Nathan posted on July 04, 2008 17:53
Friday, July 4, 2008
Nathan calls this the hottest day yet--I was maybe hotter yesterday, but it's been pretty warm and sticky here. We left this morning and hit some of the best trail so far. We had more dirt roads today, and lots of creek crossings.
The thing that makes the TAT so great is not just the off-road part (although I can't think of much more fun than sliding around on dirt roads in Nathan's Jeep). It's the opportunity to see the best part of the country. Typical American travel anymore means endless, soul-sucking miles of interstate with the same truck stops and fast-food chains to continue the monotony. The TAT goes by farms and state parks and wildlife areas, and when it goes through towns, they are the tiny back-woods kind with gas pumps that don't take credit cards and stores that are run by toothless people with heavy southern accents. Dogs here have the good life, with room to roam and hunt, wooden porches to sleep under, and the occasional cow to harass.
We passed through an Amish or Mennonite (or something) community. On one of the farms, one boy was driving a team to mow the hay while another boy, his father, and another young boy were driving the huge hay wagon, piled high overhead with fresh-cut hay. They looked like a picture, so quaint, but I wouldn't want to be out haying in such hot weather.
We crossed the line into Mississippi this evening, and we liked it so much up in these hills that we decided to stop and ask for a place to camp. We figured we might be pushing our luck after such a wonderful experience the other night, but we tried anyway. We stopped at the home of Molly, who drove us just down the road to some logging/slashing/burning land where we not only have a great view of the surrounding hills, but where we were able to set off our fireworks, too. I lit one of the big ones, and I burnt my right thumb and forefinger.
I'm about ready for bed. It's late, after having set off a double-load of fireworks (they were buy-one-get-one-free). Here's hoping for cooler weather tomorrow.
Posted by EHenson at 7:49 PM