Friday July 13th 2018

Today was full of many changed plans. I got a later start to the day than I originally planed, but set out on my plan for the day anyway. My goal was to hike to Grotto Falls which is located off the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. The motor trail is a loop road from the center of Gatlingburg. Perhaps because of my late start, but more likely because it is summer tourist season, it took me over half an hour to travel the mile and a half through Gatlinburg. Then I missed the turn. I was in the wrong lane and my visibility was blocked by a trolly until I was most of the way through the intersection.

Some of the colorful flowers in front of the Gatlinburg visitors center.

My first change of plans was to head into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on route 441 and see some of the sites along the road as it climbed the northwest side of the mountain range. The views of the mountains were spectacular. The clouds were kissing the top of the mountains just like smoke. You could see one of the reasons behind the name for the region. At my second stop along my way up the mountains, I had a revelation. If I kept going into the park, I stood a good chance of running out of gas. The stop and go traffic through Gatlinburg really drained my tank.

Cloud topped mountains.

Change in plans number two was to turn around and head for a gas station on the other side of Gatlinburg. Using the bypass through the park to avoid Gatlinburg the ten miles to the gas station went quickly. I only had a little over a gallon in the tank based on the amount I put in. The second part of this change in plans was to continue north back to camp. I didn’t want to fight my way back into Gatlinburg only to find the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and its parking lots loaded with cars.

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I’ll try to get an earlier start tomorrow and target a trail in an area of the park that I don’t have to go through the heavy traffic to reach the trail head. It may not make difference. Judging by this campground the number of people in the area on the weekend my have quadrupled. This campground wasn’t very full during the week. Starting shortly after the breakfast hour today, RVs have been arriving at a steady rate. The campground has also been busy moving trailers out of storage onto sites so the owners can spend the weekend. One got placed on the site beside me and the owners arrived from Georgia this afternoon. I can only imagine what the traffic is going to be like tomorrow.

Wildflower of the day.

Thursday July 12th 2018

The temperature peaked around 90 degrees today. The added high humidity made it feel more like the high 90s, but it was full sunshine with no rain.

View of the mountains south of the Sugrarlands Visitor Center.

I drove through the Pigeon Forge tourist attractions to get to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park this morning. The traffic was heavy and I had to stop at every traffic light. It’s about twenty miles to the Sugarlands Visitors Center. The last part of the drive was in the National Park along a parkway and the Gatlinburg bypass.

The Sugarlands Visitors Center has all of the typical visitor center components. I wandered through the museum looking at the exhibits of the plants and wildlife in the park while I waited for the movie start time. The museum has pictures and plastic replicas of many of the plant species that grow in the park. Surrounding the plant life are replicas of the birds, reptiles and mammals that live in the park. Unlike other park visitors centers I’ve been in these exhibits were not in dioramas. They were just on display boards and cases.

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The movie is shown every half hour through the day and lasts about twenty minutes. It presents how the park land was formed and the history of the area, before focusing on the unique ecosystem within the park boundaries. I found this movie informative and well balanced. I’ve seen a few movies at other National Parks that have a bias or an agenda.

Behind the visitors center is a trail labeled “Nature Trail”. At other parks similarly named trails at visitors centers are usually well manicured and accessible trails that are easy to hike. Under that assumption, I didn’t read the trail information board until after I finished the trail. It turned out to be labeled “moderate” difficulty. I was only half prepared for the hike. I was wearing the right shoes and clothes, but didn’t have water. It was about a two mile trip out and back including a side trip to a waterfall. About half of the trail was narrow with exposed roots as you climbed up and down the side of a hill. Some of the stream crossings were on full scale bridges and other crossings were on split log foot paths. While not what I expected, it was an enjoyable and informative hike. Many of the trees and plants had identification signs to read.

Cataract Falls.

There were a lot of people at the visitors center, on the trails and on the roads leading to the park. It is not surprising that the Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in the country.

Blossom of the day.

Wednesday July 11th 2018

The real heat and humidity returned just in time for another hot travel day. It was back to the low 90s with high humidity today.

For some reason I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night and I was up early. It would have been a better use of my time to sleep in, because I didn’t have a lot of packing to do for my short travel day. Even taking the preparations slow, I was ready to leave a little after ten. With only one hundred miles to travel, that would have me arriving far to early. For once the change in time zone worked in my favor. About ten minutes into my travels the clock jumped by an hour. I arrived at my destination between 12:30 and 1PM.

Site 48 at the Riverside RV Park and Resort.

The drive wasn’t long, but it was not easy driving. I had to cross the Knoxville metropolitan area from west to east. It was three and four lanes of full speed traffic on road surfaces that show the signs of heavy use. There were also enough trucks on the road to make staying out of their way difficult.

A little over two months ago I passed through Knoxville from south to north. Today I complete a loop that included part of the Midwest. I covered many miles to satisfy stops in southwest Michigan and mid Missouri. I’ve passed through a lot of new territory, but have cut a fairly narrow path. There are still many things to see and places to visit it the area I’ve passed through so far this summer.

I’m staying at the Riverside RV Park and Resort in Sevierville TN until Monday. The sites in this campground have the normal tight spacing of a commercial campground, but the utilities are good and I have a view of the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River. This campground is about fifteen miles from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Unfortunately, to get there you have to drive through the amusement and entertainment area of Pigeon Forge. I was in this area in the fall about twelve or thirteen years ago. It will be interesting to see it again.

The view of the West Prong of the Little Pigeon River from my site.

Tuesday July 10th 2018

It was a sunny day with a comfortable humidity level. The altitude here on the Cumberland Plateau is over 1700 feet which helped keep the high temperature in the mid 80s. Overall it was a nice weather day.

Clouds in the sky to the east this morning.

This area of Tennessee is on the eastern side of the central time zone. The next county east is in the eastern time zone. The local TV stations are all out of Knoxville in the eastern time zone which is the source of my morning annoyance. All of the morning TV programs were an hour early. I turned on the TV when I woke up and Good Morning America was ending, so I thought I’d slept late and it was 9AM. When I actually looked at the clock it was only 8AM, but my day had already started in confusion. I never really got in sync with the day.

Other than a run for groceries, I didn’t do much today. The campground emptied out quickly this morning and filled up again this afternoon. All of the arrivals pass in front of my site. Watching them get situated can be amusing. One motor home a little bigger than mine towing a car on a dolly seemed to have a Goldilocks problem. There was something wrong with the first site they were assigned. They drove around the park going the wrong way on one way roads trying other sites. Nothing seem to be just right. They pulled into the pull through site beside me backwards then the right way, but it still wasn’t right. I suspect they wanted to find a site that was level without having to do any leveling with their jacks. After about half an hour of wandering around, they ended up on a gravel site in the back of the campground. It wasn’t my idea of a good location, but I guess they were happy.

This was only a two night stop. I’m moving on to the east tomorrow. I have a reservation for five nights in Sevierville TN. The campsite is well situated for touring Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Sunset tonight.

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.