... even though it has been planned for months, it is remarkably timely that this is the weekend for going to the mountains of Tennessee. When we get together together in the fall, we will look at our calendars, pick one weekend each month for me to drive to TN to hang out. I ask for time off from work, go north and do whatever they are planning, just puttering around together.
I left middle GA fairly early on Friday morning, to go through Atlanta, stop and visit a bit before traveling up I-75 into the northwest corner of the state and on into TN. But when I got into Atlanta, the congestion on the interstate was a big surprise. Driving up thorough the middle of the state was a breeze, but at the point where the two interstate highways converge, just south of the city everything came to a standstill. Literally. Easing into the barely moving mass, periodically speeding up to 20 mph, then slowing to three, or possibly zero. Sitting in a gigantic, air-fouling, exhaust producing non-moving mass of thousands of vehicles. Awaiting the opportunity to inch forward two feet.
The part of the drive from central GA, heading into the metro area usually takes about ninety minutes. And then: no progress at all. It must have taken an hour to drive the last ten miles, making me think about getting stuck in that slow moving stream of vehicles when returning from SC after The Great Solar Eclipse. When there must have been ten thousand people all wanting to go to the same place at the same time. And me, blissfully unaware of what I was getting into. And still sort of surprised, as I look back in amazement at how it took me seven hours to drive about 120 miles.
This gigantic jam was due to the population of the entire state of Florida thinking they needed to leave. Hearing warnings about the impending state of disaster when Hurricane Irma heads into the peninsula with winds of over 150 mph, creating flooding across the low lying area. Which is mostly the entire state below GA.
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