Southbound on I-75 today, we went through rain, actually several wide bands of rain; fortunately, the Prius handles sodden (paved) roads pretty well. We left in fog around 6:15 am, then the misty-moisty fog became rain and intermittent wipers would no longer keep the window clear. Eventually we went through (miles of) real rain, and I watched beige-brown waters flowing down the hillsides and through ditches where water only combs the grass when it rains heavily, leaving them dry within hours after the precip ceases.
Luck finally arrived in southern Tennessee, when the rain petered out and the clouds began to break up. In celebration, we left the Interstate at Ooltewah and wandered cross-country, passing through Red Clay, the capital of the Cherokee Nation while they were under seige by EuroAmericans during the 1830s*, and eventually meandering down to ATL, using the iPhone’s lovely current-traffic info to avoid highway blockages with evasive route selections.
* The State of Georgia wouldn’t allow the Cherokees to meet, so they moved their venue from New Echota Georgia up to Tennessee (you might also like this link from the state of TN). I admit I didn’t know why the name “Red Clay” was rattling around in my mind until I did the googling for this blahg entry….