Oct 30 -- on to Greenville, Virginia

    This was one of the prettiest drives -- we are in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.  So the Interstate runs along a ridge, and has beautiful vistas, as well as green mountain pastures, dotted with cows.  And the trees are in their fall height of colors.  I realize again that English doesn't really have a word for small mountains or big hills, so I have decided to create one -- mounthills.  We drove through, over and around lots of them.  Very pretty, and very pastoral.  

  We arrived at our next campground - Stoney Creek Resort, in the middle of nowhere, only to be very surprised to see hundreds of people/kids wandering around the check-in office area.  All in Halloween costume.  It turns out this is the area's annual event.  Halloween weekend at the campgrounds.  People come every year for it.  There are over 400 campsites here -- some annual, some seasonal, and some daily.  There is a small lake (I call it pond) with a beach and lots of water activities during the summer.  However, we arrived right after the pumpkin carving contest and the costume contest, and right before the trick or treating started.  All of the RV's were already set up, and most were decorated for Halloween. Some quite elaborately.  As we drove to our RV site to set up, we needed to drive through all of the kids out trick or treating, up and down the various RV campsite roads.  I realize that if you live out in the boonies, having a concentrated area to walk around and trick or treat would be very attractive.  

  We set up and decided to walk around the campgrounds, checking out the decorations, the lake, and the event center where the internet is located.  Useful, as there is minimal cell coverage and no internet coverage elsewhere.  This park is big.  It's like a little town.  But it is not a place I would like to be in an RV seasonally or permanently.  

Halloween at Stoney Creek Resort photos:

   

Oct 29 -- Appalachian Caverns in Blountville, TN

   Rain all morning.  So, hanging out inside.  Peter has a lot of computer work, and I caught up on the blog.  After lunch we drove over to the nearby Appalachian Caverns.  This is another instance of finding interesting things and places to see wherever we are.  

  The caverns are very extensive, going down underground for 200 feet.  They have been used by various groups for different purposes over the centuries.  They have been privately owned and commercialized for tourism since the 90's.  The native Americans used the caverns for winter homes, the civil war soldiers used it for a hospital, the bats love it.  Now the guides give not only the walking tour, on a paved walkway, with many bridges, but also do "wild" and "explorative" tours.  They take people through very narrow tunnels, through the water ways (there are two streams flowing through the caverns), up or down steep  rock slopes, into rooms not easily accessed, and doing things I wouldn't dream of on a public tour.  Not all of the caverns have been explored.  The formations are not as exciting as many others we have seen, but the whole feel of these caverns was really interesting.  We enjoyed our tour.  

Appalachian Caverns photos:

Oct 28 - Now in Blountville, Tennessee

   We are definitely near the Great Smokey Mountain range, as our route took us up, over, and around small mountains.  Definitely fall colors on all of the tree-lined roads.  However, it was REALLY windy today, so it made the drive a lot more difficult.  The RV really feels the cross winds.  So, I just drive a bit more slowly.  Also, this interstate had a lot of trucks on it, that kept slowing down to go up the many hills.  So, I also had to slow down behind them, or pass them, which is a pain.  Oh well.  

   Our current stop over campground is small, and on a mountain ridge, though without any vistas, as it is also tucked into the woods.  It is also an "adult RV campground".  Never been to one of those before.  Our site is the most challenging site to access that we have ever been to.  It is tucked between two cabins, on a hillside, in the woods.  And it is a back-in.  However, once into the site, it is sort of nice.  Gravel, has a concrete pad with picnic table, and a fire pit -- all snugly tucked into this wooded area.  Very private.  

  As it is a cool and blustery, slated to rain kind of day, we just set up the RV and are "hanging out".  Starting to think about getting home, and what we will need to do when we get there.  

Rocky Top RV Campground photos:

Oct 27 - Hanging out in Crossville, TN

    Peter has a new post he needs to finish for Forbes.  It relates the accidental shooting with a prop gun of 2 crew on a movie set.  His friend who produced the Margaret Fuller documentary, has been working with a medical doctor who is on staff at film shoots, on a documentary about film safety and other issues.  So, Peter suggested to his Forbes editor that a story could be done about this issue, and the editor agreed and told Peter to write it.  So, we are just hanging out here today.  A very nice place to hang.  And, the weather is a beautiful, cool, sunny day. I can tell we are heading back to New England, as the leaves are now just starting to change color.  It's getting very pretty.  

   After lunch I drove in to the fairly large town of Crossville and went to the Kroger grocery store.  I haven't seen this store since we left New England.  I put the groceries away and baked dinner.  I haven't baked anything in the RV this whole trip, as it has been way too hot to turn on the oven.  And, the stove top meals are faster.  I actually needed to bake the casserole in two separate small casserole dishes, as my microwave is also the oven, and only the smaller dishes fit.  

More Deer Run RV campground photos:

Nice colors on the trees

Nice place to relax and enjoy the sunny day

Oct 26 - on to our next homeward-bound RV campground--Crossville, TN

    Yes, we are definitely in a mountainous area of Tennessee.  Small, tree covered mountains.  Very pretty.  It makes me sing the Davey Crockett TV series theme song:

Born on a mountain top in Tennessee
Greenest state in the land of the free
Raised in the woods so he knew every tree
Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three
Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier

  This RV campground is one of the nicest campgrounds we have stayed at.  It is very large, with a pretty small lake.  The sites are big, level, and interspersed with trees.  I walked all of the way around the lake, which turned out to be longer than I thought.  They have three campground loops, a seasonal owner's area, a big beach area, rec hall and playgrounds, and a couple inlets with peninsulas to walk out into the lake on.  Very nice.

  And, we were able to purchase for a minimal amount a good WiFi connection.  We got here mid-afternoon, set up the RV, and went for my walk.  Made a nice dinner, and we watched a couple episodes on the WiFi.  

Good travel day.

Oh yes, and today is Emory Pless's 15th birthday!  I had a nice chat with him.  And, it is Lois and Ken's 19th wedding anniversary.  My, but how time does fly.

Deer Run RV Resort photos:

Oct 25 - Computer day at the library, Columbia, TN

    Since our cell service and internet service is non-existent at the RV campgrounds, and since it was slated to rain on and off all day, we decided to go in to the small city of Columbia, TN.  We found the very nice library, with free WiFi and spent most of the day there.  I went to the nearby laundromat, and did a bunch of laundry.  Since we were in downtown Columbia, and not the high rent districts on the outskirts of the town, the neighborhood around the laundromat was a bit sketchy.  However, the laundromat itself was one of the nicest and cleanest ones I've been to.  With basically new machines, which were also some of the most expensive.  Oh well, I got a lot of laundry done.  

   We walked to a local restaurant on the public square, where all of the town buildings were located.  Town hall, court house, lawyers, etc.  Nice setting, but not much on the menu for me but salad and a baked sweet potato.  

  Back at the RV for dinner, and a round of a new card game that Peter made up.  Math based, but quite fun and interesting.  

Columbia Library photo:

Oct 24 - Natchez Trace Parkway, Tennessee

    This is a day of sightseeing.  The Natchez Trace Parkway runs for 880 miles, from the Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  In the early 1800's it was an important trail/road to get goods from the coast to the interior.  Now, some of the original road/trail still exists, but the parkway has now replaced it.  There are mileposts all along the parkway, with points of interest marked on the Parkway Trail Map.  Our campgrounds are only 5 miles from the parkway, so we decided to explore a bit.  The parkway is really very pretty.  Tree-lined, manicured, and little traffic.  

   Our first stop was at the Meriwether Lewis death & burial site park.  This was where Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died traveling on his way to Washington DC.  They have refurbished the Grinder House where he was staying when he died and erected a monument  over his grave.  OK.  Nice park, though.  

  Our next stop was at the Swan View Overlook -- nothing to write home about, as there were trees growing that obstructed the view.  But, it was a nice place to eat our picnic lunch.

  Fall Hallow Falls- had a short walk to a sweet water falls in the woods.

  Tobacco Farm/Old Trace Drive -- this was a 2 mile gravel road drive on the original Trace, through tobacco country.  The tobacco barns look just like they still do in MA.

   Jackson Falls -- This one was definitely worth it!  We walked a very steep walkway down to a beautiful water falls, that cascaded over a tall, rocky overhang, and down a rocky slope, hidden in the woods.  Interestingly, this falls wasn't created eons ago, but fairly recently, when the rain eroded away the land enough to shift the waterway to connect up with the big river below.  

   Gordon House Historic Site -- our final stop was at the site of the early 1800s trading post and ferry.  The house is still there.  

   We then turned our path to go to the Davey Crockett State Park, located in Lawrenceburg, TN.  It was a bit of a drive, but was very interesting.  Apparently, Davey Crockett lived here with his 2nd wife and big family in 1817, running their "industrial complex" of a distillery, gunpowder factory and gristmill, until until it was destroyed in 1821 by a flood.  He also began his political career here.  Interesting.  

  Finally, back into Hohenwald, to the Walmart parking lot, in order to pick up a 2nd prescription for Peter, and to do my Sunday family Zoom call, as none of the places we visited today had decent cell coverage or internet service.  A long, but nice day.

Meriwether Lewis park photos:

Gander House where Lewis died.

Fall Hallow Falls photos:

Jackson Falls photos:

Davey Crockett State Park photos:

  

Oct 23 - On to the Natchez Trace Parkway, Hohenwald, Tennessee

    Our next campground was a Thousand Trails park, located in Hohenwald, Tennessee.  It was a long, 5 hour drive.  But I had forgotten how pretty Tennessee is.  There are big, rolling hills, and trees grow everywhere the land isn't cultivated.  They line the highways.  Everything is green.  And, there were huge fields of cotton growing.  I have never looked over a farm field and seen a blanket of white.  Usually it is green or even gold, but never white.  

   The campground is the largest Thousand Trails park that we have been to.  There is a big lake, and three different RV or cabin areas.  And the park itself is very manicured and nicely maintained.  However, the RV sites are some of the worse we have been to.  Many of the sites were eroded away so badly, that you couldn't park an RV on them.  And, of the many, many RV sites, there were only a few full hook-ups.  So, we arrived to find out there were only water and electric sites available.  And, we are here for 3 nights.  Oh well.  We finally found a site to our liking, nowhere near the lake.  However, when we hooked up to the water spigot, it had two small holes in the metal, so water spurted out all over.  We ended up hooking up to the next site's water spigot, since that site was so out of level, no one would choose it.  And, there was only one bath house, located quite a distance from the site.  Oh well, no showers, so we won't need to  unhook and zip over to the dump station, then re-level and re-hook up.

  Now that we have travelled around the country, along the east, west and southern coastlines, where the majority of Thousand Trails campgrounds are located, we are starting to question whether we still need this membership.  Since there are very few Thousand Trails campgrounds in the center of the country, we have been staying at a lot of Good Sam and Passport America discounted RV parks, which seem to be much nicer parks, even if they are the "parking lot" style, versus the "State Park" style.  And, you can reserve a specific site, with full hook-up, whereas Thousand Trails are on a first-come-first-served basis.  

   We needed to drive into Hohenwald, to pick up Peter's prescriptions at the local Walmart, so we found a little restaurant for dinner that had a good bean burger.  Peter never has trouble finding something to eat in rural America.  Back to the RV and to bed early.

No photos today.

Oct 22 - Continuing on our journey home--Forrest City, Arkansas

   We left our very nice RV spot on the lake, and headed out to our next campground.  This one is only for one night.  Just a stop over on the way.  It was right off of the interstate highway, and located a couple of hundred miles from our last stop, so it was a good place to stop.  So we were delightfully surprised that it was so well kept.  Landscaped with flowers between the sites, nice and level sites, and grass all around.  It was owned by an elderly man, who after signing us in, didn't bother to come by to get paid, until we were on our way out the next day.  He wasn't worried, he said, everyone has paid him, even if they needed to call him later and give him their card number.  How refreshing.

   We set up, and I made a quick stop at the grocery store just around the corner.  Then we relaxed for the remainder of the day.  

  One comment about eastern Arkansas -- it is becoming more similar to New England.  Rolling hills, green farmlands, horses, and green deciduous trees.  We are on our way home!

Morning view of our Treasure Isle RV site , Hot Springs, AR  photo:

Delta Ridge RV Park, Forrest City, AR RV site photo:

Oct 21 - visit with Lesley Case, and tour of Hot Springs, Arkansas

    Between 1970 and 1972, basically 50 years ago, I was in the Peace Corps in Villarica, Paraguay.  Of the 24 Peace Corps volunteers in my group, one other was stationed in my small town, Lesley Case.  Her specialty was education -- home economics.  Mine was health education.  We were told that we should not hang out with the other American in this small town, if we wanted to learn Spanish and get to know the locals and the Paraguayan co-workers.  So, we spent the first 6 months in this very small town not really connecting at all.  However, over the next year and a half, we became good friends.  Since then, we have exchanged Christmas cards each year.  And, since our route home went right through Hot Springs, Arkansas where Lesley currently lives, we arranged to hook up.  

   It is very interesting spending time with someone 50 years after not seeing them.  You need to catch up on a lifetime of living, highs and lows, accomplishments and challenges.  Lesley picked us up at our RV campground and gave us a delightful tour of Hot Springs, as only a local can.  First we went to Garven Woodland Gardens.  As Leslie has difficulty walking distances, we had lunch at the lodge there, and she hung out at the lodge while Peter and I walked through the woodland gardens.  

  What snagged Peter's interest most was a large model train display, with trains carrying pumpkins moving through the extensive train grounds.  It definitely brought out the child in Peter.  Then, we walked the gardens, through several different garden areas, and several different water features.  The Gardens are located on a peninsula on the Ouachita River and Lake Hamilton.  The walkways ended at an overlook point, overlooking Lake Hamilton, with a nice cascading waterfalls.  We had a very nice walk, and it felt great to be walking through woods again, instead of desert.  

   Next, Lesley took us on a tour of her gated community, Hot Springs Village.  I have never been in such a large, extensive community.  It was 14 miles long and 7 mile wide.  A little city in itself.  They had many different housing areas, with a variety of housing choices, several lakes, golf courses and country clubs which were like rec centers.  Lesley's house was in the woods, where she lives with her dog.  Very nice.  Lesley had one photo from our Peace Corp days -- a blurry one of me dancing a bottle dance with the locals.  Ah, but we were both so young!  She also had a tablecloth from Paraguay, with the embroidered patterns special to Paraguay.  She gave us dinner, more chatting, and returned us to our RV.  Good, long day and a rekindled friendship.

Garven Woodland Gardens photos:

Evie dancing in Paraguay and Paraguayan tablecloth photos:

Lesley and Evie photos: