Day 3, arriving in Nashville

Dorothy Burk, Doing Her Job

Dogwoods in Bloom

Day: 3 April 8, 2011

Beginning Mileage: 90,821

Ending Mileage: 91,026
Total Mileage:758

What a difference a day makes.

The group decided to leave a little earlier and with less than 200 miles to the Marriott in Franklin, TN, it would be a relaxing day. It started with an impromptu meeting with members from the Redstick chapter out of Baton Rouge. It’s always enjoyable to meet some Cajuns; nobody knows how to enjoy life better than they do. After sharing some laughs we hit the road and headed north.

One thing became obvious and that is how different the trees were. The further north we went the less the trees had budded and bloomed. I guess spring really does come later the further north you find yourself. Along the way we saw wild turkeys, lots of them. I was amazed how oblivious they were to us as we passed them.

Another Chicken For Yours Truly

Always to the Hardest to Reach Spot

Advisers

Chief Adviser

After leaving Texas, driving across Louisiana and through Mississippi, I made it to Tennessee before car problems struck. In fact, I coasted across the state line into Tennessee. Paul Lewis had called me on the cell wanting to find a place to pull over and adjust his points. No sooner did I hang the phone up and my engine started sputtering and cutting out. I’m sure Paul jinxed me. Hoping it was something simple like a dirty fuel filter, I removed it handed it to Jerry Burk who blew through it commenting that it seemed to be clogged up. We were on our way, for about 10 minutes. It was then I decided it wasn’t the filter after all; it’s an easy decision when the engine sputters and backfires every time you jump on the gas pedal. It seemed a small seed pod had some how gotten into my fuel line a few weeks ago when I had the engine out and worked its way to the float valve. A short time later we were on the road with no other problems.

Now I'm a TV Star

Interestingly, as we were stopped making repairs, a local TV news reporter stopped wanting an interview on the Trace about the potential government shut down. Since the Trace is part of the National Park system, there could have been some problems with the facilities being closed next week. So now I’m a TV star, or in Huntsville, AL.

An hour and half later we rolled up to the Marriott where we were immediately greeted by old friends. After checking in and freshening up, a group met in Jill and Garland Sullins’ room where a number of people (including all the Golden Triangle members present) helped stuff bags to be handed out for registration. After stuffing the bags we all stuffed our bellies with pizza - always good.