A bit of mushy reflective stuff to start this entry... We're both noticing that the days are quickly blurring into one, so it has been very helpful to recap everything in this blog as it will be invaluable to us in the coming weeks and months! OK, back to business:

Arrived into Knoxville,TN - Tues June 22 (Day 12)
This ended-up being one of our longer driving days but was largely due to a lot of scenic by-way adventures. We left Wytheville early to avoid the hottest part of the day, and we ended-up taking a lot of scenic tours through North Carolina and Tennessee back country. We wound our way along a river and maneuvered many narrow winding roads through the hills, which was at times nerve-wrecking after all of the wide highway driving but was 100% worth it for the views. We decided to get to the motel via the Great Smokey Mountains. To get there, we wound our way through the Cherokee Indian Reserve (thank god Tim left his cowboy hat at home), but our fears were laid to rest when we saw how touristy the town of Cherokee is.... No wartime Indians, just photo-opp Indians dressed-up with feather headdresses asking for tips. Within borders of the National Park we did a podcast-tour from the south to the north, which took us through the highest point of the main highway through the Smokies, Newfound Gap (which straddles North Carolina and Tennessee).

Day 2 Knoxville - Wed June 23 (Day 13)
We went to investigate the markets in downtown Knoxville, but it was so hot we kept taking respite in nearby stores. By 11:30am we were convincing ourselves that it wasn't too early to go to the nearest bar and get some lunch, but we persevered and went for a walk to the town hall, past the local UT (Uni of Tennessee) campus, and out onto a bridge overlooking the Tennessee River. By 12:30 we decided it was very reasonable to head to that pub which looked so inviting an hour earlier, and we watched Part 2 of the insane Isner vs Mahut game (5th set) and then settled in to watch Aus vs Serbia (good effort Socceroos!)... Fortunately for us, both Socceroos games we've wanted to watch have coincided with us being in university towns (Burlington first, Knoxville second), so there was no shortage of pubs showing the games! At night, we went to a Minor League baseball game (TN Smokies vs NC Mudcats) and it was a real highlight! Here we learned that Americans are as good at entertaining crowds at smaller games vs higher profile games... If not better! We had read about one crowd-participation game that we thought would be particularly entertaining - the Chicken Run. The write-up sounded like they'd let a chicken loose on the field and children would need to chase it and catch it (i.e., the catcher would be the winner), which sounded hilarious! Unfortunately, it ended-up being a man dressed up in a chicken suit running across the field (entering from left field, exiting at right field) with 20 children running behind him in an orderly line. Disappointing. However, this was more than made up for by the other 6 games that were played (the balloon game especially, where 3 pairs of young boys raced against the clock to burst balloons by squeezing them between themselves.... Even if this meant rolling around on the field on top of each other!). There was a very exciting win at the end of the game by the Smokies - the Mudcat's batter hit a fly ball to left field where he was caught out, and the fielder threw the ball straight to home plate where the catcher held his place and got the third and final out to win the game! What a fantastic night!

Takeaway from this day: There's not a whole lot to do in Knoxville, but minor league baseball is awesome!

Knoxville, TN to Chattanooga, TN - Thurs June 24 (Day 14)
Our primary purpose for going to Chattanooga was to visit Ruby Falls, and it did not disappoint! We went on the standard tour which lasted about an hour, walking through the caves leading to the falls which are set in the middle of Lookout Mountain. The caves were exquisite with lots of nooks and crannies, and stalagmites and stalactites galore! The falls themselves were incredible, and the lighting they have installed to play off the caves made it sparkle even more. And the fact that it was about 25F cooler in the caves was a relief too! After the tour, we went to the top of the observation deck, but let us tell you now... Chattanooga is not pretty, just highly industrial.

Went to an old fashioned BBQ joint for lunch - the Rib and Loin - and enjoyed our first southern sweetened iced tea! It was really refreshing (maybe a little on the sweet side) but felt very authentic! We got a typical super-sized portion and the leftovers managed to feed us for dinner too!

In the afternoon, Duke got his first bath of the journey.

Knoxville, TN to Nashville, TN - Fri June 25 (Day 15)
We were planning on driving straight to Nashville, but were distracted by a Jack Daniel's Distillery sign, so we drove the additional 25miles and were so happy we did! Rather than just being a regular tour where some random dude just talks at you for an hour, we were properly walked through the entire facility and got some great insight into the Tennessee Whiskey making process (and saw the whiskey actually being made... We even smelled some of the 140 proof product-whoa!) and of course we got a look into Mr Jack's history too. It was a real highlight of the trip so far (which was quite surprising), and they no longer charge a fee for the tour either which capped it off nicely!

Scenically, one thing we are really enjoying is that farm owners typically have kept century-old barns standing on their properties - they really add a lot of charm and personality to the landscape.

We literally chilled out in our room during the uber hot part of the day, and did a podcast-guided walking tour of the home of country music - Nashville - at night (it helped us navigate around downtown Nashville, but we each enjoyed the Country Music highlights of it all to varying degrees... Let's just say Tim took more away from it than Stacey!) We enjoyed a drink or two at one of the Honky Tonks and soaked in the music (even recognizing a cover or two that must've been mainstream at some point!)

Day 16 and Day 17 (June 26 and 27) have both been heavy travel days on our way to Chicago (to see Meg and Lauren!), so we randomly chose two stop-offs in the middle:

1. Evansville, IN: Just outside Evansville (while still in Kentucky) we enjoyed some authentic Fried Chicken at the Bon-Ton Mini Mart (thank you Roadfood for the reco), and it was SO tasty! Crisp skin, spicy to the middle, and so juicy and tender on the inside (we non-Yanks tend to assume fried chicken would be really bad for us - think KFC - and while the fried skin might be so, the oil doesn't penetrate the moist meat on the inside!) Before checking-in we visited an area called Angels Mound which was once a Native American township, and learned a bit about their civilization (they apparently lived there in 1000 to 1500AD).

2. Danville, IL: There is nothing to do here. At all. Even the pool at the motel is closed cos some hick broke a glass in it last night. So we bought lunch (rotisserie chicken and deli salads) and had a carpet picnic, and plan on drinking beer and watching soccer and movies and HBO all day.

Chicago, here we come...!