Day 1 (Tue May 10, 2011): Very Large Array; Pie Town, NM

The first day of my 2011 Road Trip was an all-day drive from Chattanooga, TN to Clinton, OK. On the right you can see Moccasin Bend near Lookout Mountain (in Chattanooga, TN). I name off all the National Parks I'll be visiting: Grand Canyon, Zion, Great Basin, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, and Mesa Verde. (I forgot to mention Great Sand Dunes.) Anticipation is generally more fun than the actual event, and though I had such a tremendous time during my trip, anticipating the events were even more fun. The beginning of a 13-hour drive.

3-second video near Nashville. At Exit 52, the Murfreesboro Road exit. Notice the Australian Garmin voice...she sounds better than the American. Go figure.

This is probably a good note for future road trips: make sure to leave early enough to avoid rush hour traffic in nearby cities. For me, this would require leaving very early from Chattanooga. I'd say maybe 5AM or so? That would mean, Central Time, coming through Nashville at 6AM, which probably would still get some rush hour traffic. Ideally, I've thought about leaving during the night. If it could be timed to miss Nashville rush hour and miss Memphis rush hour, that would be good.

There was flooding of the Mississippi during April/May 2011, and Memphis was obviously affected. The Mississippi was cresting around the time I was coming through on May 10th. Lots of water! I guess I'm videoing a "flood plain" versus river itself? If I had more time I would have liked to have stopped and taken video of different areas near the Mississippi.

Rest stop redux: you get a view of the RAV 4 and a reiteration of my exact destination for the day: Clinton, OK. I'm about to get a drink and hit the road again. I used this stop to inspect my rental car's tread, as it seemed to have less than it should. Read the next caption for more about the tread inspection.

I'm wary of rest stops. I would never stop at one at night, and even during the day I get paranoid. My paranoia is always increased when random strangers walk far distances to talk to me. During my tread inspection, a woman walked up to me. I was pretty far away from any other vehicles, and if I'm being optimistic perhaps she thought I was in distress (since I was looking around the vehicle) so she was coming to see what was the matter.

Luckily, I was getting into my car as she came up and I just grunted, essentially. Am I required to be nice to random folks at rest stops who make an effort to come accost me?? I'm sure she was about to ask for a lift or cash.

Ah, life on the road. Anyway, I reparked on the on ramp and filmed this. You get an idea of how I packed. Also realize that when I swing around to say "that's where I came from," I'm looking to see if that woman is viewable (à la Terminator)!

A rainbow at a gas station in Oklahoma City. Actually, I experienced a wee bit of bad luck in that at the end of the first day, I had a reservation for a motel that did not keep my reservation! Anyway, it was straightened out so it was okay in the end.