I left off writing with us parked in
Elkhart Campground, Elkhart, Indiana. We spent three days there while
we visited the
RV Hall of Fame, saw the Elkhart carpet of mums (as in
chrysanthemums), and toured the
New York Central Railroad Museum.
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| Elkhart, IN, Carpet of Mums |
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| Marching Band Sculptures, Elkhart, IN |
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| The New York Central Railroad Museum, Elkhart, IN |
Leaving Elkhart, we headed back to
Wisconsin and Hidden Valley RV Resort in Newville. We had to take
care of such mundane things as a doctor's appointment, a visit to the
dentist, a haircut, family/friend visits and birthdays, and a couple
of Red Cross activities.
I haven't said much about it, but Mary
and I are volunteers with the American Red Cross, Western Wisconsin
Region/Badger Chapter. We are members of a DAT (Disaster Action Team)
helping families and individuals who have experienced such tragedies
as home fires and wind storms. We are also part of the DSHR system
(Disaster Support Human Resources) which could see us deployed to
national-level disasters such as Hurricane Sandy. So far, however,
our travel schedule and commitments have not worked to allow us to
accept deployments so we're still novices. We are also part of a
RV-based group of Red Cross volunteers called the DOVES (Disaster
Operations Volunteers Escapees [with the Escapees being an RV club to
which we belong]). While we were in Wisconsin, we spent several days
at a Red Cross training conference. That's where we got to spend our
33rd wedding anniversary on October 20!
We left our RV parked at Hidden Valley
Resort while we drove up to Green Bay to visit Mary's sister, Kitty,
and then went to Oshkosh for the Red Cross training conference. After
Oshkosh, we returned to Newville for a couple of nights and then we
headed south.
Our first night out, we stopped in
Cerro Gordo, Illinois, at Tom and Carol's RV Park. This was a tiny
(maybe six spaces) park but it was a fun stop and, if our travels put
us back in Cerro Gordo, we'd stop there again.
From Cerro Gordo, we drove on to
Nashville, Tennessee, where we spent two weeks at the Two Rivers
Campground near Opryland. Two Rivers is strategically located to let
us be tourists in the Nashville area and to visit family in
Murfreesboro.
We took a hike at Long Hunter State
Park at Percy Priest Lake, seeing the wildlife and just enjoying
being in the woods.
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| Wild Turkeys, Long Hunter State Park, TN |
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| Heron, Long Hunter State Park, TN |
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| Heron, Long Hunter State Park, TN |
We visited Opry Mills (a couple of times), a
massive shopping complex built where the Opryland Amusement Park used
to be located. We wandered around the grounds of the Grand Ole Opry
compound including the Opryland Hotel and it's internal botanical
world.
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| In front of the Grond Ole Opry House |
We also went downtown in Nashville and saw some of the sights
such as Printer's Alley, Broadway and the country music venues, the
Tennessee State Museum, and attempted to see the state capitol
building. It was closed for renovation and we couldn't even get on
the grounds. Maybe they don't use the capitol building for anything
significant, but it sure felt like Tennessee was trying to discourage
its citizens from coming to their center of government.
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| Tennessee State Capitol |
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| The sign that greeted us at the Tennessee State Capitol |
One of the real highlights was a drive
out to the Radnor Lake State Natural Area where we took a 6.5 mile
hike through the woods and around the lake, looking at the historical
and natural sights of the area. Radnor Lake used to supply all the
water needed by the L & N Railroad's Radnor Yards but since there
are no longer steam engines needing huge amounts of water the lake is
now a beautiful natural area. Thanks to cousin Barry for suggesting
this side trip for us!
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| Deer in the Wood, Radnor Lake |
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| Turtles Sunning on Logs at Radnor Lake |
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| Radnor Lake |
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| Turtles and Goose at Radnor Lake |
One Sunday evening, we got together
with cousin Clark Kirsch and his wife, Mary. The occasion was opening
a bottle of plum wine bottled by my father, John Clark, not long
before his death in 1989. The twenty-three or more years since the
wine was bottled were kind and the wine was amazingly smooth, kind of
like a fine cream sherry. Clark had provided the plums for the wine
so we thought it appropriate to share the bottle with him and his
lovely bride. Thanks, Clark and Mary, for the evening.
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Clark Pouring a Glass of Kirsche Plum Wine
(We had John Clark with us in spirit and in picture ... bottom right) |
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After two weeks of playing tourist and
visiting family, we headed out today, once more pointed south. And so
tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 7) finds us at McFarlane Park in Florence,
Alabama, on the Tennessee River. This is a nice little city park with
a very reasonable rate for us “senior citizens” ($15 per night
for a FULL hook-up site).
We'll be visiting some more of my
cousins here and taking in some of the local sights, sites, and
sounds before we move further south for the winter. Here in Florence
tonight, it'll be pretty cold tonight, maybe approaching freezing,
but we'll be cosy in our home on wheels (with its two furnaces and
plenty of warm blankets).
