Home Sweet Home

Well, we arrived home on Sunday, the 8th, at 3:00pm. We both could have kept on going but we have to start another round of doctor's appointments this week.

We managed to travel 3116 miles in 32 days. We used 238 gallons of fuel for an average of 13mpg. I took 962 photos, which are waiting to be sorted and organized and assembled into a slide show.

We stayed at 10 different campgrounds, two of which were private campgrounds and the rest were state parks. I feel that the state park strategy worked very well. For the most part, the sites were better with more room and more screening between sites. Of course, the price was much better. I figure we saved about $500 by using the parks. One thing that really stood out to me was the generally poor attention paid to dump stations. I had several where the dump port in the ground was higher than the one on my camper by the time I got in position. This was most often caused by poor grading around the dump station. Another thing that causes me problems when dumping is the pitch of the road. If I'm pitched away from the dump spot my gray water doesn't dump well. I sometimes had to pull up on blocks to get in position to dump. The folks with the higher placed axles don't have this trouble but I have Mor-Ryde suspension and it puts me lower on the road. This is by intent so that we only have two steps for Diane to climb into the camper, but dumping is the down-side to that.

We visited a lot of places and a great variety of places. We didn't have a lot of preconceptions about what we were seeing and were not disappointed in any of the sites. Some were grand, some gaudy, some somber, some surprising. Since I had been to Nashville, I knew more about that than some of the other places but we saw a lot in Nashville that was new to me. Of all the places we stopped that is the one we could return to most readily. Graceland was better than I had anticipated. Jack Daniels was a little less so. The Pink Palace in Memphis I had never heard of before going there, but it was a highlight of our visit. The Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga was terrific, and I don't generally enthuse about aquariums. Looking back, I think our sightseeing was kind of aggressive, but we did what we felt like doing each day and didn't feel pushed or rushed to see or do anything. In the future though, I would restrain the sightseeing and do more camp time and  maybe hiking or cooking or fire watching. We only had one campfire the whole trip and that was the last night at Lake Hartwell. Of course, the rain didn't help.

The weather was not as good as I had hoped it would be although the last week was beautiful. The rain in the first weeks made everything tougher. Every where we went Diane was in her wheelchair and we mostly managed to get it done between showers, except for Graceland. But the weather is what it is and you just have to keep going.

Anticipating the trip I planned enough to rough out an agenda and possible places to stay and things to see. Some of that worked out and some didn't. I spent a lot of time researching the Natchez Trace, and I'm glad I did, but we didn't spend as much time on it as I had thought we would. I depended on internet access to let me research the next day's activity and that worked well. I was afraid of something bad happening and that led to a lot of anxiety in the first days, especially with our false start and forgetting the medication. Then the rain complicated our moves. The first time I dumped the tanks, leaving Norris Dam, somehow I managed to break the handle off the black water valve and had to open it with vise grips. I guess that set the tone for dumping for the rest of the trip. In Lynchburg we returned to camp after touring Jack Daniels in the dark and pouring rain. I hustled Diane inside and we were sitting ther drying off and listening to the rain and a wind came up and took the awning and threw it backup over the top of the camper. I should have taken it in or tied it down but my mind wasn't where it should have been. So I had to go out in the storm and try to get the awing down and prevent further damage until morning. That's when I knew I should have packed a stepladder as I had no way to reach up onto the roof. I managed to get things under control and patched together enough to continue the trip. Then, the very next day as we pulled into Crockett, I somehow swiped a tree with the right side and wiped out the stove vent and the porch light. I still don't know just where or how it happened.
I only discovered it when I went to set up. Then we made the move to Chattanooga and the truck died just as we got there. That turned out to be a little better than what I feared, but left me wondering for the rest of the trip.

I guess the lesson here is that bad things are going to happen and you just have to be resilient and resourceful and keep on going. Once I realized that I was able to deal with the various situations, I calmed down. But I've also resolved to carry more tools and equipment, especially on the longer trips. One thing that I observed when the truck died is that I had offers of help from several guys at the campground. At the time, I was grateful and I was tired and confused and wanted some help. But the interesting part of the reaction of both the guys at the campground and at the dealership was that I had done something stupid and brought this on myself. The self-appointed mechanic at the campground didn't have a clue what was wrong but he was sure it was because of the additional equipment and switches I had added. And he was quoting thousands of dollars to fix it, including removing the dashboard. That's when I decided to contact the dealer. The firs thing the service manager said was "Did you fill it with gas instead of diesel?". But it all worked out. The next time this happens, I will need to just take a break and let the dust settle in my mind and resist the efforts of the onlookers.

I don't mean to dwell on the troubles we had because they pale in comparison the the good times and the overall experience we had. It's just that I don't see anybody talking about the down sides of their trip and I wanted show that it was not all just flitting from one good time to another.

Thanks everybody for watching and listening. I'll pick up this blog for future trips but for now I'll sign off.

Camping

We're at Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina. Had a good trip yesterday and got here about 3:00 pm, which has proved to be our pattern. This park has 114 sites and when we arrived, there were just five sites left unreserved. The guy running the check in station was a little incredulous that I would be coming in without a reservation. And there is no price break for being a senior or disabled unless you're a South Carolina resident. Still, it was only $23 a night.

This park is different from most we have stayed at. All parks are different but this one is striking in its character. It is set adjacent to Kings Mountain National Historical Site and together, there is over 11,000 acres of land in the parks. There are two small lakes, but neither is near the camping area. Coming up I85, there is no sign to indicate the state park, only the national one. Driving through the national park and into the state park, there is almost no indication of a state park. The main entrance looks like any other dirt road into the woods. I looked at it and drove by until I came out the other side of the park and realized that must have been it. The whole area is oak forest and the leaf fall has uniformly covered everything. That means it's hard to tell the road from the forest and the sites don't stand out at all. Most are crowded by standing timber and are not nearly level. Many I wouldn't have even tried to get into because of the amount of maneuvering around the trees. I watched a Class A back and fill for 10 minutes trying to get in his spot. I wouldn't attempt to bring an A in here. This place is most suited to pop-ups and small hybrids. There aren't a lot of big fivers here, but there are more large trailers than I would have expected.

This park is a destination for Campers (as opposed to RV'ers or Tourists). It is the home of the Keepers Of The Perpetual Campfire. We have outdoor kitchens and chairs with built in sun shades. A full complement of kids and dogs. Firewood by the truck load. These folks are less the REI crowd and more of the Cabellas, Bass Pro, Wal-Mart group. We have golf carts fully equipped and circulating. Lots of BIG pick up trucks. That's not to say that this group is any less pleasant or entitled to have their fun. It's just striking how homogeneous the park population is. Most of the parks we have stayed at have a more mixed clientèle

It certainly is more attractive to stay here than at the private parks that court the seasonal folks, with their 80 lb. gas cylinders and stacks of pallets for firewood.

Our plan is to stay tonight and then head for home in the morning.

Chillin' Out

We made the move from  Vogel State Park in Georgia to here at Lake Hartwell State Recreation Area in South Carolina yesterday. We went north to Blairsville and had lunch and then followed Rt.76 across GA and SC to Rt. 11 and down to here. It was only 101 miles but it felt like all day. The road was much more of what I thought I'd hit on Rt.64 out of TN. That turned out well, but this one was much worse. Very hilly and twisty for a long ways. It was a scenic ride but a little tough dragging the camper. We got here about 3:00  in the afternoon and I was glad of it.

This is a park aimed at fishermen and campers. There's nothing to do but watch the water and that fits in just fine with where I am right now. I got up before sunrise this morning so I could watch the mist come off the water. Very peaceful.

There are 116 campsites here and right now there are five campers. I just love the off season. There are almost no sites right on the water. Almost all are like ours, sitting on a bluff 10'-20' high that slopes down to the waters edge. This is a South Carolina State Park but it is built on Federal Core of Engineers property. The effect of that is that they have to follow some federal rules for pricing. That means that they have to give a discounted rate to all seniors. At the other regular state parks, they only give the senior discount to SC residents. So, our two night stay here was just under $25.

The park is another older park that is well cared for. They have a large beautiful visitors center but the sites tend to be a little small by todays standards. They can accommodate the larger rigs but at fewer sites and many of them are on the inside loops away from the water. The bathrooms are very nice. Clean and with great showers, lots of hot water.

So, the plan is to lay around for a day and watch nature, have a fire tonight and then leave tomorrow for Kings Mountain.

Lazy Day

Yesterday we didn't get going until the middle of the afternoon, mostly owing to the fact that I took a nap. We loaded up the truck and headed south into Dahlonega. But first, we stopped at the top of the mountain.

Vogel State Park is set at the northern base of Blood Mountain. It is also just a little North of Springer Mountain, the point of beginning of the Appalachian Trail. The AT goes right along the top of Blood Mt., in fact the trek up the mountain is said to be one of the most challenging on the whole AT. Anyway, the AT crosses Rt. 19 on the top of the mountain at Neels Gap, and at this crossing is an old and famous store, Mountain Crossings at Walasi-Yi. It is a rest stop for the hikers and a point of resupply. It has a complete selection of most anything a hiker would need, from boots to bags to food to books. It also has a great selection of AT souvenirs and stuff for those of us who haven't quite made the trek up the AT, yet. I bought a new book, just out, written by the owner describing his years of running the store and the experiences with the various characters_er_people who have appeared on his doorstep.

After that, it was down the mountain into Dahlonega. It seems that the areas' main claim to fame, apart from the AT, is that in 1828 it was the site of the nations first gold rush. The old court house in the center of the town square has been converted into a Gold Rush Museum. Unfortunately, due to our late start and the fact that they pull the sidewalks in at 5:00, we didn't get to tour it. Another time, maybe. We did get to go into a couple of the stores lining the square and managed to find a nice little Italian place for dinner.

Today we'll pack up and move again. We've found that we're most comfortable traveling 100-150 miles between campgrounds. That plan will put us at Hartwell Lake State Recreation Area in South Carolina tonight.

Vogel State Park has WiFi at their visitor center but I can't see it from up here in the valley  where we're camped, so I'm connecting by tethering with my Verizon phone. This has worked beyond my expectations. It is a great solution for connecting while on the road. I get on the internet every day and research the area or our next stop. The connection has a limit of 5gigs of download per month but for the month of October while we've been on the road, I've only used about 250 megs of time. Of course, I don't use it to stream video or anything like that, but for my needs, it's been just right.

In the Pines

Yesterday, we moved from Chattanooga to Vogel State Park in the north Georgia mountains. This is a relatively small (233 acre) park, the second oldest in the Georgia parks system. But it is extremely well kept and has a devoted league of helpers and volunteers to keep things in good shape. It was built tin 1934 by the CCC and is very proud of that heritage. It has a CCC museum open during the summer. It has a 22 acre lake with paddle boats and a swimming area. The park is open all year long, even in the winter when it snows. They have cabins for rent as well.
They have had several bear sightings in the campground, so we were warned not to leave any food or coolers out. That has Diane concerned but I don't think there's any real danger for us as long as we don't do something stupid.
We had a really nice drive yesterday along route 64 from Cleveland, TN over into NC. It ran along Ocowee Lake and river for miles. With the clear sky and the remaining fall colors around the lake, it was beautiful. I had thought that we would be facing a tougher mountain climb but the river valley goes almost all the way and is an excellent way to get from SW North Carolina to Tennessee and back. Very scenic and there' lots of river activity. White water rafting and float trips. The site of of 1996 Olympic White Water competition is here. I'd like to come back to explore the area some time.
We're here today and tonight and will most likely leave tomorrow to make the next hop on the way back home. At this point, the next destination is Lake Hartwell Recreation Area in South Carolina.

What a view!

This is what the late evening sky looked like on Saturday from our camper. A portent of good things to come.

Travelers down the East coast on I95 will see a whole series of signs advertising "South of the Border" for miles and miles. Travelers in the South on various routes will see signs advertising "See Rock City", often painted on barn roofs. Well, yesterday, we got See Rock City. It is located on Lookout Mountain just outside Chattanooga. The city has three mountains and a ridge surrounding it so it's kind of in a bowl. There's Signal Mountain that gets its name from the activity of spotters in the Civil War. And then there's Raccoon Mountain, where our campground is, which has a man-made lake on top of it created by the TVA. They pump water up to it from the Tennessee river and then gravity feed it to the area. Missionary Ridge is another rise in the land across the valley.

And lastly, there's Lookout Mountain. It is a limestone ridge that rises steeply from the valley and has shear drops in several places. It's several miles long and large enough for quite a community of houses. Back in the 30's, Freida and Garnet Carter established a set of trails through the rocks on their property and encouraged people to  come and see them. They also built a house on the edge of the cliff that is still used as a private residence. They called the site Rock City Gardens. Garnet started advertising the site by having "See Rock City" painted on barn roofs. By the 1950's it appeared on 900 barn roofs. Of course, they weren't the first to see the sights from the rocks. The Indians had long ago made the journey. But they created the tourist attraction that has drawn people from all over ever since. On our visit, it was interesting to hear the many different foreign languages being spoken.

The attraction is the view from the many vantage points and rock outcroppings, some natural and some man-made. There is a famous sign indicating that you can see seven states from that one spot, and I think we could.

There are paths which wind through the rocks and sometimes go through very narrow spaces. Here is one called "Fat Mans Squeeze".

Here;s what it looks like from the bottom back up to this spot.

The views on a good day, like we had, are really worth the trip. There is a wonderful view of downtown Chattanooga.

At one place near the main overlook, there is a small stream that falls over a rock ledge. A bridge has been built over it and a path leads down into the rocks across from it. It's one of the iconic spots in the place.

They also have a suspension bridge that squeaks and rattles when you cross. The kids love to jump up and down and scare each other on it.

The classic souvenir of the place has evolved into a red and black barn with See Rock City painted on the roof. But one of the other signature items is gnomes. They have a gift shop full of them. As you follow the trails back into the cliffs and caves, the gnomes are often to be seen keeping watch.

We had a great time. We got our bird house and Diane found a shop with home made fudge that just was too good to resist. And anyways, who's trying? It's one of those classic tourist destinations that has been there for generations and is a Southern tradition. It's a great place to take your kids and you can even take your dog. We saw several, both kids and dogs. By evening we could say:

Sunshine!

Today dawned bright and clear for the first time since Memphis. It promises to be a good day to See Rock City.

Yesterday we visited the Towing and Recovery Museum and Hall of Fame. Chattanooga is the center of the tow truck manufacturing business and the home of the Holmes Co., the major builder. This is a museum dedicated to the history of the tow truck operators and industry and the  people whose contributions have been significant over the years. It is very well done. It starts with an introductory film and then you get into the museum room full of tow trucks and associated equipment. There are old ones.

And fast ones.

And big ones.

And little ones.

There is also an outside wall with plaques dedicated to those who have lost there life in the process of a towing incident.

They have displays of toy tow trucks that people have collected over the years from all over the world. Hundreds of them.

The original tow trucks were often made from the luxury sedans of the time, since they were large and sturdily built.









Not a big place, and it doesn't take a long time to go through, but it's a close up look at the folks and equipment from a very important industry. Well worth the time to visit.

Aqua-nuts

Yesterday was Aquarium Day. I had gone on-line the night before and bought a combo ticket that got us into the aquarium, the IMAX theater and on the River Gorge Explorer cruise. The aquarium is in two buildings and the theater in a third, all located around a square in the downtown area one block away from the waterfront where the cruise starts. The rest of the block contains all sorts of restaurants and the parking lot ($8).

We picked up our tickets and headed into the Oceans building. The first exhibit was a pool where we were invited to touch manta rays. The whole museum was highly decorated for Halloween.

From there, the tour took us into a butterfly room. Now, I don't quite get the connection with the world oceans, but it was a magical place. After you enter through a double door, the butterflies are flying all around you. Sometimes, they land on you! The exhibit contains specimens from up to 65 different species. They buy the butterflies in chrysalis form and keep them in a nursery until they hatch. Some can take a year to mature before they emerge. Most come from Costa Rica and Belize. A new batch of whatever is available is released each day at 4:00pm. They have a variety of plants growing that are each favorite foods for different species of butterfly. They also feed them slices of oranges.

Each of the aquarium buildings is four stories high. The exhibits begin on the fourth floor and then you make your way downward through the exhibits on ramps, stopping along the way at each new presentation. Each building also has a three story aquarium in it in addition to the many smaller tanks and displays. There are opportunities to see each of the tanks at various levels and many tanks have domes or chambers that children can crawl into and be surrounded by the tank. There's lots of natural looking stone and habitat.

This is one of several tanks of jellyfish. The tanks are round, which tends to magnify the view. They are also lit from the bottom with lights that change colors.

The second building focuses on rivers of the world and their various ecosystems. It's a good chance to see that while many parts of the world differ, they all have similarities and common problems. We got to see species we'd only heard of. They had quite a display of sturgeon from around the world, all  kinds of turtles and amphibians, too.





Between buildings, we took in the IMAX theater presentation. The film we saw was a presentation about undersea life, narrated by Jim Carrey. It was in 3D and it was superb.

At 4:00, we moved to the waterfront to board the River Gorge Explorer. This is a unique boat, designed and built especially for this service. It is a catamaran, meaning it has two side-by-side hulls and is hydrofoil assisted. That means it has an airfoil wing mounted between the hulls that puts the whole boat up on plane when up to speed. The shallow draft on plane of 6 1/2 inches means that the four engines, totaling 3500 hp can drive the loaded boat at 55 mph down the river. And since they can reverse the thrust, it stops just as well, as the captain was happy to demonstrate several times.

The cruise took us downstream on the Tennessee River to the next dam in the TVA system and lasted three hours, most of it cruising at slow speed so all who wished could ride up on top and watch the shore go by.
Diane enjoyed the ride:

The fall colors were right at peak. If only the weather had cooperated, it would have been perfect. As it was it was still a terrific experience on a unique craft.

One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a mature bald eagle fly low over the boat. Another one was seeing a deer swimming across the river, which at this point was over two football fields wide.

The Saga Continues

Yesterday, we made the move from Lynchburg to Chattanooga. The weather cleared out pretty well in the afternoon. We had followed Rt.64 all across TN and did so yesterday until we linked up with I24 heading south. They are widening 64 into 4 lanes divided just as they have done in much of NC. We were in and out of construction all the way from Memphis. The road yesterday was quite good, however, and we made pretty good time, arriving here around 4:00pm. The route in from the West through the hills was very pretty.

I stopped at the office and registered for five nights and they showed me which site was mine. I towed the camper around to it and saw that it was a pull-through site. Moved the camper into place and went to fine tune it and the truck quit responding. It would start and run just fine but I had no gauges and no throttle. A bunch of guys from around the campground pitched  in to help. One found that the armature of the alternator was magnetized, a sure sign of diode failure. So, off to the parts store and put on a new alternator. No luck. Another guy had a fancy laptop analyzer program that he hooked up to the OBD port and showed a whole handful of codes. By now, the armchair mechanics were in full bloom, but no answers. So, I said that's it, wait till morning and it goes to the Ford dealer and we'll just get it fixed. So that's what I did. Had it towed this morning and got it back this afternoon ready to go. It turned out that the shift lever had shorted out inside the steering column and blown a fuse. Who'd a thunk it!

We have been concentrating our stays in State Parks as much as possible. We like the space and the peace and quiet and the rates are great. But  for this stay, we've elected to move to a commercial park. Raccoon Mountain RV Park is supposed to be the finest in Chattanooga. It is pretty decent but a long way from being a polished park. It's fairly old but kept up well. The nice parts for us is that they have full hookups, free high speed WiFi and a whole slew of cable TV channels. The sites are close. If I put my arm out my slide window, I can toast marshmallows on my neighbors fire. There's gravel for the trailer pad and road, but the rest is grass. (Mud when it rains). There's a 14 day limit on most state parks, but here many of our neighbors are here for the winter. Some have fairly elaborate skirts built around them. It gets quite cold here and it snows. Others around us are living here while working in the area. We have several cable installers at the end of the row.

It's interesting to talk with the different folks and see the setups. We enjoy the extras while we have them, but we'd still rather be in the state parks. When we leave here, I think we'll head to north Georgia to Vogel State Park and move East from there.
Tomorrow, however, is the famous Tennessee Aquarium capped off by a boat ride on the Tennessee River at sundown.

Alone in the Wilderness

RV park, that is. We're at the Lynchburg Wilderness RV Park. The only other units parked here belong to a couple of the guys working here. They tell us that last weekend it was full because of the barbeque at the distillery. Maybe. The sites are full hookup but my sewer connection is above me so I'd have to dump uphill. I could use about twice the blocks I have for leveling. It rained all day getting here and its rained ever since we got here. But that didn't stop us.

We visited the Jack Daniels Distillery this afternoon. This is a view of a bronze statue of JD standing in front of the spring where they get the water for brewing. It's limestone filtered and has no iron, that's what makes it so good. We had our own tour guide and shuttle bus with lift, just like at Graceland. We were the only ones on our tour and we had a great gal as a guide. She took us through the whole process and most of the buildings. This is a dry county, but a few years back they got an ordinance passed allowing them to sell JD in commemorative decanters. At the bar, you can have all the lemonade you want.

The thing that makes Tennessee whiskey different from regular bourbon is the fact that it is charcoal filtered. They make there own charcoal right here using only hard sugar maple lumber. They also make their own barrels out of white oak, but that's done in St. Louis. Each barrel is used only once, then they are sold to various businesses, mostly wineries. I saw them for sale in the barrel shop for anywhere from $85 up to $175 for a varnished one.

She said that about 60% of the price of a bottle of whiskey is taxes. We contributed. Here, Diane is clutching our bottle.

One of the interesting things about the distillery is that they let the town merchants handle the souvenirs, none are sold at the tour. So, of course, we had to see what they had. Diane got another cookbook and I got a T-shirt. I also got a bottle opener I've been looking for to install in the camper.

They pulled the sidewalks in at about 4:30 so we were left with coming back to camp and cooking hot dogs. I think we're going to pull up stakes tomorrow and move to Chattanooga. We're supposed to get a break in the weather for a couple of days and we want to take the river excursion that the aquarium offers.

On the road again.

We've left Memphis behind and are heading back to the East. After 185 miles and 4 1/2 hours, we're back in David Crockett State Park for the night. Tomorrow, it's off to Lynchburg for a first hand look at Jack Daniels. The weather looks to be closing in again, but what're you gonna do - just have to suck it up and keep at it.

It's great to be back to a park where I can get a decent cell signal.

It's about as colorful as it gets around here. Some reds from the dogwood and sourwood, but mostly golds and browns from the rest. Still, it's very pretty and today was a great day for watching the trees going by.

What did we do? We went to the Zoo!

On our first really nice day in a week, we decided to take in the Memphis Zoo. I had been to the San Diego Zoo, one of the premier zoos in the country, and I wanted to see how this one compared. The short story is that we had the best experience on any zoo we've been to. This is a first class operation. The habitats are about on par with San Diego but the Panda exhibit is much nicer. The animals all appear to be in good shape and quite content. All of the big cats were laid out in the sun, soaking it up, and not posing for pictures. There were the usual range of species, from alligators to zebras and most everything in between. Birds to fish to mammals.

But, of course, our favorite was the pandas. They had a nice intro film to watch and then we strolled into the exhibit in time for the afternoon feeding. The pandas are behind glass so it's easy to get a good look at them. They are not as big as they seem in the pictures. But they do have that roly-poly appearance and they sure do like their bamboo.
























I again was fortunate enough to impose on a gal to record our presence, so I can prove we both made it.

Today is a resting day and tomorrow is travel, probably back to David Crocket for an overnight on our way to Lynchburg.