We were heading for Memphis, west on the I-40.
Not far out of the city, the GPS told us there was an accident and resultant congestion ahead. Both lanes were stopped but we made a quick decision to take an exit. We ended up on the Natchez Trail Parkway, which joins Nashville to Natchez, some 400 miles away. We weren't going to Memphis after all.
We were still in heavy fog, but with turkey and deer for company, very little traffic, and cyclists.
The road is quite amazing - two lanes with a yellow line down the middle, with neatly mown verges, and dense forest on either side, sprinkled with fall colour. Few exits, no shops, no billboards, no trucks, a few cotton fields in bloom.
Waitress at breakfast: 'How did you find your way to Lawrenceburg? Are you lost? On a dare?'. Funny lady. But she was right - I can't imagine that too many Australians find their way there.
We left Tennessee for a brief jaunt in Alabama, then on to Mississippi.
Once the fog lifted we encountered extremely heavy rain with limited visibility. Dom felt we were safer on this road with minimal traffic than on the huge freeways where the traffic doesn't slow for fog or rain.
We drove until 6pm and covered approximately 500 miles (800 km). We stayed at Nachez, on the mighty Mississippi.
The air temperature had warmed considerably on the way south - close to 30 degrees C, up from about 14 in Nashville. It became stormy and unsettled, and the foliage stopped showings signs of autumn and remained resolutely green.
Natchez was a surprise.
It was very quiet as we rolled into town (Sunday night) and it seemed shut tight. We drove to the Grand Hotel that had been advertised on the way in. They had a room, and happily gave us a suggestion for dinner.
It was a beautiful room with a view of the Mississippi and the storms brewing over the river in Louisiana.
Down the road we walked to a great street on the river front, with renovated hotels housing restaurants and bars. Fabulous.
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