Jackson, TN to Rural Retreat, VA to New Paltz, NY

Friday, June 13—Jackson TN to Rural Retreat, VA — 478 miles  Cousin John & Pat’s Farm

We left the campground in the early morning after a great shower in the Crossroads’ new, spacious, tiled shower, which we drove to after packing up. We ate breakfast at the Dixie Diner, a small café just before I-40, and gassed up before heading to John & Pat’s. Once again I called Jeff and asked him to email a phone number and directions to J & P’s—something else I had neglected to think of taking. John’s son, Rob, was at the house but the two of them were in NH at Ellen’s son Mike’s wedding.

On the way to Rural Retreat we ran into torrential rain and more construction. On one section with uneven lanes (one grooved and one newly paved), a truck in the lower grooved lane sped past. That lane was filled with water which sheeted onto the Prius. I could see nothing for a few moments.

Much of I-40 through Tennessee is beautifully forested rolling hills. Nothing to see and not even many signs or billboards from which to play the Alphabet Game. So we devised a new alphabet game—Naked Alphabet—the rules being that we could take the first letter of anything we could see, i.e., “A” for Automobile, “B” for Barn, “C” for Cloud, “L” for leaf etc. Much trickier and more difficult than it would seem.

We had called Rob and left a message re our arrival, and with Jeff’s directions we navigated the winding back roads and dirt lanes to John and Pat’s in Rural Retreat, arriving about 7pm, after another way too long day in the car. Rob and dogs Lily and Nellie, as well as Siamese Samantha cat and Rob’s two cats met us. Rob carried our luggage to the 2nd floor bedroom and we unloaded our cooler into the refrigerator. Then we three took a walk to stretch our travel-weary legs and to see where Rob was going to locate his Amish cabin in the piney woods down by the pond.

Then it was bed for the two of us in the big king-sized bed in the guest bedroom. Just as we were drifting off, the door opened a bit and Nellie came bounding in and threw herself on the bed—and then threw herself off just as quickly. She had not expected two warm bodies in her bed. After this I could not get back to sleep. The upstairs toilet was temporarily out of order, so I trudged down the stairs to the downstairs bathroom four (count ‘em) times. Each time Rob was in the kitchen baking herb bread.

SATurday, June 14—Rural Retreat, VA to New Paltz, NY — 594 + 50 miles — Super 8

The 600+-mile drive to New Paltz, NY, was way too long. Before drive’s end, we both went a little bonkers in the car, screaming, yodeling, grimacing, and laughing hysterically. We drove northeast through Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York to avoid driving into or close to NYC. When Sarah, with the atlas in hand, announced that we were going to enter NJ, I yelled, “Oh no! We’re on the wrong route!” and went into irritable meltdown before Sarah could calm me down and show me that our route just kissed NJ and didn’t actually enter it.

The day had been overcast but turned sunny when we entered NY so lifted our spirits a bit. So did the prospect of the following day with no driving! Today we missed the New Paltz exit on the NY Thruway and drove 50 miles out of our way! This was the last straw!

Soon after we got in we dropped our things in the room and went back out to dinner at Gadaleto’s, a very good seafood restaurant recommended by the hotel clerk. Our Super 8 motel room was so-so. It had a King-sized bed, weird bathroom with absolutely no towel racks or place to hang things—the towels were rolled under the sink—and sparse towels, but it looked like heaven after our daylong drive.