winding roads? weird question...

[jmarkey]

Moving from CT to Clinton, I had a different experience with local drivers.

In CT, every time I went out, without exception, I had someone driving up into my trunk. I stick around the speed limit, I'm not driving slowly, but still it was a regular occurance. No matter how often it happened, I never got used to it and it always got on my nerves. Many times, the car behind me was so close I couldn't see its headlights.

I noticed immediately that that rarely happens here. And if it does and I pull over to let them by, they usually have out of state plates. The local drivers are a pleasure. I love it when I'm in Knoxville trying to find my way around. Though there may be a lot of traffic, no one's in a big hurry and I'm so impressed with how courteous other drivers are.

Main roads, back roads, parking lots - no sweat. This summer I got pretty good at spotting out of staters, just by their road manners. In so many places we've lived you have to be an aggressive driver. It took a little while to ratchet it down a few notches. It's a really nice change.

[hiknapster]

We have had the same experience! We do the guessing game, too! Almost always, they are from the same state. I don't want to say which one! LOL!

[SunKrist]

Hi.

I visited Knoxville and the surrounding areas for a total of two weeks in the past three months (one week in October, one week in November). I realize that isn't the Cumberland Plateau, but from what I've heard it's not very far. So, since I am also from Florida and am used to extremely flat, straight roads, and I also get "carsick" under certain conditions, I thought I could contribute.

After the first couple of days, I was able to handle the winding, hilly roads for the most part. The main problem comes when there is little or no shoulder, and the speed limit is 55, a good 15-20 miles faster than what you are comfortable driving (especially at night, on a road with no streetlights). Which means that those who are comfortable driving at those speeds are right on your tail, which can be nerve-wracking. But as long as you stay on the more main roads which have a decent speed limit and a guardrail or wide shoulder, there really isn't a huge problem. And, you will probably get used to it after a couple of weeks, anyway. I know I was a whole lot more comfortable driving the second week I was there than the first week. I actually drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and went the speed limit the entire time,

And as far as being "carsick", as long as I was driving, or focusing on things outside of the car, I didn't have much of a problem with it. It was only when I was looking at the map, or taking video (I wasn't driving at the time, of course) that I encountered a problem. My sister, who was with us the second week, also gets "carsick," and her experience concurs with mine.

I hope this could be of some help.

~Kristina (a.k.a. Sunshine Baby)

[TXboomerang]

Just got here from TX where the roads are pretty simple and straight, with very few hills. The first couple of days were nerve racking as I have been readjusting to a new margin of error that is much smaller. But it is actually becoming more interesting to drive. Definitely something that I think will be easy to get used to for most.

[Robbied]

We too live in Florida. When we were in Crossville for a week I was a bit sick when we went to various places in Spencer and looking at mountain developments. You will acclimate though. It can take as much as a few months but it will get better over time.

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by Sonshine

Ok, this is a weird question (and maybe a dumb one!), but I have to ask. We have been contemplating a move to TN but haven't visited there yet. I get carsick and have trouble traveling on curvy roads. From what I have seen in my research, I love the Cumberland Plateau area. But if we lived there (or in other areas of TN) I'm wondering if we'd have to travel on winding roads every time we went to the store, etc. Obviously I know the closer to the mountains you are the more the roads curve. It's so beautiful near the mountains, I may just have to live on Dramamine!

Can anyone answer my silly question?

Sonshine

It really depends upon where you live on the Cumberland Plateau. For, instance, if you were to buy a home in the City of Cookeville, you would not have any problems with winding roads. Interstate 40 runs right through Cookeville and that is definitely an easy drive. I recommend that you go to Tennessee and look around on the Cumberland Plateau.