Route 40 West

                   

In the early summer of 1986, we hit the road. The destination? California. The decision was made and one week later I found myself in a van, towing a small pickup truck full of my possessions, driving on Rt 40 west. The van was an old work van with no windows on the side.This was also the beginning of my list of "major highways driven". We set off early enough but by the time we got out of Hickory, it had started to get dark. The road dramatically changes from flat and straight to basically uphill and curving. You could just make out the Blue Ridge Mountains with Mt. Mitchell off in the distance, thanks to the setting sun. We stopped at a rest stop in the Smokey Mountains where I picked up this rock. It was too dark to see any views but when I look at this rock, I know I was there. We drove all night and into the next day to our first stop over, Memphis.