Today was supposed to be similar to yesterday’s enjoyable drive but things did not work out quite the way I had expected. The route was from Newport, TN to Lexington, Kentucky and, once again, over 90% of the miles were designated as scenic. However, that’s about the only thing the two days had in common.

My first issue was technical. For some reason my GPS wasn’t sending any data to my recording program and it was not until I had been driving about 30 minutes I noticed that the elevation display was not changing. I pulled over, re-started my tablet and all was good except the video and map now start at a random roadside location.

Everything was going well as I headed to my first planned stop, the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum in Harrogate, TN but I got there to find it was closed for Easter. The web site states “The museum is open on the major summer holidays. Otherwise the museum is closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day as well as on other University holidays.” Three other cars pulled up while I was there so I was not alone in misinterpreting the information.

I then headed to the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park which preserves and interprets an important route through a break in the Appalachian mountains that enabled people and animals to cross them. The route has been used over the centuries; for trading by Native Americans, for invasions by Europeans, by a large number of American Pioneers moving west and many others. On the park website it states “GPS coordinates to park visitor center: N 36 36.570, W 83 38.298” and I put them in my GPS. It turned out they are the coordinates for the campground which is on a different road several miles from the visitor center. Once I got to the right place it was the highlight of the day – see photos below.

After those three fails the day went fine except that the route was not very scenic, there was quite a bit of heavy traffic and it began to rain. All was brought sharply into focus, however, when I passed a traffic accident on the opposite side of the Interstate just as emergency vehicles were arriving. The things that disrupted my plans today were petty and I should be thankful that I am enjoying another road trip without serious problems.

Road video and route map

This scenic overlook in north eastern Tennessee is also the location of the county veteran’s memorial and several vets were visiting at the time I was there.

Cumberland Gap has long been a popular tourist spot and the first road to Pinnacle Overlook was built in the early 1900s. The overlook is in Virginia and the point where Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee meet is about in the middle. Click for the full resolution version.

I walked to the saddle of the historical Cumberland Gap trail and here’s the view as you cross it traveling east to west.

The sign on the right.