Day fifty nine - Wednesday

We slept in this morning and, after a simple breakfast, left for Springfield, Missouri. Our first stop in Springfield, besides the tourist center for directions, was the Assemblies of God National Headquarters. We visited a small museum and bookstore but passed on a tour of the printing facilities, building and offices.

The next stop was the Bass Pro Shops. This is a huge facility with numerous fish tanks and even an indoor stream. At 3 o'clock we watched as a diver fed the fish in their largest tank. A speaker, outside the tank, gave a talk as the diver fed the fish. However, the diver in the tank also had a microphone and talked to us as he fed the fish. He described the fish he was feeding and even brought some of the fish up from the bottom of the tank so we could see them. It was quite a show, and free too!

We spent some money here, including some seasoning we found for Sue who has a hard time finding this seasoning. I bought a few flies for Friday's outing on Lake Taneycomo, my last before we leave here.

Our last stop was Lambert's Cafe' just south of Springfield. Lambert's is a restaurant that was strongly recommended by a fellow RV'er here at Oak Grove RV Park. He described it as being a fun place with great food.

It was crowded but we got a seat right away. Before we even had our menus, a waiter walking nearby called out for anybody who wanted a roll. We turned and the waiter threw a roll to each of us. Lambert's bills itself as "the home of throwed rolls." The hot rolls were opened up and before we could put butter on them a waitress came by with a can of warm sorghum molasses that she drizzled over our rolls. Mmmmmm good!

The dinner menu included many of the usual options along with Catfish; BBQ ribs; Ham; Chicken Gizzards; Hog Jowl; Meat Loaf; BBQ Pork Steak and Fried Chicken Wings. Ann chose the Fried Chicken Wings and I selected the Meat Loaf.

After choosing your main entree, another difficult decision faces you. What side? Each mean comes with two "veggies." The choices include, Corn; Baked Potato; Candied Yams; Baby Carrots; Cole Slaw; Turnip Greens; Mashed Potatoes; Sliced Peaches; Baked Beans; White Beans; Potato Salad; Cucumber Salad; Apple Sauce; Green Beans; Sliced Beets and Fried Apples. Whew! I chose the Corn and Fried Apples. Ann had the Turnip Greens and Cucumber Salad.

Sound like enough? Well, you're not done yet. As you enjoy your meal, servers walk around with pots of "Pass Arounds." Pass Arounds include more Rolls and Sorghum; Fried Potatoes and Onions; Macaroni and Tomatoes; Black Eyed Peas and Fried Okra. Add bottomless drinks and we're done. Sure, there was dessert but who could possibly have dessert after all this. The bill? Under $25.00 for both of us.

We got back to the coach about 45 minutes after leaving Lambert's and did nothing. Tomorrow we see another show!

Day fifty eight - Tuesday

This day began with a buffet breakfast at Dockers in Branson. $4.99 each and nothing special. At least it was cheap.

After breakfast we drove around Branson. The main streets in the town are referred to as different color routes. There's the blue route, red route, yellow route and black route. If you know what color route the theater is on, you can at least find the correct road.

We had an afternoon game of Scrabble and then headed out to dinner. We went to Lone Star Steakhouse and had a very good dinner. I had the sirloin steak and ribs with sweet potato. Ann had the sirloin steak and grilled shrimp. Both were very good and the service was great.

After dinner we drove over to the Starlite Theater where we had tickets for a show. "Lost in the 50's" was a two hour 50's music review featuring The Platters. It was a high energy show with many of the favorite songs from the 50's. I just wish I could remember the 50's!

Tomorrow we go to Springfield.

Day fifty seven - Monday, Oct. 29

Today wasn't a travel day, nor was it a show day. Today was a work day. Ann did laundry and I worked at catching fish.

I went back to Lake Taneycomo. I got on the water at about 3:00 p.m. There weren't nearly as many people on the water as there was on Saturday.

Taking up the challenge, I tried dry flies again. There were plenty of fish and they were on the surface. I tied on a small parachute pattern and caught three Rainbows. They were nice fish about 12-14 inches, like Saturday's fish.

When I first got on the water I saw numerous Brown trout right along the bank in about one foot of water. A couple were huge. Maybe 36 inches long! I spent the whole afternoon standing in the water and casting back toward the bank. Well, other than the three Rainbows, it didn't pay off.

I also noticed that the Rainbows were not shy. As I walked in the water, I looked down and had about 15 Rainbows right at my feet. As I walked or if I shuffled my feet the trout would feed on whatever I was dredging up. Some of these Rainbows were maybe 16 inches.

Day fifty six - Sunday

Today begins our Branson show tour. We were up early today to go to the Grand Old Gospel Hour at the Legends Family Theater. Although the show started at 10:00 a.m. we were there a little after nine. We weren't sure what traffic was going to be like and we weren't sure if it would be crowded and seats hard to come by. Although crowded, there were plenty of seats and traffic was light. This was a free Sunday morning gospel show that they really should call the Grand Old Gospel Hour and a half. The first hour was good music followed by a half an hour of sermon.

Afterwards we went to the local IMAX theater complex where they also have shopping and restaurants. We had lunch at McFarlains. Not a good choice. The selection was poor and the food was so-so.
This afternoon we went to the Grand Palace where we saw the Oak Ridge Boys. This was a great show that we really enjoyed. They sang all their hits over the period of two hours. They ended the show by singing Elvira!

Day fifty five - Saturday

Although we're here for the shows, today wasn't a show day. The first part of the day was spent relaxing. I checked out the nearby river and was amazed at the fish that were in the river and being caught. I was equally amazed at the number of fishermen working the river as evidenced by this photograph. It seems every October and November the Brown Trout come up the river and people come for all over to try to catch one. I'm told they get up to ten pounds. Most of the people fishing the river were fly fishers but there were also spin fishers on the river.

A fishing license for non-resident is $7.00 a day and $7.00 for a trout stamp. Fortunately even non-residents only have to buy the trout stamp once. If a non-resident wants to fish for six days or more, there's a season license available for $40.00.

I figured we are going to be here for eight days so I'd wait til later in the week to fish but I just couldn't help myself. I went to the nearby fly shop, bought a license for the day along with a dozen flies ($1.00 each for the productive scud pattern) and hit the river at about 4:00.

Fish were rising all around me. I figured a trout is a trout so I tied on several dry flies and tried to catch a rising trout. No luck! The guy at the fly shop told me the dry fly bite is a tough one but I just had to try. Okay, I broke down and tied on a scud. Bang, fish on! I caught four nice Rainbows but no Browns. I thought I'd change my luck later in the day and try a dry again. Still no luck. I then threw a bead head wooley bugger and caught another Rainbow. All the Rainbows I got were in the 12 to 14 inch range and very scrappy. By now it was getting pretty late and dark. It was about 6:30. Plus, my feet were so cold I couldn't feel them. I gave it up.

Back at the coach I found Ann had had a relaxing afternoon of computing and TV. We had a game of Scrabble and watched game three of the playoffs. I hoped Colorado was going to pull this one out but it wasn't to be. I'd hate to see Boston sweep Colorado. We'll see about that tomorrow night.

Picture shows fishers lined up on Lake Taneycomo. Although it's called a lake, it is the tailwater of the dam for Table Rock Lake in the background. It flows and fishes like a river and is full of Rainbow Trout. I counted over 50 people fishing, some from boats, in a 200 yard section of the "lake."

Day fifty four - Friday

Today we drove about 30 miles from Harrison Arkansas to Branson Missouri. We checked in to the RV park and drove into Branson.

We checked out the entertainment areas and the "historic" downtown. From what we could see this whole town is nothing but tourist trap. The population, according to the signs, is just over 6,000 people but traffic is like being in the bay area.

BTW, as we left Harrison we turned over 5,000 miles for this trip.

We'll be in Branson for eight nights before we head south. We haven't decided what shows we'll see but I did learn that there is a trout fishing river nearby. Unless a Missouri non-resident fishing license is prohibitively expensive, I'll break out the fly rod and give it a go.

Picture is of the Oak Grove RV Park where we are staying.

Day fifty three - Thursday

Again, a travel day. We left for Harrison, Arkansas late this morning and pulled in to Wal Mart at about 4:00 p.m.

It was just over 100 miles but we stopped at an antique store and had lunch in a Western Sizzlin. Western Sizzlin is the east coast version of our Sizzler. However, you don't get catfish and hush puppies at our Sizzlers. GREAT catfish, even for mass produced food.

We didn't do much of anything else today. Actually, I've been kinda sick the past couple of days and haven't really felt like doing much of anything. It's not bad sick, just enough to make me feel tired and lazy. I even took a nap this afternoon.

Tomorrow we enter Missouri and check into our campground just outside of Branson.

G'night

Day fifty two - Wednesday

Today was another travel day. We left West Memphis at about 11:00 a.m. and arrived in Conway, Arkansas a couple of hours later. We were going to stop in Little Rock but decided to go on another twenty miles. We were going to stop at the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library and Adult Book Shop but passed on that when we heard Hillary might be there for a photo session.

We're staying at the Wal-mart RV park again tonight and will head toward Branson tomorrow. We'd like to go to Branson but Ann called a bunch of RV parks and they were all full. She did find one that can get us in on Friday, so we'll boondock again tomorrow night somewhere just short of Branson.

We had two games of Scrabble this afternoon and this evening, watched Private Practice and the first game of the World Series.

Day fifty one - Tuesday

This day started out in the rain and ended in the rain. Although it wasn't a hard rain, it was enough to be annoying.

We started our Memphis tour today at Sun Studios. This is where Elvis Presley, B. B. King, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis began their careers. This is considered by many to be the birthplace of Rock and Roll. The tour started upstairs with a look at relics from the early era. Back downstairs we entered the actual studio where many early Rock and Roll hits were recorded. In addition to the early stars, many contemporary stars have recorded here. The studio was closed down for quite a while but reopened after Elvis died and continues to record to this day.

No photographs were allowed upstairs and downstairs I discovered I hadn't put the memory card in my camera. So, the only photographs I could get were with my cell phone camera.

After Sun Studios, Ann and I went to Texas de Brazil Churrascaria, just off Beale Street, for lunch. This is a Brazilian restaurant where you pay one price and eat all you want. Lunch was $19.95 each. After a visit to the salad bar, you place your marker with the green side up and the Gauchos will bring spit cooked meat to your table and cut off as much or as little as you want. Turn your marker red and they won't stop. We had Parmesan chicken, lamb, sausage, roast beef, ribs and several kinds of steak. Every piece of meat was cooked to perfection and VERY good. Another great meal in Memphis.

Our last stop of the afternoon was the Rock N Soul museum, also just off Beale Street. Nine dollars each and in we went. First we saw a short movie about the history of Rock and Roll in the Memphis area. Then we took a self-guided audio tour of the museum where we learned about the general history of the Memphis area and the development of music in the area. There were lots of historic displays and artifacts from early radio, blues and rock and roll up to and including the Beatles, some of whom recorded at Sun Studios.

Tomorrow we take off for Branson Missouri. It's 300 miles from here to Branson. We may do it in one day or two. We'll probably play it by ear and see where we are time-wise when we hit Little Rock, Arkansas, which is about half way.

The first picture shows a photograph that is described as the greatest rock and roll photograph ever produced. It shows Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley taken at Sun Studios. It was a coincidence that they were all there at the same time. A jam session broke out and was recorded. However, since Elvis was on contract to another studio by then, the recording couldn't be released until well after his death.

The second picture shows Ann standing at the very same microphone used by Elvis, Johnny, Jerry, Carl and many others at Sun Studios.

The last picture shows one of the Gauchos serving a spit of meat at our table at the Texas de Brazil restaurant.

Day Fifty - Monday, Oct. 22

We followed the GPS to Graceland today. Elvis purchased Graceland in early 1957 for approximately $100,000. The grounds are just under 14 acres. It was his home and he died at the estate on August 16, 1977. Elvis, his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother, are buried there in what is called the Meditation Gardens.

We paid $6.00 for parking and then paid $27.00 each for the tour. We got $3.00 off each tour with coupons we printed out from an on-line site. After boarding a shuttle bus we took a short ride across Elvis Presley Blvd. to the Graceland grounds. We were let off at the front door where we entered the mansion.

Inside we listened to a audio tour and walked through the home. It is a two story American "colonial" style mansion with a basement. We did not tour the second floor. We did see the kitchen, dining room, living room, pool room and other areas. Outside we saw the grounds where Elvis kept horses. Some of the detached buildings included a racquetball court, smokehouse (that Elvis used as a shooting range) and an office used by his father. He also had a swimming pool and the Meditation Gardens.

Our last stop on the mansion tour was the Meditation Gardens where Elvis, his mother, father and grandmother are buried.

Back across the street, we saw Elvis' car collection and many of the jumpsuits he wore during performances. We also toured his private jets. One jet, the one he travelled in, he purchased in the mid-seventies for $250,000 and spent $800,000 to refurbish it to his tastes.

After touring Graceland we headed to Beale Street for a late lunch. Beale Street is where BB Kings and other Cajun restaurants are located. We had a recommendation from a couple on the tour that we should try Kings Palace Cafe. We had one of the best restaurant meals we've ever had!!! We decided on a dish called Cajun Feast for two. At $23.95 it had everything we wanted to try. On one plate we had Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee, Gumbo, Blackened Catfish on Rice, Voodoo Potatoes, Voodoo Chicken and Fried Green Tomatoes. Everything was great! I love Catfish and Ann fell in love with the Fried Green Tomatoes. Ann also had a Hurricane to drink. A Hurricane has Rum, Pineapple juice, Orange Juice, Grenadine and Bacardi 151 Rum floater.

We STRONGLY recommend this restaurant to anyone coming to Memphis.

Despite the rainy weather, we didn't get too wet. The rain cooperated for the most part and stopped when we were outside. By the time we got back to the coach, it was raining. We stayed in and played a game of Scrabble before watching Dancing with the Stars.

The first picture shows Ann standing at the grave of Elvis Presley. Second picture is the front of Kings Palace Cafe on Beale Street, Memphis.

Day forty nine - Sunday

We're back in the sightseeing business. Today we visited the Memphis Zoo. The weather forecast was for a sunny day today with rain Monday and Tuesday. So, we decided to do the Zoo today.

The highlights of the Zoo were the Polar Bears and the Giant Pandas. There were Black Bears but we've gotten closer looks at them at home than here. The colorful birds in the aviary were fun to see too. One chewed on Ann's finger in the free flight enclosure.

We had lunch at the Zoo, including BBQ nachos. They were pretty good, regular nachos with some BBQ sauce and meat added.

If you decided to go to the Memphis Zoo, check your maps carefully. It's hard to find and there are few signs pointing the way.

After the Zoo, we returned to the coach for a game of Scrabble, Desperate Housewives and game seven of the playoffs.

Day forty eight - Saturday

Up early and off to Memphis today. We left Nashville at about 8:30 a.m. and headed west. As we passed through the mountains, and I use that term loosely, I noticed the first signs of the fall colors. Many of the trees were yellow and red as well as green. Very pretty, but not the dramatic colors as seen in pictures. A local explained to me a week or so ago that its been so dry back here that the fall colors are not developing as they normally would.

We pulled in to the Tom Sawyer RV Park in West Memphis at about 2:00 p.m. It's right on the Mississippi River. We're actually in Arkansas, across the Mississippi river from Memphis Tennessee. We have reservations for two nights but it looks like we're going to extend a couple of nights because we're finding so much to do here. Besides Graceland, there's a zoo with Pandas, the Sun Studios where Elvis recorded his first song, riverboats and other stuff. Unfortunately we're supposed to get rain on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so that may make things a little soggy. We'll see.

I did do some fishing in a pond at the RV park. I fished for about an hour and caught one fish. I'm not sure what kind of fish it was. It looked like some kind of a cross between a bass and a crappie. At least it fought hard.

We had a game of Scrabble and BBQ for dinner. We spent some time on the computer checking out the options in Memphis and watched the Red Sox tie the series with the Indians. It was a good day.

Day forty seven - Friday

Today was a travel day. We left Sevierville and headed to Nashville. At Nashville we found a Walmart and settled in for the afternoon.

There isn't really anything to report. We did some shopping at Walmart and hit the sack early. We went only a little more than 200 miles today and we stopped in Nashville only because we didn't want to drive the whole 400 miles to Memphis in one day. Ann wanted to see the County Music Hall of Fame and Museum but it did nothing for me so we passed on it.

At least we missed the storms. It rained for about an hour this morning but was dry by the time we left. The storms and tornadoes went north of us and were east of us by the time we got up.

Day forty six - Thursday

We woke up to news of tornadoes just west of here. Two people were killed in Missouri by a tornado today. We had gray skies and wind this morning. There were no storm warnings in the area but, still, we worried a little. We put the awning in, just in case and took off for shopping.

Phyllis would be proud. Ann and I went to the Outlet stores in Pigeon Forge. We bought a few things but not much. We had a late lunch at Red Lobster and than back to the coach for a game of Scrabble.

Although we were supposed to have thunderstorms today, our storm fears were unfounded, fortunately. Tomorrow we head west, toward the storms. Hope the storms are over by tomorrow.

Despite the questionable weather, the crew was out fishing as they have been all week. These three guys have been fishing for Carp. They use dough balls on sliding sinkers and sit there all day long smoking cigarettes and eating. Every once in a while they even catch a fish.

Day forty five - Wednedsday

Today was another do-nothing day. Ann did a load of laundry and I vacuumed the coach. We had a game of Scrabble and Ann gave some neighbor ladies a tour of the coach.

We're watching the weather here. About 400 miles west of us there are tornado warnings and, as normal, the weather is coming eastward. We have rain and lightning in the forecast for tomorrow.

We did move today. We extended our stay for two more nights here but had to move to a different site. We moved three doors down. We're still by the river though.

Tomorrow we'll probably do nothing again, especially if it rains. That's okay though. It's kinda nice to do nothing! Time for supper. :)

Day forty four - Tuesday

Today was, for the most part, a do nothing day. I went to the nearby Bass Pro Shops store where I browsed, bought a three-day Tennessee fishing license and an update DVD for my GPS.
When I got back to the coach, I fished for smallmouth bass in the river behind the coach for a little while. I didn't catch anything.

Ann went to the office and extended our stay here for a couple extra days. We won't be leaving here until Friday. The weather is supposed to turn starting tonight with possible rain tonight and thunderstorms tomorrow. We weren't planning on going anywhere tomorrow anyway.

We had dinner at Country Legends. Country Legends has singing servers who take turns going on stage and singing country songs. They were actually very good, if you like country songs. I had the BBQ pulled pork and Ann had ribs. It was a very good dinner and entertaining too.

Parking by the river, under the trees, is nice but also has it's drawbacks. In addition to water and trees, we have squirrels. Okay, no big deal, except the trees have acorns. The squirrels get up early and start running through the trees which knocks the acorns loose. About 6:30 a.m. the acorns start dropping on the roof of the coach. Nobody sleeps when that starts. When I'm up til 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. watching a west coast playoff baseball game, 6:30 comes pretty early.

Pictures are of the sign at the entrance to the RV Park and the view of the river behind our coach. Notice the Trinity Center, Ca. advertising on the name sign.

Day forty three - Monday, Oct. 15

Up early and off to Dollywood! Dolly Parton was born and raised in this area. She came back after she made the big time and created Dollywood. As the story goes, she saw the sign in Hollywood and wanted to change the "H" to a "D."

Dollywood is a theme park with rides, lots of music shows, copious amounts of food and enough stuff for sale to strain Mark Cuban's budget.

The park opened at 10:00 a.m. and we were there just after it opened. First stop was the booth where they get into your wallet. $7.00 for parking a car. As we pulled up to the booth, money in hand, the woman working the booth asked us something with a heavy southern accent. After she repeated her question for the third time we realized she was asking me if I was a fireman. Ann told her yes and the woman handed us our parking ticket and told us to keep our money. I still tried to pay but she wouldn't accept the money. Don't tell the Chief I accepted a gratuity! Free parking was a good start to the day.

$47.00 each got us in the gate. Inside we got our bearings and found someplace for our first meal. Too late for breakfast, we had lunch instead. Over the next six hours we saw a couple of shows, rode five miles on a real steam train, bought some stuff and had a generally good time. We avoided the roller coaster rides.

This is the kind of place we'd visit once but probably won't go again. 70% of the grounds are vendors. 20% is music shows and 10% is rides. We did see an eagle sanctuary that was interesting.

We left an hour before the 6:00 p.m. closing and drove back to the coach via Wal-Mart. We got back too late for a game of Scrabble because Dancing with the Stars came on at 8:00 p.m.

Pizza for supper!

G'night Y'all

Pictures show the train we rode and a huge pan of potatoes, onions and peppers at one of the food booths.

Day forty two - Sunday

Today was another travel day. We left North Carolina and headed to Tennessee. We pulled in to the Riverside RV Park and Resort in Sevierville, Tn at about 4:40 p.m. and got a campsite by the Little Pigeon River. We're about 25 miles southeast of Knoxville and just north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We covered about 225 miles today.

The Little Pigeon River is said to hold trout, bass (largemouth and smallmouth) Carp, catfish and Pike. I watched a guy catch a carp. It was probably about 7-8 pounds and he said it was a small one.

After being up til 3:00 a.m. and getting up at 9:00 a.m. this morning, we were pretty tired. We had our game of Scrabble, had some dinner (supper here) and watched some TV.

The picture is an aerial view of the Riverside RV Park and Resort. We are in the trees on the right side of the park. The river at the top of the picture curves around to the right/bottom of the picture and flows right behind our coach. When we take the dogs for a walk, we walk along the river.

Day forty one - Saturday

The first part of the day was spent doing little to nothing. I fooled around putting a few things away since we're leaving tomorrow.

At three o'clock we piled into the car and headed toward Concord, NC. Lowes Motorspeedway used to be called Charlotte Motorspeedway, even though it's really in Concord. We found some back roads and came at the track from the east instead of coming from Charlotte. We avoided the heavy traffic and drove right into the parking lot. An hour after leaving KOA we were parking the car and walking to the track.

At the track we found will-call and picked up our tickets. We walked through the vendor area but didn't buy anything other than a Lowes bumper sticker. For those of you who haven't been to a NASCAR race, the teams don't just show up to race. Most teams also send an eighteen-wheeler full of souveniors to sell outside the track. The sides of the trailer open up to reveal shelves, displays and cases full of team stuff. A lot of the teams and sponsors also give stuff away in this area. We got some race flags and other stuff.

At five o'clock we headed into the track and found our seats. It was going to be a long night so dinner was next. Over-priced food and drink is the norm, just like other sports. Ann had a philly steak and lemonade. I had a polish sausage with green peppers and onions and a coke. We shared a soft pretzel for desert.

The race started at about 7:30 and continued until almost midnight. It was a good race with lots of action. I wasn't thrilled that Jeff Gordon won but Ann was happy.

After the race it took us about 45 minutes to get to the car. We then SAT in the parking lot for over an hour without moving. Once we did get moving we were out pretty quickly and on our way. We pulled up to the KOA at three o'clock a.m. It was a long day.

Picture shows some of the pre-race fireworks. The movie shows the cars crossing the start/finish line and heading into turn one at the start of the race.

Day forty - Friday

Today turned out to be a do-nothing day. We drove nowhere, saw nothing and did little. Ann did some laundry and that's about all we accomplished.

Ann won our game of Scrabble and I watched the Busch race at Lowes motorspeedway tonight. Tomorrow we see the Cup race in person. Our seats are between the finish line and turn one. Not bad seats considering we just bought the tickets a few days ago.


Picture shows Ann standing on the second floor of Michael Waldrip's race shop. Cars in the background (first floor) are Dale Jarrett's UPS cars.

Day thirty nine - Thursday

We moved from Wal Mart to the KOA just south of Statesville on hwy 77. Due to the race being this weekend all we could get was a site with water and electric, no sewer. Even with that, it's still $32.50 a night which is a little high. However, with the race, we're lucky to have found a spot at all.

After getting set up we drove into Cornelius, NC, and visited Michael Waltrip's racing facility. He calls it Racing World USA. Inside we took a tour of the facility where we saw his race shops, toured his motor home, toured a hauler and got to check out where the crew practices pit stops. They had a car and jack in the pit. I got a chance to jack up the car. After a short tutorial I gave it a shot. I'll tell you, I found out it isn't as easy as it looks on TV.

The jack has to be placed under the side of the car in just the right spot and then locked in with a short push on the jack handle. Then, the jack handle has to be pulled upright and then pushed down, HARD, to get the car off the ground. It took me several tries just to get the left side wheels off the ground. I can see now why these guys have to be athletes and have to practice as much as they do.

Back at our coach, we had a game of Scrabble. I finally won, although it was close. After dinner we watched Gray's Anatomy and the baseball game. We have no plans for tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

G'night

Day thirty eight - Wednesday

We hit the road at 8:00 a.m. and decided to go through to Statesville, N.C. today. It was a 258 mile day. When got to Statesville we found the Wal-mart and made our selves at home. We're only eight miles from the KOA where we'll stay until Sunday.

We had a game a Scrabble this afternoon. Ann beat me again. That's twice in a row. I'd say I have to quit having a drink during the game but Ann is having one too. I guess I can't use that as an excuse.

We turned over 4,000 miles today and have covered sixteen states. I haven't added up how much we've spent on fuel yet, but will do so soon. If we're getting eight miles per gallon we would have used 500 gallons. And if we're paying an average of $3.05 per gallon for diesel, that would be $1,525.00.

Day thirty seven - Tuesday

When we left Gettysburg, we planned to have a travel day with no sight seeing. However, as we travelled through western Maryland we realized we were going to be in the area of the National Firefighters Memorial in Emmitsburg Maryland. We pulled off the highway and into the National Emergency Training Center. When we stopped at the security building we were met by security personnel who escourted us to a parking lot where the motor home could be parked. After a short walk we found ourselves at the memorial.

This memorial was built in 1981 and has a brass plaque for each year since. There is one plaque just for Sept. 11, 2001. Each plaque lists, by state, fire personnel who died in the line of duty. The president was here last week.

The flags were at half-mast due to two recent deaths. One, a ninteen-year old volunteer was killed when a building collapsed on him during mop-up. The other, a twenty-four year old volunteer died when he crashed his own vehicle while responding to a call. I just read that a fire fighter died in Big Sur California while fighting a fire there. That'll be another name to add to the list.

After visiting the memorial, we continued to our final destination of the day, Harrisonburg, Virginia. We'll spend the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Day thirty six - Monday, Oct. 8

When we stopped at the Gettysburg National Military Park visitors center, we picked up an auto tour book and CD. This is a self guided tour book and audio CD that takes you through the park and explains the battles and history of Gettysburg the town and Gettysburg the battle. The Gettysburg battle took place over the first three days of July, 1863.

We started our tour walking through the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg. Here, many Civil war and subsequent war soldiers are buried. Many of the graves are marked "unknown." These graves, from the civil war, hold unknown remains. The names of the soldiers who fought in the civil war are, for the most part, known, but many of the bodies were unidentified. The civil war was fought before the use of dog tags. So, unless the soldier had something on his person that would identify him, he might go unidentified if he was killed in battle. This cemetery was also where President Abraham Lincoln made the Gettysburg Address on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, during the American Civil War, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated the Confederates at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.

We then began our auto tour of the park. It took several hours and we saw the scenes of the major battles and heard detailed descriptions of these battles. We also saw memorials to soldiers and officers. Each state of the union and confederacy had a memorial to its soldiers and many individuals also had memorials. One of the most impressive memorials was the Robert E. Lee memorial.

Ann made meatloaf for dinner and we watched Dancing with the Stars. Tomorrow we head south. I think we're going to take a couple of days off from sight seeing and just drive about 150 miles each day, park, and relax. On Thursday we'll arrive at the Statesville, NC, KOA where we'll stay for the weekend.

These pictures depict a barn that is on one of the battlefields. The hole in the front facade of the barn is a cannonball hole. Left-Click on a picture to open a large version of the picture in your browser.

Day thirty five - Sunday

Although we're camping within walking distance of the Gettysburg battleground and National Park, we didn't go there today. As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, the Apple Harvest Festival is a big deal here. We decided to check it out.

The festival is held about 10 miles north of Gettysburg, just outside of Arendtsville, Pa. Entry was $8.00 per person and in we went. We found LOTS of vendors and food booths. Classic cars were at one end of the grounds and various bands played on several stages. We walked around for about three hours, had french fried sweet potatos and pumpkin funnel cake. How does that work? We go to an Apple Festival and have sweet potato and pumpkin???

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the visitors center for the Gettysburg National Park and planned our day tomorrow.

Back at the coach we had a game of Scrabble, cooked fish for dinner and Ann did a big load of laundry.

We also looked at our schedule and found we'd be in the Charlotte, North Carolina area next weekend. NASCAR will be in Charlotte, at Lowes Motorspeedway next weekend. I got on line and bought tickets for the race. So, next Saturday night we'll be at the race in Charlotte.

Day thirty four - Saturday

Our travel day began with a short drive to Hershey Chocolate World in Hershey Pa. Milton Hershey built a chocolate manufacturing plant at a dairy east of Harrisburg, Pa. With the success of his business came a profound sense of moral responsibility and benevolence. He built a model town for his employees that included comfortable homes, an inexpensive public transportation system, a quality public school system and extensive recreational and cultural opportunities. He also established a school for underprivileged children. That school still exists today.

Despite the quality of the man behind the chocolate, we were not impressed with Hershey Chocolate World itself. Our visit began with a slow speed ride through a "chocolate factory." Interesting and educational. Outside this display we found ourselves in a retail wonderland of chocolate goods, edible and inedible. Within an hour we were on our way out the door. We didn't go to Hersheypark which is a large amusement park with rides, including 10 roller coasters and 6 water rides.

Heading south, we drove about 50 miles to Gettysburg, Pa. We pulled into town and began calling campgrounds. Call after call to campgrounds and they all said the same thing - they were full. It seems this weekend and next weekend is the annual Apple Harvest Festival. Apparently this is a real big deal here with 60,000 people coming to town over the weekend.

I called the last campground on my list and got lucky. The woman said she had a spot available because the party who reserved it hadn't shown up. We hurried over to get that site before the people showed up.

Rather than rush through in the afternoon, we relaxed at the campground with a drink and a game of Scrabble. After discussion, we decided we'll go to the Apple Harvest Festival tomorrow and save the Gettysburg National Park for Monday.

Day thirty three - Friday

We finally got our Cracker Barrel breakfast! In the spring of '04, while on our two-month southwest tour, we discovered Cracker Barrel restaurants. There are none in California so we haven't been in one since then. Very good breakfast.

After breakfast we drove around the Amish country a little just to have a last look before taking off. We drove to Intercourse and Paradise via Bird in Hand. We didn't go to Virginville, Blue Ball or Fertility today.

We left the campground at about 1:00 and headed west. We drove to York with the intention to touring the Harley Davidson plant there. In York, more than 3,200 employees work around the clock assembling Touring and Softail models, as well as limited production, factory-custom motorcycles. It's the largest HD manufacturing facility. My bike was probably born here. However, by the time we got to York the last factory tour had already begun. Plus, we weren't able to find parking for the motor home at the factory. So, we continued on.

An hour or so later we were in Hershey Pa. We stopped at the Wal-Mart to spend the night so we could get an early start on the Hershey's Chocolate World tomorrow morning.

Ann made Chef's Salad for dinner and we had a game of Scrabble to complete the day.

Day thirty two - Thursday

We're in Amish country. The Amish and the Mennonites are spin offs from the Catholic religion with the Amish being more conservative than the Mennonites. The Amish are a spin off group from the Mennonites after the Amish decided the Mennonites were too liberal. The primary reason the Mennonites left the Catholic church was that the Mennonites didn't believe an infant had to be baptised before it was three days old.

Our day began with a two-hour bus tour of the local Amish sights. We listened to the bus driver describe Amish customs and lifestyles as we drove along. Occasionally the bus had to slow and veer into the oncoming lane to maneuver around a horse drawn carriage carrying an Amish family. The Amish live very simple lives in that they shun technology including electricity and gas motors. In fact, the local Amish won't even ride bicycles. Many were seen travelling on push scooters.

On our drive we saw the schoolhouse that was built to replace the one that was the sight of the Amish School shootings almost exactly a year ago. Another bus was stopped at the school and people were out taking pictures. Our bus driver stopped and yelled at the people to get back on the bus and leave the kids alone. She was quite upset that the school has become a tourist stop. She knew the families who lost daughters in that incident.

Our first stop was a working Amish farm. Of course there was the obligatory souvenir shop. However this farm had a real treat awaiting us. Pretzels are very big in this area. We were later told 80% of the country's pretzels are made in the area with most of those being consumed right here. Well, we figured we'd give a soft pretzel a try. I bought three along with some dipping sauces. I was handed a bag with the pretzels that was almost too hot to carry. Onto the bus and into the bag. We ate the best pretzels we've ever had!!! These were warm, soft and so buttery the bag was soaked through with butter before we opened it. The dipping sauces were little used because the pretzels didn't need to be dipped.

As the tour continued we stopped at a couple more working farms. At one farm quilts were made and the quilting techniques demonstrated. At the next, the only attraction, besides a petting zoo, was a very large souvenir shop.

After the bus tour we came back to the coach, had lunch and then were off again. This time we went to an historical Amish farm house and farm. After a brief tour of the house we walked the grounds of the farm. Very interesting. The different buildings all had their special purpose including a tobacco processing building and a one room schoolhouse. One building had a wood shop in it and a man giving whittling demonstrations. We spent a little money here.

We dined in what was billed as a local smorgasbord but found it to be just another restaurant. Back at the coach we watched Gray's Anatomy and baseball. It's tough to take in all three playoff games because on the east coast the last game doesn't get started until after 10:00 p.m. and doesn't end until 1:00 a.m. or later.

G'night

Day thirty one - Wednesday

Today was pretty much a travel day. We left the Cherry Hill Campground at around 10:30 and headed north. A little over 100 miles later we had left Maryland and re-entered Pennsylvania. We drove through, but did not stop in, York, Pa. From there we headed east.

When we got to Lancaster, Pa, we found the freeway being blocked at various locations. At one point we got off the freeway but found our path blocked by police cars. I made a u-turn on the freeway overpass and got back on the freeway eastbound. It was then I realized we were the only vehicle on the freeway! Kinda spooky. A couple of miles behind us they were blocking the freeway with dump trucks. I didn't know what was going on but it looked like the prudent move would be to get off the freeway ASAP. At the next exit we found a large shopping center and got off. Traffic was being diverted here too but we were able to get into the shopping center lot.

I turned on local radio and the TV trying to figure out what was going on. Finally the news came on and we learned the president was in town. That figures! We spend ten days in DC and don't see any evidence of presidential presence. We drive over a hundred miles and suddenly we can't get where we want to go because he's in town.

We spent a while at the shopping center, did some grocery shopping and then continued east after the traffic opened up. Pretty soon we were at our campground. We're going to spend a couple of days at the Country Acres Campground in Bird in Hand, Pa.

We had a nice dinner, a game of Scrabble and watched lots of baseball along with the final episode of Top Chef.

Day thirty - Tuesday

The plan for today was to go into DC, visit the Supreme Court, the Law Enforcement Memorial and the Air and Space Museum. We didn't do any of those things.

Today ended up being a relaxing day. Ann did laundry and I washed the windshield of the motor home. I also started putting things away because we are leaving here tomorrow. We also enjoyed a game of Scrabble, tacos for dinner and watched the Dancing with the Stars results show.

Although we extended our stay three days, we still didn't see everything we wanted to see in DC. We saw lots of sights including most of the things we really wanted to see. Some day we'll come back and see more of DC.

Tomorrow will be a short day with our drive being only a little over 100 miles. We're heading to the heart of Amish country, Lancaster, Pa.

The green line on the map shows where we've been that past 30 days. After a short jump north tomorrow, we start heading south and west.

Day twenty nine - Monday, Oct. 1

We took a chance today and got back into the car. We had to if we wanted to see our next sight. We were off to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, about 30 miles away.

I programed the Streetpilot GPS and we were off. We got pretty close when we ran into freeway construction. The off ramp we needed was closed and we ended up well off course. After wandering around for a half an hour and a gas stop, we finally got back on track.

On the way, we stopped for lunch at Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries. This place was suggested by Phyllis who ate at a Five Guys when she was back here earlier this year. We each ordered a cheese burger and shared an order of Cajun fries. The burgers turned out to be double burgers and the regular fries were a small grocery bag of fries. Both were too much for either of us to finish but both were very good. There was a list of things you could put on your burger including the usual stuff like lettuce and mustard. However, there were other options such as fried onions, mushrooms, BBQ sauce and others. We ended up taking over half the fries home and had them with dinner.

Once we arrived at Mount Vernon, we paid our $13.00 each and started our self-guided walking tour. We walked the grounds, seeing the slave quarters, ice house and other outbuildings. In the main house we moved from room to room where guides gave short talks to describe the room and answer questions. The highlight of the house tour was seeing the bedroom where George Washington lived and died.

The guide explained that George Washington got sick one winter and died within 36 hours. Later, in the museum, I read that experts feel he died after contracting epiglottitis. Something that would be easily treated today.

Next we visited the two burial sites of George and Martha Washington. They were first entombed in the family tomb overlooking the Potomac River. Thirty-eight years later their bodies were moved to a new tomb as directed in Washington's will.

Lastly, we spent over an hour in the Museum on the grounds of Mount Vernon. This was a fascinating trip into the past with movies, displays and artifacts from the life of George Washington.

Despite the freeway construction, the trip home was uneventful and quick. We got home too late for Scrabble since we had to have dinner and watch "Dancing with the Stars."

Pictures show Ann posing with the Washington family in the visitor's center at Mount Vernon. The second picture shows the main house at Mount Vernon.