Day 5, Tuesday May 28^th:

In an attempt to take the day by storm, while still getting to Nashville in time to enjoy our evening, we decided to start our day at 3am. This consisted of groggy laundry folding, a trip to a McDonalds that seemed more like a homeless shelter, and a beautiful Virginia sunrise. Why so early you may be wondering?  We were embarking on the Blue Ridge Parkway today, a majestic 469 mile drive through the peaks and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains.  Getting there at 6:00am and driving through for 12 hours was an experience unlike any other.  The tranquility and majesty of those mountain valley views is truly something to behold.  

Eventually, once some of the exhaustion wore off, we decided to break off the parkway for a bit to get some authentic southern chicken and waffles. While we figured we were heading to some small time diner in a little podunk Virginia town, we somehow found ourselves in the bustling city of Roanoke, VA. This turned out to be a happy little surprise, as we got to see the city’s unique architecture (see. Taubman Museum of Art), and still got what we came for at the not-so-small-time Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles.  

From there we made our way back to the parkway and forged on. One side-effect of spending so much time together, in such close proximity, is that you really learn a lot about your travel companions. For instance, did you know that Max’s number one fear in life is bugs? This information came to humorous use in the form of some good-natured pranks, some girlish screams, and a few chuckles to be had as we attempted to have a nice picnic lunch while Max –spooked by a few spiders - opted to eat in the car.  We all enjoyed the laughs and it helped to bring levity to what was becoming a very long day.  After 400 of the 469 miles we decided to get off the parkway.  The day was getting late and we were becoming very tired and itching to get out of the car.  Realizing that we were not going to make it Nashville in time to enjoy our night there, we stopped at a very mediocre BBQ restaurant in Knoxville instead.  We were happy to find this place however, since most places in the area were closed by 8pm, and were just glad to be out of the car and have something to eat.  By this point the day was getting late and we were going on our 19^th+ hour of being awake. Exhaustion was setting in and this lead to interesting conversation pertaining to our life goals, conspiracy theories and the role of media in creating mass hysteria, as well as minor to sever sleep deprivation hallucinations.  Finally we made it to the hotel around midnight in what should have been our grand finale.  As we entered the lobby, however, we soon realized that this was the icing on the cake of what had been the day that almost never ended.  The Nashville Day’s Inn looked like an abandoned warehouse under construction.  Once we were sure we were not going to be murdered, we checked in and were led to our room. 

The room was actually not that bad if you could ignore the smell of paint, the 15 minutes it takes the water to get hot, and the metal rods digging into Adam’s back on the cot.  We all quickly passed out, and all in all it was a successful 21 hour day, and truly an adventure fit for a roadtrip.

~Jeremy, Max and Adam