On the road to Nashville

Two days on the road and more than 750 miles covered. I am spending the night near Knoxville (Hi, Olivier) and will go on to Nashville tomorrow morning. Then the Natchez Trace Parkway to... Louisiana. I'll decide whether to go all the way to Natchez or cut the road short and go from Jackson to Shreveport according to the situation on the road in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
Gas is already well above 3 dollars a gallon everywhere. But the little guy in some gas station in the middle of nowhere near Mount Pisgah in North Carolina is selling Premium at Regular price (3.29) because he's running out of Regular and Mid-Grade. He says he doesn't want the local folks to be hurt. The local school a few hundred yards away is packed solid with people coming to get their chidren and for them that surely makes a difference.
Meanwhile the big gas stations along Interstate 40 are selling Premium for more than 3.60 and one was displaying the following sign on the cashier's window: "It's not our fault if the price of gas is high. Be nice !!!".
This is going to hurt, the economy and Bush. I don't think putting the blame squarely on the hurricane is going to fly very long.
I camped out yesterday on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This road is magnificient and I had it basically to myself for 450 miles of pure riding pleasure. Long, sweeping curves, an asphalt ribbon, gorgeous vistas and the feeling of being thrown back forty years in time with those old National Parks lodges and Ranger stations. Eisenhower's America....