North Carolina

This is the first time in NC! We arrived early evening yesterday to the most beautiful of campgrounds. Although not quite crisp, the air is indeed fresher and not sticky. We have rolling hillsides in shades of blue and grey that vary in hue depending on time of day. The pink sunset last night was too wonderful for me to try describing. I had a hard time going inside, the evening was just too perfect. Jaymar Park also comes fully equipped with excellent tour guides. We've met several folks so far and all of them have suggestions of what to see and do, a good thing since all we know is The Biltmore in Asheville, just north of here. (We have tickets for Tuesday!)

We have spent today meeting a few people at this very busy park, getting a few groceries, cooking, resting up from yesterday's trip, and trying to find internet. The one advertised at the park leaves much to be desired, like consistent connection.

About yesterday. We left Pigeon Forge and drove west to Knoxville and Camping World. While waiting for our appointed service time, we drove through UT of the East (U of Tennessee) and downtown Knoxville. This is a very old and historic city, once the state capital, and still very lively. We enjoyed the weekly farmer's market and lunch before heading back to get the RV serviced.

It was a fairly short drive to Hendersonville, NC, less than 3 hours, but since we didn't start out until after 4pm, it seemed longer. On the bright side, we were headed east. Those poor souls going west had terrible delays due to road work that started at the state line. The traffic was crawling, if not stopped altogether, for a full 14 miles; we just had to watch mile markers to verify the length. Their trip had to take twice as long as ours did. I don't know where we are going next, but it will not be I-40 west!

Tennessee

June 25, 2010

We took a day trip from Pigeon Forge northwest along the Davy Crockett/Cumberland Gap Highway. This is beautiful country, to be sure, but not the purpose of our trip. Russell's maternal grandfather grew up in this region. Our biggest question: Why did he ever leave?

But he left along with his family in the early part of 1910's. Russell remembers him talking about being tired of the coal mines. Very understandable, but Crosbyton, TX? The 2 areas could not be more different. For those who don't automatically get a mental image of Crosbyton, think "Lubbock." We know that this is where he met the future Mrs. Ellison. We have discovered that he arrived prior to WWI, in which he served. But he took trips back to visit Tennessee, Betty, Russell's mom, remembers one trip with her and her brothers, I'm guessing in the 30's. He also talked about Speedwell, TN with his grandkids.

Anyway, we started exploring at the library of the county seat of Tazewell and then the courthouse. Russell found a registration for his great-granddad's purchase of land in 1899. We had the legal description of the property, metes and bounds, and the luck of being there at the same time as a local lawyer who knew where we could find the place. He also gave us the name of a current Speedwell Ellison, Billy Mack.

Off we went with lunch from the Frostee Freeze and a map. We tromped through a number of cemeteries and definitely located the property in question. We found a number of buried Ellison's, and one who was driving a tractor, Billy Mack! He directed us to another cemetery and the house of Franklin Russell.

Mr. Russell, a 77 year old widower, was most happy to visit with us and detected a strong family resemblance between himself and Russell. It seems that the Ausmus's intermarried with Russell's and Ellison's, creating the link. We had a wonderful visit and got a lot of information to boot. We talked about how very many Tennesseeans settled Texas to make it full of such good people. But Mr. Franklin had been in Texas enough to know that he doesn't ever want to live there, too hot!

We completely enjoyed our day in the back-country of NE Tennessee. You are looking at the Cumberland Plateau in the distance and winding through foothills that are green with trees and crops. We answered the original question, however. Only economic factors could have driven folks to leave all of this beauty.

Pigeon Forge, TN

June 22, 2010

We have taken 2 more hikes since I last wrote. Laurel Falls is a paved walk of about 1.5m to a nice waterfall. Hike in the Smokies usually means straight up, and this was no exception. However, we were not alone. Hundreds of folks like us made the trek on Saturday morning, the lady with a bloody knee foreshadowed our view of the falls.

I have to say, we saw more spectacular falls in the Pacific states, but these were certainly nice and I wanted a better view, one that was on the other side of the folks who stopped right in the middle of the walkway. And stayed there. I was irritated with them, grew impatient, and tried a side-step off the bridge on to the rocks. Not a good idea. Of course I went down to a 2-point landing - right knee and left camera. Several good people helped the old woman up off the rocks, including the 2 people I truly wanted to yell at, "This is all YOUR fault!" I want you to know that embarrassment and self-control prevented the scene from getting out-of-hand. I was fine, the camera not so much. In the mean time, a man arrived from out of the trees to tell the gathered hikers about how much more beautiful the falls are further up. Another day, I might have wanted to go see, and was really tempted; but it seemed best to stay quiet at this time.

On the way back we visited with a couple from New Orleans who were celebrating their 33rd anniversary in the same place as their honeymoon. Nice idea. Nice people. Two of the many who helped me back to an upright position. Russell was worried about my ability to get back to the car(no problem) and correctly predicted many aches and pains in the days to follow.

We walked the neighborhood around the park and completely enjoyed the area, but we waited a couple of days before a trip back to the mountains.

We enjoyed the trek to the Greenbriar School and the Walker Sister's House just inside the park. The Great Smoky Mt. Park is home to the most log cabins anywhere. We really enjoyed the house, fairly large, and clearly livable. The old newspaper is still on the walls in one room. Russell was ready to move in! I don't look for it to happen any time soon, however.

Pigeon Forge, TN

June 18, 2010

There were clues. The lady in the laundry, "Pigeon Forge is pretty congested." Finding Dollywood listed as things to do. Other than that, I thought we were headed to a sleepy Smoky Mt. park that gives great rates for Excapees members.

We learned the truth fairly quickly! For those who have not experienced Pigeon Forge, Parkway Blvd is the major street that escorts tourists off I-40 through Sevierville (Dolly's hometown), Pigeon Forge (Dollywood and its satellites), Gatlinburg (more tourists) to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (more tourists still). I feel somewhat hypocritical complaining about people who bear the same label as we do. After all, their license plates are mostly from points closer to Tennessee than Texas. But still! All of these people are routed on what appears to be the only throughway to get to such places as Ripley's, Ober Gatlinburg, country singer theaters, outlet malls, too many pancake houses to count, and the Smokeys. The Smokey's offer ziplining, rafting, tubing, climbing, biking, history and total beauty. The commercialism is really overwhelming, but did I mention the beauty?

Fortunately, we are on Highway 321 which offers a back way to the National Park. We took that yesterday through Wears Valley to tour the Cades Cove Loop. This is an 11m drive through the remains of a farming town founded in 1819, but was fairly played out 100 years later. The log cabins, mill, blacksmith shop, and churches offer a glimpse of why it is so nice to live in the 21st century. These folks were indeed hardy, but had a spectacular front seat in the mountains that tourists jockey for today.

Today we drove to Gatlinburg to ride the tram up a mountain then a chair lift further up to the top for a view of Mt. LeConte, Clingman's Dome, and the Newfound Gap that is the only hardtop road through the park. We assumed that the chair lifts were used for ski trails in winter and tried to find them. One of the workers said that the trails had to be closed because there were so many accidents. Current ski trails are not as high up. We enjoyed the views of mountains catching the clouds, giving the area its name. So we headed down for a trip to see the views up close.

We drove the winding road up, through tunnels, over creeks, around bends to arrive at the highest point on the road and the state line between Tennessee and North Carolina. From this overlook park you can hike to the Appalachian Trail, the mother of all mountain hikes. We got a kick out of walking along the crest of a mountain along a path so many have taken. One woman threatened to walk to Maine, entirely doable, but probably not by her, and certainly not by me!

We came home on Parkway, along with most of humanity, tired, but with a plan of attack of tomorrow's drive and hike.

Chattanooga, TN

June 15, 2010

Chattanooga is an interesting city of transportation. We kidded about "Chattanooga Choo Choo" on our way in, but it is an historic place as well as a celebrated song! The Glenn Miller song was the very first Gold Record. Also, there is an old depot with a nice hotel named Chattanooga Choo Choo. It is next to the free shuttle depot. FREE means we hopped on and rode north to the river. The city is way more bustling than Memphis. There is a minor league ball field, aquarium, art museum, and riverside park. We were walking around with a bunch of folks, enjoying the heat - well, sort of. We hiked up Missionary Ridge and back downtown for a smoothie. In spite of the cool drink, hot and humid won, so we shuttled back to the car and home. We visited with some nice folks along the way, confirming our opinion of the city.

We enjoyed our tours of the 2 battle sites in this area. The Chickamauga Battlefield is in northern Georgia in the plains south of Chattanooga. We happened to be in time for a Ranger-led tour of the major battle areas. Ranger Rob painted a picture of incompetence and large egos in high places; heroism among the rank and file. it is a story of WHO-you-know, as opposed to WHAT-you-know, determining promotions and decisions. The battle was the meeting of 2 forces, roughly 60,000 men each, clashing over a two-day period with 34,000 casualties. The goal was control of Chattanooga and its supply center of trains, rivers and roads. The Confederates won at Chickamauga, only to loose sight of the objective by letting the Union troops retreat to Chattanooga.

That began the Battle of Chattanooga and Lookout Mt. and a siege, the reverse of Vicksburg, where Union forces were cut off from supplies. Again, mismanagement came into play, allowing the Union to re-establish a supply line and then run the Rebels out of the area. All of this was presented in another Ranger Rob tour of the Lookout Mt. battlefield at Point Park.

We took an early morning 1.5m hike down the mountain from Point Park to the Craven House, the Confederate command post. The trail shows where forces tried to scale the cliffs to gain control of the high ground. Amazing. Even more amazing was the climb back up. Thought I was gonna' die! We came back up top into the park where I scared folks from going any further. Morning walks began the next day! My laziness has just gone too far.

Just one more thing about Chickamauga. A reunion was held in 1889 to celebrate the peace at the former battlefield. Few were expected, but over ten thousand came with their families to picnic and relive the events of September, 1863. This meeting sparked the idea of preserving this battlefield and others of the Civil War. Therefore, it became the first of the four original memorial parks preserved to original condition to pay tribute to those who fought. The other original parks were Vicksburg, Shiloh, and Gettysburg.

Southern Tennessee

June 10, 2010

Upon recommendation from Kyle, we made the 350m trip from Memphis to Chattanooga on state highway 64. Our well-traveled son claimed it is one of the prettiest drives ever. We had to agree. Leaving Memphis, hills gently roll on by, all of them green. Trees-unencumbered by kudzu, pastures, hay and corn fields, and picturesque houses line the equally beautiful 4-lane divided highway. We were travelin' in RV heaven!

The towns we passed define "quaint." Selmer, Boliver, Adamsville, Savannah, Fayetteville are towns surveyed by the likes of David Crocket and established soon after. old Davey survey the road that became SH 64 and represented the area in Congress. Another person of note is Bufford Pusser, Adamsville, which led to a conversation about "Walking Tall". Savannah is by far the most beautiful. It is situated on the Tennessee River, not as wide as the Mississippi, but also not as muddy! Savannah has beautiful old buildings in grand southern-style.

The scenery continued in its beautiful green-ness with gradually increasing hills. As the hills work their way into mountains, the pastures give way to forests with rock outcroppings. As we neared Chattanooga the mountain terrain took over. One 6% grade took our breath away.

One thing we noticed by its absence is trash. The highways are not littered and even the most modest farm house is well kept and tidy. Very impressive!

The scenery continued to amaze, as did the road conditions, but not to the good. Our smooth 4-lane divided yielded to 2-lane narrow with active construction on either side. We were often held to 35-45mph, making for a very long day. One day soon, this will be a completely wonderful trip.

Our park in Chattanooga is also scenic. Located on the Tennessee/Georgia border, it is near the Civil War Battlefield and is the site of one of the skirmishes. We will enjoy our stay here.

Memphis, TN

June 5, 2010

The Peabody, Ducks, The Rendezvous, Farmer's Market, Beale Street, Blues, Elvis.

All on an overcast Saturday in downtown Memphis. The Peabody is a grand hotel with a history of 135 years, but it's present location was built in 1925. We relaxed here for much of the morning, but I was there for the ducks, along with a few hundred other enthusiasts. The pomp and circumstance surrounding this tongue-in-cheek tradition can not be overstated. I got the whole parade: ducks,grandmaster, children (honorary grandmasters) and their parents, from elevator to fountain on video. Russell has seen a duck and had no interest at all, a minority in this hotel. We even went to the roof for a view of town and Duckinham Palace.

Lunch at the Rendezvous was in keeping with tradition, but they really need to visit Country Tavern in Kilgore for World Class Ribs. We walked off lunch with a hike to the farmer's market, a ride in a trolley, a frustrating hunt for the lost car, and a rest back at the Peabody. We collapsed in a sofa on the mezzanine just to catch our breath before a walk down Beale Street. A beautiful lady with cups of ice water appeared to make our day. She was an employee working an event who saw us and took pity. What an Angel! We completed the afternoon waling Beale Street, blues and rock filled the air while serious clouds threatened overhead. It was time to get back to the car.

Overall, our impression of downtown was not favorable, and neither of us is in a hurry to return. "Historic Main St." is dirty, ugly, and mostly vacant. You can't stray off the beaten paths without feeling a little insecure.

We finished the day with a drive by Graceland. We opted to skip the $70per tour in favor of standing at the fence for a long distance view of the mansion. The rock fence is really pretty interesting. Fans have left messages on every square inch of the entire length. We can now say, "We saw Graceland." and feel good about the savings.

RIBS!

As promised! I am sorry, but we started eating as soon as Russell walked in with the plate, so only 3 were left for the photo. They were just short of Kilgore yummy!

They were substantially less expensive, however.

Memphis, TN

June 3, 2010

We arrived in Southaven, MS - a soutern suburb of Memphis - in time for lunch on Tuesday to find that our RV park is situated 1 block east or west from 2 BBQ joints! Jack Pot! We intended to walk to Neely's, but the infamous humidity pursuaded us to drive. We choose Neeley's because they offer both pork and beef ribs. Now the question was: Are they as good as the World's Best Ribs in Kilgore? As good as Neely's is, they fell short in my opinion. The meat was tasty, meaty, the coleslaw fabulous, and the sauce was good, but I prefer dry ribs. We have several other restaurants to test, but the competition is stiff.

We have driven through downtown and then to the elite suburb of Germantown-very nice. We stopped for the required Starbucks for an afternon pick up. Our real destination was the Agricenter Farmer's Market. We bought dinner: green beans, summer squash, valdalia onions, big boy tomatoes, and corn on the cob. Blackberries for dessert! We ate pretty much all of it. A perfect no-meat meal.

Today, we drove to a world-class city park, Shelby Farms Park. We walked the lake and picked strawberries. This vast complex also includes the Agricenter. Russell is entering the Rib Tasting Contest with his dry-rub version. Pictures and reviews to follow.

I think the focus of our Memphis stop is fairly obvious!