th) Bobbi packed and Lew hitched. Then we both said "good-bye" to Paul, Rob, and the kitty, and by 1 PM the wheels were rolling -- down OH-315, I-71, I-275, and I-75.

Like the past couple of winters, we spent the first night in the Kentucky Horse Park campground outside Lexington, KY. Only the weather had changed -- unseasonably warm, we walked back and forth to the bathhouse in just our sweats.

Monday morning (the 7th) we resumed our trek down I-75, and by 4 PM we had arrived once again at the KOA in Sweetwater, TN -- where last year's trip had been aborted. The campground had new owners, pleasant enough. This time the stay was remarkable only for the continuing warmth -- 68 when we arrived. And it stayed that warm all night -- again, we walked around in our sweats or even shirtsleeves.

This morning (Tuesday the 8th) we slept in until 9, yet were back on I-75 by 11:15. This afternoon we stopped early, about 2:30, in order to avoid having to negotiate Atlanta's freeways at rush hour. Bobbi rented a site in the KOA here. This one was a very standard KOA, vintage about 1970. Rest rooms were clean and neat, but the paint choice was terminally ugly; obviously, no woman had a say in the pick. But the graveled campsites were leveled well, and there was a very good, broadband WI-FI signal, so we spent the rest of the day taking advantage of it. As a plus, the freeway is barely audible even outside the Airstream.

So tomorrow, driving hell.