I'm going to write just a short post today. I'm back on the road for my first trip of the spring. This is a solo trip. Mary is still teaching and they just expect her to show up every day during the school year (would you believe it?!).
I'm headed "home" for the annual Shelton Cemetery gathering in rural Rutherford County, Tennessee. Every year on the Sunday before Memorial Day, Sheltons and friends gather to remember those of their families who are buried there in Shelton Cemetery. The cemetery is located up Eaton Hollow (pronounced "Holler" if you're from Middle Tennessee) and looks out over the valley where my great-grandfather and my grandfather and their families farmed for many years. We'll also get to have a gathering of the Shelton cousins on Monday, thanks to cousin Linda (Shelton) McGill and her husband, Lynn, who have invited us to their place in Franklin.
I left home in Beloit Thursday and drove far LESS than I intended to. I was aiming to reach the Rend Lake area and the Corps of Engineers campgrounds in that area, a 6 or so hour drive. However, the winds were so terrible that after only making slow progress I put into the Champaign Sportsman's Club in Mahomet, IL, which is at Lake of the Woods.
If you're ever looking for a camping spot in the Champaign, IL, area, I recommend this place. Mary and I visited it for an overnight on the way home on our trip to the south two summers ago and found it a nice quiet place to stay. The host is really a helpful and friendly guy. And it's not too expensive to stay there ($18.00 for the night). The campground was almost full (it is the Memorial Day weekend, after all) and I could only get an electric, no water, site, but that was alright. I had enough water on board to take care of me for the night with no problems and the electric was the 30 amps I needed. I even had a water view out the back of the coach (it was just a slough off of the lake but it was water).
I drove on from CSC and made it into Two Rivers Campground in Nashville, TN, yesterday afternoon. This park too is almost full, but I have a water and electric site for the next several days. The campground is only about two miles from the Grand Ole Opry but I won't be going. We had a small happy hour yesterday and a band played for a couple of hours last night. Another band will be playing tonight. So there's some built-in entertainment.
Why didn't I stay somewhere closer to Murfreesboro? Simple. Brother Ransom is staying at the Wyndham Resort near Opryland so I stayed where he and I could get some time together.
It's hotter than "blue blazes" as they'd say here in TN. Record-setting heat in the mid-90s. Tomorrow at the cemetery could easily see 95 degrees! I'm glad my motorhome has good air conditioning! It is really making a difference on a super hot day.
I've not done much today other than housekeeping. And that has to be done sometimes. I slept late, made a leisurely breakfast, checked email and facebook, and did the other kinds of stuff that had to be done (like sweeping, washing dishes, and washing me). I'm not trying to post any pictures today. There's not much to be seen but a long row of various kinds of rv's.
-forrest
