Day 10: Nashville, Tennessee....eventually

We may not have had any Trick or Treaters at Bear Creek RV Park for Halloween last night, but Mother Nature definitely tricked us.  And it was definitely not a treat driving the next leg to Nashville.  
A trip that should have taken approximately five hours, including a stop for a break, took us eight and a half hours.  For three of those hours, we were stuck in bumper to bumper gridlock along a stretch of I-40 through the mountains.  Let's just say that it was not much fun and very frustrating as we crawled along in starts and stops, at about 2 miles an hour.

The I-40 corridor is well traveled and particularly by truckers.  As we were leaving Scott and Carol's, I remember Scott mentioning that even if it did snow, we have nothing to worry about because that road is always well-maintained and cleared.  

Off we drove, the roads bare, the snow sprinkled prettily around us.  Every now and then, raindrops showered us softly.
So far so good.  About an hour into the trip, we slowed down to a halt. Thinking that perhaps there had been an accident up ahead, we simply accepted the wait.  I had noticed that there was very little traffic moving in the opposite direction and when it did, it passed in waves with stretches of quiet.  Hmm.  

Well, when we did eventually move forward, probably a good 45 minutes later, here is what the rest of the journey through the mountains looked like:

We continued to snake and inch, stop and start.  The road was plowed and except for a few patches, mostly bare.  My driver did a splendid job across the snowy patches.  And luckily it was rain, rather than snow, that continued to fall.  

We eventually noticed a couple of trucks driving past. They were the lucky ones. 

 The road in the opposite direction was closed down again. This stretch up to the tunnel was the most snow covered and the scariest.

 Finally, after miles of twisting our way down the mountain, we made it to and through the tunnel.  It was like night and day on the other side. In fact, neither of us wanted to say anything in case the bare roads we were now traveling across were a mirage of some sort.

In the opposite direction, however, the nightmare continued.  We passed mile upon mile of stopped traffic, knowing what they were facing if these drivers were even lucky enough to be able to make it through the pass.  Before we reached the tunnel, we watched as another road block was being set up in the opposite lanes.  

We felt very fortunate to leave the Smoky's behind us.  Later, Michael read a report about the early snowfall surprise of November 1st.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/topstories/foot-of-snow-blankets-great-smoky-region-in-early-wintry-blast/ar-BBcpwI7

Within a few miles, we crossed the border into Tennessee. Then it was a matter of covering all the lost miles and time to make it to Nashville for the night. 
As we continued to drop in elevation, the weather and conditions improved. I never wanted to see another snowflake in my life!  Snow may look post-card pretty, but we know first-hand how disruptive it is.
We were fortunate and if all we had lost is some time, at least it was in the comfort of Alpine.  

We have never been to Tennessee and I was struck with how green and hilly the terrain was that we were traveling through.

I kept my clicking finger busy during the rest of the drive through Knoxville and on the approach to Nashville as the sun was setting. 

We ended up gaining two hours yesterday, making up for the time we lost sitting in the pass.  We were now in the Central Time Zone and we were about to also fall back to Standard Time.

Here is a map showing our route from Silver Spring to Nashville, courtesy of our Good Sam GPS with mapping software -