Unicycle TN 2000-Day 9

Day 9 Unicycle TN 2000 Sunday April 30

Parting . . .

Both of us knew the time would come -- Like when Juliet parted from Romeo,
Cleopatra from Mark Anthony, and now Sheree from her Unicycle Guy?

The past 24 hours had been wonderful and Don was rested. Now it was time for
Sir Don to return to his Unicycle War in the hills of Tennessee. To fight for
all those families at Ronald McDonald House of Memphis! And I must now drive
back to Memphis.

Don began to stuff his fanny pack. I sighed as my heart sank -- another week.
But we'll make it! We'll get there! We walked to the lobby for our Continental
Breakfast.

I drank orange juice and quietly ate my Raisin Bran. Don was reading about real
estate in the McMinville area.

I pushed his paper down. "Don .. Assure me ... Its only in the SPRING that
you... you..."

"That I what?"

"That you... you know... Get like this?"

"Like this?"

"You know... Where you go off and grow hair on your chest and howl at the moon."

He grinned. "Only the spring..."

"I mean like... Next year... You're not going to come to me and tell me that you
want to ride a pogo stick across Tennessee?"

"No, sweetie... "

"Good."

"That's Kentucky."

We kissed and said good-bye. Then my hero mounted his unicycle and drove off
down Highway 70. I watched his image dwindle down to the size of an insect. And,
poof, he disappeared behind yet another hill. Once again, my man was a memory
and a voice over the telephone.

It was a long drive home. Uneventful -- and all I could think about was my
weekend with Don and how wonderful it had been. Am I Wendy? Is he Peter Pan?

Don called me around 8pm. He told me that his ride to Crossville was desolate
and it was uneventful. He did say that he had some mean hills as he drove up the
Cumberland Plateau. He stopped at Rock House which was built in 1835 on Highway
70S. That place had been visited by Andrew Jackson and other presidents.

He checked into a hotel called The Village Inn in Crossville, Tennessee. He said
it was a huge complex with cheap rooms. He described it as a 'pennitentary.' (I
can't even imagine what he meant by that). He said there was a safe in his room.

Don was starving. He said he would call me later. He ate at The Gondola -- a
hustling and bustling family oriented restaurant in Crossville. He chowed down
on spaghetti, soup and salad. There was a squabble with one waitress and a new
bus boy. It was his first night on the job and he inadvertantly cleared off the
"waitresses" food from the "waitress table." They were unhappy about that
because they had paid for all that food and they did not want it taken away.

Tomorrow, Don plans to arrive in Kingston, Tennessee around 3:00 pm. He will be
riding on Highway 70.

He will arrive in Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon, Morristown on Wednesday
evening, and either Rogersville or Kingsport on Thursday evening.

He hopes to be in Bristol by Friday night....

I have alerted Channel 5 (an NBC affiliate) in Bristol, Virginia. They
seemed interested. They wanted me to let them know about when he is to
arrive in Bristol.

Well, its 10:25pm Sun night and I need to get to bed. Got to work in the
morning!

Take care,

Sheree Hudgins

- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Mileage count today: 57

Add that to the 342 miles accumulated

Don is now 399 miles from Ronald McDonald House of Memphis!