What's The Point Of Being In The Deep South If It's Going To Be This Cold?

It was 22 degrees this morning when we woke up at a truck stop just north of Atlanta, GA. We spent the majority of yesterday at Mr. Trucker's company's terminal in Tucker, GA, which is basically just a suburb of Atlanta. While there, we hitched a ride in the company car with another driver who was going to get some dinner, and it turned out that he lives in Freeland, Michigan which is about 30 minutes from my hometown of Midland, MI. I'm constantly amazed at what a small world it is.

We headed out of Atlanta late last night and went just far enough to get away from the trashy truckstops everyone had warned us about right in Atlanta. As I said, it's cold down here! Georgia is, in my opinion, about on par with South Carolina in terms of non-scenery. I did find a few noteworthy sights...

Big on Pecans here. And Mr. Trucker says that Vidalia Onions
actually COME from Georgia. Who knew?

Not exactly subtle, eh? I saw two of them just like this,
right out in the open and perpendicular to the traffic

So, is Wisconsin like the ONLY state without real mountains?

A few observations about Georgia: They're not big on basements down there, nor on garages. Carports are the thing. Oh, and there are no Liquor stores. They're called "Package stores". Mr. Trucker told me a story about when he was a wet-behind-the-ears 18 year old in Boot Camp and someone said to him "let's go to the package store to get some beer", and he was so confused, thinking they were going to the "Pack and Ship" place to buy it...

We entered Tennessee just outside of Chattanooga

Chattanooga, TN

and then promptly left it again, as we reentered Georgia for about 10 minutes, then came back into Tennessee...

Their college football team is called "The Vols"

Tennessee is quite beautiful! Mountains, and water...

Mr. Trucker wanted you to see that we were on an island when
we stopped at this Rest Area. Surrounded by the Tennessee River
and Nickajack Lake. 

I asked the woman at the Rest Area (behind the information counter) what was up with the cold temperatures, and she told me that the weatherman said it was colder in Tennessee than in Alaska today! Brrrrr.

Shortly after this rest stop, we climbed Monteagle Mountain, which at 2100 feet above sea level, is the highest point between Chicago and Miami, on Interstate 24.  

Monteagle, TN

My first experience with Monteagle Mountain was last summer when we DESCENDED it. As we approached the descent, Mr. Trucker spent 20 minutes preparing me for it, telling me all about how hard it was for trucks to go down, and how there is a pullout just before you begin the descent, for trucks to pull off and test their brakes. He had me so scared I almost peed my pants, but it wasn't as bad as all that. Climbing it is even easier, and when we got to the top...

BBQ for lunch!!

Here's my picture of the day, taken in Tennessee...

Pretty, no?

Today's Silly Sounding Place Name (seen on the side of a truck): Oskaloosa, Iowa.