Back in Missouri!

We are in Long Lane Missouri visiting our friends Bill & Ginny Nasse!  Ted used to live in the same apartment building with them back in San Diego in the mid 70's.  We are parked in their front yard and are not plugged in but will update the blog when we run the generator. 

Believe it or not we are having truck problems AGAIN!  We have an appointment for tomorrow so hopefully we will get everything fixed again and hopefully it will still be covered under warranty!  At 98,000 miles we don't have much warranty left!

We managed to by-pass all of the tornados and it's just a bit cloudy here.  We are going to try and not get stuck in the mud again like we did last October!  It looks like we might get more rain and it's a bit chilly here!  We had a nice fire in the fireplace last night!

In the shadow of Branson, Missouri...Ain't Life Grand!"

Clinton, Arkansas

Yep, we are camped just east of Clinton, Arkansas, which is not the home town of Bill Clinton!  But we are in an interesting campground and I thought we should share.

This morning there was a lull in the storm about 9:30 so we got the heck out of the campground and stopped by the Flying J so I could have sweet cream pancakes (yum)! We drove west through some pretty hard rain without any problem. We were listening to the radio for weather and the county we had been camped in actually had a tornado warning.   Mississippi sure got hit by them.  We are still on the fringe of a storm warning for tomorrow but should be safe from any real bad weather.

Safe from tornados..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Scary thunder & lightning!

Before I get to the thunder and lightning, must tell you that we continued having a fun visit with Dottie and Linda.  On Wednesday they took us to Knoxville's Market House.  We went through a few interesting shops and of course stopped for coffee and chocolate (oh my)!  We also went to the Mast General Store.  A cool shop with clothing, shoes, hiking gear, kitchen stuff, candy and more! 

From there Dottie took us to Chandler's for "soul food"!  They have all the fried southern foods such as chicken, okra and fried green tomatoes!  They had yummy marshamallow sweet potatoes!  Everything was so good for us (NOT) but very yummy!

On Thursday Dottie came out to the campground for dinner and to meet Maxie (as she calls him)!  He really enjoyed the attention (and special treats Dottie would sneak to him)!

Yesterday we left Knoxville and made it back to West Memphis, Arkansas about 400 miles.  We got an hour back so it didn't really seem like a long day.  We are parked right on the Mississippi and as I mentioned thunder and lightning, we had a front row seat to the biggest, loudest storm either of us have ever seen!  There was thunder, lightning and hard rain.  We got up at 1:30 a.m. to watch because it was so loud and bright and "Maxie" gets very nervous!   When we first got up this morning at 6:30 it was cloudy but a short time later the "show" began again!  Not sure if we are going to get out of here today or not!  We turned on the weather channel and there is a tornado warning close by.  When we first got here it was only a watch!

No tornadoes yet..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Propane Problem!

On Monday we called the RV mobile repair people to come out to the park to find out why our propane wasn't getting through to the furnace or stove.  They came out and thought there might be air in the line (after four years we never had so much air that the furnace wouldn't work or the stove would barely have a flame but they are the experts).  They also thought the regulator might have gone bad.  So Ted had the tanks filled and had them purge the air out of the tanks.  Didn't work.  We took off to Camping World for a new regulator, Ted installed.  No change!  We called them back and they came out and finally found a bolt on the coupler cracked on the gas line and propane was seeping out, fortunately on the outside of the coach!  So they got it fixed and we are cooking with gas again!

Today we drove out to the Great Smoky Mountains.  We passed through historic Sevierville and the very touristy town of Pigeon Forge.  OMG it's very eccentric!  They have the funniest looking souvenier places, arcades, small little theaters.  They have Wonderworks which is a huge upside down building.  Bungee jumping places, wild west stores, three hugh Christmas shops, the Titanic and much more!  We also drove through the mountain town of Gatlinburg.  We were reminded of being in Estees Park, Colorado.  The road follows the river and the town shops are jam packed together, but unfortunately with no parking!  As it was raining, we elected to not walk around the shops.  Gives us one more thing to come back for!

When got to the mountains it was raining and about 54 degrees.  As we drove up through the mountains the temperature got down to 41 degrees and still raining but fog was added to the equation.  It is really pretty. 

We went back to Pigeon Forge to warm up and got some barbeque.   It was delicious!

The Great Smoky Mountains..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Gardens, Gardens, Gardens!

Yesterday Dottie and Linda drove Ted and I around Knoxville.  We spent a little time on the Dogwood Trail looking at beautiful old and new homes with gorgeous spring flowers particularly the Dogwoods. 

Then they took us to the huge Baxter home to see their gardens.  They open up the gardens during the Dogwood Arts Festival and allow people to roam them.  They have six different garden areas with water features and ponds that can be viewed.  They also have a maze and gazebos!  It is really pretty.

From there we took a Starbucks coffee break (only to allow our eyes to rest from all the beauty of course)!  We then drove over to the University of Tennesse where they have a horticulture program.  Their flower show isn't for a few weeks so it was not really ready for viewing but we still found some beautiful flowers!

Beautiful gardens..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Great visit with Dottie!

Yesterday afternoon we went to Dottie's home and visited.  It is really great to see her.  She took us on a ride for a bit of lunch and through an area of homes with beautiful spring flowers, including those beautiful Dogwoods!  Spring is really bursting!

She also took us to a HUGE used bookstore.  Being Saturday it was jam packed so we decided to go back again during the week.  It's an amazing place!

Dottie also made a wonderful dinner for us.  Like a dope, I took a picture of the beautiful "bird" but forgot to take any pictures of the guests!  Ted said I was enjoying myself too much!  In attendance were Linda Murphey (Su-Hi class of 64') and Robyn Peterson (Su-Hi class of 64') and her husband Steve.  We had a wonderful dinner and great conversation.

A great time was had by all..."Ain't Life Grand!"

Made it to Knoxville, TN

Yesterday we took a ride along the Natchez Trace Parkway.  The Parkway parallels the Old Trace Trail.  Originally the trail was probably a series of hunters' paths.  It was used by the Natchez, Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians following traditional ways of life.  The French and Spanish people began venturing into a world new to them and of people building a new nation.  By 1733 the French knew the land well enough to map it.  By 1785 Ohio River Valley farms began floating their crops and products down the rivers to Natchez or New Orleans.  By 1810 many years of improvements had made the trace an important wildrness road.  There is a lot of history on the Old Trace Trail.

I believe the trail is 444 miles long.  We only drove about 30 miles on the parkway on this trip.  We did see where Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark) died at milepost 385.9 in 1809 near the Grinder Stand (the cabin shown in the picture below where Ted is standing).  The picture in the bottom right corner is a memorial to Lewis.  The river is the Buffalo River and there was an ironworks nearby.  It is also the area where travelers crossed the river.

We  were really not alone in the campground!  It is one of our Thousand Trail Membership campgrounds and 840 acres.  Really big.

We made it to Knoxville late this afternoon and are looking forward to seeing Dottie tomorrow.

Visiting eastern friends..."Ain't Life Grand!"