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Trip Start Date: June 29, 2002. Miles at Start: 95153 This is my first of two scheduled vacations for 2002, the Fourth of July Week (the other one is Christmas), and I was ready to go! I had to make one choice before we left for Gatlinburg: Should we take the Concorde, or should we take the Bird? The reason I had a choice in the matter was because Mrs. Johnson was keeping the kids with her for the whole week, so we didn't need all of the luggage room (except to take the kids to Columbus, which is the starting point of this cruise). Of course I chose to take the Bird to the Great Smoky Mountains; just me and my wife and the open road. This was going to be a very good vacation! Sunday, June 30, we left from Columbus MS around 9:30 AM, CDT. There were no major incidents throughout most of the trip, save for a few rainstorms. We took US-82 from Columbus to Tuscaloosa AL. From there we picked up I-20/59 to Birmingham, and from there we took I-59 to right outside of Chattanooga TN. On the 20-mile stretch of I-59 in Dade County Georgia, a sheriff's patrol car was clocking speeds in the median. I was going about 73 mph in a 70-limit speed zone, but my first instinct is to always hit the brakes when I see any patrol car. I tapped the brakes and I was going about 71 mph when I passed the patrol car. I get about a mile up the highway and I notice that the patrol car is coming up on me in the left lane. I figured that he was just heading to his checkpoint or something. By this time, an 18-wheeler pulled out in front of me from the scenic lookout park ramp. I stayed behind the 18-wheeler, figuring that the patrol car would pass me, but he slowed up too! I'm starting to get nervous now, even though I know I didn't do anything wrong, unless he was going to give me a ticket for going 73 in a 70 mph speed zone. The patrol car pulled right up beside me and he peered into our car for a few seconds, then he sped up and finally turned around. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing, or maybe that was a case of DWB...Driving While Black. Hey, don't get mad at me; it happens. Then again, maybe the patrolman just wanted to check out the smooth, clean, shiny Blubird up close! Anyway, everything after that was cool. We had been seeing signs about Ruby Falls throughout the stretch of I-59, and once we got to Chattanooga on I-24, we decided to stop at Ruby Falls to see what it was about. For those who don't know, Ruby Falls is a 145-foot underground waterfall located in a mountain by the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. We took a tour of the cave and we bumped into some "Clarksdalians" (small world!). We took a few pictures of the rock formations in the cave, then we went to the observation deck and saw a beautiful view of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River. This was a very nice 1 to 2-hour stopover. My wife drove from Chattanooga, where we picked up I-75, then we picked up I-40/75 about 10 miles outside of Knoxville TN, then we took I-40 to TN-66 which took us to Sevierville, which picked up US-321 and US-441 through Pigeon Forge, and finally into Gatlinburg. The traffic on that strip between Sevierville and Gatlinburg is unbelievable! There were cars and trucks and vans for days! Bumper to bumper, for 20 miles! And Gatlinburg...we couldn't move at all. Then we couldn't find our resort, the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort. We were lost for about an hour or so. Come to find out, the directions we were given were very unclear. The resort is on Garden Road. Number one: There's not a sign in the whole county with Garden Road on it. Number two: The resort we were staying at is not in Gatlinburg; it's about a mile outside Gatlinburg. Number three: no one, except the firemen at the fire station, knew exactly where it was; and number four: when we tried to call the resort, no one answered the phone! So when we finally got there, my wife let the desk attendants have it - in a nice way because she's so happy-go-lucky, but the other couple from Virginia or West Virginia, who ended up going to Knoxville trying to find the place - well that's another story. No profanity was used, but the point was definitely made. We finally settled in around 9:30 PM, EDT. 
For the next six days, we had a blast! No kids, no curfew, no work, no worries, no nothing! Nothing but "What are we gonna do next!" Here's a run-down of our activities:7-1-02: 7-2-02: 
7-3-02:7-4-02: 
7-5-02:7-6-02: The next day, Sunday, July 7, we headed back to Columbus MS. I drove from Gatlinburg to Birmingham, and my wife drove the rest of the way. The trip back was quick and without incident. Oh yes, happy 16th birthday to the person in the maroon Chevy Tahoe from Alabama on the I-59 stretch. TOOT TOOT! We spent the night in Columbus and the family left for Clarksdale (this time the Bird was harder to pack) the next day. Miles at End: 96549 Total Trip Miles: 1396 
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