We drove along at a much slower pace than the freeway, but we were able to enjoy the scenery and the roadway. I could hear the chatter from the trucks on I-40 (since we basically paralleled the interstate). As we drove through Hickory, NC, we saw a Super Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club collocated on the same lot. Dottie had a list of things she needed, so we pulled in to the Super Wally and did some necessity shopping. It was a good break, but I was anxious to get back on the road knowing we were moving slower than usual. The real problem with the slower roads is the occasional stop-and-go traffic we encountered. It’s harder on the brakes, a little more stressful in the metropolitan area, and we really use the Pac-brake a lot. But, the beauty of the back roads, the simplicity of the living, and the peace and quiet of the country roads makes up for the hassle in the towns.
It took us almost six hours to travel 170 miles and we finally arrived at Waynesville, NC a little after 3PM. Our destination was the Waynesville Elks Lodge. It’s located on the south edge of town in an old, two-story house. Waynesville is on the eastern slope of the Great Smokie Mountain Range. We enjoyed a couple of Bloody Mary drinks before dinner and retired to the coach for the evening. Our little weather alert radio started going off every 15-20 minutes about 11PM. It was warning of a squall line that had the potential for penny-sized hail and was moving east right in our direction. Shortly after midnight I decided that we should probably retract our slide-outs just in case. It wasn’t 10 minutes before the squall line arrived and dumped some wind-driven rain on us for about 45 minutes. We sat on the sofa for almost half an hour watching the rain come down. It was definitely a horizontal rain and we could see it in the lights outside the Lodge. When it was over, everything quieted down for the remainder of the night. In other adjoining areas of the state there was evidence of tornado activity and extremely strong winds. We were glad we secured the slide-outs (only moments before the weather reached us).
When we got up on Wednesday morning, the ground was wet and showed signs of a good, heavy rain. We didn’t get any hail, but nearly an inch of water had fallen. Thank goodness we were parked on an asphalt parking lot. We pulled out of the parking lot and headed for I-40. I decided to stay on the interstate since I knew we were going to be traveling through mountainous terrain with a lot of up-and-down driving. We had some spectacular scenery through the mountains and only reached a high of 2600’. But it was very reminiscent of traveling through the Rockies in the West. We followed a rapidly flowing river next to I-40 and even drove through a couple of tunnels. The truckers’ chatter on the CB was often entertaining, and at times became disgusting. In spite of all that, I enjoy listening to the CB and getting warned of hazards, construction, traffic issues, etc. prior to encountering it.
We arrived in Crossville, TN and Breckenridge Lake RV Resort. I had heard about this park for several years as it’s one of the home park choices offered by brokers selling used campground memberships. The park is rather small with only 60 sights, but it is clean and well maintained. I’d love to return here and spend more time in the area. The temperatures have gotten cool in the last few days - we’ve lost those warm temperatures that we enjoyed the first couple of months of the year. We saw some temps that were down in the high 30’s on Wednesday night. There is obviously so much to do in the Crossville area and we just didn’t take the time to snoop around and check out the local sights.
We were up and on the road early Thursday morning, the 5th. A little after 8AM we were ready to pull out of Breckenridge Lake and continue heading west. I decided to avoid the concrete slab of I-40 and chose US 70 instead. (It’s interesting to me, but I received an email from one of you saying you enjoy tracking our route on a map and reading about the places we traversed.) We drove US-70 all the way to Tenn. 96 and into Murfreesboro, TN. We visited the local Super Wal-Mart there and restocked some of Dottie’s vegetable supply. From there we continued on T-96 to T-840 and on to I-65 south to Columbia and US412 to the Natchez Trace Parkway.
The Parkway is a sight to see! It is a narrow two-lane road that runs from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN. It covers some of the most pristine countryside in Tennessee. We drove in total amazement at the lack of traffic, the quiet beauty of the tall trees and narrow shoulders, and the lack of human trash on the roadsides. It’s a spectacular roadway and we hope to see a lot more of it in the next week. I’d hate to have any mechanical problems along the Trace as there’s nowhere to pull off the road except on what could be a very soft, dirt shoulder. We arrived at the Natchez Trace Thousand Trails preserve and found a spot to park.
This park is huge! It is an old NACO park and I’m very pleasantly surprised at the size and condition of the park. Our experiences with NACO parks in the West is that they are older, not well-maintained, and small in comparison to the other Thousand Trails parks. This park is in excellent shape and shows the pride of the member workers who take care of things. Even now, before the start of the season, the Trading Post serves breakfast every morning and has meals on the weekend nights. The big draw for the park is the Chief Creek Lake. I talked with some of the folks in the store this morning and heard that they catch bass, catfish, crappie, rock fish, etc. There were several boats ready to go after breakfast to catch their limits. The park is heavily treed and we had to search for a site that would allow us to use our satellite dish. Regular TV reception is weak as is cell phone reception. My Wilson cell phone antenna helps to improve the reception, but it still isn’t very strong.
On Friday morning we drove in to Lawrenceburg to get a 20’ sewer hose from the local Super Wally. It’s about 20 miles to town and we looked around to see what we could find. We have also discovered that there is an Amish village close to here, so we’ll be sure to drive over there for a visit.
On Saturday, the 7th, we had a very pleasant visit from some old friends from our days in Selma, AL. Wayne and Kathy Johnson, who now live near Florence, AL, drove up to Natchez Trace TTN to spend a couple of nights with us. We reserved a cabin for them and they arrived about 1PM. We had a gone down to the Ranger Station to make sure everything was ready and they pulled in while we were standing there. It was a wonderful reunion and a thrill to see them!We spent Saturday night at the coach and had chicken barbequed on the new grill. The temperatures were still forecast to get down in the 20’s, but we cooked the bird slowly over the heat outside. We caught up on all the news for Dottie and retired for the night.
The cabin we had reserved had a window air conditioner, two beds, and most of what was needed for food preparation. Although Kathy is a fantastic cook, she didn’t need to do any cooking up here. The cabin was comfortable, but not lavish. This was our first time renting a cabin and we discovered that the process was easy and well worth the effort to have good friends join us.
On Sunday morning we arose to a temperature of 21 degrees and prepared for church. The minister that conducted the service has a church of his own in town. He comes out to the preserve to conduct a worship service and then rushes back to town for his own service and Sunday school class. He led a very relaxed service with a few hymns and a message about Easter and its real meaning. It was a very short service followed communion for those that wished. We, along with most of the worshippers, remain for the communion service. When the minister was completed, he wasted no time in getting in his car and getting back in to town.
Wayne and Kathy offered to drive us to Nashville to see the Opreyland Hotel - wow!!! What a place! It
reminded me of the Mall of America in Minneapolis. It’s a huge hotel complex with several sections and the whole complex is covered and climate-controlled. There are many different themed areas and it was amazing to walk all the way around the hotel complex. We couldn’t begin to see everything and were amazed at the prices in the stores and restaurants. Since it was Easter Sunday, the buffets were charging only $35 per person! We decided that we weren’t really that hungry and would wait to get a bite of eat on the way home. This is a place to make as a destination and see the huge hotel park.On the way home we found a Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurant and stopped for an early dinner. The food was excellent and we enjoyed the break from the car. We arrived back at the park by about 5:30. Wayne went to their cabin for a short nap, and Kathy came over to the coach to talk with Dottie and share more stories. When Wayne woke up, he came over and we sat until almost 9PM telling stories. It was a fun-filled day with good friends!
On Monday morning we were up in time for breakfast down at the Country Store. We talked about our stay with them in the next few days and are looking forward to seeing them and some of the sights they want to show us. They left about 11AM and headed back to Leighton, AL, their home. We stayed in the coach and got some washing and other odd chores completed. I got a new GPS, and Lowrence iWay 250c. There is a learning curve on this little device and I’m having a great time playing with it and learning how to use it. We have the GPS with our mapping software, but that works with the laptop. We needed a device to use in the Kia without having to haul a laptop with us. This little gem is really amazing in the database that it contains and the way it warns you of pending turns. So far, it has exceeded my expectations. Maybe it’ll make things easier navigating around areas where we’re not familiar with the roads.
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