Westmoreland to Gallatin

After lite rains overnight the skies were clouded but the roads were mostly dry when I arose in Westmoreland. Draping my rain jacket over the backpack and dressing Nice (the dog) in his winter gear, we bounded into the day with enthusiasm.
We were on the road for only twenty minutes when the rain returned. Short intervals of soaking drops followed by a mist reminiscent of the northwest coast (where I came to appreciate walking in the rain) fell throughout the day. Nice (the dog) didn't seem to mind the mist. During the heavy downpours he tucks himself between me and the World for shelter as we walk.
A woman who stopped, she had once rode a horse across country with her Dalmatian , called the Nashville tv news. Sometime later I was being interviewed as we walked in the rain.
A man, who had found me after seeing a friends posting on social media, helped contact the elementary school in the small town of Bethpage, all I had to do was take the old road that paralleled the main highway. The entire student body came out while I gave a short explanation of my purpose. He also helped me find a good place to park for the night in the smaller town of Sideview, before shuttling me to the van back in Westmoreland.
It rained again overnight, stronger than the night before but, again, the roads dried so off we went. Again the rains returned. The temperature was warm and as the day progressed it eventually cleared long enough for us to get into downtown Gallatin. There the same man from the previous day helped coordinate a ride with the youth director at the Baptist Church who arranged for me to have a shower and a place where I could park the van behind the church facilities in the heart of downtown Gallatin.
Two days of rain-walking necessitated a trip to the local laundry , the dog has only one set of clothes and a pile of my wet clothes don't keep for long in the van. The rain is fun but it comes with a price. The fresh paint I had on the ball wears away quickly and it can only bear so many days of puddle-wheeling before some of the glued-on patches begin to fail.
We settled in after the laundry and my shower just in time for take night where it rained heavily most of the night. I fought my stubborn urge to press on today and repaired the worst of the pealed patches after letting the world dry until the afternoon .
It has taken most of the day for the roads to begin to dry. The shied have been cloudy and the temperature has dropped throughout the day.
We did get out and walk around downtown (without the world) to take in the history before retiring back to the van in the church parking lot.
With dry clothes we will be ready to bundle up and head closer to Nashville in the morning.
Many thanks to all that helped keep us safe here in Tennessee.