Traveling Dog Lady: Epic Road Trip: The Last Few Miles

These diary entries were written in September, 2025

September 22, 2025

This is our last long day of driving, and we made the most of it, driving through four states: Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina.

The main state I wanted to see was Kentucky. I had never been there. Tennessee as well, but we did go through Memphis at the beginning of this trip almost three weeks ago.

Kentucky was beautiful. Rolling hills. Green grass and trees. Mountains. Winding roads. I really like this landscape better than the rocky desert landscapes. Even though that was cool to see and I’m glad I went. Rolling into Kentucky really felt familiar and comfortable. We went past Churchill Downs in Louisville. We couldn’t really see anything, but we were yelling “There’s Churchill Downs!”

I finally made it to Kentucky! Photo by me.

Then, we went through the Knoxville area of Tennessee. We would have gone to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but we heard that dogs were only allowed in the parking area, and by this time we were worn out. The thought of another national park visit was unappealing, even though I could have gotten some more Bark Ranger tags, and we do have the senior pass to get in for “free” (cost = $80 — it paid for itself after visiting two parks!).Share

When we arrived near Asheville, North Carolina on Interstate 40 we were speechless to witness the damage Hurricane Helene had done just about a year ago. It will take ages for this area of the country to recover. It won’t be the same as it was. Entire sections of Interstate 40 are simply gone. Wiped off the face of the Earth by water. That’s how powerful water is!

Traffic had been re-routed on two lanes which used to be the westbound lanes of Interstate 40, but now are single west and east lanes with no divider or median. I-40 was wiped out even though it is on a mountain. Think about it — we associate hurricanes with coastal damage — large waves wiping out homes and so forth. This was from rain and flood waters coming down the mountain. It was a devastating, jaw-dropping sight to realize what occurred.

Two-way traffic on what remains of I-40 near Asheville, NC. Photo by me.

Our final hotel, just outside of Asheville on a hilltop was a chain that I won’t name. Other than the two of us and our dogs, the rest of the occupants were crew members working on restoring the highway, the town, and everything else around. We happened to arrive around 5:30, also the time the workers were checking in to the hotel. I didn’t have a problem on this whole trip, until this night, the final night! Wait… That didn’t come out right! It had nothing to do with the workers, it was a problem with the booking I had made online.

I had used the BringFido app to book all our hotels throughout the whole trip. I generally booked the reservations a day or two ahead of time, after carefully reviewing info and reviews about each hotel. We really had no problems at all to speak of. BringFido was great and I highly recommend this app to people traveling with dogs.

Each time I checked in to a hotel, it was a breeze. They had the key cards ready and waiting at the front desk. But not this time! The Asheville property had no record of us whatsoever. I had to go back to the car and get my phone and show them the BringFido confirmation. Both desk clerks were touching my phone screen (I’ll tell you more about that later). They kept looking at my confirmation, then their computer. Nothing! Meanwhile, a dozen tired-looking work crew people were standing behind me in line. My dogs and husband were waiting in the car. The manager called BringFido on the phone (which, it turns out is really Expedia!) and I suggested that he and I step off to the side, so the other desk clerk could check in the tired guests who needed accommodations way more than we did.

After about 15 minutes, the manager determined that there was a booking confirmed through Expedia/BringFido, but it never was sent to the hotel. I had proof of payment, and the vendor confirmed that as well. So, he said we have to honor this but he needed a few minutes to find a dog-friendly room on the first floor. It took him a while, but he got me the key cards for a first-floor room right next to the doggy potty area.

The dogs had a real treat that night because the room had one of these pull-out trundle beds that enabled them to lie down in a comfy place without having to climb up onto a bed or couch. Charlie really loved that. A nice way to end the trip for him. He had been sleeping on his grungy dog bed every night. His aching joints were definitely grateful.

The hotel property had a really neat walking trail through the woods, and we had about 90 minutes before the sun went down so we walked the dogs on that trail and it was quite pretty.

Charlie on the trundle bed. Photo by me.

The next morning, we drove the last 300 miles to home! But, the entire time, I kept feeling like I had a sore throat. We got home that night. I woke up the next morning with a really bad cold and was sick for two days. Thankfully it didn’t last long. Note to self: don’t let anyone touch your phone!