Sarah and I drove up here from Blowing Rock, North Carolina on Thursday. We took the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 200 of those miles. It was, perhaps, not the best day for Parkway driving. Scattered rain and lots of fog obscured most of the views. It was still nice to be on the Parkway, however, cruising along at 45 miles per hour, not really seeing anyone else. The Parkway was virtually empty; I'd easily drive for 30 or 40 miles without seeing another car. The stops at overlooks and info stations were almost deserted. It was a welcome change from all the interstate driving we have been doing -- doding trucks on I-81, waiting 30 minutes to eat at Cracker Barrell (which is now officially Off The List). We cruised along, alone, atop the Blue Ridge and amidst the clouds for most of Thursday.

As a non-poetic aside to all you Texas haters: Texas people know how to drive on the interstate, at least. The left lane is for PASSING in Texas, not cruising in, not going 3 miles an hour faster than the person in the right lane and eventually going around them. In Texas, if you pull in the left lane, you speed up to get around the person in the right lane, then you get back in the right lane, resuming your normal cruising speed. The key is speeding up when you get in the left lane, even if you are already going faster than the person you are passing. This is key because, even if you are going faster than the person in the right lane, someone else is probably going faster than you, so you minimize your left lane occupancy time and they can get around easier. It makes for a much better interstate experience, but people outside of Texas don't seem to get the only pass in the left lane and speed up when you do concept.

Oh, glad to hear Steve, Jennifer, and Estelle are doing well and wern't too affected by the hurricane. (and I'm pretty sure I used "affected" correctly there, staying away from "effected", but I could be wrong). Grammar comments are welcome.