Another Move

We had a very peaceful night in the Camping World parking lot.  Even though it is located next to Briley Parkway, the outer loop around Nashville, traffic was very light and our sleep was not disturbed.  There were several rigs in the parking lot, so many in fact that it was almost full, but I think we may have been the only humans there overnight.  Apparently, all the others are waiting for service.

After worship service and an early lunch, we moved north a few miles to Nashville Country RV Park.  Music Country is located off I-65 just north of the very busy Rivergate area.  Shopping (grocery and the mall) is convenient, but the traffic is horrific, at least to us.  We’ve stayed here before and liked it, but it is a little far from family and other things we like to do while in Nashville, so it’s usually not our first choice.  Besides, the regular nightly rate is well over our budget and they don’t have a monthly rate.  If we were willing to sign on for a 3-month period, they have a good rate for that.  That’s a little long to commit for one place.  We usually get hitch itch in much less time.  Sunday through Wednesday they offer Passport America rate.  Now you’re talking.

The Office at Nashville Country RV Park

The park is small and old, but very well kept.  Even though there are some long term residents, it doesn’t have the feel of most other parks with rundown trailers with junk piled all around.  It is very neat and clean.

Our site in the 30 amp section

The park is small, as I said, and some of the turns are pretty tight, but adequate for big rigs.  There is a small pool, a small store and gift shop in the office, a laundry room, and LP gas on site.  We have a pull-thru site in the 30 AMP section with a wooden “patio” and a freshly painted picnic table.  The interior roads are paved and the sites are grass with gravel parking pads.

Most of the leaves are gone.  This tree still has a few hanging on.

We only had a few miles to travel, so we didn’t hitch up the car.  I drove the car and the Peanut road with Gene in the motor home.  Normally, on travel days, Peanut likes to ride in my lap.  When I’m not there I worry about him getting underneath Gene’s feet while barreling down the highway at 60 miles per hour.  He really is a good little traveler and today he was on his best behavior and didn’t cause any problems for the driver.

We got ourselves all settled in for a few days and then spent the rest of the afternoon in relaxed mode.  We had picked up a couple steaks for dinner and Gene was in charge of grilling.  He did a good job, but not without a couple glitches.  We’ve had some wind here today and lighting the grill was somewhat problematic.  Then, as luck would have it, the little 1-pound bottle of propane bottle ran out and he got to start all over again. Just another adventure in stoving for my stove obsessed involved husband.

We want to welcome our newest followers, Bill and Cap, of Views from the Open Road.  They are full-time RVers, as well. Plus, they enjoy tent camping and hiking.  I’m anxious to read some more of their blog posts and get to know them a little better.  Welcome, Bill and Cap.

I think that may be it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Hopscotching Around

We’re on the move, but we didn’t go far.  We left the KOA early this afternoon and moved next door to Camping World.  We still have a couple weeks to be in Nashville, so what’s going on?  Well, this is our story.

I may have mentioned before--we think KOAs are generally overpriced. They are almost always very nice campgrounds, but they are seldom our first choice simply because of the price.  So why do we keep staying at KOAs.  We stayed at the Nashville (Music City) KOA last fall when we were in town.  Last year, they were offering really great nightly and monthly rates because they were trying to build up their business after the spring flood and not all of their facilities were available.  This year, we were able to get a monthly rate which just barely fell within our budget.  The campgrounds on Music Valley Drive are the most convenient to the things we like to do and the family we have in Nashville.  With the free WiFi and cable TV at KOA, we decided to stay here this year, but only by the month.

We have also stayed a couple times at the KOA in Newport, TN.  Again, we rented by the month and the rates came in under our budget.

Now that we have less than two weeks before we’re heading south, we didn’t want to extend for a month and the nightly rate is outrageous ($57).  So, we’re gonna be hopscotching around the area for a couple weeks.

Tonight, we are at Camping World, tomorrow we’ll move north on I-65 to a small campground in Millersville.  We can get a Passport rate there for four nights.  Then we’ll be off to Columbia and the Meriwether Lewis Campground on the Natchez Trace for three nights.  It’s free.  They don’t take reservations, though, and the snowbirds are very fond of the free campgrounds along the Natchez Trace.  We’re hoping to get in.  That’ll bring us up to next Sunday--the week of Thanksgiving.  We’ll be moving back to town so we’ll be closer to the festivities.  We’ll probably stay at that campground in Joelton that I don’t like.  When we’re there for just a few days we are assigned a site near the front which is far better than the monthlies in the back.

We’re boondocking tonight, of course.  Haven’t done this in a while, but it’s fun for a change and Gene was excited to log a “free” night on his spreadsheet.  We’ll be back to full hook-ups at Millersville tomorrow, but then give it all up when we move to Meriwether Lewis.

So that’s our little dance for the next couple weeks.  We’re looking forward to moving around.  We’ve been parked in the same spot since the middle of September and need the change.  We have a bad case of hitch itch and that itch needs scratchin’.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Harpeth Woods Trail

We woke up to a cold morning today.  The forecast was predicting a low last night of 27 degrees.  I’m not sure if it got that low, but it was definitely below freezing and there was a hard frost blanketing our campground.  Since we no longer have our insulated water hose, with temperatures that low Gene went out late yesterday afternoon and disconnected our water.  We already had plenty of water in our fresh water tank for dishwashing and toilet flushing.  We usually keep 2 or 3 gallons of drinking water on hand in case of emergencies.  This may be the only time we need to disconnect our water.  The ten day forecast has no other nights with temps below freezing.  I sure hope the weather folks know what they’re talking about this time.

We saw hoar frost on several plants beside the trail.

Even though it was cold it was a bright, sunny day.  We just had to head out to a trail.  We’ve been to Warner Parks several times this fall, but we have always done our hiking at Percy Warner.  Today we parked at the Nature Center at Edwin Warner and hiked the Harpeth Woods loop.

The Harpeth Woods trail is 2.5 miles in length and there is easy access to this loop from various places.  The most popular place to start is at the Natchez Trace Trailhead.  There is a large parking lot there and a kiosk with a trail map.  We usually start at the Nature Center because that’s where the restroom is.  Today we hiked this trail in the counterclockwise direction, but it really makes no difference as far as difficulty is concerned.  The trail is one long up hill climb and then an equally long descent.

The historic Natchez Trace

If you start either at the Nature Center or the Natchez Trace trailhead and go counterclockwise, the first stretch is along the historic Natchez Trace.  After about three-quarters of a mile the trail leaves the old trace and turns sharply left and begins the long climb.

Compass rose in the rock quarry

In order to increase the distance a little we did the very short side trail to an old rock quarry.  Back in the 1930s and early 40s, WPA workers quarried the rock to build the park roads.  Today, vegetation is growing back and it’s almost unrecognizable as a quarry.  We noticed that someone had used rocks to create a compass rose on the floor of the quarry.

You can hardly tell this was once a rock quarry.

To add another third of a mile to our hike we took the short Owl Hollow Trail which intersects Harpeth Wood trail after about a mile.  Owl Hollow is an interpretative trail. Brochures with descriptions to help with tree and shrub identification are available at the Nature Center.  We didn’t have a brochure; we were just doing the trail for the extra distance.

Markers along Owl Hollow trail correspond with plant descriptions in the brochure.

At the Nature Center complex there are picnic tables by a small pond.  We hadn’t stopped along the trail for a break so decided to have our hot chocolate at the picnic table.  By that time the temperature had warmed up considerably and we had worked up a sweat on our hike.  The hot chocolate hit the spot anyway and it was very pleasant sitting at the table in the sun.

Today is Veterans Day and I don’t want to end this post without offering a word of thanks and heartfelt gratitude to all those who have and are serving in our Armed Forces.  Thank you for securing our freedoms.

Fellow blogger, Rick, has written a fantastic tribute to his Dad in honor of Remembrance Day.  Give that a read at Rick and Paulette’s RV Travels if you haven’t already.  It’s quite a moving story.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Another Section on the Nashville Greenway

The rain has passed and we had a beautiful, sunny day, but the temperatures are markedly lower than yesterday.  The day was far to pretty to stay inside and we needed some exercise so off we went looking for a place to walk.

We drove over to the community of Hermitage and parked at the Stones River Bridge trailhead.  This is a continuation of the section we walked last where all the cows were grazing.  We just kept heading south toward I-40 and Percy Priest Dam.

This is really a nice section of greenway.  In fact, it may be my favorite.  There are a couple hills to walk over so it gives a pretty good workout.  The paved path follows the bank of the Stones River for 3 miles from the Stones River Bridge on Lebanon Road all the way to the Percy Priest Dam just on the south side of I-40.

There's a little color left, but not much.  It's fading fast.

We didn’t get an early start and by the time we finished with our walk, made a quick stop at the grocery, and filled up the car with gas it was almost 1 PM when we got home.  This afternoon I made a big pot of chili which we took over to share with Jack and Ansley.  Had to get a little granddaughter time and pick up our mail.

Yesterday, all of a sudden and for no apparent reason, I came down with “hitch-itch”.  I had been so content here for such a long time and we have really enjoyed our stay in Nashville this fall.  But I guess my body and mind are saying it’s time to move on now.  Today, to sooth that itch a little, we got out the map and looked closely at the route we plan to take to Summerdale right after Thanksgiving.  We found a big green spot labeled William B. Bankhead National Forest just west of Birmingham.  A little internet research turned up hiking trails which got us all excited about visiting a place we’ve never been before.  A plan is coming together.

We want to welcome our latest follower--Donna (aka Froggi) of 2 Taking a 5th.  Stu and Donna have been exploring east Tennessee and western North Carolina for the past few weeks.  They’re big into biking and have been riding the Tail of the Dragon.  That’s a pretty wild ride in a car; I can’t imagine what it would be like on a bike.  Anyway, we’re glad to have Donna, Stu, and Sadie tagging along with us.

Tomorrow, we’re going to try to work in another hike at Warner Parks.  This time we’ll go over to hike the loop trail at Edwin Warner.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Early Dinner and Late Laughs

We’ve had a couple of interesting, productive, and fun days.

Tuesday was the day for scheduled maintenance on the motor part of our motor home.  Our Class C is built on a Ford E-450.  Our RV dealership doesn’t service our engine and neither do the local Ford dealerships.  For service here in Nashville, Gene has to take the motor home to a heavy duty truck service center.  They’re the ones with the lifts that can handle the weight.  Anyway, Tuesday was the day for an oil change.  Of course, that meant a day in the car for Peanut and I.  We didn’t even go to the service center; we just pulled into our campsite after Gene had pulled the motor home out, and settled in for the day.  We each had food and water and Peanut had his litter box.  I had reading material and a sudoku puzzle book and he had the squirrels to watch and his blanket for napping.  We had barely gotten comfortable when I looked up and there was Gene.  Boy, that was fast.  Mark another one of those big chores off the list.

Gene has had engine maintenance on his mind for a few days.  Not only was the scheduled service appointment visible on his calender this week, but he has also been having an ongoing conversation/email discussion with Tony about how often should the engine be started and exercised if you’re more in a sitting mode rather than a travel mode.  That conversation has brought up many questions and, since inquiring minds want to know, Gene has been doing a little research.  That research is no where near complete, but when it is, I’ll post all the information he’s gleaned.  Let me just say that almost every answer he gets is different.

It was rainy and dreary outside this morning in Middle Tennessee. The front which has drifted across Oklahoma and Arkansas has finally reached Nashville.  We didn’t want to be outside so are getting a few chores done inside.  Gene chose to deal with his CPA license renewal.  He had a few questions and wanted to speak with a real person before sending off a check for renewal.  We usually put off these types of chores because it’s so difficult to get the answers to questions.  No one really understands about full-time RVers.  They don’t get the concept of traveling all the time and they certainly can’t get their minds wrapped around the idea of no house to live in.  Then there are the issues of competence.  It seems like most people don’t know or don’t care or would rather not be bothered.

This CPA license renewal has to be taken care of so Gene backed his ears and plunged forward this morning.  He waited until 9 AM to make the call hoping the morning rush would be over and whoever answered the phone would be concentrating on his questions rather than getting another cup of coffee.  A nice lady answered the phone.  That was a step in the right direction since it’s usually a machine that answers these days.  No only was she able to answer his questions, but she also knew the reason why.  She was also able to explain the differences in changing his license from inactive to retired and what all was involved in make it active again.  For what he wanted to do, he, of course, needed to fill out paperwork.  That’s usually a signal of a rough road ahead, but the nice lady volunteered to email him the forms.  That was simple, but we’ve heard that story before and the forms never appear in the “in box”.  You can imagine our shock when in less that 2 minutes after he hung up the phone, there were the forms as promised.  Holy cow!  What knowledge and efficiency.  It sure was refreshing to deal with someone who know what they were doing and how to get it done.

I’ve been steadily working on old posts from Trip Journal.  I’ve gotten several of the Appalachian Trail journal entries reposted.  Rereading those posts has made me anxious to get back out there again.

This afternoon we drove out to Lebanon to have dinner with friends, Darrell and Judy of Wandering America.  They’re here to visit with their grandkids for a few days before heading on up to Kentucky for a few weeks.  We met them at Demos’ for an early dinner then went over to their rig, which is parked at Cedars of Lebanon State Park, for coffee and delicious brownies topped with ice cream.  Of course, the whole evening centered around conversation with plenty of laughs.  We always enjoy our visits with Darrell and Judy.  Wish this one could have lasted a little longer.

Now, it’s way past my bedtime so that’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Montgomery Bell Trail

For our hike today we went back to Montgomery Bell State Park to do the other half of the 12-mile figure eight Montgomery Bell Trail.  We had done half of this loop several weeks ago.  Today, Herb went with us and we had a great hike.

From our campground on the north side of town, Montgomery Bell is about 50 miles away.  We stopped in Bellevue, about halfway, to pick up Herb.  I know this may come as a surprise, but these guys started talking “gear” before they even said “Hello”.  It was like show and tell right in the parking lot at Staples.

The first piece was an antique Primus stove Herb dug out of his gear closet which dates back to his hiking days when he was in collage.  Gene is obsessed with camping stoves, so he was like a little kid in a candy store.  Even I’ll have to admit the stove had a certain amount of appeal.  The stove, including the can, weighs 19 oz, far too heavy for today’s lightweight backpackers.  It uses white gas or Coleman fuel and will burn about 50 minutes on a “tank” full of fuel.  That might be enough for a weekend trip, but for a longer hike, more fuel would be needed.  The rubber gaskets are probably all dried up and it’s probably dirty on the inside, but from the outside it looked great.  Okay, that was fun.

The next show and tell item was Herb’s new day pack.  He was sporting the latest and greatest lightweight pack from REI--Flash 18.  This little sac has a capacity of 18 L (1100 cu in) and only weighs 10 oz.  It’s tiny, but where do you put all your stuff.  Herb says I carry too much stuff, anyway.

We finally got on our way and were hiking by 9 AM.  We started our hike near the front entrance to the park and hiked in a clockwise direction.  The first section is along an old roadbed and is my least favorite part of the trail.  It’s wide, but very rocky with lots of ruts.  With the leaves covering the trail, it was very difficult to see the rocks and roots in this area.  Past this half mile section, we were on the more comfortable dirt trail.

The first half of our hike had several creek crossings.  Today, they were no problem; easy crossings usually on exposed rocks.  However, I have been on this trail in the spring after a heavy rain and these small creeks can present a real challenge getting to the other side.

We followed the trail across the streams and through the woods for a couple miles before coming to another long stretch where the trail follows an old road bed.  This section is about a mile in length with the park boundary and train track on one side and the park golf course on the other.

It was along this stretch that we stopped for a “coffee break”.

Although the temperatures were warm today, Gene had brought along his stove (a pepsi can alcohol stove with the Trangia pot support and pot, and an aluminum foil windscreen) so he could fix us a hot beverage.  I had hot chocolate, he had coffee, and Herb chose to drink cold water.  That may have been the better choice on this warm day.

Herb just loves his new baby

The trail which creates the figure eight is the Creech Hollow Trail which follows along the bank of Creech Hollow Lake.  The park road is very close to this lake and we often see fishermen on the bank, but not today.

Just before the end of our loop, the trail drops down by way of steps into what appears to be a sink hole.   It’s a hole, but one created by the mining of iron ore during the early 1800s when this was a major iron furnace owned by Montgomery Bell.  It is said that some of Andrew Jackson’s cannon balls were made from iron ore mined at this furnace.  There are several ore pits in the park as well as cemeteries containing the graves of many of the iron workers.

It was a beautiful day to be outside and we especially enjoyed sharing it with our friend Herb.  Glad he brought his old stove for show and tell and I’ve got that little pack on my mind.  I might could do without some of my stuff, after all.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Time Change and Thanks a Million

We were among those folks who changed back to standard time in the wee hours of the morning.  I’m not so fond of the idea of it being dark now about 5 PM.  Not only is it dark early, but the days will continue to get shorter for over a month to come.  On the other hand, it’s light out about 6 AM.  Morning person that I am, it makes me feel not so much like I’m getting up in the middle of the night.

Lights in front of Opryland Hotel

Anyway, I like this time change because I get an extra hour of sleep.  Well, in theory anyway.  The Peanut likes his breakfast about 5 AM.  That works out pretty well for him and I once we’re adjusted to the new time.  The first day, however, is a rough one.  I’ve been trying to adjust his internal clock a little all week.  He’s been doing great, but something went badly wrong this morning.  He thought 2:47 would be a good time for wake-up call.

One of the many trees inside the Hotel

Time is not the only thing changing around here.  I’ve been noticing for several weeks that Christmas stuff has been in the market place.  Holy cow, it wasn’t even Halloween yet.  Now that Halloween is past, all restraint has vanished.  Two nights ago I noticed the Christmas lights on at the Yogi campground next door.  I was just shocked and thought it in poor taste.  After all, we still have a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.  But it wasn’t just Yogi in the spirit early.  Opryland Hotel had their lights on last night, as well.  I’m jumping on this bandwagon.  I’ve got on my Christmas PJs.

Several bloggers among those I read do something I think is very nice.  They always recognize their followers as they learn of them.  I think for most of us, we write our blogs for the readers.  Sure, it’s a “journal” of our experiences and travels, but if it were just a personal diary, why make it public.  We do it for ourselves and we may have started out thinking it would be a great way to stay connected with family and friends, but as total strangers begin to follow along, the blog takes on a whole new dimension.  I, like all the other bloggers out there, truly appreciate our readers.

We have several followers and since I know who you are, I’ll call you by name.

Claudia at Silver Trails, George at Busters Travels, Bill and Helen, Donna and Russ at Travels in Therapy, John and Ellen at Connected to the Vine Photography, John, III at John’s Journeys, Judy and Emma at Travels with Emma,  Karl at Live Free and HIke: A NH Day Kiker’s Blog, Kenny and Angela at RV Life is Good, Mamabugs at Mamabugs Nature Photos, Mike and Gerri at The RV Life of Mike & Gerri, Mike and Peggy at Maineiacs in Motion, Nan and John, NWlambear, Rick and Paulette at Rick & Paulette’s RV Travels, Sharon at Gains and Losses: Life Through Sharon’s Eyes, Sue and Doug at Big Dawg and Freeway. 

We have many readers each day.  Some of you we know, but most we don’t.  We really appreciate you, as well.  Most of you have been with us for a couple years at My Trip Journal and have made the move with us to Blogger.  That took some effort and we’re grateful you’ve come along.

 I just wanted to say, “Thanks for tagging along.”