Friday - Last night in the camper

We had a thunderstorm last night and all of us had strange dreams. It was also cold this morning - 58 degrees in the camper. I know a lot of people would not call what we do, camping but I can say from years in a tent and then more years in a pop-up camper that there is nothing worse than having to pack up wet gear. When the weather is unpredictable, I wouldn’t trade our FunV for anything!! As we left the park, we saw more wild turkeys and a couple of deer grazing along the road. We drove over to the Cracker Barrel and ate breakfast with the kids still in their pajamas then rolled up the highway about 30 minutes to the Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park and our 81st park stamp. The kids got their junior ranger books but had to finish them on the road because the time changed back to Eastern Time and we were behind our schedule. We drove up to Frankfort which is the capital of Kentucky and took our picture. There was a crowd of people on the grounds because of a Marsh of Dimes walk. Next we headed over to Lexington and stopped into the Keeneland Horse Park to watch the races. We learned how to bet on the horses, made a bet and lost. But I think I can spare the $4 for the experience. After a couple of hours there, we drove down I-75 toward Corbin, KY. We stopped into the original Sanders Café which has a little Colonel Sanders Museum and talks about the start of KFC but the kids really didn’t want to eat there. So we headed 2 miles down the road to a campground and they took off for the playground while Scott and I cleaned up the camper and grilled cheeseburgers for dinner.


It’s our last night in the camper which is sad for me. I love being on an adventure with these three people. We will hit two more parks tomorrow on our way east and then we have a long drive from Knoxville, back home.

Thursday - Mammoth Cave

We woke up to a crisp, cool and sunny Kentucky morning. We showered and ate breakfast with plans to make it into Mammoth Cave in time for our 8:45 historic tour tickets. This trip, more than any other, we have completely let go of time. I can’t tell you how many times I have asked “what time is it?” in the last 6 days. We just couldn’t seem to get it together and arrived at the visitor center at 9 o’clock. We switched our tickets to the 10:45 tour and went to find the campground. Luckily because of the delay, we got to see a flock of wild turkeys. We picked our spot and registered then walked over to the Mammoth Cave Hotel for a look around. We already picked up the junior ranger books and the kids were interested in completing those so we sat in the visitor center to do that. The park service is one of the major recipients of money from the stimulus funds. It helps to expand visitor centers and exhibits and a major renovation is going on at Mammoth. I cannot think of a better way to spend America’s money because all of these parks preserve our history. The parks service is also a major employer of veterans (they get 10 extra points on their applications for their service). Obviously, I am a fan.


Moving on. While in the visitor center, they have many signs and announcements for white nosed syndrome. This is a fungus which is killing entire bat populations in America. Scientists have found that the bats in Europe have a natural immunity but American bats do not. It is very likely that someone entered a cave over there and then had the same clothes or shoes in a northeastern cave. The mortality rate for this fungus is 95 – 100% and people from New York have told the rangers at Mammoth that they have already noticed an increase in mosquitoes because of the reduced bat populations. It is expected that some bat species that are currently on the endangered list may become extinct as a result. The fungus causes the bats to leave hibernation too early and therefore starve because there is no food; they have also found that it eats holes in their wings which dehydrates them. While this disease has not yet been found in Mammoth, it has spread to other caves in Kentucky in the last few months. The parks service is doing everything they can to prevent the spread by humans. If you have previously worn shoes in other caves, you have to have your shoes disinfected before entering Mammoth. We sat with our shoes in a Lysol solution for 5 minutes and learned a lot. By this time, we were ready for our tour.

There are no pictures that can fully capture the size of Mammoth Cave. We have been in many other caves with the kids; Ruby Falls, Natural Bridge Caverns, Jewel cave, etc. This however was by far my favorite. The sheer greatness of the size was overwhelming. For me, it was fascinating to imagine how water, over thousands and millions of years could form a cave that is as big as my high school gymnasium. For Luke, who has never shied from a cave experience, it was overwhelming to the point of fear. It was too big and his overactive imagination put goblins hiding in dark crevices and holes along the walls. The tour we were on was about 2 miles and lasted just over 2 hours. There were many places in the cave that were interesting. We got down to narrow passages – Fat Man’s Misery, and waterfalls, an underground river that in last year’s floods completely covered the room we were in and the 155 stair climb. Of course, at one point, as in all cave tours, they turn out the lights. Another fascinating thing was the historical graffiti. In the 1800’s, slaves led visitors on tours through the cave. The slaves would bring candles and use those candles to singe the limestone with the names of the people they were leading. For providing that service, the slaves would receive tips and use that money to free themselves. It’s pretty cool to think that people from 1838 had been in the very same spot (even if they did deface the rocks).

After the tour, we were starving so we headed back to the camper to cook quesadillas. Everyone was a little tired too so we lay around a little and were generally lazy. I had originally hoped to do a hike but no one could get motivated, including me. We gathered some firewood and sticks, played some games and shared a great afternoon. Scott let the kids chop the wood which they thoroughly enjoyed. He also whittled me a turtle on a stick. About 4:30 we were hungry so we walked over to the Travertine Restaurant at Mammoth Hotel. When the waitress came, I asked if they had sweet tea and she said yes. Scott asked if it was brewed or instant and she said “well this is Kentucky”. We had an excellent dinner. Their specialty is a half fried chicken that takes 30 minutes to cook. Luckily for me, they already had a few orders cooked because there was no way I could wait that long to eat. It was excellent fried chicken and I remarked to Scott that I might be on a fried chicken tour of Tennessee/Kentucky because I had it in Memphis and plan to enjoy some at the Colonel Sanders museum on Friday night as well. Scott had a steak and the kids had spaghetti. We laughed and told stories and enjoyed each other’s company immensely. I feel so grateful for those wonderful moments when everyone is happy like that.

After dinner we headed back to the campground, past the old cabins you can stay in. The kids ran ahead and Scott and I got to enjoy a nice walk through the woods. We made our campfire and cooked s’mores, quite possibly the most excellent dessert ever!!! Then the kids learned to whittle, we had a spitting contest and brushed our teeth by firelight until we knew it was time to go to bed. We wanted to be up early in the morning. It was my favorite day.

Graceland to Kentucky

Looking for a pink cadillac
Originally uploaded by Olivia Linkel

We woke this morning after a rough night of sleep. The sotrms that came through were very heavy and even toppled a tree in the campground. We showered and made bacon, eggs and crescents for breakfast then drove around the corner to Graceland.

We caught the shuttle to the house and took the tour and then headed back to the FunV. I was expecting something a little bigger and Scott thought it was odd that we didn't get to see the upstairs (he thinks Elvis still lives there). We finished much earlier than we expected to so we were happy to get on the road. We would like to have stayed around to try a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich but they didn't open until 3 and we had a long drive ahead of us.

It rained basically all night and this morning, the rain continued. Every stream, river and lake we passed between Memphis and Jackson was over it's banks. We originally planned to travel from Memphis to Fort Donelson but since we are not familiar with the area, we did not feel comfortable going to a county under a flood warning that is surrounded by water so we opted to head back through Nashville and up to a campground outside of Mammoth Cave. We have a cave tour planned for tomorrow morning and we will be spending the night in the park, roughing it. No power, no showers and no WiFi. We'll have to pick up Fort Donelson as a side trip on our next journey west.

Luckily we got a break in the rain when we arrived here, long enough for the kids and I to play 18 holes of putt putt on the campgrounds course. Then the rain started again and we decided a movie (Harry Potter) was in order.

All in all a boring day but those driving days are necessary. More on Friday night.

I was walking in Memphis...

Beale Street
Originally uploaded by Olivia Linkel

Tuesday was an interesting day. Around 2 am, a huge storm rolled through Nashville and woke me up. I immediately was listening for the sound of hail, then a tornado, then rushing water. Normally, I am not so paranoid about the weather but it was nearly a year ago that Nashville had its historic flood and the campground where we were staying had been under water at that time. Of course that was after 19 inches of rain had been dumped in 2 days and the Cumberland River overflowed its banks. After I rationalized all of this, it still took me about 30 minutes to go back to sleep.
I woke up to the alarm at 6 and got the kids up by 7 to take showers for our 3 hour drive to Shiloh. The drive was pretty uneventful except for the passing of 7 dead armadillos and a little rain. By the time we got to Shiloh National Battlefield, the rain had cleared and we had a nice walk on the grounds and cemetery. The kids completed another junior ranger badge. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the civil war, the NPS created a junior civil war historian patch that you get if you complete 3 of the southeast region junior ranger programs. The kids were excited to get another patch for their vests. This marks our 78th park. 
From there we had another 2 hour drive to Memphis. We had been watching the weather and knew to expect storms this afternoon and evening but had really been hoping to get to spend a little time on Beale Street and in downtown. The hope was to hit Sun Studios or the Gibson Guitar factory but it was already 5 o’clock and the skies were very dark on the other side of the Mississippi river. We found a surface parking lot (not always easy with the FunV) and walked over to Beale Street. We had heard of a place called Miss Polly’s Soul City Café that was supposed to have great fried chicken. When we entered the bar, there was no one else in there. We asked the one waiter/bartender where everyone was and he said that the tornado warning was keeping them away. That’s when we noticed the 2 TV’s with local weather (big red, yellow and green splotches). The guy took our order and we watched the storm on the radar as it was just across the river in Arkansas. I had been worried about the fact that the river is expected to flood but had not even considered the severity of storms in Memphis. We ate our dinner and of course the kids began to worry about us being in a tornado. “Are we gonna die?” We decided to skip the fried pie in favor of getting to our campsite before the worst of the storm hit. I asked Scott if he would drive towards the river just so we could have a look at how full it was and about the same time, we heard the tornado sirens go off. I have never heard that sound before and it scared the crap out of me. The crazy thing is, you can really hear it all over the city but the interesting thing is that the residents don’t seem to respond to it. They look up to see if something is coming and then go back about their business. It beats all I have ever seen.
We decided that we should skip the river overlook in favor of getting the hell out of dodge – er Memphis. We drove to our campground, which is right across the street from Graceland and parked. By that time though, the rain was coming down and the lightning all around was very ominous. I sat in the cab of the camper and watched the storm out the front window while Scott hooked the kids up with games on the ipad and iphone to distract them. The emergency plan when you are in what essentially amounts to a trailer park, is to not stay in the trailer but both the mens and womens restrooms were already full of old men and women (60’s and up) drinking in their camp chairs with their cats in carriers and dogs sitting next to the bathroom stalls. We decided that hanging out in there which just make the kids more nervous so we checked the radar on our phones, watched the skies and were prepared to run for the bathroom should we need it. We made it through that storm but the sirens continue to go off and I don’t expect to sleep well tonight. I am looking forward to Graceland tomorrow but not to the long drive north to Kentucky. I wish we had planned more time in Memphis but we can always stop on a different trip west.

PS – We survived the night but it is still raining. It’s all better thought because we are now head to Graceland!!!

No detailed blog post tonight because I can't get on the WiFi. We are currently watching the rain and listening to the tornado sirens in our Memphis campground. Hopefully I will be able to post in the morning.

I'm a little bit country...

The Missing Links
Originally uploaded by Olivia Linkel

We had a later start to the morning than we normally do. Our first stop was at 9 am for The Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Oprey. We parked the FunV at the Country Music Hall of Fame and walked the three blocks in a light rain to the Ryman. We got to go up on the stage and tour the theatre. Next we headed back to the Hall and spent the rest of the morning exploring the museum. On the way a photographer for The Tennessean (newspaper) stopped us and took our photograph. The kids are really hoping we will be in the paper tomorrow but I doubt it. The museum had a great Tammy Wynette exhibit including her closet and an excellent exhibit on Hank Williams & Hank Williams Jr. Of course we loved seeing some of the cool stuff - like Elvis' 24K gold leaf piano, his gold limousine and the mechanical bull from Urban Cowboy.

By the time we were finished in the museum it was nearly 1 o'clock and we were hungry. We stopped for lunch at Panera and then walked about 6 blocks to the capitol building. We took our customary picture in front of the capitol building and then did the self guided tour. By this time it was nearly 3 and we were quite tired of walking so we headed back to the camper. We were lucky that the rain had cleared by lunchtime.

We needed to stop for some groceries at Walmart and I really wanted to go to Cooter's Place (the Dukes of Hazzard museum) but no one else could be convinced. They all wanted to play at the campground. We took Cherokee to the K9 Kamp which is a fenced area for dogs where they can go leash free and try some of the obstacles. Cherokee was more interested in smelling everything but the kids had a good time. After that we were all ready to chill so we headed back to the camper for some R&R. Scott made a great dinner of shrimp, crabcakes and veggies.

I just want to say a few things about Nashville. We were surprised at how hilly it was, it actually reminded both Scott and me of our trip to San Diego. It also was unique to us in the amount of older buildings that are still around. Unlike Charlotte, they really seem to have held onto the history of the town. There is a street called Broadway here which must have at least 20 bars that all have space for music to be played. We would love to come back, kidless, just to bar hop and listen to all of the great music.

Tomorrow we head to Shiloh Battlefield and then on to Memphis. We are looking forward to some soul food!!

Leaping for joy

Leaping for joy
Originally uploaded by Olivia Linkel

We started the day around 8:30 EST but quickly crossed into central time and gained an hour. Our first stop was Russell Cave National Monument, just north of Bridgeport, Alabama. This is a cave that joined the park service in 1961. It represents the pre-historic people of North America and dates back to 10,000 BC. We were the first people in the building and I have to give a huge shoutout to Ranger Antoine Fletcher. He gave us a personal tour of the cave, answered all of the kids questions and even found Lorelei some wild ginger to take home. He was a true representation of the best of the parks service. Of course, we did the junior ranger program and once finished, we headed on our way.

By the time we finished there, we were ready for lunch so while Scott drove towards Stones River National Battlefield, I made lunch for everyone.

We drove about 2 hours northwest to Murfreesboro, TN. At Stones River, we walked the cemetary, checked out the museum and had a look at the battlefield. Some of the same generals and commanders we learned about at Chickamauga were also key players here. The battle that took place here can also be marked by the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation by Lincoln. It was one of the bloodiest battles with over 24,000 wounded, killed or captured.

Once we finished there, we drove abour 40 minutes to the Parthenon in Nashville. The kids were excited to see the Athena statue from the Percy Jackson film but OOPS, it wasn't open. They were very excited to run free in the grass field as evidenced by the picture in this post.

Next we headed to the campground. The kids played on the playground but found the sand base annoying in their shoes so they returned to the camper where we played a highly competitive game of disc golf with our one hole. Then we made dinner and had a relaxing evening together.

Tomorrow we head into Nashville for some country music and the state capitol.

Saturday, in the park

Falls
Originally uploaded by Olivia Linkel

Today was an excellent day!! I was the first one up around 6:30 and by 8:30 we rolled out of the campground and hit the Chickamauga Battlefield. The junior ranger books were very extensive and it took us about 3 hours to get through them but we learned a lot. This was by far the best battlefield that we have been to. I have always been fascinated by the Civil War and this battlefield brought it to life really well. There were monuments for every brigade and division for both union and confederate armies. And the cool thing was that these monuments marked the exact spots where they stood for every state.

There was also a VERY impressive gun collection that is worth $30M. It had rifles that dated from 1590 through the 1920's and they were beautifully displayed. Once we finished the junior ranger books, we headed for Rock City.

We ate lunch in the camper before heading into the gardens. The kids had a great time with all of the different rock formations. Next we headed to the Incline Railway. While this was really cool, I probably wouldn't do it again because the wait was so long. The kids loved the fact that we rode down from the top, got off and rode right back up.

We gave the kids the option to go to the aquarium or to Ruby Falls and they chose the falls. It was already about 5 by this time and the last aquarium entry was 6 pm and we knew we wouldn't make both. Ruby Falls was great and the kids loved being in the cave and seeing the falls all lit up.

By the time we finished the tour, we were all tired, hungry and getting cranky. I had originally hoped to make it into town to eat and explore the riverwalk but it just wasn't going to work. So we stopped in to Wendy's for a quick bite and then headed to the campground for some downtime.

The Easter bunny comes tomorrow and we have 2 parks to see and Nashville to get to. Check out more pics on FLICKR.

It was a Good Friday

The kids originally had today off from school but with the snows in January, today became a make-up day.  The only thing we cared about was Scott seeing Luke's awards ceremony since he is never able to be off work for it.  The ceremony at school was at 8 am and it worked out great that Scott was able to go because not only did Luke make the "A" Honor roll again, he was also voted Leopard's Choice by his peers which was really exciting for him. 

We were in the camper and ready to go by about 9:45 this morning.  We were all so HAPPY to be on a trip again!!!  We rolled into Asheville about 12:15 and met up for lunch with my aunt, cousin and her awesome family.  It is always fun when the cousins get together, even if it was just for lunch.  We then picked up some Dunkin' Donuts munchkins for the road and rolled on to Chattanooga.  We got here around 5 but because it was so late in the afternoon, we couldn't actually go do anything.  The kids got to enjoy the playground while Scott grilled chicken and I made a fruit salad.  After dinner we dyed Easter eggs and enjoyed each others company.  The wifi at the campground doesn't allow photo uploads (MUST get my own card).

Tomorrow we head to Chickamauga & Chattanooga Battlefield, Rock City, Ruby Falls, and into Chattanooga for the aquarium and to peruse the city. 

We're going on a trip....

I haven't posted in quite a while.  We had a couple of small trips in the fall and managed to pick up 28 National Parks in 2010.  The FunV went into winter storage and we did a car trip to Atlanta in January for Lorelei's birthday and a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site and the Chattahoochee River.  We have had a busy spring with kid activities and visits to friends and family but I have been anxious to get on the road with just the four of us.  Our Spring break will be spent exploring music and fun across Tennessee and Kentucky and hopefully we will get to see some iconic pieces of roadside America.  I can't wait to pass a "See Rock City" barn, visit the Parthenon and country music halls of Nashville and of course see Graceland.  We're also going to a horse race in Kentucky and the KFC/Colonel Sanders museum which sounds finger lickin' good.  The plan is to see about 9 national parks and 2 state capitols along the way.  We start our adventure on Friday.