Friday May 5
Sorry about the delay with Don’s Big Day! I was off in Kingsport and somehow our
final message did not get out! (Also, our web site has had problems with the “I
Love You” virus and Day 13 did not get loaded onto our site.)
Thursday night I arrived at Kingsport and Don and I went out for dinner.
The next morning, Friday, Don was off on his unicycle around 9:30 am from the
West Inn motel in Kingsport, Tennessee (a small industrial town just south of
the Virginia border about 25 miles). I stayed in contact with him via cell phone
and I stopped a couple of times while he was enroute to his goal – The Great
State of Virginia!
As he rode, I made phone calls and shopped. It was a quiet reception at the
border. Don arrived at 2:00 pm Eastern time. He did not have much mileage and
took his time. Along the way, he visited with other people who were riding
bicycles and they rode with him some of the way. The ones who rode with them had
already heard of him through the local media.
Don rode (and walked in heavy traffic) to the huge Arch at State Street which
says - “Bristol VA and TN - A Good Place to Live.” At his destination, alas, I
was the only one to receive him. It was a quiet time for the two of us and after
he met his goal, the two of us found a little Chinese restaurant in downtown
Bristol called “The Shanghai.”
We heard nothing from the media, so we drove to south eastern Tennessee and
enjoyed a nice quiet weekend in the Smoky Mountains.
Saturday, May 6
We ate breakfast at The Cracker Barrel, played checkers on the front porch (I
let Don win) and then we drove onto the Smokies. We hiked up a trail, saw three
black bear cubs (from the road) enjoyed the serenity at Cades Cove (a small
Smoky Mountain community that existed a century ago) and we listened to some
blue grass music. Afterwards, we walked down the main drag in Gatlinburg.
We left Gatlinburg this morning (Sunday) and got back to Memphis around 7:30 pm.
Don is safe and sound (and bearded, blonder and more tanned I might add).
take care and God Bless you!
Sheree Hudgins
Mileage from Thursday = 588
Mileage for Friday was = 25
Total Mileage = 613 MILES FROM RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF MEMPHIS TO BRISTOL
VIRGINIA! ! ! !
