TOM:

Day 32 – The weather at the start was overcast with a temperature of 58 degrees, very simular to the last three days.  I left Winchester and headed south on Highway 41A.  The ride started on a fairly flat area for about ten miles.  Then the climb began from the 960 feet up to 2000 feet in about 2.5 miles.  This was a nice climb.  It was cool, the birds were singing, the creeks were making waterfall sounds, and brooks were making babbling sounds to entertain me.  I could not see most of the creeks or brooks because of the dense trees. After reaching the top of the mountain there were about 25 miles of  relatively flat area.  The temperature had dropped to 55 degrees and there was a fog in the air but always down the road.  This was a very beautiful mountainous area. It is quite different from the west because of the water and the very green trees. Soon after reaching the top I passed Sewanee, TN, the home of  University of the South. There were several small towns close together.  Sand Switch, TN and Monteagle, TN were the first two.  The skies started to clear at Sand Switch, TN and by Monteagle I stopped to change to my sun glasses from my clear safety glasses.  With the clear sky the sun soon warmed the day up to the high 60's.  Instead of rolling hills today I had rolling mountains.  The first was from 960 feet to 2000 feet, the second was from 800 feet to 1200 feet, the third was from 630 feet to 950 feet, and there were three more about the same as the third one.  The good thing about the hills is that the ride down is fast and feels good.  This compensates for the slow uphill ride. I stopped in Jasper for lunch and sat on a bench on the sidewalk across the street from the courthouse. None of the stores were open, so I had the whole square to myself except for the passing cars. One of the cars had Lucille in it.  We crossed into Georgia and into the Eastern Time Zone, losing another hour. This was a beautiful day in the mountains passing by lakes on the Tennessee River.  Another great day for a bike ride.

Chattanooga, TN

Our eighth state and third time zone

View from the mountain

Day Thirty-Two - 5/26/2003

We passed this sign.

Total Trip Distance: 2643.32

View from near Sewanee, TN

Lake on Tennessee River

Winchester, TN to Fort Oglethorpe, GA 78 miles.  The elevation at the start was 960 feet and at the end it was 770 feet.  During the day the elevation was at a high of 2000 feet and a low of 630 feet.  This is the highest point we will pass east of the Mississippi.

Lucille:

May 26 - Monday - Before leaving Winchester, I found a bike shop and bought some extra tire tubes for Tom's bike and then walked around the town square.. Next I drove 3 miles to the Shadow Nursery, a place Betsy told me about.  It is a large wholesale nursery.  I drove through the narrow roads of the property and enjoyed seeing the variety of plants.  I saw a chicken coop along the road, and farther into the property was a field that had some ostriches nearby and some goat-like animals in the distance.  I then headed east.  When I arrived at Sewanee I drove out to University of the South.  What a gorgeous campus!  The drive today was mountainous and so beautiful.  I had one problem today.  I'm finding that the last few states we've passed through have much fewer road signs than what I'm used to in California.  They are at the intersections, but you can drive for miles and miles without seeing another road marker on the road.  Today I felt uneasy because I was on Highway 41 as I wanted to be, but I drove for miles in the mountains without seeing another 41 sign, and then the few signs I saw said Highway 150.  I couldn't find 150 anywhere on my map.  Anyway, I finally arrived in Jasper where I finally saw a 41 sign that verified I was on the right road.  I was looking so intently at the signs that I didn't see Tom sitting on a bench having his lunch.  He called me on the walkie-talkie as I passed and I turned around and stopped to have my lunch too.  Later when I got to where I was searching for Highway 17 I had a problem with lack of signs again, but finally found 17 and made it into Georgia.  We are at a Super 8 motel in Fort Oglethorpe, GA tonight.  We ate at O'Charlies.

Towns were decorated for Memorial Day.