Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Day 2 - Starkville to Chattanooga, TN

355 Miles

On the road by 7:30 a.m. Hwy 82 to Alt 45 then Hwy 45 through Tupelo and Corinth and into Tennessee. Took Hwy 22 by Shiloh battlefield but didn't stop. I've visited the site previously. Hwy 22 is a great little twistie ride through Tennessee country. Took it up to Crump (some town names just don't get it, do they?), then U.S.64 East. This is a good little ride. Road turns to 4-lane through some areas, but mostly it's just a two-lane highway with little traffic (on a Tuesday morning anyway). Nice ride, even with the heat.


Nice, rolling Tennessee countryside.
(Click on picture to enlarge)















Hwy 64











A little more Hwy 64










Took I-24S east of Winchester to Chattanooga. Now, like most, and as I constantly remind, I don't like interstate. But I-24S into Chattanooga is a pretty ride with 6-degree hills and twisting canyon roads. Pretty, if 6-lane. Sort of like I-70 in Utah. The scenery is so damned pretty you don't care if it's interstate...except for the 18-wheeler riding up your tail. That'll reset you to zero.

Oh, and your head had better be on a swivel. On the 6 degree slopes, the truck run-a-way lanes are to the left so you ain't safe if you stay toward the left lanes and think they are on the right ones. This is brought especially home when you see the big wheel gouges in the soft gravel dirt of the run-a-way lane. They have been "used." And recently.




Tennessee River - Nickajack Reservoir off I-24
about 15-20 miles north of Chattanooga.




















Okay. I'm on the road and the Chinese revenge seems to have worked its way through (and I do mean through).

Tomorrow they can start taking down the signs. I'll have seen Rock City.

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