From NC to TN

The first leg of the trip was a success! We didn't break any speed records, but we made it to Nashville in 11 hours, including some unnecessary stops at Best Buy to attempt to fix the XM radio. The occasional "hippie hellos"  (honks with a peace sign) kept our spirits up as we slowly made our way up the pass through the Smokey Mtns. The less enthusiastic motorists were only able to muster up half a peace sign, as they zoomed by. Apparently, going 35 mph up a hill on the interstate is not acceptable to some. We made it to Nashville in time to have dinner with Pete's parents and help celebrate their 39th anniversary with food, drinks, and S'mores. Before hitting the sack, as a precaution, we checked the "weather-resistant" cargo carrier in the luggage rack, and saw that it and most of the gear stowed there had soaked up a good amount of rain on the way in. A couple of nights drying out the gear, a brand new "more weather-proof" cargo bag, and I think we're good to go.

Tomorrow we leave for Arkansas to "camp" (or squat) in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Morrilton, AR. If it's good enough for Clarence Thomas and his wife, it should be good enough for us, right? Plus it's appropriate to camp at a Wal-Mart in its state of origin.

Weather permitting, we'll get our first day of climbing in Oklahoma on Wednesday.