Tennessee Stud

That's Amore.


"Daddy got a job with the TVA,
We bought a washing machine
and then a Chevrolet"
-Alabama

East Tennessee is TVA country which is illogical because the Tennessee river isn't in this part of the state. Go figure. Every valley bottom is filled with impounded water which makes motorcycling sort of inconvenient. Due to this lack of dry, flat spots, all wayfarers within a one hundred mile radius are funneled through downtown Chattanooga regardless of their final destination. I tried to make a policy of not riding through cities but this looked unavoidable. I steeled myself and found comfort in the words of Grandpa Jones, Lomax-era Bard of the Blue ridge:
"Knoxville is a pretty place,
Memphis is a beauty,
But if you wanna find them pretty girls,
Then hop to Chattanoogee"

Anyway, this stanza did nothing to alleviate the wafting engine heat that drenched me with sweat as I sat downtown at a red light on MLK boulevard for ten minutes because the traffic light sensor failed to recognize my presence.
After Chattanooga I entered central Tennessee, populated primarily, as far as I can tell by groups of snow-white haired old ladies that congregate each morning at McDonalds only to stare disapprovingly at my grease-stained pants.
Just when I thought their couldn't possibly be anymore of this freakin' state I entered the missisippi delta, a hundred miles of wide open, flat, hazy, sodden farm land. Here's some TN pics:

Tobacco Row.






The Tennessee River. Right across from Arby's.



Delta Blues.