We all got up at various times on Labor Day morning, mostly dictated by how much alcohol was consumed or how late the person was up the night before. What a great night – Chip finally sat down at the piano and knocked out some serious blues with his friend Dan on harmonica! Sorry I don’t have a video to post here.
So, in the morning we milled around for a bit, cleaning up after ourselves, organizing food, etc. We did sit down for one last breakfast together but there was a slight air of sadness in the air as we all knew we would be leaving soon.
Before I arrived in McMinnville, I had thought I would leave early in the morning on Monday and hit a couple roadside attractions (big Pink Elephant in Cookeville TN and a giant pencil in Wytheville, VA) on my way back to Roanoke. I wanted to check Roanoke out a little more since I didn’t get much time there on my way south.
But as we all were puttering around the house, Chip kept saying that he wanted to show me Fall Creek Falls – it’s on my way back – and why wouldn’t I want to hang around with people instead of looking at a big pink elephant or a giant pencil? He had a point.
So, after breakfast, some people left, some of us went for a hike around the lake, and the others went for a bike ride. We all caught up with each other at the pavilion on the lake, where some swimming ensued.
View of the pavilion from the other side of the lake:
A little more downtime enjoying the breeze, where I had to keep my inner voice at bay (“you should leave now – it’s getting late! stop relaxing, you need to get moving!”). It is a difficult feat for me to not listen to my mind sometimes. I realize there are times you should, and times you shouldn’t. I knew this was one of those times that I shouldn’t, and I didn’t, but it was not easy. Not at all.
And, eventually (there’s that inner voice again!) we walked back to the house. Everybody else left and Chip and I ate some leftovers before heading over to Fall Creek Falls.
The first spot he showed me was a very tall waterfall, with a suspension bridge that you could walk over to get a better look. There was a limit of “6” (we assumed 6 people) on the bridge at a time. And Chip not only pointed out how much duct tape was holding the bridge together, and how old it was, but he did his damndest to make it shake and sway as much as possible. Thanks a lot Chip! I held on to the cables with both hands, and I was trembling a little, but I laughed the whole time too. So, I guess it wasn’t too bad.
Kenn checking out the view
The infamous suspension bridge
What I didn’t realize at the time was we had to walk back across the bridge to get to the next falls. He tricked me!
As we drove to the next spot, Chip put his new CD on. It hasn’t been released yet. Good stuff. I was expected to provide my opinion on each song, which I did, and we talked about the songwriting process. Against what my brain would have thought, Chip wrote the music first, recorded all the tracks with a bunch of other musicians (Chip on piano, then horns, guitar, harmonica, background vocals) and THEN he wrote the lyrics! Listening to it you (I, anyway) wouldn’t guess that. Learned a lot about the process. Pretty cool!
Here are some more views we saw around Fall Creek Falls. By the way, FCF is a State Park but it is enormous and feels like a National Park. There are several waterholes, cabins, camping areas, and even a resort/inn you can stay in. I didn’t get a picture of the resort but it’s made out of concrete – very 70’s looking. Anyway, here are more views:
Water flow was a little lower than usual
These pictures do not do justice to the magnificence of this park.
We finished our loop around the park, hugged goodbye, and, around 7:30 pm or so, I was ready to hit the road to Roanoke. I turned on my new trusty Garmin and put in the address of the hotel in Roanoke. It told me I would arrive at 1:30am. Ugh.
So, off I went. The Garmin told me to go in a direction opposite of where Chip was driving. I thought it was odd, but, he and I were going in different directions after all. So, okay. I went back into the park and drove for a few miles until the Garmin told me to turn onto Fire Tower Lane. I took a look at Fire Tower Lane. Dirt Road. And, from past experience, Fire Tower Lanes do not typically take you anywhere but to a Fire Tower. uh uh. Not doing that one.
So, I skipped the turn and found a place to turn around. Now I was thinking, I sure hope I can find my way back to where Chip and I split off! I drove for a bit and found myself in a parking lot with no where else to go. Crap! OK, turn around again and try again. I eventually found my way to the spot I wanted to be at and went out the same way Chip and I came in. I feel like that added miles to my drive to Roanoke but I didn’t feel like circling around in a huge park that my Garmin apparently was unfamiliar with.
Eventually Ms. Garmin got her bearing and I got on the right track.
About an hour in I started getting a little hungry, and needed a rest stop, and I was also thinking since I was driving alone at night, this would be my last stop until I got to Roanoke, come hell or high water. I didn’t want to run into The Attendant at night.
So, for those of you who know me, I made a most uncharacteristic stop and went to McDonald’s. Yes, you read correctly. It was pretty nice though. For a McDonald’s. Filet-o-Fish, small fries, coffee.
Filled up the tank too, and then on the road.
This is where the ‘lessons learned’ comes in (see previous post). I think in the future, I will not book my hotel ahead of time, on the off chance that I leave my destination later than expected. This is because:
1. If I am driving by myself at night, I sure as hell am not going to get out of my car any time after about 10pm, if I can help it. And facing a 6+ hour drive back at night with no stops planned was not my most favorite thing.
2. There is a lot less scenery to see at night, which makes the drive more boring. I didn’t get sleepy or tired but it did get monotonous. Thank God for Comedy Central. Jim Jeffries rocks!
3. The weirdos come out at night. I had some ‘yahoo’ pass me at a high rate of speed, then cut over to the slow lane, effectively cutting off somebody else, and then putting his brakes on in front of the person so they had to put their brakes on too. Then he sped up to get next to me, and drove parallel to me for a while (I refused to look over or engage with him, but I could tell the driver’s window was open). Luckily he took the next exit.
4. The other weirdo was driving a car with no muffler, with high beams on the entire time and either going 80mph or 60mph. I kept trying to get away from him because his car was so ^&*%$ loud, but, we were probably on the road together for at least an hour. Finally he took an exit too.
5. I arrived in Roanoke around 1:30am. I had to park in a public parking garage in the middle of downtown, and walk from there to the hotel. Granted, it was well lighted, but, I was unfamiliar with town, and certainly uncomfortable at having to do that. I grabbed everything as quickly as I could out of my car but of course I forgot something. But, I wasn’t about to go back to my car to get it.
6. After I checked in at the hotel desk, I saw they had a little ‘snack shop’ which included some cold beers. I grabbed one and found out they couldn’t sell beer after midnight. What a disappointment! (this is a VA thing apparently)
The perk of arriving late, though, is the town was quiet. Roanoke really isn’t all that big. And I had a nice night time view.
Here are some shots from Roanoke the following morning, before I headed out:
Downtown marketplace
You may recall I went to the Deschutes Brewery when I was in Oregon. Unfortunately this one wasn’t open yet when I walked by.
Outside the Taubman Museum of Art
OK, so back on the road … stopped at a rest stop in VA and luckily The Attendant didn’t work there. I like having the State Police patrol it much better than having to deal with The Attendant!
Although I didn’t take any pictures, I drove thru Harper’s Ferry and made a stop in Frederick MD where I had some raw oysters and ceviche, and, of course, a beer.
And, final picture for this post. Kenn helping me drive home. Thanks for following! Talk soon!
