Today is the day that the pre-planned adventure beings to fray. The lack of sleep is catching up to me and I’ll need to make some kind of accommodation that’s not in the plans if I want to get through this.
Warning: There are arachnids ahead.
Thursday September 18th, 2025
Do you snore?
I snore.
I have sleep apnea.
That is to say: I snore to the point of waking myself up and never getting a decent sleep because of it.
At home I hook up a machine to my nose that forces me to keep breathing so that I can sleep fully through the night, but I don’t have a portable version.
What I have been doing to help minimize this issue is that I’ve ben buying nose strips stick to the outside of the nose and hold the nostrils open.
It’s not a fix, but it helps and it’s comfortable.
I can feel the sleep apnea catching up to me.
I’m up too early again.
I would prefer not to leave until the sun is up because it is difficult to turn off the headlights on the rental car and I don’t want to shine my beams across every tent I drive past at five in the morning.
Let’s take a shower and figure out what we’re doing.
Mammoth Cave National Park shower review: Good and hot water, but bad privacy.
Luckily as an early riser I have the entire bathroom to myself and I will not be expected to see my fellow campers’ wieners.
When I created this travel plan it was based on three items on my adventure list being clustered together.
The first being the abandoned mine kayaking site that I visited yesterday.
The second is Cumberland Falls State Resort Park to see a moonbow.
If you’re like me and aren’t familiar with this term, I will explain.
It’s a rainbow.
But with moonlight.
This park has a waterfall that aligns with the moon and so because of the position of the moon and the droplets of water in the air, moonbows can be formed here.
The third item on the adventure list in this area is Colonial Williamsburg.
Someone told me I should visit there.
I wish I had written down who.
Today is the day we visit Cumberland Falls State Resort Park to see the moonbow!
Let’s hit the road!
I am again drying my wash cloth and towel in the rental car which is messy and should be cleaned.
But just like the shirt says “Please don’t make me do stuff.”
Today is seven hours of driving and it’s hitting me hard.
I thought that I would be okay, but the low quality sleep I’ve been having is wearing me down.
I can make it to the next stop, though.
Maybe I’ll sneak in a nap when I get there.
For now, let’s find an art store.
I need a better pen than the ones that I brought so that I can write some postcards.
Here’s a place near the park.
I can tell that I’m in rural America as the shop takes up two buildings and the register is in the other one so this one is empty except for the souvenirs and myself.
I could just take something out of the fridge and eat it, if I were a less scrupulous man.
But I prefer to keep my karma in tact.
There are no pens, but I do buy some postcards.
…
And I also find out that I’m here at the wrong part of the month to see moonbows.
It makes sense when someone says it out loud, but I hadn’t thought of it before…
Moonbows require moon light…
Full moons offer the most moon light…
This park only has reliable moonbows for about three days per month and I am not here near a full moon.
Well.
I already have a campsite rented.
Maybe the park is super cool.
I stopped at the main entrance and gift shop and I am told that there is a different place to check in for my camp site.
I need to use a bathroom, though.
I’ll deal with the rest in a bit.
I’m so tired.
Y’know what?
Maybe I can find some caffeine somewhere and chug it down.
I don’t think I want to stay the night here if I could make it further down the road.
Maybe I’ll rent a hotel so that I can plug in my CPAP machine and get a good rest.
I can drive until I start to get tired and find a nearby hotel.
I’ll take a quick look around the park so that this visit isn’t a complete loss.
Hahaha, I’m talking with one of the rangers and they’re telling me that there are entomologists (bug scientists) that like to drop off their insects here when they’re done with them.
So here’s a scorpion under a black light that they have.
Do not open the black widow container.
Hissing roaches are always a must have.
Oh, and they have a funnel cake cart!
It is not open at the moment.
A lovely park.
I did not check into my campsite.
The trip back to NYC is a long one and by skipping this spot I can make tomorrow easier.
I need to find a hotel.
Knoxville should have plenty.
I’m going to power through telling you about the next few hours because it’s a bit of a blur in my memory because of how tired I was.
I made it to Knoxville, but I had a hell of a time finding a hotel.
I booked one through Google maps, but for some reason the payment didn’t go through and when I asked for a room at the hotel the cost was more than the online booking that I had.
So I just went to a different hotel.
I’m annoyed that it costs less to use a third party than just getting a hotel room directly.
I’m not sure what the reason is for this, but I’m tired and grumpy.
I get a place around the corner.
Not a whole lot of us here, but then again it is the afternoon and folks from the night before are likely out and the new folks probably won’t show up for a few more hours.
I’m going to get set up, take a nap, and then figure out if there’s anything that I should do while I’m in Knoxville.
Nice spread.
Comfy.
Mandatory check for bed bugs.
No poopoo trails found along the mattress seams.
This place is weird to check into and I’m a little bit annoyed that my booking said it came with breakfast, but the lobby is closed and there is no breakfast.
This is crap, but I’m not trying to deal with getting a third hotel.
I sneak in a quick nap and tool around Knoxville by visiting two different comic book shops.
Both great and I learned a lot.
I was also able to scoop up all of the missing issues of Exceptional X-Men that I was missing in the middle of my run.
I also learn about another way to order a subscription of comics via a digital pull list which I might do since I can get better bulk discounts here in Knoxville than I can in New York City.
Or is it a cop out to not shop locally?
I’ll think about this.
Tomorrow should be easier since I was able to drive further today.
I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to squeeze in more adventure items, but I did have nice conversations at the park and I learned more about the comic book industry and a new way to order comics.
Not a total flop.
I’ll see you tomorrow when we attempt to visit the third and final adventure list item which is Colonial Williamsburg.
I have avoided looking this place up so that it will be a surprise.
Did I accidentally skip the Great Smoky Mountains National Park?
Too tired.
I’ll figure it out in the morning.
Good night.
Adventurenet.net 
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