Day 16 - 4/19/2017 - Atlanta to Radford, VA - 414.4 miles & the Great Smokey Mountains

Time for Some Travel'in Music. RAY and the Raylettes !!!!!

Atlanta is behind us now. Four days in one spot is quite a pleasure after being in the road for so long.

Yesterday was quite a day. We were sent out to canvass precincts to Get Out The Vote. I drove and Vickie did the door knocking. Working a neighborhood much like ours wasn't too bad. Except the house numbering. The system clearly wasn't designed by Engineers. It seemed so un-intuitive and in defiance of any logic that I figure is was a committee of an Economist, Sociologist, Short-order Cook and Ron Popeil, of RONCO Pocket Fisherman fame.

The worst was when Vickie had to do a large apartment complex. Four stories per building, no  elevator. Stairs up. Stairs down. Stairs up. Stairs down. A couple of more days like that and she would have calves that looked like watermelons. Perfect for the Camino de Santiago next fall.

As many of you know, Jon Ossoff clearly won top spot in the special election for the Georgia 6th Congressional District, and just missed winning it outright. In June there will be a run-off between him and Karen Handel (R).

Vickie really had a wonderful time, her first time working in a real political campaign. I've done a few over the last 45 years; two presidential and two state legislative races, one of which I was the campaign manager (and won). Because I spent the majority of my career working in government, I refused to participate in elections when I was an employee, as is the only ethical approach and one I strongly believe in.

So last night we went to the campaign celebration at the hotel to watch the results.

I didn't get her name but this lady, and her husband who has a full face in the lower right, used to live on Whidby Island, Washington. They cameby to catch up on Pacific Northwest experiences after we told her we were from Oregon and had lived in Bellingham, Washington.

As you may have seen from my previous post, Vickie became an international celebrity once people found out we drove out from Oregon, and she was interviewed by Vice News, Reuters, and Danish TV.

The gentleman on the right was the Associated Press photographer who was covering the rally. I had ensconced myself right in front of the press platform, which is always right in front of the podium. I know how this stuff works. 😉

That worked to my wife's advantage. Because we were right there, she was often in the background as CNN and MSNBC did their stand-up live feeds back to the networks.

That led to her phone ringing to find out it was her friend Jennifer Olson Ives in Winthrop, Washington yelling "You're on CNN! You're on CNN!" When Vickie said "I can't hear you let me move", with Jennifer yelling "Stay right where you are!"

There were lots of folks who were interesting in as many ways as there were people.

Manu Raju of CNN

Young man who will never give up.

There were lots of problems with the vote count from the Fulton County portion of the district, but by 11:30 it looked like Ossoff wouldn't get the Home Run, just a Triple, so we went back knowing that the Great Smoky Mountains were on the docket for the next day.

Dogwoods in the Smoky Mountains

Vickie took these shots in the mountains. I'm sure she has more on her blog, but it was something to see all these dogwoods in bloom.

While the Appalachians are not as high as the western mountains, they are densely wooded and impressively steep.

Vickie did a short walk on the Appalachian Trail, just so she can say she did, and did not run into a former governor and now US Senator who notoriously DIDN'T walk there whe he said he did.

I also want to be firmly on record that the picture below was NOT a result of any actions of mine.

NOT ME!!!!

Lastly, let me relate our drive through Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Pigeon Forge is the birthplace of Dolly Pardon and the site of  the "Dollywood" theme park.

If I live to be 300, I hope to never have to pass through those town again. Tourist Trap, on steroids. While the scale is not as big, I would call them a less tasteful version of Las Vegas. Even on a Wednesday in April, lots of folks and geared to make parents give their kids $100 an hour to play on all the stuff. You name it they've got it.

Downtown Gatlinburg shops that run a couple of miles on both sides of the street.

5D Ripley's Believe It or Not complete with Tyrannosaur  (only 4000, yrs. old, I presume)

Hotel with King Kong on  top, convenient to the Cracker Barrel next door.

Yes, Dorothy, you're not in Kansas any more.