READER DAVID STERN EMAILS: “Nine midday hours without a post — are you okay? Your fans are concerned.”

Heh. Yes, I’m okay. Had a free day (or at least, a day I could free) and decided to give my mind and body, which are suffering from different kinds of repetitive stress, a break. Took a long, camera-toting drive up US 27 and Tennessee 52 to Rugby, then came back on 62 past Frozen Head and through Oak Ridge. More blogging later.

UPDATE: Okay, actually it’s photo-blogging. You can see photographs and commentary in this gallery I set up over at the Exposure Manager site.

ANOTHER UPDATE: D’oh! No sooner did I link than the site stopped. I don’t know if it was the traffic or just a coincidence, but I’m taking the link down for now. Sorry. You can see smaller versions of a couple of pictures here and here.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Taking the link down didn’t make an immediate difference, but it seems to be working now, so I’ll put the link to the gallery back up. Cross your fingers!

Later: Everything’s working fine.

MORE: Boy, you never know who’s reading InstaPundit, as reader Joe Jones emails:

Thanks for posting the picts of Morgan County. I grew up in Sunbright (in fact, you drove between my parents’ house and my Grandmothers’ when you went through on US27) and I don’t get back up there often enough – so the pictures are a real treat.

The man in the photos in R.M. Brooks Store in Rugby is my uncle, Bill Jones. His In-Laws used to own the place and Verda (Brooks) ran it until she passed away several years ago. Bill and Linda also own a bed and breakfast (Grey Gables) not very far from the store. If nothing else, I highly recommend going there for a meal. While I admit that I haven’t been there in a while, the meals have always been wonderful. Honest truth here…I’m not above disparaging a family member’s cooking. Seriously, they have always been excellent cooks –family dinners were always good…
mmmmmm).

You should try to get back up that way during the Fall when the leaves are changing. The first time I went to the Smokies I wondered what all the fuss was about. Morgan, Scott, and Fentress counties were much more colorful.

I’ll do that.