Day 10 (August 19th): Tennessee Foothills

With very reluctant cycling legs, we rode from Tellico Plains to Sweetwater, where David's brother was retrieving him for his return to Brooklyn. It was a little hilly, but we were shocked (and relieved) to see how fast the Appalachians ended in Tennessee. Once we came down the Cherohala, we had almost no climbs, just smallish hills, and the 26 miles to Sweetwater flew by. I replaced my untrustworthy tire in the Walgreen's parking lot, and then the Moses brothers went on their way, back to Boone, NC, taking the fast route through the mountains along I-40. From Tellico Plains, we rode through Monroe County, then McMinn. I continued on through Meigs, Rhea and Roane Counties (Roane was a detour). The landscape was rolling hills and lots of forested fields. I did see one tractor, and cows started making appearances again, having been uncommon through the mountains. There was very little commercial development, or even residences along Highway 68, and then Highway 27 up to Rockwood. I did see some churches and some industrial sites. I passed the Watts Bar dam - a TVA dam with nuclear and coal plants. I could hear the overhead wires buzzing from a hundred yards away. Eek! It was very hot today, and I was very tired from climbing the day before. I just poked along for about 65 miles (40 past Sweetwater). In Spring City I stopped to find lodging and talked with a man in a parking lot. He was wearing a real John Deere polyester ballcap - not one of those fake hipster ones. He asked me where I was from, where I was going, etc. He had a styrofoam cup of green ice cream, and as I answered his questions, I kept staring at it and wanting to eat it. My conversation skills were not at their best, and who knows what I told him. The landscape looks a lot like North Carolina, but has a different patina. It's like how a New Yorker feels in London - things look a little different, but you still think you understand what it's all about. You of course do not, and my kinship feeling is simply superficial, no matter how real I would like it to be. I have to say, it is really exciting to be in State #2. I used up one bottle of 70 SPF sunscreen in NC. So maybe one per state? I don't know how sunny the Rockies will be, but eight bottles of sunscreen sound like a lot.