May 9, 2006

Today we traveled all of 128 miles.  We left Elizabethton, NC this morning and drove up to Blountville, TN.  It didn't take very long, because it was a short distance.  During the drive up there, we saw a truck towing a Lemon.  That's right the trailer was in the shape and color of a Lemon.  It had a window on the side, they were probably using it to sell lemonade.  It looked funny, and unfortunately, there was no time to grab the camera.  When we got to Blountville, we found a Silver Dollar dollar store that we went into for a couple of things.  Also, bought a couple of cones from the TCBY yogurt store.  We found the store that sells the heavy duty outdoor chairs, which was the whole reason to come to Blountville in the first place.  After looking at 4 of them, Sherry and I bought 2 different ones for ourselves, and another for our son, Josh, which is like mine, the largest that they sell.  These are not cheap chairs, but they are very strong. If you would like to see the chairs you can click here and it will take you to the website.  Josh and I have the MaxxDaddy Monster chair, and Sherry has the MaxxDaddy Mighty Maxx.  These are well built, have a headrest, footrest, and fold up and store in a bag that is about 3 feet long, and about 10 inches or so in diameter.  According to their literature, the Maxx Daddy Monster will hold  1000 lbs.  That is not a misprint, that is 1000 lbs.  Each arm has been tested to 400 lbs.  Sounds like it should hold up for my fat ***. (you fill in the blanks). Anyway, after leaving there, we found another thrift store, and decided to check it out.  Didn't buy anything there, just looked.  We did however see a very cute Dachshund 6 week old puppy.  He just wanted to curl up in the t-shirt he was sleeping in and go back to sleep.  We then headed down route 75 and then got on I 26 East which brought us out of Tennessee and back into North Carolina. We stopped at the Tourist Information site after entering NC, and picked up a couple of brochures.  The pictures posted below are from route 75 in Tennessee, and I 26 in both Tennessee, and NC.  We are currently in Ashville, NC for the evening.  We haven't a clue where we're heading tomorrow, except that there is a Farmers Market that we want to go to not far from here and check it out.

Route 75 headed South in TN.

Route 26 headed East in TN.

Those buildings are probably 1/2 mile away and hundreds of feet below Rt. 26 which we are on.

Roadway cut through solid rock with mountains in the background.  I 26 East.

We stopped a scenic overlook, and took this shot.  There is a building down there more visible in the next couple of pics.

Here is a closer shot of the last one.

This is as close up as my camera will do,  however, it is a considerable distance from where we are, to this place.

From the same location, the mountains in the distance.  Eastern Tennessee has some beautiful scenery.

And of course, a beautiful Rhodadendrum planted next to the scenic overlook we stopped at.

And of course, a butterfly hanging around the overlook.

If you look closely, there is the outline of a burned vehicle that sat at this spot at one time or another.  I guess the steep mountain climb up the mountain was just too much for whatever was parked here.

And of course, I did get a good picture of this welcome sign.

If you look in the middle of the picture, there are some clouds, and just below them start the mountains.  Pictures do no do justice to the actual scenery, however, it is beautiful.  this was taken soon after entering NC on the way down a 6% grade.

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