Moving on from Weatherford, Texas we made a couple of short stops at the Texarkana Elk’s Lodge and a return visit to the North Little Rock KOA. From there we shot up to the Bowling Green KOA then our Kentucky “home” at Three Creeks Campground in the town of Corinth. It’s been a freaky coincidence (or omen?) that we have been getting deluged with rain for a few days as we were on our way to view “the Ark”. I sure hope there is room for us, three down, thirty-seven to go…
Home, at Texarkana Elk’s Lodge. Hey, nothing fancy but at least we got 30A service…Home at Bowling Green KOAAnd the sun rises on our home at Three Creeks Campground
The Ark Encounter is surely MASSIVE! For you secular heathens out there, The Ark Encounter is one of two very large attractions run by the organization Answers In Genesis, the other is the Creation Museum. The Ark is a life sized replica of Noah’s Ark as described in the Bible. It contains non-stop historical depictions/re-creations/stories of the biblical times leading up to and after the Great Flood. The whole “encounter” covers over 800 acres and besides “the boat”, it contains a zoo, zip-line stations, play areas for kids, petting zoo, virtual reality attraction, main auditorium for various presentations both live and video, and during this time of year they decorate for Christmas with massive quantities of lights, putting on a nighttime Christmas program. There are also the prerequisite food/snack stands, restaurant, and several gift shops for all your gnoshing/shopping pleasure. I’ll just leave it at that and let you gawk at the following photos, no captions…
With our Ark encounter completed, the rain morphed into snow on the day we raised jacks. I’m not real fond of the thought of driving in a snow storm, but we managed to drive out of the light flurries within the first hour. Our “Destination Alpha”? A return visit to the Grand Ole RV Resort on the north side of Nashville in the town of Goodlettsville. We originally planned a short stay and to get out before the forecasted “bomb cyclone” hit with it’s accompanying single digit & below zero high temperatures, but plan change #8,962 had us extend through Christmas Day and stick out those temperatures.
We have made several visits to Nashville over the years and have seen many of the sights, including the Christmas decor at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Cheekwood’s Mansion, The Hermitage, and many others, so we gave all those a pass this time. We did manage to find ourselves down in Marathon Village, so we paid the area a visit. The old car manufacturing complex is now a series of shops which includes the store for the TV show “American Pickers”. It was antique heaven for those who are into old stuff. The hallways were full of antique tools & equipment, I’ll jump out on a limb here and venture an opinion that a lot of it was car manufacturing related. Other shops included boutiques, music related “stuff”, all manner of souvenir knick-knacks, and even a couple of distilleries on the block with swag sales and tastings.
Welcome, to Marathon Motor WorksA few pictures looking inside the American Pickers store.The halls were filled with these antique machinesInside the Jack Daniels swag store. I don’t think they had a tasting ability…Welcome to Tennessee Legend DistilleryAnd welcome to Nelson’s Greenbrier DistilleryOK, don’t mind if I do…Louisa’s Liqueur was pretty tasty and low octane to boot!
A foray down to Broadway was necessary to pay a visit to Famous Nashville, the highly touristy rooftop bar. We were thoroughly unimpressed immediately upon arrival, but the view from the roof was nice, looking down at the Cumberland River and across to the Titans’ stadium. Our search for lunch found us at the good ol’ reliable Hard Rock Cafe (basically next door to Famous). After stuffing my face with some pretty tasty pulled pork sammich, we walked it off to check in on some of the nearby touristy venues, like John Rich’s Redneck Riviera, Luke Bryan’s Luke’s 32 Bridge, Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk, and Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row. The weather being what it was (COLD!) on that Thursday, the “crowds” were well thinned out.
Noisy neighbors, Hard Rock Cafe & Famous NashvilleThe 1st floor of Famous with the band playing on stage.The Famous stairwayThe rooftop bar area of Famous NashvilleIf you squint really hard you might be able to see the Titans stadium in the background…Looking down on the Cumberland River from the rooftop of Famous NashvilleInside Hard Rock CafeRedneck Riviera.Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky TonkLuke’s 32 BridgeA peek down Broadway
The clock ran out on us and WHAMMO, we got slobber-knockered with the “bomb cyclone”. Woke up to below zero temps, EVERYTHING was frozen up. I learned from some fellow RVers some years ago that to keep the on-board hoses/pipes/etc. from freezing up in freezing temps, leave the wet bay interior light on over night. I did that, rolled up my water hose and used towels to blanket the whole reel. Alas, that no work in sub-zero temps. Solid as a rock. It is also fun when the electric/gas AC/heat pump units don’t operate on electric when temps are too extreme. So it was fire up the gas and let ‘er rip (glad I had a full LP tank). I broke out my little Big Heat electric 1500 watt space heater and set it up in my wet bay to thaw things out. It’s nice that I could plug it into the 20A power post outlet and not risk blowing out any of the MH plugs. It only took about 8 hours for water to be restored to the bus. So, here we are, waiting for Santa, icicles hanging off our eyebrows, with forecast temperatures “soaring” up into the 30-40’s on Monday, at which time we will be heading warp factor 8 south in search of a tiny bit more temperate weather.
Our neighbor at Grand Ole RV Resort. Now I’ll bet this thing will freeze up in a heartbeat when the bomb cyclone hits…Just another boring sunrise at Grand Ole RV ResortOh yeah, this was an angry pre-sunrise sunrise…an omen?Here comes the bomb cyclone!Not a lot of snow, but sub-zero temps! Ground like concrete…
Stay tuned for the next “adventure”, until next post…
We survived our torture in good ol’ Red Bay, Alabama to the tune of about 18 days. The temps in and around August tend to be in the large number range and this time they did not disappoint. Plus, we got to enjoy some pretty intense humidity just to enhance the pleasure of our stay in Hades. We got the fixes done to Rosie that we needed, and then got the added enjoyment of doing some of our own fixes after the Tiffin gremlins went to work on us. I actually got to tear apart and repair our front toilet for a serious water leak, being the expert that I am in plumbing repair (LOL, very much in the NOT category!) It was a $hitty job, but I persevered…(insert lots of loud moans here).
Our home at Red Bay, AL
We have yet to fall prey to the enticements of Swamp John’s restaurant in Red Bay…
Yup, these guys were out in force, bring your earplugs…
Next up on the agenda was to head towards Indiana for a visit with my cousin Bev & her family. We happily put Red Bay in our rearview mirrors and made our way to a return stay for a couple of days at the Good Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville, TN (Nashville area). There we got some big box shopping done (Costco) before we headed north. We barely had time to do much in town, but at least the RV park still puts on live music nightly, so we got to see some old-timers do some pickin’ & grinnin’…
A little pickin’ & a-grinnin’, at Grand Ole RV Resort
Bill Monroe’s Music Campground in beautiful downtown Bean Blossom, IN, was our choice for home for a couple of days to visit cousin Bev. This is a very large, rustic campground that puts on the Southern Indiana Blues Festival, the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival, and the Hippy Hill Fest 2022. The festivals tend to draw large crowds, we were lucky we were there at a non-festival time. The park office also houses what they call the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame Museum which is free to wander through and gawk at all the memorabilia. I will forewarn all you RVers wanting to check this park out…DO NOT RELY ON YOUR GPS DEVICES TO GET THERE!!! Rosie (the MH) has a trucker’s version GPS and it still led us on a tour of half-lane, overgrown with trees, heavily traveled back-roads along Lake Lemon. #%$&@^%#*!&&!!!! But we survived…
We took a little time to check out downtown Nashville, Indiana. It appeared to be a huge tourist attraction, geared more toward bikers, and it was certainly busy the day we were there. We walked the main drag checking out the shops, then stopped off to quench our thirst at Big Woods Pizza/Quaff On Brewery. Not much to write home about on the suds…On the way home we found a covered bridge, Indiana style. The poor ol’ thing had it’s share of graffiti…
Welcome to the Bean Blossom Bridge, circa 1880
Nice graffiti…NOT!
This guy was just going for a swim under the bridge. He looks suspiciously like a baby Copperhead…Let’s all go swimming!
Jeanne does a little “bridgin'”
We got to have a very nice visit with Cousin Bev, her daughter’s family Leila, Jay, and their little ones, and Bev’s son Luke. Regrettably, we missed out on Bev’s hubby Greg, he was away on a job. Leila put on a great brunch spread and we thoroughly enjoyed the eats and the family time, a big thank you to all.
Since we were in this part of the world, and with a small break in the action vis-a-vis the China-virus-hysteria, I had my sights set on a visit to one of my favorite breweries…Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids, MI. We headed northward and landed at Steamboat Park & Campground in Georgetown Township, MI along the Grand River. We used our time for some errands/chores but the highlight for me was checking out Founder’s Brewery. It’s a large one, as far as crafties go. We had a nice lunch there & sampled some of their wares that I had not sampled before.
Our home at Steamboat, looking out at the Grand River
A frontroom view out the windshield…
Not too jam-packed
One of the kid playgrounds and the pool area
The pool
Even the pool folks get a view of the river
The Grand Lady paddlewheel tour boat, docked at the office. Like always, click on pic to get full view…
Here’s a future dugout canoe heading downriver, just needs to be dug out…
Being caught up on the blog posting is a good feeling. Until next post…
We chose to pop on over to Atlanta so we could visit Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library. We stayed at the Stone Mountain Park again for a quick 2 day stay. Since our last stop there, they have done quite a few improvements such as adding yurts and park model trailers for rent, erected a large, very nice playground area for the kids, and across the lake a huge Marriott’s hotel sprung up.
Our home at Stone Mountain Park Campground.Lakeside yurts for rent, a new addition.Up close on a yurt, with Stone Mountain in the background… Still a little “not hot enough” for pool time.Part view of the kids’ playground.
The Carter Presidential Library (it is actually called a “Center”, not a library) was OK. I was disappointed not more attention was devoted to the Iran Hostage Crisis. Even the Bush libraries had extensive displays regarding their wars, whether you consider them justified or not. I think the hostage crisis overshadowed the Panama Canal Treaty and even the Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt. It should play a more prominent part in Carter’s Library. Just my two cents…
The entrance to the Carter Presidential “Center”. There was quite a display from Carter’s submarine days.Same old crap. Time does not seem to change behaviors.Carter’s replication of his oval office. Looks like he was sadly lacking “personal touches”, like family photos. Maybe he had some inkling of his future in politics… I just could not stop laughing…that is truly sad.Jimmy and Roz were able to write their memoirs on this state of the art word processor.
We had a little bit of spare time so we wanted to do the walk up Stone Mountain. The mountain does not look very daunting, but it is actually a good leg workout, continuous incline with numerous rocks/steps thrown in for good measure. But the view at the top was very nice.
That’s funny, it doesn’t LOOK too strenuous…We found lots of graffiti all the way up, some dating back to the 1800’s.We also found a “gum” pole on the path up. Similar concept to the world famous “gum wall” in San Luis Obispo, CA.A herd of these ladies (OK, 4 or 5 of them) were also doing the hike up Stone Mountain.A pause for a rest and a view… Now we know it was not that strenuous if Jeanne can do yoga routines at the top!
So with another Presidential Library notch in our belts, onward and upward. Weather looked to be getting a bit more mellow, so we decided to start our northward trek. Chattanooga, Tennessee was our next chosen stop. We found a Camping World campground on the south side of town which was actually an OK stop; full hookups, level site, $17 per night, and close to town. We used this opportunity to do a Costco run and load up.
A short trip into downtown found us at the Walnut Street Bridge which is a foot bridge across the Tennessee River. We walked around the area a bit and found a sidewalk that was anything but straight. Not much had changed in the area since we were here last. We have been in the area before and already checked out Rock City and Point Park on Lookout Mountain (Civil War site). This time we were going to visit Ruby Falls, an underground waterfall, but seeing it was a short excursion, we opted instead for a 9.6 mile hike on the Mullen’s Cove Loop Trail in the Prentice Cooper State Forest. That was one killer hike! My hams and quads are still singing…
Walking around downtown at the Walnut Street Bridge which crosses the Tennessee River, we found this sidewalk section. It should give Lombard St. in San Francisco a run for its money… The Walnut Street Bridge. Baseball art near the bridge.At the beginning of the 9.6 mile hike. Think skinny and breathe deep!An unoccupied view of the same stairway.There I was. Braving the wild. Had to cross the raging river with only a rotten log to tread on. Risking life and limb. But rest easy, my friends, I ultimately survived! Gee, another rest. Looking down on the Tennessee River from Snooper’s Rock.Little Miss “9.6 miles is not long enough” just needed a little more physical work, so “yoga on the rocks” it is.
From Tennessee it was up into Kentucky for our next adventure, at the Mammoth Cave National Park. We stayed 4 days at the park campground, right next to the visitor’s center. The park offers several different cave tours and we started out with the Historic Entrance self tour. This was a short walk/tour and pretty uneventful as far as caves go, especially if you’ve ever been anywhere like the Oregon Caves or Carlsbad Caverns. We also took the short hike down the River Styx Spring Trail to see the spring.
Our home at Mammoth Cave Nat’l Park campground. The Historic Entrance to Mammoth Cave.Imagine if you turned all lights out inside the cave. This is what it looks like! (Sorry, no flash allowed…)River Styx Spring.
While at the campground, we found the Mammoth Cave Railroad Bike & Hike Trail. The bikes got a little work in (NO! My hams and quads got all the work! Ouch!) on the 16 mile ride which included a couple of healthy (read: steep) inclines.
Some of the 16 mile trail was gravel/dirt… Some of the 16 mile trail was plank wood…And at least one of us just had to stop and rest. Numerous times.Can’t escape without taking a selfie on the bike path.Got to see some critters on the trek. Say hello to Mr. Turtle.I didn’t think the snakes were out this early in the season. But this is some type of water snake because he shot right into the water and swam away at warp factor 8.Mr. Frog said, “Don’t bother me son, I’m busy!”They also had several graveyard/cemeteries scattered along the trail. Family plots going back into the 1800’s.
After all that physical exertion, I was ready for some sedentary living and beginning the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was just the ticket. From our base at Mammoth Cave, we were able to start both trails. There is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that consists of 10 distilleries (the ones I call “corporate”, large conglomerates like Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark), and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour that consists of 13 small distilleries (the mom-and-pop family outfits). All 23 are scattered pretty much around the Bowling Green-Louisville-Lexington triangle. Our start got us visiting 5 of the 23 from our home at Mammoth Cave.
The store front for Corsair Distillery. One of the craft distillers.One of the big boys.Woodford has a Double Barrel bourbon that when finished in it’s original barrel, it goes directly into a brand new barrel for a double dose of aging. The visitor’s center for Four Roses.Then there’s good ol’ Jim Beam…So far, my personal favorite is from MB Roland, another of the craft distillers. They actually have 2 products I like. Their Dark Fired Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has a heavy smoke flavor to it. They achieve that by using smoked corn in their mash process. Their other product is a moonshine they call St. Elmo’s Fire. It is a cinnamon style whiskey with cayenne pepper. Now that will light y’ur cigar for ye!
We concluded our stay with one more cave tour, the Domes and Dripstones Tour. The name of the tour is more spectacular than the sights along this tour. There are a few cave features at the end of the 2 hour tour, but, if you have seen anything like Carlsbad Caverns, you will be disappointed here.
One of the rare times there was enough light to allow a photo, here of a ceiling of the cave.This is a mini-waterfall near the Frozen Niagara formation, at the end of the Domes and Dripstones tour.Oh, and once again, if you turn out all the lights inside the cave, this is what you see!
Time to move along, we relocated to Bardstown with a 4 day stay at the White Acre Campground. We started here with a little walkabout town, steeped in Civil War lore and architecture.
The Bardstown Baptist Church, constituted in 1815.A shot down one of the main drags. The building at the end is now used as the visitor’s center and there is a traffic roundy-round (AKA: traffic circle) that circles that building. Now used as the visitor’s center.Lots of history here.This was an early post office printers and cabinet shop, circa 1814. It is called the McLean House. Just a sample of the many historic buildings…
From this stop we were able to snag another round of Kentucky Bourbon Trail stops. Trying to hit up all 23 distilleries is certainly giving us some exposure to back roads and some beautiful scenery. Some of the horse farms we passed were spectacular, especially when your looking at a huge mansion, then realize it is just the horse barn! We should live as well as some of these horses…
It’s terrible that they actually make these poor horsies live in shacks like these…Makers Mark. Gotta get my pitcher[sic] with their sign…Limestone Branch DistilleryWilderness Trail Distillery.Kentucky Peerless Distillery. Some of the craft distillers, like this one, are new to bourbon and don’t have any properly aged product yet, so my tasting was limited to their moonshine products.Willett Distillery. Heaven Hill is one of the big boys. They also own/produce Evan Williams. Angel’s Envy Distillery, across the street from the Louisville Slugger Field.
After 4 days and a couple of very large thunder/lightening spectacles, we motored a bit north to the Louisville area. We found the Add-More Campground actually in Clarksville, Indiana for a short 2 day stop to finish up this area’s Bourbon Trail participants. Besides the distilleries here, Jeanne found an area of downtown called 4th Street Live! which we took a stroll through. It was daytime as we did, but it looked more to be a happening place for the nightlife. The area is similar to Fremont St. in Vegas, sans the freakazoids, with stage area for bands and all the food and liquor you could imagine.
Kentucky Artisan Distillery another of the craft folks.Some of the grounds to Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience.Inside the visitor’s center at Evan Williams Bourbon Experience.Fourth Street Live! Only, more of a nighttime thing…Where there is a Hard Rock Cafe, there is good times being had by all!Had to take this shot. Guy Fieri was a fellow Sonoma County/Santa Rosa (CA) boy who made it kinda big. Found his restaurant here in Louisville. When the Colonel offers chicken, you just cannot refuse! Home of the Louisville Slugger. It’s almost opening day! Jeanne and Woody stepping up to the bat…
There was also a foot bridge called the “Big Four Bridge” that crossed the Ohio River and gave good views of downtown. That bridge was a railroad bridge built in the 1880’s-1890’s and in 1929 they built a new bridge inside the old frame. 42 workers died while building the bridge, so now it is considered a monument to those who died.
As we begin our journey across the Big Four Bridge. A look along the Ohio River from the bridge.New bridge on old bridge…Looking across the highway to downtown. Ahhhh, the green grass of Kentucky.The bridge from below.There was a nice tribute to Abe on the Kentucky side of the bridge. Jeanne getting cozy with ol’ Abe.
Well, it’s moving time again. Headed east now, gotta finish the Bourbon Trails with the Lexington area stops. Lookout, Lexington, here we come!
With the kids all gone back to the state of Lunacy (AKA: California), we stayed just a bit longer in the Nashville area but moved over to Two Rivers RV Park which was just a few hundred yards down the road from the KOA. We had a chance to meet with our friend Dava who was one of the Rock Island State Park Rangers we had worked for when we camp hosted there about 3 (!) years ago. We had a nice breakfast visit, catching up on all things Tennessee and beyond. We also took the time to go visit the Hermitage. That would be the former home of one Andrew Jackson and now a historic park in the heart of downtown Nashville. It also contains Jackson’s burial site. This is why I like the south, you get non-stop history in any direction you look.
It got a little cold for a few days here in Tennessee…The front door to the Hermitage.The backside of the Hermitage.Andrew Jackson’s final resting place.Uncle Alfred, one of AJ’s slaves, is buried next to AJ. One of the slave cabins at the Hermitage.
Our stay in Nashville was not without RV issues. The temps got pretty low (not topping 20 degrees some days), and even with proper prep work, we awoke one morning to a frozen solid water pump. That just started our problems. With water restored, our Precision Temp tankless water heater stopped producing hot water, only putting out luke warm water at best. I popped the cover on the water heater and noted the interior flame, when activated, was about a half inch high (supposed to be about 3”). Not being the sharpest marble in the drawer (AKA: mechanically inept), I referred to the Tiffin owners web site to research the problem. Several posters on this subject advised to call “Gary” at Precision Temp, so I did. He talked me through a diagnosis and came to the conclusion that my LP regulator needed replacing, that it was widely known that Tiffin had used a bunch of defective regulators in the past. Bada-bing, bada-boom we just happened to be next door to an RV repair facility. I got them to replace the regulator and test pressure. Still no hot water. The RV facility seemed to be at a loss for a resolution, and we were already on our way to Red Bay for some other minor fixes, so we toughed it out until we got to Red Bay. Another Griswold Family Moment arose during our travels south. We heard some slight banging around in the back of the bus, similar to the occasional chair tipping over or bag falling off the bed. Upon stopping for the day we found the bedroom wall mounted TV had popped off the wall and fallen partways on the bed, thankfully no damage (It is a pretty large screen TV). There is a bracket on the back of the TV and to hang the unit you lift the TV up and over the wall bracket, then hook the lip over the wall bracket. The bottom of the TV bracket has some holes for screws to anchor to the wall, but apparently nobody had done that. I guess we lucked out for the past 3 years, not having any TV-falling-off-the-wall issues. Note to all you RV owners…check your wall mounted TV’s.
OUCH!!!!!!!!
This visit to Tiffin we were able to use the Express Bay (less than 3 hours of work needed). Their tech could not solve our hot water issue either, so we ended up replacing the whole dang water heater. But boy howdy we got hot water now!
Tiffin Service Center, as you like to see it (LOTS of vacancies)… Not a whole lot to do in Red Bay, but you can check out parts of the Natchez Trace nearby. Here we found Cave Spring which used to be a water source for the Indians.History lesson for the day.And you just gotta LOVE these little buggers. All over the southern states, for the uninitiated, this would be FIRE ANTS. Give them a very wide berth!!!!
You just can’t get out of Red Bay, Alabama fast enough. All fixed up, we raced southbound for the sunny state of Florida. One quick over-niter at the Walmart in Opelika, AL, then on to a couple of days at the Wanee Lake Golf & RV in Ashburn, GA. Not a particularly happening place (their high point for the year in Ashburn is the annual Fire Ant Festival), we motored into neighboring Valdosta, GA to look around. Another happening place…not!
Home, at Wanee Lake Golf and RV, Ashburn, GA.
Next stop—St. Augustine, FL! We caught a few days at St. John’s RV Park and were able to explore St. Augustine Beach and Vilano Beach. Our NP pass got us into the Castillo de San Marcos Nat’l Monument, a historical fort at water’s edge. And finally, OUT OF THE COLD WEATHER! We actually took Woody on a short hike at the 12 Mile Swamp Conservation Area. For the life of me I don’t know who named this area, about 3 miles of hike never showed any sign of a “swamp”.
It almost felt like the French Quarter in Naw’lins, walking around downtown St. Augustine. They even had a piece of history among the shops, this touted as the oldest wooden schoolhouse in the USA.Nice day at St. Augustine Beach…and yes, you can drive on it! The guard’s quarters at Castillo de San Marcos.Looking down into the middle of the fort from the wall.Cannons at the ready! One of the guard towers looking out to the water. Checking out the Vilano Beach Pier with Woody.From the Vilano Beach Pier, looking across to the Castillo de San Marcos and behind it, Flagler College.Some of the “low rent district” at Vilano Beach. 12-mile Swamp hike. “Where’s the swamp?”
Daytona Beach came next. We were able to get a week at the KOA. This, despite we are in the heart of the busy snowbird season for the whole state. Anything a week or longer is next to impossible here, we are holding out for a few days here and there as we can get them.
Our home at the KOA.Welcome to Daytona Beach!
Daytona Beach touts itself as the “world’s most famous beach.” Personally, there are beaches I feel are a little more famous—Waikiki, Malibu, West Palm, Saint-Tropez, Monaco, etc. And the beach area of Daytona is not real “deep”, just stretched out. But it was cool being able to drive along the sand and just park at the spot you want. The boardwalk here leaves a lot to be desired, nowhere near the quality of other boardwalks like at Virginia Beach or Myrtle Beach. But definitely LOTS of motels…
Joe’s Crab Shack pier near the Daytona Beach Boardwalk. Our first day at Daytona Beach, not real conducive for suntanning…The birds liked it though.Woody taking us on a walk along the boardwalk.Much better day for beaching it. Preparing to drive onto the beach…Driving around looking for that just-right spot…“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Being on the road going on 5 years now we have been a wee bit lax in church attendance (OK, a whole lotta lax and no, the church roofs do not cave in when I walk into them!) Without being anchored down, we kinda gotta hit on a style of “salvation-to-go”. And wouldn’t you know it, Daytona Beach just happens to have the Daytona Beach Drive-In Christian Church. We took the opportunity to attend on the Sunday we were here and it happened to be a communion service, so bread & wine (OK, grape juice. You didn’t really think they would pass out alcoholic beverages to drivers operating motor vehicles, did ya?) were passed out at the gate. It was a rather unique experience.
The most comfortable pew seats you will find! Sermon from on high, better known as preaching from the balcony!Communion! At the drive-through! “Would you like fries with that?!”
We wanted to see some manatees, so it was off to Blue Spring State Park. The manatees do a seasonal run on the St. John’s River to this Blue Spring area, the whole area designated a manatee refuge, November through March. Several hundred animals are usually present during the run and can easily be viewed by a nice boardwalk area running along the river. We were definitely not disappointed. Got to see lots of critters. And the Spring is a very interesting place. A small “crack” in the river bottom descends over 100’ down to an underwater cave, a popular spot for SCUBA diving. Also on site is the Thursby house, a restored historical site built in the late 1800’s during the steamboat era on the river.
Here’s a BIG sucker!Alligator Gars all over the place!This crack in the riverbed is a popular place for SCUBA divers, over 100’ deep with underwater caves. Catfish just doing his thing…Woody leading the way on the boardwalk along the river. Cute babe he is with, too!
Smyrna Dunes Park is a county park at Smyrna Beach. They have a 2 mile boardwalk path that winds over the protected sand dunes with views of the ocean and is big for naturalists, ecologists, and students to come and observe animals and vegetation in natural habitats. We strolled the boardwalk and got to see some turtles hanging out at the dunes.
I think this is the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, as seen across the bay from the boardwalk at Smyrna Dunes.Just coming out to say “Howdy!”Even saw babies cruising the sand…A little color in the dunes…Jeanne strolling along the boardwalk at the dunes.
And, of course, we had to take a couple of days to lollygag on the beach. Florida really has goofy weather, one minute you can be baking in intense sunshine, then next covered in black clouds. But the sand was fine and the water starting to warm up. It sure has been nice in these 70’s temps. What trip to Daytona Beach would be complete without at least a stop off at the raceway. We not being big time race fans, $50 for a tour at the track just did not appeal to us. So we settle for pix.
We’re a few weeks early. “Drivers, START YOUR ENGINES!”Somebody just HAD to photobomb Dale…Beach time!
EZ Daze RV Park in Southaven, MS was home for a couple of days while we checked in on Beale St., Memphis one more time. Jeanne wanted to see the Parade of Ducks at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. We went down to hang out around Beale St. and walked to the Peabody. It seems they have an interior fountain and twice a day they do a ceremonial “Parade of Ducks” where they walk ducks from an elevator down the red carpet to the fountain and the ducks take a swim. I don’t get the attraction, but if it floats your duck, then alright!
The Parade of Ducks as they exit the elevator… Ducks takin’ a swim…Ducks into the fountain…
From the Peabody we strolled Beale St. and ate at the Rum Boogie Cafe. They have quite a collection of signed gee-tars by various artists who have played at the cafe. And the Gator Gumbo, oh my!
Gee-tars hangin’ everwhere!The Rum Boogie CafeI think I’ve heard of him…once or twice…Then I spotted this one signed by that world renowned Blues band, AC/DC?!? Oh yeah, they had that hit “Crabsody in Blue”…
From here it was on to a return visit to the Grand Ole RV Park in Goodletsville just north of Nashville. As usual, we brought unnatural weather with us and had to endure about 4 days where the temperature did not hit 30 degrees. It froze the park pipes. I learned long ago to disconnect my hoses for these cold times but it got so cold my water pump even froze up as did what little water I had left in my coiled hose. I had a barrel of fun fussin’ with my water issues. We used the week stay here to prep for the kids arrival for Christmas.
After a week of trying to unfreeze water pipes, we relocated to the Nashville KOA where we reserved a site for the bus and a cabin for all the kids. I still dislike staying at KOA’s, they are all too pricey for what they are, but I have to admit they are family friendly and convenient. So we got set up, kids showed up, let the fun begin! Jeanne’s sister Denise, niece Savohna, and Savohna’s little ones Brody & Chloe also made the drive from Branson, MO for a very nice family get-together. We all spent a day walking the downtown Broadway area checking out all the honky-tonks, the Ryman Theater, and even corrupting our grandson Max, Brody & Chloe by outfitting them all with cowboy boots! Max even topped his getup off with a cowboy hat. Lunchtime was all about “hot chicken”. I was unaware of this “specialty” of the south, but apparently it is a must try “when in Rome…” thing. Our daughter-in-law Crissy heard of a place called “Hattie B’s” that served just such a specialty, so Hattie B’s it was. They serve 5 levels of varying temperature (that would be the Scoville scale, not Fahrenheit scale). Holy smokes, Batman, DON’T FORGET TO BRING THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!! Yes I hit on some of their “Shut the Cluck Up” burn notice top of the scale heat. I got to experience breaking out in a sweat while eating for the first time. The fire level thing was unique, but otherwise it was just more good ol’ southern fried chicken…
The wild bunch, getting ready to assault downtown Nashville.Downtown Broadway in the shadow of the AT &T building. Checking out the Ryman Theater.The Gladiator doing the whole conversion!Yeah, it’s a cowboy thing… cowboyBoots all around! Hattie B’s hot chicken. It surely looks toasty!Hattie B’s menu.
Nighttime brought us all to the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center where they got all decked out for the season. They also set up a small ice skating rink, downhill sledding, and snowball throwing for the wee ones.
Some of the dancing fountains inside the Opryland Resort.They had several Christmas trees scattered around that were decorated/sponsored by famous artists of the area and were being auctioned off. This one sponsored by the Gatlin Brothers.
The next day Denise and the kids had to return to Branson. We spent the next couple of days touring around Gallatin, Brentwood, Franklin, & Murfreesboro, as well as taking a tour at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. Tennessee surely has some pretty nice real estate in some of these areas. Christmas day we decided to go real touristy and took a tour of downtown and some stars’ homes in the area. Tommy, our tour guide, a true southerner, was hilarious as he narrated our way around town. “Bless his heart…” (oft used southern phrase, and not exactly representative of it’s literal meaning).
Chad and Crissy chummin’ around with Jack…Tennessee Capitol building as seen on our tour.This “fixer upper” might be for sale…
The whole family get-together went very well, other than Gus and Crissy were sick and baby Hailey came down with an ear infection which caused a side trip to the ER. But, alas, all good things must come to an end and it was with heavy hearts that everyone had to return to from whence they came (California). Gus, Jenn, and Max headed out first, Chad, Crissy, and Hailey able to stay one more night. And that night again found us ogling light displays, this time we went to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Mansion. It was a very nice display. Once Chad, Crissy, and Hailey left for their home, Jeanne and I decided to stick around for a couple of weeks into the new year, so we got to attend the Jack Daniels Music City Midnight New Year’s Eve celebration at the Capitol Mall. It was a bit drizzly standing out there with tens of thousands of our fellow revelers, but Styx and Keith Urban were worth it, both putting on an outstanding show.
Maximus and his pops on Christmas Day.Hailey and her mama on Christmas Day.Some of the lights at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. Playing hide-n-seek with the love of my life.When I can get Hailey to smile, I just gotta put on a goofy face…The Christmas tree inside Cheekwood Mansion.
For now, we’ll be here, hunkering down in the sporadic rain and the impending next few days of lows in the teens. Happy New Year to all of you and yours!
Yeah, I know, it’s been a while since my last post. Unfortunately, we are starting a return trip to CA from here on, so I won’t have a lot of touristy pictures to share or a lot of adventuresome stories to tell. At least not until we hit Disneyland. So maybe I’ll try to create a sense of impending apprehension which will build & expand inside of you until it reaches a crescendo of overwhelming excitement…(or not, just another boring road trip).
So we finally got all of our fix-it stuff done in Red Bay. We actually had a great time sitting in the Allegro Service Center, a place where some Tiffin owners dread because of unknown wait times. It helps immensely to be a full time RV-er when having to be there, time does not matter. And we met a lot of good people who were our neighbors. We traded “war stories” (re: life on the road), had some block-party style happy hours (on the QT of course, Red Bay is within a dry county after all!), and we found Jim and Stacy Camara at the Service Center getting work done on their rig as well (they were co-workers of mine back in Sonoma County when I actually worked for a living).
Inside the service center, looking down the aisle of bays.We waited 2 weeks for this view…
It was then off to Tennessee to take care of some of Charlie’s medical stuff at his primary physician in Murfreesboro. Finding a place to stay was a bit frustrating, the COE’s we wanted to stay at were full and there is basically nothing in the Murfreesboro area. We tried to stay at the Camper RV Park in Columbia, but that lasted all of one night, that place resembled a good ol’ crankster heaven what with all the permanent “residents” in their broke down and otherwise thrashed trailers.
Which one looks out of place?
One of our neighbors in the Allegro Campground in Red Bay told us about the Grand Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville just outside of Nashville. We headed up there and found space for a week. This was a nice find, since most of the Nashville RV parks run in the $60+ per night range and this one was $30. Once the medical stuff was finished, we took some time to recon the area. Just NE of Goodlettsville we found the city of Gallatin. This is a very nice area and we found some very nice custom homes at the Fairview Plantation which ran anywhere from the $300’s into the multi-millions. Not a bad location either, between a golf course and the lake. Jeanne heard a radio spot as we drove around Nashville that advertised a free concert “Street Party” downtown put on by Sam Hunt. She seems to have taken a fancy to that performer, he sings her favorite song “House Party”. I had no clue who he was and I am the furthest from a new age country/western fan, but we went to see the concert. Jeanne was in hog heaven, I however still do not fancy the new age country-rap genre. And the young-ish fans who packed the concert area were rude and pushy, but at least I did not have to put up with “the big blue cloud of smoke” usually present with the young California concert-going crowds of Cannabinoids.
Just one of a zillion Civil War monuments scattered about the south, this one in old town Franklin, TNJeanne checking out the Nashville Farmer’s Market.This cool ride was cruising near Music City, vrrrooom, vrrrooom!Sam Hunt performs… More Sam…Oh boy! She was just all a-twitter getting gussied up for Sam Hunt!Just someone’s “vacation cabin” being built at Fairview Plantation!Just someone’s “vacation cabin” being built at Fairview Plantation!
Next stop was an overnighter at a Walmart in Sikeston, Mo., then on to Branson. We had a good 2-day visit with Jeanne’s sister, brother-in-law, niece, nephew, and their respective families (Denise & Don; Savohna, Robert, Cooper, Brody, & Khloe; Cedric & Angie; and Magnum the wonder dog).
Home at Turkey Creek Escapee RV Park in Branson, MOAngie tempts fate whilst Cedric slays some turkey, and Robert looks on ready to perform EMT duties when Cedric slices into Angie’s fingers… Khloe says, “What’s with you and the pictures?”Cooper says, “Get out of my face, you bore me!”
Westbound and down we stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe & Hotel & Casino outside of Tulsa, OK. This was just an overnighter, but the camp fees were right ($0) and we learned to like another card game. Hard Rock did not have any Pai Gow tables, but we learned the magic of 3-card Poker. (Next stop-Gamblers Anonymous!)
Hard Rock Cafe/Hotel/Casino
From Tulsa we stayed on Hwy. 412 along the north edge of the state and away from the trucker-laden Hwy. 40. This route was a very pleasant alternative to I-40, winding its way through several small town areas and generally low traffic volume, definitely low semi-truck volume. Another Walmart in Guymon, OK, then reconnect with Hwy. 40 into Albuquerque, NM. As usual, the wind was a pretty big factor through this area, we got tossed around pretty good at a steady 60 mph. In Albuquerque we stayed at the Enchanted Trails RV Park for a couple of days while we caught our breath and picked up our mail. Even though we are not rushing ourselves TOO bad to get back to CA, 4 hour drive days can still get a bit old quickly. From Albuquerque it was on into Williams, AZ and a couple of days stay at the Grand Canyon Railroad RV Park and Hotel. A bit windy still, some minor snow on the ground, but clear weather as we passed through.
They had a small display of classic cars/campers at the Enchanted Trails RV Park.One of the other displays at Railway Enchanted Trails. Snow! at the Grand Canyon RV Park and Hotel in Williams, AZ.
And that leads to the present. We are a couple of days out from CA, hopefully the weather and I-40 will hold out for us as we inch closer, and closer, and closer to meet up with…
Custom Paint and Auto Body, owner Bruce Deaton, is the place to get body work done on your rig when in or around Red Bay, AL. Absolute best folks you could meet, quality work gets done quickly (despite most of the area running on “Alabama time”). And there were 4 families/customers there at the time we were there, all living in their rigs for the days they were there at the shop. We set up chairs in front of the roll-up doors of the shop and had covert happy-hours after shop hours (work starts at 0500 hrs. and ends promptly at 1400 hrs.), covert because we were in a dry county and did not wish to become guests of the local Gray Bar Motel. The locals drove by all night, probably wondering about us goofy touristas just hanging out in front of Deaton’s place.
With some of our new friends Steve and Christy, Harry and Kathy, at Deaton’s RV Resort and Auto Body Shop in Red Bay, AL. The locals think we are all nuts…Bruce Deaton, you are the best!
Work at the Tiffin Service Center went well. Marion in Bay #2 took good care of us and I would recommend anyone going for service to ask for Marion specifically. He is another one of their techs who other techs seem to go to for assistance or to pick his brain for a problem. We were out in 3 weeks, but could have cut that in half but for the body shop work that hindered us from getting into a bay within 10 days. The weather was good while we were in Red Bay, but we did no repeat sightseeing while there, so we were glad to hit the road.
We made our way to Woodville, AL for a couple of nights at the Parnell Creek RV Park. This park was right on Hwy. 72. It was OK for a brief stopover, not spectacular by any means. The gravel inner roads and sites were fairly newly laid, still a bit mushy for 30,000+ lbs. of fiberglass and steel to be rolling/parking on. The park actually had a funky small cabin used as a “fitness and tanning center” (had I think 1 weight machine and one small room for tanning). Must be a destination for the Hollywood elite…
For that hoity-toity lifestyle in Woodville, AL.
There were basically 2 local attractions to see here near Woodville. The Cathedral Caverns ran paid tours underground through the cave. It was a so-so cavern, as far as caverns go. No tight spaces, a few interesting formations to see, and it felt a bit “commercialized” to me; several of the inner “pools” appeared man-made, lined with visquine. I would not recommend this place as a must-see as it is a bit pricey.
The front door to Cathedral Caverns.Elephant butts! More cavernous contraptions…
The second “attraction” the campground owner recommended was the Unclaimed Baggage store in nearby Scottsboro, AL. We went and found it and I had to giggle. It is a large warehouse type store with racks and racks of items that are actually unclaimed baggage from various transportation venues that this company buys up, spruces up, then sells to the public. They have for sale, and on display some unique items that have gone unclaimed, such as a set of something that looked to be tribal warrior chest plates, and what I thought must be the world’s largest stand-up paddle board. I mean, who could go and forget to claim this stuff?!?
Racks and racks of jeans, oh boy!Need some unclaimed cool shades?Stand-up paddle board, anyone?
Done with Woodville, AL, we were off to Chattanooga, TN. We surfed the net for places to stay, and picked the Chattanooga/Cleveland KOA North because they claimed to be near the sights in and around Chattanooga. We found out otherwise when we arrived and discovered the park was at least 30 minutes from the central Chattanooga area. The road to and driveway into the park is very tight for our 40’ + toad. Then when I asked the camp host clerk if I should disconnect before we proceeded to the assigned site, he said no, it was not necessary. Wrong answer. I barely made a couple of the turns, spewing a good portion of my extensive 4-letter vocabulary as I went. But our site was gravel, level, clear from the trees, and otherwise a good site.
Home sweet home at the Chattanooga/Cleveland KOA.
While in the Chattanooga area we took in some of Lookout Mountain, including Rock City and Point Park. Point Park had some spectacular views of the valley and river below some of the gun placements that were situated as they would have been during the Civil War.
One of the batteries at Point Park overlooking downtown Chattanooga. “Prepare to fire!”
Rock City is the brain child of a German couple who found this unique area of land formations and rocks to be like a pattern of city streets and alleys cut through the rock. They scattered quite a few gnome carvings and scenes throughout the rocky area, and the end is a walk through a “cave” with scenes from various Mother Goose fairy tales that are painted in bright fluorescents and lit up with black light. At one viewing platform they have the “Seven States Flag Court”, where it is purported you can see, on a clear day, the seven states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.
Take a walk through the Needle’s Eye at Rock City. Low bridge, duck!After Needle’s Eye as a warm up, Fat Man Squeeze was the pinnacle of claustrophobia…Gnome standing guard……over Gnome village.“Oh, say, can you see?”It’s a pretty clear day, anyway…Some of the fairy tale scenes at Rock CityHow about some “Old Woman living in a shoe…”
We also visited the Chickamauga Battlefield. This was a self-driving tour through the battlefield area with hundreds of monuments, memorials, and cannons set up at actual locations from the Civil War. Very awesome to be in the middle of all of this history and reflect on what it was all about at that time and wonder where the heck did our country disappear to today? Career politicians and liberals are destroying us from within…
One of the many fields at the Chickamauga Battlefield…
Enough of Chattanooga, onward to the area of Limestone, TN and the Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park. The road to get into this park was a real nail-biter, especially as we approached a couple of outgoing 5th wheels. But we made it unscathed. The camp host was very friendly and set us up in a nice, open, level pull through site. The park is right on the Nolichucky River, with a replica of the cabin Davy Crockett was born in and a large swimming pool complex (must be a hangout for local families during the summer, it is fenced, gated, and they charge admission). During our three days stay here, we ventured into nearby Greenville. This is not a huge town, but it does have contemporary shopping facilities and what has become our new standard of measure, they have a Walmart. We did dine at a restaurant called Fatz, and it was very tasty, our server treated us very well. We happened to sneak in just early enough, when we left it was SRO waiting to get in. Jonesborough is heralded as the oldest town in Tennessee, so we just HAD to go see. We stopped at the visitor’s center and picked up a walking tour map, then meandered around downtown on our own, taking in the old historic buildings, many of which are still in use. Quaint town, LOTS of churches.
Davy Crockett’s cabin, recreated. One of the historic buildings in Jonesborough.More history in Jonesborough.
Next stop–Bristol, TN/VA. We stayed at the Shadrack Campground, a Passport America participant. The campground is just a couple of miles from the Bristol Motor Speedway, and I imagine it would be jam packed during all the NASCAR and NHRA events during the seasons. The sites are gravel with grass, level, open, and the park is surrounded by a creek that tends to flood when it downpours. And there are families of groundhogs that inhabit large burrows near the creek.
Home in Bristol, TN/VAThe neighbors are furry but really really quiet!Start your engines!
We took a drive on a small piece of the Blue Ridge Parkway along the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the town of Blowing Rock. We wanted to see what THE Blowing Rock was all about, so we paid the admission fee, I think it was about $7 each, and took a close up look at it. Wow, talk about anti-climactic, way not worth the admission fee, I don’t suggest anyone waste their money or time on this one. A rock jutting out from the cliff, supposedly winds blow up from below full time, but not a puff of breeze while we were there. It did give us a nice view of the mountains and valleys, but not enough to justify charging admission. While on that drive we also went to Grandfather Mountain, but that also involved an admission fee, this time I think it was $20 each. And from what I could gather from info at the visitor center, the view would be the gardens and a suspension walking bridge. Not worth my time or money I’m afraid…
The legend of the Blowing Rock.Looky me, I’m on the Blowing Rock!
One other sightseeing outing took us to the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, VA. Unfortunately it was a Friday, and they only do their concerts on Saturdays. The Carters are considered the First Family of country music and they have been doing Saturday concerts of country/bluegrass here since 1953. No electrical instruments are used, strictly old style with the only exceptions being when Johnny Cash or Marty Stuart played concerts here. It is hard to imagine Johnny Cash playing a concert out here in the middle of NOWHERE!
The A.P. Carter cabin, relocated to here in Hiltons.A little behind the scenes at the Carter Family Fold.
Hillsville, VA is our current stop, at the Lake Ridge RV Resort. The “resort” is seriously off the beaten path and is a Passport America participant. Even so, it is still way overpriced for what it is. The upper sites are for resort “owners”, those that actually buy their lots and the lower loop is for transient campers like us. The lower loop is gravel/dirt with pull through sites that have full hookups. At a quick glance the sites appear level, but I quickly found out they are anything but level. It took me 3 sites until I could find it somewhat level enough so that the MH auto-leveling system would not go to “excessive slope” mode. The sewer hookup connectors were way too high off the ground for a successful gravity action dumping system. And to top off my sour mood once we relocated to a spot we could get level on, we find the water spigot wound with duct tape and when turned on, we got some fountain action. Unwilling to try to find another close to level spot, I just filled my fresh tank from the fountain, flooding the dirt and grass area as I did so, and used the on-board water for our stay. There was not much to see here in this area, but we did manage to find an excellent eating establishment, Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant, in “downtown” Hillsville. We had the fajitas for 2 with a couple of the mandatory margaritas and both were outstanding.
But now, it is time to head eastbound and down, forging ahead toward Virginia Beach and points North. We’ll catch you on the flipside…
So Hardeeville RV Park was our next stay, still burning time until Jenn & Max arrive. This place is severely over-priced for what it offers, $50 normal night fee (even the $25 Passport America price is high, no frills just a parking spot with hookups). We traversed into the Hilton Head area, a very nice hoity-toity vacation/tourist spot. And we took several trips into Savannah, GA from here, checked out the River Walk and historical district again. Temps were still high and lots of humidity, the puppies were having a hard time, not to mention the Misses who REALLY hates humidity. 9 days of this and time to get set up for the grandchild.
The beach at Hilton HeadPretty nice walkway to the beach at Hilton HeadThe historical squares in Savannah have lots of statuary.There’s something around 24 historical squares in Savannah, all from Civil War history.
We found Lake Aire Campground just outside of Charleston, SC. Small campground with lots of long term local residents. Real quality folks, the epitome of which was a 6-8 year old young man who screamed out, “You Bitch!” at his much younger sister as he chased her through the park. Wow…We stayed here just long enough to pick up Jenn & Max at the airport, make a quick spin through downtown Charleston, then leave at first light.
Pirate Land RV Resort was our choice for a 5 day stay with Max. It is right on the ocean, Pirate themed, and just south of downtown Myrtle Beach. This is a pricey place to stay, but was worth it for Max. They have a really cool splash pool, normal swimming pool, and a “Lazy River” for tube floating. Max & Jenn had a blast here. We went walking the Boardwalk in Myrtle Beach, walked the downtown area and Max took in some of the rides at the amusement park there, and we took in a local dinner/show called Pirate’s Voyage, put on by Dolly Parton’s conglomerate corporation. Max immediately turned into a pirate for the rest of their stay.
Sunset at the beach at Pirateland RV Park.Max and Oma funnin’ at the splash pool at Pirateland.More of the splash pool… The beach at Myrtle Beach from the pier.Max trying to figure out how he is going to get on THAT ferris wheel. Max, Oma and Opa at Moe Moon’s, the boardwalk at Myrtle Beach.Max doing his thing at one of the Myrtle Beach arcadesC’mon, Max, we gotta git you a cool pair of board shorts! Sunset at Myrtle Beach. Mr. Moon came out early…One night at Dolly Parton’s Pirate’s Voyage and Max is a full fledged pirate.
Next stop on the tour was Stone Mountain, GA. I could not figure out what Stone Mountain Park was all about, it is not an amusement park, but it is a busy tourist spot. There is a plantation there to tour, the old quarry area of the mountain where they cut lots of granite blocks, a laser light show area where they do some type of laser show on the mountain, and some memorial areas related to the Civil War.
Skipping rocks at Stone Mountain campground.Life is GOOD!The carving in the side of Stone Mountain.
The campground here at Stone Mountain was OK, if not a bit pricey. There is a lake for fishing, a store and a pool, and the bath/showers are very nice. We still had some high temps, and the usual short term thunder/lightening storms, but the mosquito population was noticeably absent.
Killing time while doing laundry.Max and Opa at Stone Mountain campground. Who picked your wardrobe?
Atlanta, GA has a very nice aquarium that we took Max to. He had a good time checking out the sharks and enjoyed the dolphin show they put on.
Max trying to scoot out of the shot. Sorry kid, you’re not fast enough!Look at all these cool fishes!
From Atlanta it was on to Nashville, TN. With Max in tow, there is no other choice but to stay at the Jellystone Park just down the street from the Opry. The park was kinda a drag this time around, being the “off season”; the pool was only open on weekends, the “hey rides” were over, and the visiting Yogi Bear characters were done for the season. But we made the best of it, Max still got his kicks taking the dogs for their multiple walks around the park. We took Jenn & Max into downtown Nashville and walked around the Broadway area. It was a Saturday and it was PACKED! Lots of drunks and tattoos on parade. We also ventured into the Murfreesboro area to show Jenn the area for her possible relocation. We even made it to Rock Island to visit the good folks still at the state park there. They did some good work on the park campground since we were there as campground hosts a year ago. Paved sites, upgraded electrical, added dump station, and revamped bathrooms just a few of the improvements. Good folks there, we miss them.
Max going to town at the playground at Yogi Bear’s Jellystone park in Nashville.Max cruising Gaylord’s Opryland Hotel and Convention center.Jenn’s having fun at Gaylords Opryland.
Saying good-bye to Max and Jenn is always a downer. Max had a blast this visit, we played pirates and LOTS of baseball, not to mention all the quality beach time and pool time. He is going to follow in his Uncle Bubba’s (Chad’s) footsteps and become a quality baseball player, that being my crystal ball prediction. But for now, back to California it was for Max and his mom. And after a quick, yearly physical exam from my primary physician good ol’ Dr. Cobb in Murfreesboro, it was sayonara to Tennessee for now.
The sun sets on Jenn and Max’s visit in Nashville, TN. We’ll see you again soon, little warrior!
Thanks to our inept Fearless Leader (B. Obama), Jeanne got her health insurance cancelled, effective after December. And unfortunately, South Dakota has severely limited choices for individual health care (that would be reasonable and affordable). Jeanne did some checking and found much better options available out of the state of Texas. So we decided we are going to change our domicile location from Sioux Falls SD (Alternative Resources, soon changing to Dakotapost) to Livingston TX (Escapees, we are already members). That being decided, it was off toward the great state of Texas.
Being in this part of the world, we would be remiss if we did not stop in and say howdy to our family members living in Branson, MO. We drove to the big city of Mayfield, KY for an overnight stay at the Walmart, then westbound through southern Missouri. I would like to take this opportunity to warn anybody driving in this area of Hw. 60 and Hw. 62 going W/B, you will encounter 2 bridges as you cross into Illinois (all of several hundred yards worth) and then into Missouri, crossing the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. These are heavily used trucking routes and the lanes on these 2-lane roads are about 18” wide (a bit exaggerated, really probably at the bare minimum allowed by law). It was an EXTREME white knuckle drive over them, passing an unending string of truckers, and surprising myself that we did not tear off some side mirrors in the urban “joust” we were in. I will NEVER return to that route again, I would drive 3 states north just to avoid it if I had to…
We stopped for a couple of days at the Ozarks Mountain Springs RV Park in Mountain View, MO, a Passport America park. This was a short rest stop seeing it was out in the middle of nowhere with nothing really to see. Then it was on into Branson, where we stayed at the SKP/Rainbow park on Turkey Creek. We had a great visit with Denise & Don, Savohna & Robert, Cedric, Cooper the rock and roll drummer, Brody, and Khloe. Thanks to all for the good eats and quality family time. Sorry, Denise, I think the boys raided all of your printer paper for our paper airplane extravaganza…
Another Walmart stop in Conway, Arkansas, then we hit Hot Springs Nat’l Park in Hot Springs, AR. We stayed at the park campground for 4 days. There were some very cool thunder/lightning displays while we were here, but in between it was still a bit warm and steamy. We busied ourselves with several of the park walking trails which gave some nice mountain top views of the area and toured one of the bathhouses in the historic district. There are several that are still open to the public for baths, massages, hot packs, etc. The area seems to have been a big stopover for visiting baseball teams and gangsters during the 20’s/30’s.
Jeanne at one of the natural springs.More of the springs around town.And the water…it’s REAL hot!View from the mountaintop trails at Hot Springs, AR.Jeanne doing her Indiana Jones thing on the hike.Woody, our guide dog for the hiking trails.The music room inside the Fordyce bathhouse.A tub used for non-ambulatory clients at Fordyce.The exercise room at the Fordyce.Downtown in front of the Ohio Club.This guy and his cronies used to hang here as well.
We decided to drive all the way to Livingston from Hot Springs. Not a bad drive, only about 7 hours or so. We set up at the SKP headquarters campground. Then it was just a matter of lining up our ducks for the domicile switcheroo. Signed up for the mail service, got the bus and Jeep “safety inspected” (a Texas requirement for registering vehicles), registered and paid the fees for both at the county tax office, then got our Texas drivers licenses at the Dept. of Public Safety office. Well, sort of. Jeanne took care of hers, as a standard drivers license. Texas is one of the states that requires RV drivers driving motorhomes over 26,000 lbs. to have a non-commercial Class B drivers license endorsement. So I began that process. I got the Texas commercial drivers license (CDL) handbook and they told me I needed to study section 14 for the 20 question written test for the endorsement. Well, I looked over section 14. It was all about tech stuff for commercial drivers, truckers, farm equipment, and a whole lot more that, in my infinite wisdom, I could not see having to be tested on such stuff for driving a stupid motorhome. So, when we went in to do the licenses, I just took the computerized written test willy-nilly. HOLY SHEEP DIP! I don’t know how I did it, but I squeaked by by the skin of my teeth! I guess I shoulda listened to them when they said to study section 14, all questions were straight from section 14 and all were very technical trucker questions that will have little bearing on my being able to drive a bus. Oh well, pass is a pass. Now it is on to the road test, I guess I will try to memorize the youtube video demonstrating the Texas school bus air brake test.
Well, now you are caught up to our present time. Another week here, hopefully a pass on the drive test, then onward and downward toward the Gulf coast…
Sing with me – “And, the wheels on the bus go ‘round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round, ‘round and ‘round…”
The out-of-the-normal weather patterns are still following us. There has been above normal rainfall here in middle Tennessee and the seasonal temps have been cooler than the normal triple digits that locals say we are supposed to be seeing right now. For us, the weather has been pleasant…
While here at Rock Island, we just HAD to check out some of the other nearby State Parks. Burgess Falls State “Nature” area was just outside Sparta. I say “Nature” area because when we tried to find “Burgess Falls State Park” with Agnes (my Ford GPS system), it was not listed in the Parks section. And even though the few street signs leading to the park names it as a State Park, our friend Ranger David here at Rock Island says Burgess Falls is specifically NOT a State Park, but a State Natural area. There were some pretty spectacular waterfalls here, and it is a popular place to swim for the locals. The trails are not overly strenuous unless you are accompanying a Princess who gets out of breath and “plops” in the shade when her physical burden becomes too great (AKA: Madison, our Cocker Spaniel).
Burgess FallsDodgin’ bugs and critters at Burgess Falls State “Park”
We took the kids (read: dogs) out to Fall Creek Falls State Park. It was a pretty good hike to the falls overlook, but very scenic and the falls again were spectacular. This was also another popular place to swim at the base of the falls.
The Cascades at Fall Creek Falls State Park. “Hi Kids!”“You want ME to walk across THAT suspension bridge, are you INSANE?”Fall Creek FallsAn orange creek at Fall Creek Falls State Park? Too much iron?Fall Creek Falls
While here at Rock Island, we still had issues with a tiny leak in our bedroom slide during rain. The mobile unit from Buddy Gregg RV in Knoxville came out to us and tried to seal the leak for good, but we later found the leak continuing. Our friend Ranger David from the park recommended Southern RV out of Manchester to install some slide toppers we ordered through Camping World. Southern RV showed up and did the install at our campsite and, voila!, leaks stopped. A bit later in our stay we developed a leak in the plumbing behind the water heater. With a couple other minor repairs needed, we thought we could go to our “friends” at Southern RV again. I called them and made an appointment to bring in the trailer. At the appointed time, we dropped off the trailer for the repairs, Southern RV fully aware we were full timers. We drove into town and putzed around, returning near closing time to find the trailer HAD NOT BEEN TOUCHED! I got the “we are still waiting to hear from the insurance co. to approve the work, we can’t do anything until then,” when I got to seeing stars. It gave all the veins in my neck a good work out too. I calmly (as best I could) splained that the repairs had to be done whether the insurance covered it or not, and there was now a waisted day behind us. Then, the veins got their super setted workout when the kid there told me, “Well, you are not our only customer, there are others ahead of you.” OK, bye-bye Southern RV in Manchester, Tennessee and I hooked back up and rode off into the sunset…I would never recommend anyone to use Southern RV as a repair place or anything else… We found Newbies RV in McMinnville and they took care of our issues swiftly and successfully. Go to Newbies…
Jeanne ordered an inflatable kayak made by Sea Eagle while we were in Rock Island. We took it out a couple of times, once on Great Falls Lake (aka: the Caney Fork river), and once on the Collins River. It handled like a champ, my old partner Greg Quacchia would have been proud. Another of my old partners, Chuck Herzog, would have said, “Hey dummy, why not get a sail boat instead?” We had fun paddling all over, I made Jeanne do most of the work (ha ha!).
C’mon, Jeanne, can’t ya paddle faster?”Notice, no paddle in my hands?
Speaking of Chuck Herzog, he and his wife Cindy just happened to be in Nashville during our stint at Rock Island and we hooked up for some BBQ and a visit here at the park. Chuck and Cindy had also done the Stone River Battlefield self guided tour, and he passed along the CD for the tour, which we made use of at a later date. Thanks, Chuck and Cindy, it was a cool tour.
Towards the end of our stay in Rock Island our friend Ranger Dava took us rock hopping down to the Great Falls/Gorge swimming hole. It was a cool hike, and the water was nice and in some places DEEP!
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”Cool shoes, eh?
And, of course, what stay in the Rock Island area would be complete without making a visit to tour the one and only Jack Daniel’s Distillery in historic Lynchburg, TN? It was interesting to see the process and to discover this is the only location worldwide that makes JD whiskey.
Us and our new buddy, Jack.This cave contains the spring which produces all the water used in the JD distilling process. Nice ride…
Well, time to hit the road again, well rested and ready for some more splorin’. We had a great time as the Rock Island State Park Camp Hosts, we met some very nice folks and worked with some really really nice staff folks. If you ever get a chance, RISP is a nice place to visit, and be sure to stop in and say hi to Ranger David, Ranger Dava, Ranger Allen, Park Manager Damon, and Naturist Shannon. In the office Donna, Vicky, and Eva will get you all settled in. Great times and great folks…(Yeah, all you maintenance guys and gals were great too…)
So, we take the gig as camp hosts for Rock Island State Park in Tennessee. They wanted at least a 30 day commitment, about 25 hours a week from us, and in return we get the free full hook up campsite. No real “job description”, and the only physical labor they wanted was cleaning two bathroom/shower buildings in the campground. The main function they wanted from their camp host(s) was to “meet and greet” campers, kinda the Walmart Greeters of the camping set. Piece of cake…
The park is located basically in the center of the state, in the middle of the Nashville-Chatanooga-Knoxville triangle. There are two large rivers right here, the Caney Fork and the Collins, with a large dam which is used by TVA to generate power. With that there are some spectacular water falls and a large gorge area. As has been the case for the past month, rain tends to come down in buckets at the drop of a hat and disappear just as quickly, with temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s. The humidity has been bearable, some days a bit heavier than others. We have been taking our time checking out the local sites, as well as nearby towns. Getting used to the local critters and bugs is going to take some time. The park Rangers here said we should not worry about running into Copperhead snakes, a person encounters such a snake about once every 5 years. So much for Ranger math/statistics…We had 2 encounters within one week alone!
Twin Falls, water just pourin’ out of the mountainside.The Gorge just below the dam, a popular swimming hole.Oops! The Gorge, just after a couple days of rain…A view of the river, hiking down the Downstream Trail. Water still pourin’ out of the mountainside…Another “view” from the Downstream Trail…Mr. Copperhead blocking our passage. He was about 3 feet long…This was “Baby Copperhead” found trying to steal from the Pepsi machine outside the bathrooms at the campground.One of our eerie friends, just cruisin’ through our campsite.We had to rescue Mr. Snapping Turtle from his wanderings through the traffic lanes of Hwy. 287. He was not too pleased with our unrequested assistance, he nearly snapped the branch off that I used to get him out of the road. Nasty little bugger…We find flocks of these guys in and around the campground bathrooms…Cicadas, or what I classify them as “house flies on steroids”!
So far, the big towns we have checked out are Chatanooga and Murfreesboro. Jeanne really liked the Murfreesboro area, a town of about 100,000 which shopping-wise reminded her of Santa Rosa, CA. Plus, Murfreesboro is only about 1/2 hour away from Nashville.
The Tennessee River in Chatanooga.
There are a handful of small towns near Rock Island State Park; Sparta, McMinnville, Bell Buckle, Lynchburg (home of Jack Daniels distillery), Manchester, and Tullahoma, just to name a few. Everywhere we turn, Tennesseeans are EXTREMELY polite & friendly, and when they hear that we are full timers looking to relocate in this state, they invariably turn into recruiters, nearly begging us to move to whatever town they live in.
Antique shop in “downtown” Bell Buckle. More like a sight out of the movie, “Back to the Future.” “Vinyl Radio” playing in downtown McMinnville during their summer concert series. “Day on the Green”, Tennessee style. They played 70’s rock hits…
