Spring has sprung,

The grass is ris.

I wonder where,

the birdies is.

We found them.  They are alive and well in Tennessee!  At 4 a.m. yesterday in Nashville and today in Athens they began their loudest songs that would wake any sound sleeper.  So Tennesseans, what’s the deal?

Yesterday, we left Nashville and headed to Athens, Tennessee for one last side trip before coming home.  In that part of the state, there is something called the Lost Sea which is the largest underwater body of water in the U.S.  It is part of the Craighead Caverns which were used to produce saltpeter for the ammunition during the Civil War.  The lake was not discovered until 1911, not fully opened up until 1962 and is 4 acres large with the deepest point being 70 feet deep.  While this is obviously no Carlsbad Caverns, it was really fun to see, along with the boat ride on the lake.  In the early 70’s they put some trout in the lake to see if they could find their way out, but since they were being fed everyday, they became the fish equivalent of food stamp recipients and decided to stay.  Now they have become permanent residents.  They are fat and happy with the largest being 36 inches.Entrance to The Lost Sea Underground lake with rainbow trout, the ripples in the water are the fish coming to the surface to feed. Continue reading →

Wednesday morning was brutal breaking down in 27 degree wind chill temperatures and we had reservations near Cincinnati on the Ohio River.  Unfortunately, it was still raining and windy so we experienced another day of cold and wind.  We originally planned to stay two nights, but with the weather being so bad, we decided to get out of Dodge one day sooner and get to Nashville.

If you’ve been watching the national weather  forecasts you know it didn’t do that much good.  The Tennessee Valley has been experiencing record rainfall but at least the temperatures were warmer.  We actually got excited about the temperatures getting up into the 50’s!  We stayed at the same RV park we stayed in when we were in Nashville  last October.  They still have the dinner and entertainment on Thursday nights so we took advantage of it.  After driving all day, it’s really nice not to even think about where or what to do about dinner.

We had lots of plans for the next several days including some we wanted to revisit and some things we just didn’t have time to take in last time.  We had all kinds of plans for Friday because it appeared to be the best day weatherwise, but the rain moved in earlier than expected so we were washed out.  The only thing to do was to go to the movies.  We saw the movie “42” about Jackie Robinson and we recommend it.  

Our Saturday plans made allowances for the rain so off we went to Belle Meade again for lunch.  The last time we were here, we remembered seeing a small creek running parallel to the highway in front of the plantation but this time it was a lot bigger and running with such force it was actually scary.  Most of the roads leading to the main house were covered in water and there was only one road with a substantial bridge that was passable.  Just as we remembered it, the lunch was wonderful.  We started with creamy squash soup and Jim had the pimento cheese with fried green tomatoes and carmelized onions and I had turkey and brie with cranberry relish on cranberry walnut toasted bread.  Is your mouth watering yet?

After lunch we drove to the Fontanel Mansion, the largest log built home in the world at 27,000 square feet, designed and built by Barbara Mandrell and her husband Ken for their family.  Entrance way of the mansion Continue reading →

We arrived in Shipshewana, Indiana mid-afternoon on Sunday, so we would be at the Service Center of the factory early Monday morning.  One of the nice things about the Open Range Company is the two year warranty and during that time they will go through your unit and check all the systems and make any necessary repairs without charge.  As we got closer to the area, we noticed all the farms and home sites looked very neat and manicured.  We also saw a very large shoulder on both sides of the two lane road with horse droppings every so often.  It was when we reached the actual town of Shipshewana it became clear what all this meant.  There were very few cars on the road and every business was closed except for a single gas station/Subway and absolutely no one to be seen anywhere.  If you haven’t guessed it yet it meant the area has a significant Amish/Mennonite population.

The Service Center has four campsites reserved for people coming to have their units looked at and you get to stay FREE for however many nights you need to stay in the area.  We took advantage of their offer and spent a fun time exploring while they worked on our unit on Monday and Tuesday.  According to the Welcome Center a few of the places we needed to see were the cheese factory, the bakery, and the noodle factory.  Who were we to argue with the Welcome Center!  They were making the cheese and, of course, there were many opportunities for tasting and a store so you could take it home with you.  At the noodle factory we watched as very experienced workers shaped noodle dough into the various shapes and sizes available to be purchased.  No samples but lots to buy and take home.

The bakery was where we wound up eating lunch.  For most of you that is no surprise.  As soon as we walked in the door and the aroma of freshly baked bread and cookies entered our nostrils, we knew we had made the right decision.  A simple sandwich of fresh ham and cheese is so much better when it’s on the most delicious grain bread still warm from the oven with soft chocolate crunch cookies for dessert.  We did not leave empty handed either.  We found out these cookies freeze very well.

We drove around the area farms and just enjoyed the scenery.  There were farmers plowing with teams of six or eight horses.  If you think about it, that means they are holding twelve to sixteen reins in their hands at one time.  Pretty impressive!  I started thinking, although I don’t believe I could live the lifestyle, we might be better off as a society if more young people were raised thinking less about materialistic things and more about family and community with a firm root in spirituality

For dinner we went to place we were told the “locals” go to.  There we had some of the best broasted chicken I have ever tasted.  It had the seasonings and flour coating you would see on fried chicken but it is cooked in a pressure cooker.  A much better use for the pressure cooker than we have been hearing on TV lately.  Everywhere we went, people were so friendly and helpful and no one complained about anything.  Most places had Mennonite women or girls working in their plain dress and white caps and I assumed most of the men were working in the factories or the farms.  Most factories have special fields and carriage houses for their employees who come to work by horse and buggy.  Bicycles are also very popular and each place of business has large bicycle racks out front.In parking lots of all establishments you would see this sight, cars/trucks and horse and buggy  Continue reading →

When we got back to the RV Thursday night, it was 69 degrees and windy.  After hearing frightening wind and rain most of the night, we awoke to 46 degree temperatures and rain puddles everywhere.  It was a very dreary day made more dreary by a long drive to Taylorsville State Park in Kentucky; a trip of over 400 miles.

When we arrived, we were shocked to see the number of campers already at the park since we had been receiving frost alerts all the way up.   Remember, we are Rving; these people were camping!  I mean tents and small travel trailers and pop-up trailers.  But there they were sitting around their burning fire pits trying to stay warm.  The temperature outside never got higher than 48 the entire way up to Kentucky and it was still only 48 when we arrived.Great campsite at State Park. Continue reading →

When we left Ocala, we were just at the tail end of the pollen.  When we got to Texas, they were a little behind Ocala and pollen was running rampant.  Here in Memphis, the pollen is everywhere.  That yellow fine powder covers the truck everyday but the good side is all the beautiful spring flowers and trees are in full bloom.  The brilliant azalea colors with a backdrop of that special spring green on all the trees is almost breathtaking.  There are red bud and dogwood trees in full bloom everywhere trying to take your mind off your runny nose and itchy eyes.

We spent the day exploring downtown Memphis and finding things that you don’t readily hear about.  We started with Mud Island Museum with 33,000 square-foot unique exhibits.  They walk you through the history of the Mississippi from the time DeSoto saw it as a major obstacle to his exploration west to the current day barge traffic.  We turned one corner and found ourselves walking on the deck of a three story paddle boat.  Just as unexpectedly, while walking through the Civil War exhibit we were suddenly on an ironclad boat (steam engine boats completely encased in iron). I must not have been listening when we studied the Civil War but I have no recollection of President Lincoln commissioning these boats to cut off the supply route on the Mississippi.  Being fresh off the Civil War battle field in Jacksboro, Texas, it was impressive to see some of the same artifacts of surgery tools and uniforms in this museum.

Then we got to the present day barge pilot exhibit and that’s where I learned that these tugboats today can push up to 35 barges at a time.  We saw one this morning that had four across and 7 back or 28 barges and we thought that was a lot!

Outside the museum there is a five-block detailed model of the Mississippi that you can hike or wade.  There were three classes of first graders with their shoes off and pants rolled up splashing through the water.  One little boy had forgotten to roll up his pants and his teacher was frantically trying to get his attention by calling his name and and screaming “roll up your pants”.  Too late, they were wet up to his backside.  I forgot to mention that yesterday we shared the zoo with elementary students filling about 20 buses.

From there we walked to Main Street and the Majestic Grille for lunch.  This is a movie theater that was built in 1917 and remodelled as a 1940’s restaurant showing movies from that error on a screen.  While we were eating, they were showing one of the Thin Man movies with William Powell and Myrna Loy.  The food was very good, but nothing unusual to mention.

After lunch we hopped on the trolley that circles Front Street and Main Street. These two streets are completely shut to car traffic and the trolley is the only motorized vehicles permitted.  Made it very nice to walk, although much of this area seems to be depressed.  There are lots of empty store fronts and boarded up buildings.

Our final stop was the Cotton Museum.  Did you know, cotton is the only plant that is used completely.  We all know about the white puffy part is used for cloth, and the seeds are used for cottonseed oil but even the stem and leaves are used as livestock feed and fertilizer.  This museum was the original Cotton Exchange that functioned until the mid 1960’s and influenced over 150 years of the city’s history.  As a major commodity, cotton brought a great deal of wealth to Memphis which is obvious from the ornate stone work on the old buildings.  Here is your Trivia fact for today:  In 1997 they developed a strain of cotton plant resistent to the weed killer Roundup so they could use it for weed control.

We had to get home because there was a big storm headed our way and we wanted to be back in the RV when it blew away.  (Joke) Actually its pouring right now with wind gusts that feel like 55 mph, although they say they are only 33 mph.  The temperature is falling fast and is supposed to go to 40 degrees by tomorrow morning.  We leave in the morning for Kentucky, just outside of Louisville.  If we don’t blow away, we will post more information tomorrow.

We left Texarkana and we headed towards Memphis.  Fortunately, we had the MapQuest instructions Jim pulled for the entire trip before we left because our GPS wasn’t cooperating. It just could not find the address.  This was not the first time, though.  We have had several situations when this happened and in fact, it appeared Jim had the same problem with MapQuest.  It wasn’t until much later in the day, when I finally resorted to an old fashioned Atlas that I realized our problem.  We were headed to an address in West Memphis, not Memphis, and West Memphis is in Arkansas not Tennessee.  That is your Trivia lesson for today.

Our campground is named Tom Sawyer RV Park and it sits right on the Mississippi River. Our actual site is right on the river and we pulled in so we had the full view from our back window.Barge  being pushed down river with coal on it. Continue reading →