Running the Roads-Aug18-20

After the tour of the cave the sky got real dark and the TV said we were in for some rain.  We were.  Rained pretty much all night and we'd resigned ourselves to spending the day in the RV in Bowling Green.  Suddenly it pretty much stopped and we packed up in a whirlwind and made use of the window in the rain to go to TN(and the town of my favorite used bookstore!).  Got there with minimal rain, but the streams and rivers we crossed over were swollen and ugly. There were flash flood warnings for many of the counties along the way, and later we saw on TV that it had happened.  All this water drains toward Nashville and the Cumberland River.  I hope they don't get hit again like they did in May.  Set up the RV and went shopping; me to The Book Cellar, he to WalMart. Thursday morning looked iffy.  In fact it was misting as we packed up to head to the Smokies, the last leg of our journey.  Pulled in at Riverside just outside Sierville and set up. Got tickets to the Black Bear Jamboree Dinner Show and enjoyed ribs and chicken along with the musical, a mix of 50s-80s music: song/dance and comedy. Our last fling(at least for a while!). To bed, pack up and back on I-40 home.  Now the real work begins: unpacking, washing and waxing, shampooing the carpet(don't ask), laundry and such.  It was a wonderful trip (just shy 8,000 miles) and this blog has helped me keep a diary because doing so much in so little time kind of gets mixed up in our heads and we need time to sort it out.  However wonderful the trip, it is good to be home because: THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME...Love to all who have enjoyed our travels with us.   G.

Running the Roads-Aug.17

Drove through some pretty country today including some Amish farm country.  Saw a couple of buggies and a fellow on a horse.  Made it to Bowling Green  because we wanted to see Lost River Cave.  A neat place.  It is on Ripley's Belive It or Not register as the shortest and deepest river, both in the 400 feet catagory.  The only problem is that the water on the surface looks still, but there is a swift moving channel down below and the rock thrown in to measure the depth got caught in the current and dragged down stream!  It wasn't until the land passed into the local college's hands (many years later) that modern equipment was able to determine we were only looking at a couple of feet.  The cave has a wonderful history with both the Union and Confederacy using it, Jesse James using it as a hideout after robbing a local bank, and a local man using it as a club, complete with a ballroom during the first half of the last century.  It lost popularity with Rock & Roll and indoor airconditioning.  The land is much like WV with karst geology.  The valley was formed by the collapse of the roof of the big cave thousands of years ago.  The big flood in Nashville last May began in this area which had 63 feet of water in the ravine drainage.  The interesting guide took us in a boat into the cavern(which differs from a cave only by the use of the "r" and "n".) This type of cave doesn't have the "usual" formations of columns of minerals because it is all water and the regular flooding that occurs breaks off any formations that try to form.  We also looked into the butterfly habitat, a large greenhouse shaped building of windowscreening and planted with all types of flowers and full of butterflies.  All in all, a very good day of sightseeing.  Unfortunately, it was too dark to get good photos of the cave; our brains will have to keep these memories.

Running the Roads-Aug 15-16

A quiet Sunday staying cool. Monday morn we hit the road.  At Mall of America we decided against the roller coaster ride but had one today on Missouri Rt. 42.  It makes the trip from Rock Camp to Union look and feel straight and level.  We stayed off the Interstates across MO and made use of the state and country roads.  MO uses letters for its country roads, and every county has the same letters.  To say you live on J also means you have to give the county.  What happens after they've used the 26 letters?  They double up! AA, BB, etc.  Anyway, we are heading into KY and looking at stopping for a tour of an underground cave...wait, aren't all caves underground?  Guess the brain is a little overheated altho the temps are dropping a bit and in the 80s daytime today and they promise into the 70s tonight!  Pleasant sleeping weather with no AC on.  Saw a church sign today: Faith makes things possible, not easy.  Think about that one!  Hope all is well wherever you are. 

Running the Roads-adendum

Running the Roads-Aug 12-14th

Thursday sees us at a small campground.  Folks just bought it this year and are working to get it up and running.  The heat has been a drawback but I see only good things for this couple.  They are enthusiastic about their enterprise. We left for the mountains of MO; Osage Beach RV at Lake of the Ozarks.  You’d think we would find a quaint little place, lots of trees, a beach and view of the lake…..you’d be wrong.  See if you can pick out from the attached photos what our view is of.  It took us a lot longer to get here than estimated because of a detour on the Interstate near Ames, Iowa.  Found out last night  what the detour was for.  Did it make the national news?  Ames flooded badly after a storm, really badly and it took out the Interstate. Today(Sat.)we toured a castle ruins right here in the mountains. Back in 1903 Robert Snyder visited the area, fell in love and conceived the idea of a retreat(he was a big man in Kansas City), bought 5000 acres, brought in European stonemasons and began his dream.  Unfortunately, in 1905 he was killed in an auto accident(did you catch the year?)and it wasn’t until 1922 that his sons completed, on a smaller scale, their dad’s dream. Eventually it was turned into a hotel but in 1942 it burned to the ground, the roof having caught fire from a spark from one of the fireplaces.  It was quite a place and the State of MO acquired it and turned it into a state park.  Enjoyed the morning, but due to the heat didn’t spend too much extra time there.  To keep cool I dragged Curt shopping.  This town is a mecca for shopping and it was cool inside.  Enjoy the photos.  

Running the Roads-Aug.11th

"You can't be in Minneapolis without going to the Mall of America."  Don't believe it.  We went and while admittedly not "mall shoppers" didn't see much difference between it and any other mall except for the fact there is a full amusement ride park in the center, a LEGO store, and an aquarium exhibit.  With the heat here lots of moms had their kids at the mall........  Many of the "big" names in mall stores had 2 or more store fronts(Zales, Kay Jewelers, Aeropostele, The Gap, etc.)  The only novel idea I saw was a tailor/seamstress shop that advertised alterations while you shop and the only book store I saw was B&N.  Granted it is a big mall, but the one in Charleston is about the same size, I would estimate for the actual shopping end of it. We watched at the amusement park(wished I had taken the camera), and marveled at the Lego store and skipped the aquarium exhibit.  We did grab lunch at the food court...lots of food with everything that Mercer has (except maybe ChickFilet)plus a lot of others I had never heard of.  Over all, I was disappointed. I expected more variety of store or boutiqes). Laundry was the activity of the afternoon and we will head south tomorrow morning.  We are in the upper 90s, but heard from a friend at home that triple digits happened early this afternoon.  I guess Bluefield has been making up for years without spending any money on lemonade.  Think I will go pour myself some right now....sounds good. 

Running the Roads-Aug. 10

Started the morning out on a high note...the campground has a free Continental Breakfast. So, since nothing is free that means we paid for it in the camp fee, we went to get our $$ worth.  Good juice, cereal, toast and coffeee.  Then back to the camper to close up and get on the road. So far, so good...doing a "walk around" I noticed some water dripping where it should not have been dripping from and determined it was the dew running off a newly closed slide.  However, looking upward we noticed a tear in the rubber roof.  Curt wanted to get it patched before today's rain.  Thank goodness for the drip or we might have missed it on the "walk around".  We passed through a little rain and a couple of detours in getting here today.  There is road work going on all over the state and we've been trying to hit the state roads and not spend all our time on the Interstates.  Here is a question for you?  How deep is your frost line?  Curt was speaking with the campground owner over breakfast and they were discussing the camping season and the types of hydrants.  They cannot use the type that can be left on during the winter like we have at home because the frost line here is TWELVE FEET DEEP! We are in Jordan, MN and will probably stay over another night since the weather is not looking condusive to traveling for another day.  We are sitting under a tornado warning at the moment, altho the TV just showed the "red box" a little north of us.  The TV is all pixilated with the weather disturbance.  The rain has started so I should shut down....until the next time...bye-bye