garyandpearl

Day 10 As charming as Charleston was, it was time to head back to Indiana, so we left with many things unseen and undone.  Our elegantly served breakfast of bacon quiche, fresh berries, and something that looked and tasted like a mini cherry cheesecake propelled us on to Knoxville, Tennessee.  Although it was drizzly, hot, and humid, we got out of town before Hurricane Franklin hit!

Today’s drive included three dead armadillos on the road and Mario Kart style driving as Gary drove I40 through the Blue Ridge mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee.  Being wedged between a large concrete wall on the left and semi’s on the right left me praying and closing my eyes on occasion.  Gary seemed to have fun!

After checking into our Motel 6, we headed downtown for BBQ at Calhoun’s on the River, a busy restaurant right beside the Tennessee River.

We lingered on the boardwalk before heading back for the night.

Day 11

We have been passing by the Cracker Barrel Restaurant billboard signs for thousands of kilometers, so today we finally enjoyed a meal there.  The 4 slices of sourdough bread French toast with blackberry sauce, whipped cream, eggs and bacon for $8.39 is highly recommended, and I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!  🙂  OK, Gary helped a bit.

It was a rainy day, and we stopped for a bit of shopping at Cabela’s and Costco.  I found this sign outside of the Costco bathroom.

Thankfully, it was not needed.  We reached Avon, Indiana in time to enjoy a delicious Mexican supper with Dave and Linda.

Day 12

After returning our rental car on which we put 3650 km in 8 days, Linda, Gary and I headed to the Indiana State Fair!  We visited various booths including the Soy Bean exhibit, but my goal was to find deep fried chocolate bars.  I was not disappointed.  Here is the deep fried Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup! It was still warm and so scrumptious!

We also found a cheese sculpture made from 1480  pounds of cheese!!

Although we walked many steps that day, we headed out for a walk in the evening and found cicada shells along with a beautiful sunset.

Day 13 took us back home to Medicine Hat via Toronto and Calgary, and thus concludes our Road Trip 2017. We made some great memories exploring God’s and man’s creations! Thanks for following along!