Is it Davy Crockett or Davy Jones?

It has rained for the last six days and it sure feels  more Jones than Crockett, but we are camped at David Crockett State Park, about 100 miles south of Nashville. On Thursday, we visited the Opry Museum which is right next to the Grand Ole Opry House. At first, it seems like the Country Music  Hall of Fame all over again, and then you realize that this display is about the people more than the music. There are extensive displays about the lives of Patsy Cline, Tex Ritter, Little Jimmy Dickens, Marty Robbins and others. They have an amazing amount of memorabilia from most of the performers, some things dating back to their early childhood. As well, they have some very sizable items, like Marty Robbins pickup and his stock car. Of course, lots of guitars and records and clothing. Also, they have recreations of stars rooms like Patsy Cline's living room and Marty Robbin's office. So it's different from the Hall and a worthwhile visit.

We then tried to get to the Opryland Hotel for lunch but the only way to park anywhere near it cost 18$ and I just got tired of being ripped off and we bagged it in favor of a Bob Evans around the corner.

We then did some shopping, stopping at Goodwill for some warm clothes for Diane and then back to camp.

We got away from camp on Friday to move South about 10:45 but ran into some mechanical difficulties that delayed us about 3 hours. I wound up replacing the power tongue jack on the trailer in the rain in the Opry Mills Mall parking lot. Long, sad story here but I'm still too close to it to laugh yet.

On our way South, I missed my exit on 440 and wound up miles West of where I wanted to be. So I figured out where I was and trekked cross-country to get back on route. Made to Rt. 100 just in time to stop at the Loveless Cafe, one of the Nashville must-see's. We stopped for lunch and had some of the best food ever. This is one stop that lived up to its billing. Then it was South on the Natchez Trace for about 75 miles to our new camp.

One of the things I've found about traveling with a GPS is the difficulty of either getting to an indefinite location or going on an alternate route. It's fine for going to a street address, but if all I have is a post office box, I'm out of luck. Same way if I want to use the Trace for the scenics and it wants to use the direct route, it's always recalculating. Using Street Atlas would let me do what I want (with some advance preparation) but using the laptop to navigate in the truck just takes up so much room. So it's back to maps on the lap and dead reckoning like we used to do before technology.

The Natchez Trace is a pretty road. I'm used to the Blue Ridge Parkway and I wondered how it would compare. It's not as hilly or curvy. The Northern section had a speed limit of 40 mph but when the road straightened some, it changed to 50 mph. The sides are mostly wooded but the grassy areas are broader, sometimes expanding into mowed fields with huge round hay bales. There are no vistas per say, but there are some overlooks with wider views of some of the valleys. We saw several flocks of turkeys foraging along the way in the late afternoon. The trees are showing some color change but there are only a few Maples for color with most being Oaks and Hickories in shades of yellow, orange and brown. Most of the Southern hardwoods are Oak and Hickory and we have stayed in wooded sites on this trip. It's pretty but somewhat disconcerting in the middle of the night when a nut or two falls on the roof. It sounds like somebody throwing rocks at the camper.

I'm learning that on an open ended trip such as this, we need to not try to schedule our activities and watch the weather and be willing to wait out an inclement spell. I think we pushed a little hard in Nashville, partly due to the limited availability of a campsite. We're going to sit out today, take it easy, maybe get some laundry done, and wait a little for the weather to improve. Sunday through Thursday is forecast to be much better. This campground even has a restaurant that serves dinner on Friday and Saturday and lunch every day, so we're going to see what they have for dinner tonight.