Yay! I’m Warm! Finally!

LA/XC-4 DAYS THREE AND FOUR:  POSTING FROM MEMPHIS, TN

Two-day mileage:  767
Total LA/XC-4 mileage:  1,265

Road Music:  One-with-nature quiet time on the Blue Ridge Parkway; then March Madness Elite 8 action; Sirius cycle, and  the rest of my “Runaway Country” playlist

Weather leaving Waynesboro, VA:  40 degrees, brilliant sunshine

Weather arriving Memphis, TN:  72 degrees, summer-like

Two-day state tally: 2 (Virginia, Tennessee)

Gas money to date:  $101.91

I think the last time I was warm was late August.  We all know about the ridiculous winter in the Northeast.  Plus I spent a lot of time skiing in VT.  Plus I have a Canadian puppy whose taste runs to early mornings at the windswept, brutally cold beaches of WePo.  So then I travel down to Virginia — and, as I mentioned in my last post, it’s 15 degrees along the

Skyline Drive.  But then . . . today . . . in Memphis:  77 degrees, and sunny.  Ahh . . .  And it looks like more of the same as I continue west.

The theme for LA/XC-4 might just turn out to be Dog Parks Across America.  This is a totally new deal for me.  Ricky was not desperate for the company of other dogs, and also, he was happy to climb into the car first thing in the morning and resume sleeping, without a lot of fanfare.  This is not the case — not at all — for my little red-headed socialite.  He has yet to

meet a dog he doesn’t love.  And if he doesn’t get an hour-plus of dog park networking before we start out, it’s not going to be a pretty situation in the car all day.  So I’ve taken to scoping out a dog park at every stop — and they’ve been beautiful!  Plus, the people — and the dogs — have been great!  Very welcoming.  And Kemba, of course, has been a big hit as the “out-of-towner.”  I already showed you pix of the dog park in Front Royal, VA.  Sunday we hit Coyner Springs dog park in Waynesboro — an idyllic stretch of rolling farmland — where we quickly became incorporated into the pack of dogs and humans.  (Special thanks to Harry for helping me hold Kemba under the spigot for a bath after he and Max, Harry’s Blue Heeler, rolled around in God-knows-what.)  And this morning:  The amazing Concord dog park just outside of Knoxville, with its separate fenced in and double-gated areas for large and small (over or under 30 pounds) dogs.

After my pink-eye related low-mileage day on Saturday, I had to pick up the pace a bit on Sunday — so I

only did a token 30 miles or so on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The truth is, I still have a lot of westward ground to cover.  And besides, now that Carol’s doing some projects for Ole Smoky Moonshine, based in Gatlinburg, TN, I expect to tag along on some business trips and get a better look at the Great Smoky Mountains.

So you know how everyone’s always saying how smart Carol is?  (The implication being, compared to . . . )  All right, she told me when I got to Knoxville, I had to eat at Cru Bistro and Wine Bar, and ask for Stephanie, her wonderful server there.  She even sent me the address in a text.  I  follow her directions, walk into Cru, pull up a stool at the bar, and ask my female server if she happens to be Stephanie.  “Oh, no, Stephanie works downtown.”  Turns out there are two Cru Bistros — and smart Carol gave me the address for the wrong one.  Hey, no harm, no foul.  The food was spectacular, as promised, and now I have my own favorite server there — Kristin (above).

Tonight, after a 380-mile drive from Knoxville to Memphis, I spent a little time on Beale Street, where it was party city — though not outrageous, since it’s only Monday.  Had the BBQ sandwich at the Rum Boogie Cafe, a reco from Greg’s friend’s fiancee, who’s a Memphis native.  (Thanks, Tyndale — de-lish!)  And thumpin’ blues by the Eric Hughes Band, too.

Game plan for tomorrow morning is to head over to Elvis’s Graceland for a token drive-by, find the obligatory dog park, and then scoot some 490 miles west to Norman, OK, to visit Prof. Avery of O.U., an old New York buddy and a running partner back in the 1980 (!!!) NYC

Marathon.

RANDOM ROAD NOTES:

•  Notice I haven’t been taking my accustomed pix of roadside signage, like TENNESSEE WELCOMES YOU?  That’s because if I stop the car, Kemba gets so excited, thinking that maybe we’re actually going to do something besides driving — and I can’t keep disappointing him.  Ricky used to just raise an eyebrow, and then keep right on snoozing.

•  Left my first things behind in a motel this morning:  Two bowls (fortunately, I have backups), and the “Loews loves pets” placemat I always take on trips to make my pardner feel comfortable on the road.  Will be staying at Loews in Santa Monica, so will replace it.  Rest assured that these will not be the last items I’ll be losing . . .

•  When the GPS lady voice tells me, very peremptorily, “NOW TURN RIGHT,” I feel I must do it — even if I don’t have the light, or if I’m driving into oncoming traffic.

I PLAN TO POST AS CLOSE TO DAILY AS POSSIBLE WHILE KEMBA AND I ARE ON THE ROAD.  BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY:  MAN PLANS, GOD LAUGHS.   OH, AND BTW, YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW ME ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM.