Left Nashville and it was chilly at 2C with ground fog but otherwise clear. Within a few hours it had all burned off and the temperature rapidly hit 20C. The drive was fine with great roads and maintaining 70mph was not an issue. We were celebrating our good fortune when we hit a detour that cost us over an hour, damn.

Arrived in Oklahoma around 16:40 and made it to our first try at a KOA campground in Chekotah. It is just off the highway although based on the noise you would swear it was built along the highway median but it is fine for what we wanted… quick highway access, no fuss, wi-fi and most important, laundry. Carla was tired of driving with the windows open, ha ha. All good now and with a just short drive north tomorrow morning we get to jump on one of the best remaining sections of the Mother Road, Route 66. As a Steinbeck fan I am looking forward to the National Museum in Elk City later tomorrow. And some of the original soda fountains and best burgers of the day.. More tomorrow. No pics today unless highway signs through a bug-riddled windshield is your thing.

5 days from tomorrow to make the meet-up and just 950 miles left to go! Lots of time now so we are slowing the pace.

While we had good intentions of getting an early start, I’m not sure if it was the peaceful camping site, or the fact we are just now getting into the slower-paced groove, that didn’t get us away until after 9AM, albeit our best intentions. Learning from our mistakes the previous evening, we really didn’t want to hit the tacky “Strip” again, and found a by-pass route out of the national park that skirted the towns and gave us a lovely drive through the hills of SE Tennessee.

Later, as we scooted down the I-40, on our way to Nashville, we were hit by a downpour of torrential proportions, which slowed us down just a little bit more, but then miracles or miracles, we decided to turn on the radio (Yes, Sean and I have just been enjoying each other’s witty conversation for the past 5 days), and realized we had gained another hour, which brought us in to Nashville at about 12:30PM. A quick clean-up and a check of e-mails and such, and we were off to see the town. First stop – Ryman Auditorium, which first opened as the Union Gospel Tabernacle in the late 1800s and then became the home of the Grand Olde Opry, until 1974, when it moved to a larger facility. Dolly, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, June &Johnny Cash… the list went on and on, and the costumes on display were amazing. Intricate beading and designs that would have taken weeks. We decided to take the backstage tour which had an interesting guide, with lots of antidotes. For example, did you know that the song “Crazy”, sung by Patsy Cline, was written by Willie Nelson, and she didn’t want to record it, until her manager convinced her to sing it the way she thought it should be sung, not the way Willie sang it…and it became the #2 song of 1962 and is known as her ‘signature’ song!!! Or that Johnny Cash got kicked out as a member of the Opry because he was drunk one night (of many) and smashed all the lights on the stage. He was never invited to be a member again, and only brought back as an invited guest! It was a great tour and combined a little of the Country Music Hall of Fame with the Opry tour, only smaller, which was perfect for us.

Leaving the Ryman, we walked the Broadway strip for the rest of the afternoon, pausing for drinks and musical highlights at the “whiskey Bent Saloon” then “Tootsies”, and landed at a bar we can’t remember the name of, but had 3 great musicians, that could play just about anything. One would start to sing or play, theur i-phones would recognize the tune and then quickly provide the lyrics and then all were off and signing the same tune. We relaxed, and laughed, had supper and headed back to the hotel, hoping for an early start the next day. Tech wars will have to wait…

Carla

Clear again today at 14C and very nice with light winds. The MRT likes windless days as she gets a bit of a shimmy when heading downhill with side winds and passing the big rigs (something Phil has yet to experience from my side, ha, ha) can be a bit of a ride. Especially with the Virginia/Tennessee speed limits at 70 mph! Whatever happened to the 55 mph fuel-economy speed limit? Doesn’t matter, it cost $135 to fill the MRT in Canada and just $80 here so lead-foot isn’t as big an issue except for David Suzuki perhaps.

Anyhow, I digress, after struggling through Tech Wars day 2, we received advice from the Verizon corporate store that was both timely and relevant. The Verizon device we bought from a Verizon Dealer store (not to be confused with a corporate store), to turn our MRT into a wi-fi hotspot, works incredibly well… as long as you are in any Verizon store. If you leave, it just doesn’t want to work, but just some times, just enough to make you really angry. And of course, the device isn’t solid enough to penetrate any Verizon store front window so we were unable to use the most obvious and satisfying solution. We now have a two month data plan with no way to access it. But the battle ain’t over yet. More coming later in coming days, I am sure…

End plan for the day was to reach the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. It straddles Virginia and Tennessee and was apparently not to be missed. And they were right, a very nice place with running rivers, brooks and streams, and trees a plenty. However, to get through to the serenity waiting, we had to pass through a surreal gauntlet of plastic and poor taste called Pigeon Forge. We don’t know of a proper equivalent although Old Orchard Beach in Maine comes within 10% perhaps. Pigeon Forge is a 30 mph zone though a main strip that runs for about 5 miles with every go-cart, dinner theater featuring scrapping hillbillies, KFC, burger joint (multiple), pancake house (multiple), Dollywood, mini-golf & Ferris wheels. Picture a Bill Lynch fair on nuclear steroids. Even boot stores that offered cowboy boots for $400 and included 2 extra pairs ‘free’. Anyhow, one tacky highlight was a ginormous King Kong up a skyscraper mock-up batting away at bi-planes circling his head. And also not to be missed was the upside-down full size mansion and of course, what inland entertainment wouldn’t be complete without the front end of the Titanic complete with the iceberg that sunk her. I have no idea how they managed to recover both the berg (without it melting) and the front end but I suspect from the lineups that they have enough cash to start the hunt for the aft-end now  At least the funnel count will then be correct.

The nice thing about this sort of cultural ‘fence’ is that the folks that favour Pigeon Forge don’t often venture into the wilds beyond and that is where we were headed. Negotiating the gauntlet was worth it. It was a very nice park as you can see below. Steak dinner with potatoes on the grill, a Caprese salad and a 7-year old Nicaraguan rum capped off another fun day.

We have until May 1 to pick up the speed and meet Phil and Di in the BRT and Jane and Ike in the LRT (RT = Rolling Turd for the uninitiated) in Grand Canyon so we will be picking up the pace in days coming…

April 24, 2013 – (Carla & Sean try and remember anything about Country Music)

We felt that a leisurely morning was in order so it was 9:00 before we were untethering the mother ship’s umbilicals from water and electricity. I was heading out on my bike to the registration area to pay for our night’s stay when I noticed that my rear tire was flat. Why is it never the front tire, the easy one to change, that goes flat? I walked up to pay our bill and then came back to tackle the tube change. With some good investigative work on Ike’s part we found that the problem was a thorn that had penetrated through the tire into the tube. It seems in Texas even little thorns have big ambitions.

So by the time we had everything sorted, stopped along the way to take a few pictures etc. it was almost noon by the time we rolled into Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg is an interesting town of about 10,000 people that was originally a German settlement. It still maintains a lot of that heritage as demonstrated by its Bavarian styled houses and Germanic street names but there is no doubt that this is still a Texan town, albeit one with a curious cultural mash up. Imagine someone wearing lederhosen with cowboy boots and a ten gallon hat and you will have some sense of the cultural dichotomy that is Fredericksburg.

Right next door to the cowboy hat and boot store is the decorative German candle store. In my mind some of the ugliest creations in wax since the great fire at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum. Four lanes of traffic form the Main Street and inhibit crossing from shops on opposite sides of the thoroughfare except at intersections. In one shop specializing in leather goods there were lovely hand tooled Bible covers right next to the lovely hand tooled hand gun cases, nothing like covering your odds.

We spent a couple of hours walking around and Ike took advantage of the time to get an oil change. A late lunch at a brew pub followed by a coffee stop gave us chance to catch up on e-mails and update the blog. It also provided us with an opportunity to mark the progress of Family # 2 who are burning a swath across ‘merica in the MRT in anticipation of our scheduled May 1 rendezvous at the Grand Canyon.

As it was now getting late we decided that we would head for the closest state park we cold find and settled on the South Llano River State Park. The drive into the park was scenic but there were ominous reminders that we were in flash flood country, witnessed by flood water level gauges marked in one foot increments to 5 feet above pavement level. I’m pretty sure that even the bulk of the BRT would lift off in those conditions. Fortunately there has been a dry spell here for a while, a church in Fredericksburg prompted its parishioners to ‘pray for rain’. After seeing the markers I hoped that their prayers, if answered that night, would be answered as one and not cumulatively.

On arrival at the park we were advised by the park host that the park was a favourite site for bird watchers and that there were bird blinds scattered throughout the park and that the birds were attracted by regular feelings each morning so we looked forward to seeing even more unique bird life. As we spoke a beautiful red Cardinal landed behind him.

We also noted that deer roam freely throughout the park and although cautious have clearly become habituated to humans. As we had a late lunch, supper was a light meal of pasta and tomato sauce that Jane prepared. The warm breezes of Ink Lake had been replaced by a cold wind so supper was inside, preceded by a planning session. We now have to be very careful with our time as our rendezvous with family # 2 at the Grand Canyon on May 1 is rapidly approaching.

 

Groceries, gas and a couple of errands (read as tech stop #1) and we were on our way at 11:30AM heading to the Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Hwy. Great views like the one below we’re at every turn.  We also met Mary-Rose and Micheal from Chicago, when we came out of a rest stop and caught them peering in our camper windows,  which has become a regular occurrence. Everyone wants one!

 

A stop at the Luray Caverns only an hour and a half down the road was a bit like entering a 3rd dimension. Discovered in 1878 and made into a tourist attraction a mere 2 years later, you can well imagine how commercial it is now. The parking lot looked like a mini-Disney lot, with tons of shops and restaurants all around. Inside, the shop had every imaginable thing you could buy, all with the Luray Caverns logo on it (mugs, towels, shirts, diapers!!!), and even a stuffed squirrel. Sean wanted to buy it and glue it to the hood but cooler minds prevailed. That all being said, when the cavern tour started, you took the first 50 steps down into the first of the main openings and it was awesome. We both agreed that these were the most spectacular caves we had ever seen. And with the incredible views came the added bonus of a 1.4 mile walk underground. The stalactites and the stalagmites and the columns where the two connected were coloured by vivid whites, yellows, reds and even some green courtesy of algae. Some of the columns were over 50ft high and all had names associated with their various unique shapes. And there were some pools and ponds that were so still they reflected the ceiling perfectly. The picture below doesn’t quite do it justice.

We are glad we went as the initial impression would have scared away most sane people upon arriving in the parking lot.

 As many of you know, this whole part of the US is a staunch bible belt. One of the gentlemen on the tour asked the guide how she knew the caverns were 700 million years old. She cited various scientific facts and references as to how the material was washed away leaving the caverns the way they are now. His response was to suggest it was Noah’s flood that likely cleared them out, and then he turned to his wife and said, “That explains it, it was Noah’s flood”. 

It wasn’t until mid-afternoon that we were off to spend our first night of “camping” at Douthat State Park, known for the role its design played in developing the national park system. We celebrated our first night with champagne (surprise surprise) and a beautiful fire that Sean tended regularly. Then off to bed after s sumptuous spaghetti and Caesar salad supper. Yum yum!!

 

Day 19 -April 22

We had agreed the night before to get out of Dodge as early as possible and get on the road. We are travelling the 84 west and before long we crossed into Texas. Unfortunately our planned route skirted north of Lufkin. As a ‘rule’ we try to drop into such noteworthy sites but in this case were concerned that it wouldn’t ‘measure’ up to our expectations (Esther that was for you).

The 84 is a nice road, two lane undivided with lots of trees. At home this would be considered a secondary road and would have a 80 kph speed. In Texas the maximum speed on this road is 70mph and in places 75 mph. Now unless I missed the news where Texas has gone metric is seems that so far things in Texas are bigger, even the speed limits. We haven’t seen speeds like this even on the interstates.

The scenery in the easterly part of Texas is not what I had expected, possibly I watched too much ‘Dallas’ as a child but as soon as I crossed the border I was expecting and endless string of Southforks. There certainly are many large farms along the road and quite a few stately homes but a lot more trees than I had expected to see. I am still having some troubles looking at the map and believing that we have come this far. We stopped mid morning for gas and a coffee break. Conveniently there was a propane pump next door so we were able to top off our propane tanks. Our consumption has been quite low to date with only the fridge, stove and oven having been used. It is the hot water heater and the space heater that are the big users but this was an opportunity that I didn’t want to pass.

Around 1:00 we stopped at a Confederate War memorial site and had a quick lunch of chicken sandwiches that Diane had prepared that morning from the leftovers of our barbecued chicken supper a couple of days ago.

As the day proceeded on the plant life began to change. The roadside flowers are a beautiful mix of purples, yellows and reds. They really are spectacular with large expanses of them on both sides of the road looking more like some watercolour piece than the shoulder of a road. We also started to see some new plants like cactus and palm trees that finally are making me feel that I am some place different.

We continued on the 84 west making good time and passed through Waco. Waco has recently had a tragic explosion leading to the death of many first responders. As the 84 wound its way through The city there were displays of fire trucks, and Texas and American flags at two of the overpasses, with uniformed firefighters standing at the edge of the overpass. It was a sobering display. In combination with the Boston Marathon of last week we are in a country that is drawing deeply on its courage.

At one point the 84 was designated as the ‘George W. Bush Highway’. Not surprisingly there were no left turns allowed on that section of the road.

At Evant we turned south on the 281 and headed due south. We were heading for Fredericksburg for Tuesday and have a state park called Inks Lake in mind for the night. Without much trouble we found the park . Still a little shell shocked after the night before we were thrilled with this location, and our sites right beside a real lake with a lovely warm breeze.

Supper under the stars was the end to another great day.

Day 18 – April 21

Before we retired last night we had a visit from one of the park staff. We hadn’t been able to pay the $18 for our site yet as there was no one in the office when we went back to pay after selecting our site and he wanted a record of our name. This guy also worked in the Mississippi jail system and along with his clip board was packing a flashlight/taser combination (I don’t know how I managed to leave home without remembering to bring mine). For educational purposes only I’m sure he showed us the neat blue spark when you pushed the little button. I considered asking him to be careful where he pointed it as I belonged to a religion that frowned on dancing but thought better of it and offered him a fig newton instead.

We had heard some loud and unfriendly conversation from a nearby site that seemed to be some domestic dispute. He told us that he had already been over there and seized the alcohol and issued a warning to the husband. However the wife, who according to our taser guy had blood on her t shirt, didn’t want any trouble so he couldn’t eject them from the site. He said he would be monitoring them through the night, which offered some comfort. Maybe my neck is starting to get a little red in this southern sun but frankly I wouldn’t have been upset if taser guy had given buddy a few prophylactic zaps just for behaviour management.

We packed up without having breakfast as there was a gas bar and MacDonald’s just at the park entry and we wanted to take advantage of the wi-fi , gas up and have breakfast. Sort of an eat here and get gas stop.

We got back on the Trace and headed towards Natchez, the southern terminus of the highway. We met a couple of bikers from Asheville who were driving the Trace from Nashville. Two really friendly and funny guys who managed to smoothly accuse Ike of saying that Jane weighed 1000 lbs.

By 1:00 we had reached a trip milestone, the end of the Natchez Trace.

We stopped at an national historic site for lunch and toured the grounds of the park. There was a Taraesque mansion that was undergoing extensive exterior renovations and several outbuildings that had originally been slave quarters. The site was 80 acres and until the 1980’s had been privately owned.

 

We crossed the Mississippi River but there were no signs of the extreme flooding further up the river we have seen on the news. We continued on secondary roads heading west but as the day wore on we were seeing few camping sites. Getting low on fuel and needing some provisions and directions we stopped in Mansfield and were given directions to a local ‘RV Park’. It was not far away and we soon pulled into the Highway 509 RV Park.

In all fairness to the following comments it was obvious as we pulled in that this ‘park’ could best be described as a mash-up of Trailer Park Boys and Duck Dynasty but it was getting late and we wanted to settle in before dark. In hindsight it would have been better to wait until dark before we pulled in. To quote Gino Vanelli, black cars look better in the shade and this trailer park definitely would have looked better in the dark.

We were told that the park was almost full as this was the park of choice for the workers at a local paper mill but that there were two adjacent sites available. Ike headed off in a golf cart with the owner to view the sites and came back to tell us that they were a bit ‘rough’ – you learn things about people when you travel with them, who knew that Ike was a master of understatement.

The owner had mentioned that they were ‘working’ on the sites. In Canadian that translates to ‘we have let a D9 Caterpillar loose on the site in an attempt to bring it to near lunar conditions’. Possibly a future space theme park is in the works. Typically when we get to a site we try and level the rigs. Jane and Ike’s LRT has levelling legs. The BRT uses a couple lengths of 2×6 under the wheels. On this site I settled for finding a spot where all the wheels were on the ground at the same time. Some strategically placed ropes and pitons inside the rig allowed us to walk around and prepare supper.

We knew that only one of the sites had water so the BRT was assigned that space and was designated as the cook shack for the night. That water hook up consisted of a tap soldered to the end of a piece of pipe that appeared to have emerged of its own accord from the primordial stew at the back of the site. This is the first park we have been at that didn’t even have a picnic table so our fold up aluminum Lee Valley table was pressed into service.

Now after less than three weeks of RVing we are far from seasoned and we understand that not all locations have the same level of amenities but imagine our surprise when after setting up we discovered that there were no washrooms. At this point the Wall Mart parking lot we had passed on our way to this little piece of paradise was starting to look like a very attractive option. However after a quick scrum we decided that we would press our respective on board facilities into service for the first time.

Long term readers may recall the ‘brief’ description on Day 13 of the plumbing systems of the BRT. The LRT houses portable facilities. Up to this point our washroom/shower had been serving as general storage for beer, bedding and other detritus so a bit of reorganizing was in order. To be honest I had not even peeked under the lid of the toilet up untill then so I thought some preliminary investigation of the mechanics of the facilities was in order. Upon lifting the lid I was pleased to see that the bowl was still full of the red winter antifreeze, a testament to the tightness of the bottom seal. There are two levers on the side of the bowl, one that reads rinse and the other that reads flush.

Curious as to the difference and pushing the one that said rinse I quickly found that referred to what you have to do to your face if you push the button with the lid up. Visions of Robin Williams again flashed before me and I was thankful that I had experimented in a non toxic environment. A brief clean up of my face and the surrounding environs ensued.

We had a tasty supper of barbecued sausages and a salad followed by fresh baked cookies from the BRT’s oven and spent a pleasant evening in the entertainment lounge of the BRT with Jane and Ike. At Jane’s suggestion we agreed the only real solution to our current situation was the application of generous portions of alcohol. She proved to be right.

Left Concord this morning after some world-class hospitality last night, thanks again Kate. The air was a little crisper this morning at 12°C but clear skies prevailed. A whirlwind of states fell beneath the MRT’s tires as we blew through Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and finally arrived in Front Royal, Virginia. From Concord last night until here in Virginia is one ongoing historical collection of battle zones and monuments. We wanted to visit Gettysburg but couldn’t find the address… (sorry, too tired to be funny).

As for the title of this blog entry we observed the depths of winter in the Maritimes a few days ago to the hopeful signs of new blossoms in Concord to the almost complete foliation of trees here in Virginia with many cherry, apple and pear blossoms thriving, a hopeful sign that winter has finally given up, at least here in the south.

Tomorrow is a relaxed touring the Shenandoah Valley on our way south to Roanoke. And by the by, the best ribs we have had in many a year was provided by the Mountain Soul Café, highly recommended.

Day 17 – April 20

The combination wi-fi connection and laundry facilities allowed us to get caught up with our e-mail and blog and empty our dirty laundry bag. One last minute load of laundry in the morning and by 10:00 we were off again. We weren’t far from the Natchez Trace Parkway so we were soon heading south again. We decided that it was time for the ‘women folk’ to try their hand at handling the rigs so Diane and Jane took over driving responsibilities while Ike and I navigated. As the only instructions were to head south it was not an onerous task for us.

The Trace, although narrow, so far had not been heavily trafficked, commercial vehicles are banned, and the road was in great condition so it was a good place for Jane and Diane to get a feel for the extra width of these vehicles. The BRT in particular, with its wider rear dual wheels takes some getting used to, especially when trying to ease over to make way for large oncoming vehicles. Like colouring books, it’s important to stay between the lines especially when sharing the road with one of those greyhound bus sized RV’s that block out the sun and have enough mass to effect tidal patterns.

The day was quite uneventfully, with a couple of stops to take short hikes to some sites of interest, an unknown confederate soldier burial ground with 13 headstones and a First Nations’ burial mound site. We found a nice picnic park to eat the sandwiches that Diane and Jane had prepared that morning.

 

We passed through an area that had been hit by a tornado in April of 2011. It looked like some of the forests at home after Hurricane Juan. It made me a little more conscious of those high wind warnings we heard a couple of days earlier.

There were two remaining campgrounds on the Trace but one wasn’t far enough along and the other was too far to get to before dark so we went of the Trace to the Roosevelt State Park near Morton to spend the night.

After a supper of wok fries we sat around a fire just to get that smokey flavour fully into all of our now clean clothes. We haven’t had a fire for quite a while and I have been carrying a bundle of wood that we bought about 6 states ago that I was very pleased to divest myself of.

Greetings and salutations from Concorde MA. We left Bagtown Inn (thanks Grace and Jane and Ike) this morning in driving cold rain and howling SW winds… why do we live in the Maritimes again? But the promise of better things awaited us to the south with warming air temperatures and blue skies. The US border crossing was a breeze and route 9 (the Maine Airliner route) was wobbly for the MRT in the strong winds but not unmanageable.

Once we reached New Hampshire, a quick stop was made at the Circle of Life (AKA as the New Hampshire Rotary Liquor Store – always a favorite for sailors on their way to Marblehead – a handle of rum from Goslings is $23US, yikes!). And of course we bought some wine so we would look more sophisticated than RVing might otherwise suggest.

And by 4PM we were in Concorde with sunny breaks, 18C, apple blossoms and flowers everywhere.  Kate’s spot is lovely and backs on wetlands so very quiet. And she is in good company… when turning into town the front of the nearest home said “Residence of Ralph Waldo Emerson” but apparently he doesn’t live there anymore. And of course, this town is known for it’s Minutemen… not sure that is a good thing!

So tomorrow we have a lazy start then Front Royal is the destination of choice…