A nightmare drive

After celebration Sofia's B day (w myself) i had to sleep in. Not only that. I got quite sick. Bad cold. It was my day off however i had to drive 6 hours from Tennessee to N Carolina. I had to cross Smokey Mountains and i knew that there are some problems with roads. But where exactly? On the way i saw announcement that the road that i chose is closed. Well, i thought i will take another one through the north. My GPS lady was going nuts telling me to come back. "Please come back!" It was a little suspicious but i kept on going. I tried to get everyone on the phone for directions. No luck. Where is everybody when i need the most? GPS lady now was insisting to turn around. She was even threatening me but i kept going into the Appalachian Mountains

Hmmmm ... i hope it is the right way.

The views were great. 

However it was very hard to enjoy the road because i was having my lunch on my knees, cuting avocado, tomato, talking on the phone, checking directions on GPS and trying to take pictures at the same time. I am not a multi tasker but it is never too late to start. When i saw this i freaked out.   

W ....... T ............ H (optional) ............... ?????????? Kentucky is not on the way to N Carolina! I pulled over to the Welcome Center and they confirmed that i was going to the wrong direction for 70 miles. The only way to get to N Carolina was to come back where my GPS lady started to swear. Go back for 70 miles? Listen to this: in order to make a U turn in this "banjo land" i had to go for extra 10 miles and then to turn. Another 20 miles for nothing? Yes, we always have to pay for stupidity. Ahhhhhhh!!!! I wanted to rip my hair off. Its getting dark. I am sick like a dog, hungry like Sofia, there and ... there is no one to blame. 

I drove back and took the right way. By now it was 5 pm. When i thought that i was on the right way my GPS lady offered me a different road. This time i listened to the GPS. I learned my lesson. But my road was not getting wider. It was getting narrower and more wet. Later on very curvy. Soon it started to snow and i was there alone. This time GPS lady really messed me up!

Cute natives provided a mellow entertainment. (look at my sharp right turn ahead).

As i was going higher up the mountain my speed was getting slower and slower because of the ice.

Soon i realized that got myself into the deep ... and that i can't make mistakes here.

My speed was 15 to 20 mph. I was getting really tired and even more sick. When i looked at the GPS to check how far was my destination. It showed ... 14o miles. (Do the math at 20 mph.) That was funny. I had to tell myself to start enjoying where i am now. I switched myself into survivors mode. No mistakes, no mistakes, feel the road, look ahead, don't blow your nose yet, its a sharp and slippery turn ... Then the blizzard came. When i reached a small town it became even more dangerous because of the other cars and frequent stops. I went sideways only once ; )  

It was impossible to go even to he gas station because they all had little slopes. It was not possible to get out from there without chains. The good part was that i was having another Christmas. Now i was real Rudolf!

I thought how much more pleasures i still have in front of me? After this town the raod started to go down. There was less snow, i picked up more speed. There was another 80 miles to go. I was like deflated balloon. Every mile went with pain. I tried to distract my desperation by choosing the most horrible music on the radio and to listen to it carefully. The worst thing was that i couldn't speed anymore. I will go to jail with the next ticket. The road became very clear, wide and empty but i had to drive like a big nerd 65 mph. Frustrating! The worst was the last 12 miles. I was begging for them to finish. When i finally took my exit i saw ... a buffet. I ran there like a mad man and ate everything that was in my sight. What a nightmare it was. It took 9 hours without breaks to drive. Tomorrow i have to drive 4 hours and play the concert. But tomorrow is tomorrow. Let's sleep for now.