Yo Yos (06/22/21)

 
These days it seems like Paul and I are yanked in one direction, then yanked back in another, before we have had time to take a breath. Such was the case with our trip to Massachusetts.

We limped into Massachusetts in early June, having broken a leaf spring on the trailer somewhere between Virginia and Mass. I am always grateful that Paul is so handy that he can diagnose and fix many issues with our vehicles.  He ordered the part we needed and had it shipped to the RV park.

Our with plans were to spend time with our son, and family and friends. However, soon after we got there, Paul’s mom in El Paso started having some issues we needed to deal with. Not being sure if we could do it from afar, we made plans to head back to Texas, just to be safe (she has since improved to the point that we don’t have to rush back). 

We gave ourselves a few days to cram in as many visits as we could, and we did pretty well.

We saw our photo-shy son a couple of times, my brother and his wife, my sister, aunt, and my childhood friends….whew. All in a few days.

After we started the trek back, his mom started doing better so we slowed the pace down a bit.

One of the RV Parks we found along the way was Dixie Caverns RV. We only spent one night there but we arrived early enough to take a tour of the cavern.

Although we have seen plenty of caverns in our travels, this one was pretty darn good.

We took a southern route, partly because RV spots would be easier to come by, but also to go through Florida, so that we could stop and say hi to our friends Mike and Julie. We never have a bad time with them and a bonus this time around is that we met their long time friends Deb and Rick.

All too soon we were on our way again, but our next stop was another happy one for me.  A few years ago we spent some time at Myrtle Beach and I fell in love with the idea of swimming in the ocean without going numb-having grown up in the northeast, I only knew about frigid water temperatures. Although Myrtle Beach wasn’t on our route, Gulf Shores, AL was.

The state park we stayed in also has bikes that you can borrow- so we did that early in the day before it got too hot.  We didn’t go very far, only about 5 miles, but it was fun, anyway.

Once we were done with our ride we headed for the beach, where I spent most of the afternoon in the water.

Continuing our slow trek westward, our next stop was New Orleans. We elected to stay at the French Quarter RV Resort- a very pricy resort but it comes with some perks.  Our site has a private outdoor bar, complete with TV, and we can walk to Bourbon Street from here.

Announcing to our family and friends that we were headed to NOLA produced a frenzy of emails, texts and phone calls. Did we know that there was a potential tropical storm headed that way? Yep, we did. That’s probably why the RV park had availability on short notice. We kept an eye on the weather, knowing we might have to hunker down. We did get a fair amount of rain, but very little wind, as the storm shifted east. It was just enough to make it fun sitting outside watching the weather channel.

Knowing the storm was coming, we spent our first night in NOLA on Bourbon Street, looking for live music and Hurricanes (the drink).

Pat O’Brien’s was our first stop (for a decent Hurricane) before heading to other venues for the live music. We found several bars with music we enjoyed, so we had a great evening flitting around from bar to bar. Apparently Bourbon Street just recently reopened, so some of the venues were short on entertainment.

The next day we figured we’d better walk off some of those drinks. so we headed to the waterfront, about a mile or so away. Along the way we stopped at Musical Legends Park for some food and live music. 

We had a lunch of typical New Orleans fare- a frozen Hurricane, Jambalaya, and beignets. I guess we didn’t really walk off the previous night’s drinks.

Next stop: Texas.

Little Pieces of History (06-01-21)

 Along the way to MA, we spent two nights in the small town of Elizabethton TN.  It was obvious this was a historic area, and I assumed it would be Civil War era, but I was wrong.  This town played a role in the Revolutionary War.

In the 1700’s this area of Tennessee was Cherokee country. In fact, anything on the western side of the Appalachian Mountain peaks was Cherokee, and anything east of it was English territory.

 England signed an agreement that they would “stay out” of the Cherokee side- and made it illegal for colonists to settle here. Except, some of them really wanted to move here, so they did. They called the area Watauga, named for the river that meanders through the area.

This group of settlers leased the land from the Cherokee, and eventually bought it from them, in what was known as the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals. With the purchase of 20 million acres, it was the largest  private real estate transaction in the history of the U.S. (Unfortunately, the governments of North Carolina and Virginia refused to acknowledge the purchase so it was nullified). So, anyway,  everything was going along swimmingly, until the revolutionary war started. 

At that point, the Cherokee aligned themselves with the British, and the colonists were essentially surrounded. England gave the settlers 20 days to move out, or they would be attacked by the Cherokee. Claiming hardship, the settlers asked for and were granted, a 20 day extension. They had no intention of leaving, having pledged allegiance to the Second Continental Congress- they just wanted more time to prepare themselves and set up a defense.

Mathew Talbot, the local miller, volunteered his homestead for the town defense, fences were put up, and Fort Watauga was created.

On July 21, 1776, going about their daily business, many of the women were outside the fort, milking cows, when the Cherokee attacked. Everyone made it in before the fort gate was locked- except Bonnie Kate. She ran around looking for a way in, and threw her cap over the fence so they would know where she was. Climbing as best she could, she was yanked over the top of the fence by John Sevier ( they married 4 years later).  After 2 weeks of bloodshed the colonists persevered, and the Cherokee left in defeat.

In 1780, the Overmountain Men (people who had settled on the western side of the Appalachian mountains) including those from Watauga, were involved in another, well known battle. The battle of Kings Mountain.

They were in hot pursuit of British Major Patrick Ferguson, who was trying to beat down the Patriots. Becoming aware of being chased, Ferguson retreated until he found a place where he could take a stand-Kings Mountain.

Riding through the pouring rain to confront the British force, the patriots wrapped their guns and ammunition in blankets and coats to keep them dry. Once they arrived, the 900 colonists surrounded the British and attacked. In less than an hour, Ferguson was killed, and his second in command  raised the flag of surrender. Historians consider this battle one of the major turning points in the war for independence.

Our final interesting stop along our route brought us from the revolutionary war to the civil war, and from Elizabethton TN to Middletown VA. Looking for a place to stay, I decided to forgo the parking lot at the local Elks lodge, and booked our first stay at a Harvest Host property.

Usually Harvest Host is a brewery, winery or a museum. The expectation is that if you stay there, you will purchase wine, beer, food, or whatever else the host site offers.  This was a farm. A beautiful, historic farm.

The owner was very friendly and we chatted with him for quite a while as we parked behind his barn. He told us of the woes of getting the property recognized by the historical society (the original section of the house was built in 1790), and the history of the property.

The Battle of Cedar Creek took place in October of 1864, one of the more decisive civil war battles in the Shenandoah Valley. The short version is that the Confederates, led by General Jubal Early were well on their way to victory when the general decided to halt the attack in order to reorganize.

That pause gave enough time for General Sheridan to arrive with more Union troops and the North ultimately won the battle- the Confederacy never regained a foothold in the Shenandoah Valley.

Continuing our conversation, I asked Bob “what his deal is”. As I mentioned, most HH sites expect you to buy something in exchange for parking.  Well, Bob doesn’t sell anything. However, he does have a 501C. During Covid he was looking for ways to help those in need, and he focused on providing food and essentials to those less fortunate. It grew from he and his friends filling up their trucks with food for the food bank, to something more substantial and organized.

He thought Harvest Hosting would be an easy way for him to increase his ability to help. We were very happy to make a donation to his cause (https://thorndalefarmva.com/friends-of-thorndale-farm).

The Journey Eastward (05-29-21)

 We travel to Massachusetts quite often, which can stress out the driver, if we are trying to get there fast. It’s a Lot of miles. So, this time we built in a few extra days, so we could slow down and smell the roses. We didn’t Stop to smell them, because we didn’t want to take THAT long to get to Boston.

Planning our route took some time. The RV park in MA had availability the day AFTER Memorial Day. That meant we had to be on the road for Memorial Day weekend. Most RV parks and campgrounds have a 3 day minimum and book waaaaay in advance for that weekend. So, we looked for Elks lodges (some have RV parking) and Casinos along the way (most allow overnight RV parking)to have options. 

We also joined Harvest Hosts, a membership group that offers overnight stays at breweries, farms, museums and wineries. I am not sure we will use it, but most of our RV friends are aware that there are record numbers of RVers traveling this summer, and supposedly most places are already booked. We shall see, but it doesn’t hurt to have more options.

Our first stop along the way was in El Paso for a few days to see Paul's mom. It’s been very hard, during Covid, to spend any time with her, so now that we could, we spent 4 days taking care of paperwork, and visiting with her.

You realize how big the state of Texas is when you need to drive across it, so we broke up the journey with another stop, this time to see friends Wil and Gayle. It’s always fun to spend time with them, and it helps that their driveway is big enough for our rig! After two nights we said goodbye and continued on our way.

Our next two day stop along the way was Alabama, Fort Payne AL, to be exact. 

Every once in a while you come across a gem...this area, and specifically Desoto State park, was one of those. The park has awesome campgrounds, complete with cable and WIFI, hiking trails, waterfalls, a swimming pool, and lots of attractions in the area. We could have easily spent a week here.

The first thing we discovered is that Fort Payne is home to Alabama.....that is, the band Alabama. We realized it when we passed by life size bronze statues of the band members. There is also a museum, but we didn’t have time for it this trip.

With only one day to explore, we hit the ground running. We took a short hike to Laurel Falls, which is an unimpressive trickle right now. From there we drove to Desoto Falls, which was much more impressive.

In the 1920s, a self taught engineer, Arthur Miller, built a hydroelectric dam at Desoto Falls, which generated electricity for the nearby towns. There was a limited supply, however, so power was available from sunset until midnight. A few years later, enough women had bought electric irons that the decision was made to also “turn on” the electricity on Thursday afternoons, so the women could iron.

Beneath the falls there is a small lake, suitable for swimming.

Desoto State Park sits atop Lookout Mountain, which travels north towards Chattanooga TN. We headed in that direction to visit Ruby Falls, a 145 ft waterfall, 26 stories underground. We bought our tickets online, and our small group was taken down an elevator, into the cave. Once there, we saw the usual cave decorations, stalagmites and stalactites etc.

 After a 15 minute walk we arrived in a “room” where the dramatic music and light show showcased Ruby Falls. Pausing long enough for everyone to get their fill of pictures, we turned around and headed back. The return trip was much faster. The pathway is so narrow that when one group passes another, the group heading back has the right of way, and the other group has to pull off to the side and wait.

Riding in the elevator, we did some quick calculations. There was one more attraction we wanted to see- Rock City. Their website was unclear as to what time they close, so we just started driving there, figuring we had nothing to lose. Unfortunately, there was a detour due to a closed road, so it took us longer than expected, but no worries, we got in 5 minutes before they closed the entry gates.

We spent a pleasant hour wandering around this place. 

There were all kinds of narrow cavelike paths, gardens, gazebos, swinging bridges, huge boulders, waterfalls, and a patio from which you can see 7 states( Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia). 

As an add on, the original owners added a children’s cave experience which featured figurines from nursery rhymes. No surprise, Paul didn’t know many of them, but I did.

Both nights at this campground we were treated to a live concert from the people in the site next door. A few campers pulled up chairs to listen and enjoy the music. I did that the first night, but it’s bluegrass, not our favorite, so one night was enough.