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| Cherry trees in spring |
Bob was already in the shower when I woke up at 5:00 a.m. after a fitful night's sleep, if you can call it that. I made sandwiches (ham, turkey; both on sourdough with provolone) for the road and quickly made a final trip to the trash chute. I felt just a little guilty pitching a load down the chute before six but it couldn't be helped.
We left St. Pete in the dark and crossed Tampa Bay in a chiaroscuro waterscape. When sunrise finally lighted up the freeway, we were already an hour into our journey north. Our first rest stop shortly before ten was full of older people, travelling either north or south. We were among the very few in shorts and tees, and I was ... damn cold.
Our big concern was getting through Atlanta. Going around the city -- at rush hour on a Friday a month ago -- was just awful, so we decided to take the advice of someone Bob met at a rest stop, and use the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane on I75, going through, instead of around, downtown Atlanta.
We breezed through the first few miles and then ... gridlock. An accident near downtown closed several lanes of traffic and we crawled for 5 or 6 miles. Finally, wide open highway and we were back in business on the HOV. However, we couldn't really tell whether using the HOV would be a reasonable strategy on another trip.
Heavy traffic most of the way to Chattanooga, but oh so lovely! Cherry and flowering crab trees were in full bloom, and the scent of spring filled the air. Traffic got heavy again at the Georgia-Tennessee border, and we dragged our tired selves to the Comfort Suites. I had read one negative review so felt a little reluctant, but was too weary to search elsewhere.
Turns out we're very happy with our king room, and it looks like one of our sandwiches will make a good dinner.
