244 miles via US 411, TN 338, TN 66, I-40, I-26, US 74, I-85, I-485 (southwest of Charlotte) and I-77 with a midway refueling stop in Hendersonville NC. Cumulative tow miles: 1055. Truck miles: 331. Cumulative truck miles: 1508. The additional truck miles were due to my sightseeing trip to Pigeon Forge and my two trips to dine out.
I was very worried about this hop. I thought it would be very hard on both me and the truck. Well, I was half right. It turned out to be a piece of cake for the truck – barely broke a sweat over the Smoky Mountains – but it was very hard on me. I woke at 4am thinking that I needed to find a better route. The route I was planning involved 20 miles over very narrow roads with no shoulder and, in places, a deep ditch which would have been a disaster if I let the RV wheels run off the pavement. Well, I opted for a longer stretch on US 411, which is not an easy road but has more shoulders and fewer ditches. That longer route meant it would be neccesary to refuel, but I found a truck stop in Hendersonville that would work.
So the really bad portion of the trip involved only the first few miles. Then a long stretch of US 411 where I had to remain focused. I navigated that successfully and made it to the truck stop. But there I saw a long line of trucks waiting and rather that incur the ire of OTR drivers to get less than 20 gallons of diesel fuel, I opted to try the car pumps. It wasn’t easy, but I finally got the truck to the pump and successfully refueled.
The last 110 miles were uneventful, though with a lot of traffic, particularly on US 74.
My home for 2 nights in Walland was the Whispering River RV Resort. I have stayed there before. I mentioned that the reservation was incorrect – they had my stay shifted by 1 day. I don’t know if it was my error or theirs, but it got corrected.
Note to self: read the confirmation email.
The main feature of the stay there was the cold. I had to scrape frost off my windshield the morning of my departure. I don’t like frost.
One of the reasons that I chose to return to Whispering River was its proximity the The Snoring Bear Diner, one of the best breakfast places I have ever encountered. This time I chose the “Denver Boone” – a sandwich made from two slices of french toast, stuffed with cheese, egg, sausage and bacon. “The Heart Stopper” would have been a better name. But delicious.
The previous night I also dined out, at Amici, an Italian restaurant in Maryville that looked interesting. The item on the menu that got my attention was the “Bison meatball” pasta. There were other items that sounded appealing but I had to try the bison meatball-and-spaghetti dish. Washed down with a couple of pints of craft beer. Verdict: best spaghetti-and-meatball dish I have ever had. The bison meatballs were great but so was the red sauce. Superb.
Needless to say, I didn’t lose any weight while in Walland.
