Today's unexpected side trip...

Today, the group I work with celebrated what we call PRIDE Day. Each working group in the company has a set of self generated goals and objectives to meet. If we meet them, the entire group gets a day off with pay and a budget to do an activity as a group. I am lucky to work with a group of fine folks of good character who always wind up maxing out our PRIDE Day awards.

This year, we met up at Cracker Barrel for a huge breakfast and then went up to the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN. The Lost Sea is a tourist destination in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. You spend a few hours hiking down into a cave to see all sorts of nice rock formations, and other geologic wonders. The main attraction is a large underground lake. The lake is completely underground, and it covers about 7 acres. There is one known larger underground lake in Africa, but the choking sulfur fumes and the long trip make the one in Africa inaccessible except for people who aren't addicted to oxygen.

Anyway, we all had a great time, had a nice lunch, and went our separate ways.

As I was leaving, I couldn't help but notice that I was only about 45 minutes from any MINI owner's favorite destination....

I didn't drive the MINI, but I thought I'd Slay the Dragon in a POS!

I did slay the Dragon last November in the MINI, and I thought it'd be cool to zip through and take the scenic ride home.

I stopped by both stores on the NC end and loaded up on swag (stickers, etc), and was in bad need of an ice cold Coke. When I went into Killboy's store, the first thing I asked for was change for the Coke Machine. I'd just Slayed the Dragon in a S***box and I was exhausted! No cops, minimal traffic, just a good time. My only regret was that I was by myself.

Here are a few pics....