My friend, Heather, had moved from Georgia to Greeley, Colorado over the summer and kept sending me stunning images like that in the photo above of the area with the message, "You need to visit" attached to each one.
For example, the photo above is another stunner taken by Heather when she first visited Rocky Mountain National Park. The photo was taken from the Rainbow Curve Overlook along Trail Ridge Road at 10,829 feet and looks out over Horseshoe Park, which sits at roughly 8,550 feet.
The more pics she sent, the more I agreed, yes, I do need to visit.
Wide open spaces are plentiful once you get outside of the major city limits. But extremely rural areas in the eastern part of the state take the definition of "wide open spaces" to a whole other level. Heather took the photo above while traveling on an isolated county road outside of Karval, Colorado. Pikes Peak can be seen off in the distance.
We chatted about it and decided that the Thanksgiving holiday would be a good time to plan a visit. I scheduled time off of work and began planning my adventure.
Most normal people when faced with a 1,500 trip would start looking at flights. I am by no means "normal." My love for the open road meant flying was out of the question. I planned my route, made all of the appropriate hotel reservations, and prepared the car for a cross-country journey.
I pulled out of the garage at 7 AM just like I did for the trip to Pennsylvania I made earlier this year - with the roof down. Temperatures were forecast to be in the 60s during the day, but were in the 40s when I left the house. No big deal. I was wearing a few layers in preparation for the cold temperatures. And the XK8 has a great heater that can be supplemented with heated seats if needed. Overall, the forecast looked great except for a chance of rain near Chattanooga.
Today's journey would take me from Athens, Georgia to Oak Grove, Missouri roughly 850 miles away, which translates to around 13 hours behind the wheel. All but 60 miles would be via interstate highways, and a trip I was thoroughly looking forward to. Once past Atlanta on I-75, the sun came out for a while, which made the fall colors look great.
But I could see the clouds building off in the distance as I passed Lake Allatoona and Calhoun, Georgia.
The sun disappeared altogether by the time I reached Dalton, Georgia.
Passing by Dalton, Georgia on I-75.
Passing by Dalton, Georgia on I-75.
I'm familiar with the LaQuinta Hotel seen in the photos above and below.
This LaQuinta hotel is where I stopped for an en route overnight when I moved from Columbia to Athens back in 2009.
Passing by the familiar LaQuinta Hotel in Dalton, Georgia.
Love the trees in front of Dalton State College !
Passing by Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia.
Passing by Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia.
Passing by Dalton State College in Dalton, Georgia.
Darker clouds started to appear in the distance once I crossed into Tennessee and picked up Interstate 24, my home for the next 316 miles.
Lookout Mountain became visible outside of Chattanooga.
Trying to zoom in on Lookout Mountain.
Lookout Mountain is a 2,400 foot mountain ridge that traverses the Georgia – Tennessee state line near Chattanooga.
I would certainly enjoy the view living on top of the mountain.
But I imagine some deep pockets would be needed to buy a home up there.
The Tennessee River runs past the base of the mountain.
The land mass seen on the right of the photo above is the 956 acre Moccasin Bend Archaeological District where artifacts from 12,000 years of human habitation have been discovered.
Interstate 24 snakes its way through the section of the Appalachian Mountains known as the Cumberland Plateau.
The mild climate of the south meant the beautiful fall colors were still quite prominent.
Westbound I-24 outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Interstate 24 also crosses the state line back into Georgia, and then back into Tennessee a few miles later before passing Nickajack Lake.
The break in the clouds seen in the photo above was encouraging, but turned out to be a tease. Not only did the clouds not break, the temperature started to drop rapidly as I ascended to the top of the Cumberland Plateau eventually reaching the mid 30s. The sprinkles of rain that arrived while I was refueling in Monteagle, Tennessee forced me to put the roof up for a bit.
Dreary skies stayed with me until I started to descend the Cumberland Plateau and Highland Rim, and disappeared completely once I entered the Nashville Basin region around the city, which is where the roof came down again.
I had a great view of the Nashville skyline off to my left as I passed through the city. So I perched the camera on top of my shoulder and held the button down hoping a couple of the 20 or so pics from that continuous burst would be usable.
Nissan Stadium soon came into view.
Nissan Stadium is the home to the Tennessee Titans NFL Franchise. It's also home to the Tennessee State Tigers NCAA Football team.
The terrain began to level out beyond the Nashville Basin. Mountain ridges were replaced with the rolling hills of the Pennroyal Plateau of Western Kentucky.
The photos above and below show the very flat scenery around Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Westbound I-24 near Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Interstate 24 passes by the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, a 170,000 acre parcel of protected forest and wetland in Western Kentucky and Tennessee where the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers converge.
Westbound motorists on I-24 cross the Cumberland River via the Ralph Smith Bridge first.
The Luther Draffen Bridge then takes motorists over the Tennessee River a few miles up the road.
Luther Draffen was a prominent local merchant who was instrumental in the Kentucky Dam Project of 1938.
Construction of the hydroelectric dam was completed in 1944 and created Kentucky Lake, one of the namesakes of the Land Between the Lakes, (the other being Lake Barkley).
Crossing over the Tennessee River at the Luther Draffen Bridge, Gilbertsville, KY.
Crossing over the Tennessee River at the Luther Draffen Bridge, Gilbertsville, KY.
Crossing over the Tennessee River at the Luther Draffen Bridge, Gilbertsville, KY.
The Ohio River and the Illinois border arrived about 25 minutes later.
If this bridge has a name other than the Interstate 24 Bridge, I wasn't able to find it.
Crossing the Ohio River on I-24, Paducah, Kentucky.