6-2-06

It was pouring pretty good out this morning. We've had a lot of rain through Ky and Tenn while Dan drove the first leg (the only MOSTLY crappy drive). Of course when I took over the reins the sky exploded. Once we hit the Cumberland trail in the Tennessee mountains, we had all sorts of good stuff; Trees falling out of the sky, rain drops so big, you could actually see them aiming for you. They looked like freakin water balloons. Let's see, then there was the white out conditions where the only thing keeping me on the road was keeping the tip of the headlight on the yellow line. Or the huge winds that tried to blow you over the bridges. Or the knuckleheads who haven't heard of headlights in the rain. It was such a hoot. I think we lost at least an hour maybe two driving through that. But basically, we had rain over 95% of our almost 8 hour run today from Lousiville to Banner Elk, NC.

Driving through the mountains CAN be fun, especially if it's none of the above is going on. At some point we peaked a mountain in Tennessee and started going downhill. Dan decided to see what she'd coast up to.... well, he put it back in gear at 90. It's too bad the mpg gauge only goes to 90mpg too.

For lunch today...

So, somewhere outside of Lexington, Dan started getting a jones for Waffle House. Not quite sure why, so I asked... He thinks it's subliminal Waffle House road signs. I think he could be on to something. Those ugly little yellow signs, screaming 'greasy spoon... free tums' were getting to me too. Oh and once we were fooled. None of that Waffle King pos-eur stuff for Dan. So after driving a while we come across another Waffle House sign at the Corbin(?), Ky exit. Dan's really ready. I'm not really that hungry but it's a good time to stop for a driver switch and the Dan needs food, badly. At least before he gnaws off any of that mangled hamburger looking hand of his (no, I won't elaborate on those stories but suffice it to say that Dan saved THIS trip... A FEW TIMES)...

Now. I have to preface my Waffle House experience, I have to admit that I have never been to a Waffle House before. So I had no idea what to expect. Other than when I walked in... it WAS the traditional greasy spoon. Or SO I THOUGHT. When I got the menu and I expected to see, my three choices of Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, imagine food-minglers surprise when he found lots of stuff to add to your food. So there I was with all these choices. Star, the waitress started talking about all the menu items. And I was semi-latched onto the beefmeltwich until I saw Kenny the cook pull 3 pork chops off the grill. SOLD, I say. Then Kenny starts elaborating on all the cool shiznit he can do with those lil old potechops. Well, I wound up with the 3 pork chop dinner, loaded with cheese and grilled onions (I just couldn't handle the addition of mushrooms and green peppers too), a side of hash browns loaded with cheese and jalapeno's, tecsass toast, AND a bowl of very good chili (in substitute for the salad that comes with the dinner that I didn't think I'd be able to eat - hah foolish me). Oh man was that all SO good. I ate every little freaking piece of everything (except the small chop bones - and even that was close as I almost sucked one down trying to Hoover-pig all the meat off em...). 

Kudos to Kenny for making us awesome food and regaling us with tales. It made us waypoint this stop on the GPS for return visits for sure.

Well... we finally made it to Banner Elk. Only a couple hours late, but we missed a lot of the group and a lot of people were already sitting for food. We saw Dave and chatted for a couple minutes. But I felt bad for Dan that he didn't get his customary Jeannie hug as she disappeared about 12 seconds after we laid eyes on her.

One thing is funny... There's already been a handful of people that remember the guardrail incident and won't let it die... And of course everybody also talks about the color. Yeah, that Cobalt Blue shark is just SO dang pretty...

As far as her temperamental side goes though... We got done checking in and I went to park it... NO START. AGAIN. Same problem we had last year... IT'S BACK! And that's after Dan paid the dealer a teste and the condo keys to 'fix' it. Well... I guess they didn't. And people wonder why I don't trust mechanics.

Anyway, after dinner we were able to get it push started and parked in a spot. Dan was able to fire it back up right away... I think we might be doing a starter on Sunday...

For dinner, we met Ariel and Lisa from Bartlett, Ill. and they invited us to sit with them. We ate in the Banner Elk Best Western, where we're staying, at the Fireside Grill. I think they have a cook in there who fancies himself a chef. Or maybe it really WAS because they were out of steak knives that my NY Strip w/ baked tater (with sour cream) came out as three one inch strips of meat (pretty sure they were steak) served on a bed of mashed potatoes. UGH. Luckily, it tasted ok, mostly. Kinda.  Sorta. Maybe.

Oh... and I have to say that my eyes lit up when I saw they had Oysters Rock on the menu. They were ok, but again, I think Cook... I mean, Chef Bobby-Robert took things a little too far out of hand. And they sounded so darned good too... oh well... There's always Crabby Bills.

Alright, I think that's about it for now. Been updating the web page and wrapping this stuff up. Need to crash here at 1a for a 7a wakeup call. Hopefully the rain bypasses us and we have a good day for the picnic.