Monday July 9th 2018

It was a bright and sunny day, but I seemed to have a metaphorical cloud over me most of the day. A lot of little annoying things got in the way of my travels today.

View to the east from my campsite in Crossville, TN.

The first pain this morning was dumping the holding tank. The sewer hookup was at the high end of the site and we all know that excrement doesn’t flow up hill. It took extra time to slope the hose and coax the fluids along. I didn’t make a mess, but there is always that fear in the back of your mind.

The next issue was bringing in the main living room slide out room. When I pushed the button nothing happened. This is a hydraulic slide so I tried to adjust the leveling jacks which are on the same hydraulic pump also with no success. By this time my brain is firing a mile a minute trying to figure out what all my options are along with all of the worst case scenarios. Luckily, my first option worked. I turned the motorhome off and restarted it after a few minutes. The hydraulic pumps will only work with the key turned to the on position. This time it worked. The slide came in and the leveling jacks came up into the travel position. Moving the RV today was back on the table.

I still wasn’t ready to leave. Hooking the car up to be towed turned into the third challenge of the morning. I was on enough of a hill that hooking up the car and getting the tow bars locked into place is tricky. I’ve been able to complete the task in the past using blocks in front of the car wheels to prevent it from rolling before the tow bars are locked into place. It didn’t work this morning. One side locked in place, but the other one collapsed into its storage position. Any turns before I got the problem fixed would bend the bar. I got the bars disconnected with a lot of brute force including a hammer and punch to drive the locking pin out. Then I moved the motor home to a slightly more level area on the exit road from the campground. After I walked back into the park and brought the car to the motor home, I successfully got it connected.

It was after eleven in the morning by the time I departed from the gas station near the on ramp to the Interstate. I was underway about an hour after my planned departure time, but my adventure wasn’t over yet. The loop road around the south of Nashville was the wrong decision. I wanted to avoid the downtown Nashville traffic and the usually bad city Interstate highway road surfaces. The extra twenty miles was full of reverse frost heaves. Every mile or so there were dips in the road surface about twenty to fifty feet long that set the RV bouncing. Even though I slowed down to under 60mph they still surprised me. I think I was nearly airborne on a couple of the dips.

Site 31 at the Crossville/I-40 KOA.

I arrived at my stop for the next two nights in Crossville TN at 3PM. I have a very nice cement pad site with plenty of grass. Hopefully, my travel luck has returned. The leveling jacks and both slide rooms went out without any problems.

A couple of my neighbors.

Sunday July 8th 2018

The weather started to get humid again today, but the high temperature hasn’t returned yet. It was in the mid eighties today with sun in the afternoon.

Visitor to my site this afternoon.

I drove south from the campground today. Similar to the northern direction, the area has rolling hills with lots of trees separating ranch and farm land. It is a very rural area and I didn’t see anything noteworthy. I understand that several Nashville based celebrities live on ranches in this area, but unlike the Loretta Lynn ranch they don’t advertise. Other than as a curiosity, I don’t have any interest in finding celebrity homes. I could have passed by one or more without even knowing. It is a pretty area. I can understand why it would attract people to live in the area if they don’t need a wide selection of stores and services.

When I got back to the campground this afternoon it was almost empty. All of my immediate neighbors had departed. Late in the day two more trailers departed the campground. They had paid for the privilege of a late checkout. Every night since I arrived on Thursday the campground has started to fill up around two in the afternoon. Today is the exception. The campground is only about half full. This park is convenient to the interstate, but falls just short of being a great stop. For example, the sites aren’t big or easy to get your rig level. It offers good WiFi, but the cable TV channel selection is weak. There is also the constant sound of the nearby Interstate complete with the loud engine brakes on the diesel trucks.

Today is my last day here. I’m moving on to the other side of Nashville tomorrow. My destination is between 180 and 200 miles distant depending on the route I take. The shorter route is right trough the center of Nashville. I think the extra thirty minutes of travel time is worth the reduced tension and aggravation caused by driving through the city. I’ll make the final decision once I’m on the road.

Blossom of the day.

Saturday July 7th 2018

The sun came back out today, but the heat and humidity of the past week didn’t return with it. The temperature only reached into the low to mid eighties. I turned off the AC and opened the windows of my RV home. Unfortunately, my new neighbors decided that pipe smoking outside my window was a good thing to do this afternoon. I closed the windows and turned the AC back on.

Some of the flowers brightening the campground.

After watching all of my neighbors hook up and leave this morning, I took off on a day tour of the area. My first discovery was Loretta Lynn’s Ranch a few miles north of my location. It is a museum complex, an event center dedicated to all things Loretta Lynn and apparently her home. It even has an RV park. I stopped at the country store on the main road, but didn’t visit the Ranch. There was a big concert event advertised for tonight.

Continuing north I started seeing many references to Civil War era historical sites. I tried to find a couple of them, but Tennessee road signs aren’t very helpful. They don’t seem to be plentiful or well placed. I’m pretty sure I found one of the sites, but other than a gravel parking lot I couldn’t find any plaques or markers. Prior to today, I didn’t know much about the Civil War in Tennessee. Most of the Civil War history I remember relates to the campaigns in the Virginia area, but this area of Tennessee saw a lot of action in the first half of 1862.

I knew that the Battle of Shiloh was related to controlling river traffic. What I didn’t realize when I was leaning about the Civil War was that the battle took place in south central Tennessee. I thought it was in the northwest corner of the Tennessee nearer to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Somewhere along the way, a few years ago, I leaned the true location of the battle, but I didn’t really investigate the why. Today I took the time to understand the why behind the whole campaign. The Shiloh National Historic Battlefield is about sixty miles southwest of here as the crow flies. It’s significantly longer by road, so I probably won’t go there tomorrow, but that was one of my reasons for reading history this afternoon.

The whole series of battles in the spring of 1862 were to control the river transportation network north out of Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers to the Ohio River and down the Mississippi River. The river routes combined with the east west routes of railroad were of strategic importance to both sides. During 1862 the Union forces gained control of the rivers in western Tennessee and Mississippi. The only hold out was Vicksburg MS on the Mississippi River which held out until July 4th of 1863.

My touring today was the trigger for coming home and reading a history lesson, but it was also a nice drive. I crossed the Tennessee River a couple of times and drove along some real interesting roads. They were narrow and winding with deep ditches along the shoulders. For wildlife I saw one eagle and one deer. The deer decided to cross the road in front of me, but thankfully it was on a straight stretch not a curve. I had plenty of time to slow down.

Blossom picture of the day.

Friday July 6th 2018

I woke up to a very cloudy day with the sound of thunder in the distance. The heat of the last few days was gone, but the humidity was still around. By the end of the day the humidity was gone as well.

Some of the flowers scattered around the campground.

The main characteristic of the day was a series of thunderstorms. Around 10AM the first line of showers passed through the area. They weren’t severe storms. The wind wasn’t strong and the rain in this area wasn’t particularly heavy. Thunder and lightning were the dominant feature. A couple more lines of storms followed. One came through around 1PM and another at the dinner hour. Just like the first line of storms these were more noise than wind or rain. Other areas of middle Tennessee got more rain. There were flash flood warnings for some areas of the state. Here, the sun actually broke through for an hour or two between the second and third lines of storms.

The rain pretty much put a damper on anything I planned for the day. I ended up staying at home with my reading materials and the TV. During the break in the weather I managed to get a pork chop grilled for dinner. This evening it is much cooler, The air conditioner has stopped cycling on and off. I could open the windows, but I probably won’t. The noise from the nearby Interstate 40 is very loud even with the windows closed. I couldn’t hear it at all with the white noise of the AC running.

More showers are forecast for tomorrow, but it sounds like they will be more scattered. It should allow me to get out and do some touring. I’m here until Monday, so Sunday is also available for getting familiar with this area.

Blossoms of the day.

Thursday July 5th 2018

It was another day of excessive heat. Excessive is the National Weather Services word, not mine. There was an excessive heat warning for the Tunica area of Mississippi. It seems to have different criteria in each part of the country. In this area an excessive heat warning applies to a heat index above 105 degrees. The west central Tennessee area I’m in tonight was a little cooler today. The temperature only reached 94 for a heat index of 104.

Site 46 at the Buffalo Exit 143 KOA in Hurricane Mills, TN.

I finished preparing for travel and got on the road just before ten this morning. Since I’d completed most of the outside tasks yesterday, I didn’t have to suffer in the heat. Disconnecting the utilities and connecting up the car were the only outside tasks I needed to do this morning. Once on the road the air conditioning vents blowing cold air kept the drive comfortable.

I managed to miss a turn onto the Interstate on the outskirts of Memphis. The result was a few miles of driving on downtown Memphis streets before I got on the Interstate. The roads were wide and traffic was light enough that it wasn’t too bad. The only concern was passing under a couple of thirteen and a half foot bridges. My clearance height is twelve and a half feet. Overall it wasn’t a bad detour, just unplanned and longer.

Both front wheels were off the ground by the time I got the RV level. This isn’t my favorite way to get level, but the leveling jacks can support all the weight.

Setting up this afternoon in Hurricane Mills, TN was not as comfortable as getting ready to travel. I had more maneuvering than usual to get situated on the site. I needed to disconnect the car and reposition the motor home to get it level. As it is I ended up with the front wheels off the ground to get level. All of the front weight is on the leveling jacks. I don’t like to do this, but it is designed to be able to accommodate this contingency. The bad part of all the maneuvering was the temperature. I was dripping with sweat after only a few minutes.

Today’s blossom.

Wednesday July 4th 2018

Happy Independence Day!

It was another day with heat warnings issued by the National Weather Service. The temperature peaked in the mid 90s with high humidity. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued around six this evening. It passed through the area by seven without any consequences. It was very windy. My RV home got rocked by strong broadside winds on the leading edge of the storm, but there wasn’t much rain and the whole storm was over in a few minutes. I don’t understand the storms in this area. So far each of the storms I experienced in the last week or so have come from different directions. Today’s storm came from the east. Previous storms have come from the north and the west. I’m used to most of the weather coming from one direction.

Storm clouds moving in from the east. The wind was so strong it was difficult to open the door to take this picture.

Looking west after the storm passed.

Today was my last full day at this location. I came here because I wanted to see fireworks and because I thought there would be a lot of activity. I missed both sets of fireworks. To see them I needed to travel north to the host casinos. For the show on Sunday night I didn’t know that. I thought I’d be able to see them low in the sky from here. I didn’t even hear them from here. Last nights show was located closer. I heard this show, but still couldn’t see the aerial bursts. It was my intent to drive up to last nights show, but I took an unplanned nap after supper. I learned today that I probably lucked out. One couple from the RV park spent over an hour in traffic to get the short distance back here after the show.

As far as other things to do in the area I was generally disappointed. The casinos only plan shows, activities and events on the weekends. Even today there wasn’t much going on in the casinos for the holiday.

Tomorrow I’m traveling about two thirds the way to Nashville TN. It’s about 180 miles. I put all of the outside stuff away this evening. The inside is half prepared for travel. I’ll do the rest in the morning. My plan is to be on the road around ten and off the road before any afternoon storms develop.

Sunset after the storm.

A little while after the previous sunset picture.

Tuesday July 3rd 2018

There was cloud cover for two thirds of the day. It kept the overall temperature down a little. The temperature topped out around 90 degrees. It was still hot.

The afternoon sky once the full cloud cover broke.

Making a noisy racket on the fence.

This year is half over. So far I’ve traveled around six thousand miles this year. I started east across the country from Las Vegas Nevada in January. The months of February, March and April were spent in Florida. At the end of April I started north in what has turned into a curious travel and stay approach. Since I left Florida, I haven’t been doing as much touring as I’m use to. Even though I stay in an area for a week or more, I don’t see nearly as many things as I did last year. I think the cause is a combination of incomplete planning and less interesting attractions than I found out west last year.

My travel so far this year. I started in Las Vegas in January about six thousand miles ago.

Today I’ve been trying to plan out the rest of my travel year. The general plan remains the same. I’ll turn north up the east coast from North Carolina in the beginning of August arriving in the New England area sometime in September. By the end of October I’ll be heading back toward Florida. Open campgrounds in the northeast become difficult to find at the end of October. I spent time today trying to put flesh on the bones of a plan without much success. August is proving difficult to find places to stay in areas with things I’d like to visit. It’s not that surprising, but frustrating none the less. Over the next couple of days I’ll checkout other places further away from the attractions. I’m sure I’ll find places to stay, but not in the ideal locations. I’ve identified a couple of options for the Labor Day weekend that I’ll act on in the next couple of days. The Columbus Day weekend is also an issue that I’m working on.

Rough idea of my travels through the end of October.

The need to commit to plans and make reservations at campgrounds far in advance continues to be one of my biggest challenges in this life style. I don’t like the idea of locking in plans months in advance. As it stands right now, I need to lock in August, September and October quickly. I still have a little time before I have to have November booked. December and January in Florida are already booked and paid for. February and March in Florida are not booked and represent a whole other problem. I will probably end up in an expensive monthly resort during the peak of the snowbird season.

Blossom of the day.

Monday July 2nd 2018

Today started cloudy and remained that way most of the day. Occasionally the sun would break through long enough to get the temperature into the mid 90s. With the humidity it remained uncomfortable outside.

Very colorful blossoms.

The casinos and a couple of golf courses are really the only things to do around here. Neither of those activities are high on my to do list. Golf is not a game I participate in very often. A hot summer day wouldn’t be one of those times. The casinos are an OK diversion if you’re there for some other reason. Using a casino to kill time is a good way to waste money. I’ve spent an hour or less in the casinos each day I’ve been here. As of now, I’m five dollars ahead, but that won’t last.

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This is primarily an agricultural area. About the only crop I can positively identify is corn. I think I’ve seen one small field of corn and a field of sun flowers that I could identify. The literature on the area says cotton is a prime crop. I have no idea what young green cotton plants look like. I think I’d recognize ready to harvest cotton in the fall.

There have been cultivated fields beside the campground at my last two stops. Last week, northwest of Memphis, I was told the fields beside the campground were soybeans. This week there is nobody around to tell me what is growing in the fields beside the campground. Here and at other places I’ve traveled I wish he people who plant the fields would put up signs identifying the crop for curious dudes like me.

My adventures today were limited to driving around the area with stops at two of the casinos. I got a good view of the Mississippi river from the Fitz casino, but the River front county park next door was closed. The rest of the day was spent doing chores and reading in the air conditioned comfort of my RV home.

Tonight’s sunset.

Sunday July 1st 2018

The heat advisory continues for this area. The actual temperature was in the mid 90s. When the humidity is added in the heat index was over 100. There weren’t any clouds in the sky, but it was more gray than blue. The weather talker on the evening news says the haze is caused by dust from the Sahara desert. They even showed a graphic of the path across the Atlantic the dust clouds followed. The idea that a dust cloud could follow the path of hurricanes is a new one to me. The good news is that the dust clouds and hurricanes don’t happen at the same time. A little dust instead of a devastating hurricane may be a good thing.

Flower bed in front of the casino.

I spent some time today checking out the area. This area is part of the Mississippi Delta area that extends from Vicksburg MS north to Memphis TN. Its main focus is agriculture. Historically it was a heavy cotton producing region. In the twentieth century it was a very low income area until it was developed as a center for Casinos in the 1990s. All of the casinos are built between the levee and the Mississippi River. Somehow they all qualify as riverboats to comply with Mississippi state law that allows gambling on riverboats.

There location caused issues in 2011 when river flooding closed all of the casinos for several weeks. That event along with the economy is blamed for a down turn in the casino industry in this area. At one time there were eleven casinos. Today there are eight, although I’ve only found seven. I may have driven by and thought it was a closed casino. Even the open casinos seem to have huge largely empty parking lots. At night, the three casinos around my campsite don’t seem to have many lights in the hotel room windows. It may be more active at other times of the year, but right now the area looks like it is in decline.

I spent a large portion of the afternoon inside my RV home in the air conditioned comfort watching the NASCAR race from Chicago. Toward evening I walked over to the Sam’s Town Casino. It isn’t as big as I expected and the activity level wasn’t high. There were machines empty and not all of the tables were open. I returned to my RV home after feeding twenty bucks into a machine. (I’m such a high roller.)

Blossom of the day.