Friday the 13th!
Raleigh to Wytheville — Great Smoky Mountains & Bristol Raceway
Day 50 — a milestone number, on a Friday the 13th, through some of the most spectacular scenery in the eastern United States.
Day 50. Friday the 13th. Ray was not superstitious.
The drive from Raleigh took him west and south into the Great Smoky Mountains — the most visited national park in the United States, straddling the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The Smokies get their name from the natural fog that hangs over the mountains, created by the trees releasing water vapor into the air.
The scenery was spectacular — the kind of mountain landscape that makes you slow down and look.
Bristol Raceway was a stop — the famous short track on the Tennessee-Virginia border, known as 'The Last Great Colosseum' for its steep banking and intimate atmosphere. Bristol Motor Speedway holds 160,000 fans and is one of the most intense venues in NASCAR.
Through Knoxville, Tennessee and north into Virginia, arriving in Wytheville for the night.
Photos from the Day
The Day's Route
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The most visited national park in the United States — 12 million visitors per year. The Smokies straddle the North Carolina-Tennessee border, with peaks rising to over 6,600 feet. The 'smoke' is actually water vapor released by the trees — a natural phenomenon that gives the mountains their blue-gray haze.
Bristol Raceway — Bristol, TN/VA
Bristol Motor Speedway — 'The Last Great Colosseum.' A 0.533-mile concrete oval with 36-degree banking, holding 160,000 fans. The NASCAR races at Bristol are among the most intense in the sport.
Knoxville, TN
Knoxville — the third-largest city in Tennessee, home of the University of Tennessee and the site of the 1982 World's Fair.
Wytheville, VA
Wytheville, Virginia — a small city in the Blue Ridge Highlands, at the intersection of I-77 and I-81.