great smokies to the appalachians

On our way to finding a place to camp in the great smokies, we passed through Chatanooga, Tennesee, where there were signs posted for “Choo Choo.” We had to stop for a visit, for the sake of Glenn Miller. It was just as we suspected…

"pardon me boy is that the chatanooga choo-choo?"

"won't you choo-choo me home?"

we got lost

And after unintentionally exploring Backroads Tennessee the rest of the evening, we didn’t find our campsite till near midnight. By that time we had fully scared ourselves silly driving past houses with confederate flags and up dark mountain roads covered in Thriller-esque fog. When we got to the top of the small mountain we were looking for, we were happy to see families doing their night time camping thing. Fires dwindling and ladies blowing drying each other’s hair in the bathroom. In the morning we realised that the place we were staying at was both a Cherokee national forest and historic confederate camp. It was the beginning point of the “Trail of Tears” which ended where we were in Oklahoma. Creepo. We bailed early and just missed the ranger.

sugar loaf mountain

In Roanoke, VA, we stopped in a Best Western to hijack the wi-fi connection and find a campsite near the base of the Appalachians. We were determined to get there a little bit earlier this time, but got distracted on the way by an amazing back east sunset.

virginia is for lovers

Back mountains Virginia was actually one of the most beautiful fairytale places we had found in the whole country. We were happy to be there. Slept near Sherando lake in the Blue Ridge Mountains, it was awesome. Cooked up a little feast on our microscopic stove, read a little Bourdain aloud and had a good night sleep in the cooler air. The next morning we tried to bail early again, thinking we needed to make it to Philly in time for a show. But the show turned out to be cancelled (it’s hard for touring bands right now!!!) so we decided to head straight for New York, with a stop in D.C. to visit the prez.

to roanoke

name those clouds

not buffalos