Meandering Around Mammoth

Mammoth Cave, KY – April 10-12, 2014

After last night’s storm, we woke up to a beautiful morning. The sun is out, Big Guy is in a secluded location, a local squirrel is keeping a watchful eye over our campsite, and a robin is teasing us into thinking spring is here.

Being out of shape, the “Domes and Dripstones” tour left us feeling like a day off was in order. So we agreed that we’d no tours today and instead meander over to some of the nearby communities. EJ spied this picture book farm along the way.

And we found this little hideaway sitting in the woods.

According to the App “Where to Eat”, Horse Cave had a rock shop coffee shop combination. We found it and the for sale sign in the front window. We continue to wander around from city (town?) to city before we found an authentic “locals” restaurant. And they had curly fries!! On the way back to the campground we found this old stone structure.

Feeling pretty spunky after sitting in the car for a couple of hours, we thought it would be a good idea to stretch our legs a little. Forgetting about how much ours legs protested yesterday, we were feeling pretty good and decided we needed some more exercise.

Deer sightings are common in Mammoth Park. The one on the left looks pretty hungry.

The Green River runs through the Park and used to have numerous ferries owned by private individuals that charged a toll to cross the river. This is the only remaining operational ferry in the park. It only handles 2 cars at a time, is held in place by cables and is a side wheeler.

Next to the relief station was a short trail to where an underground river surfaced to join the Green River. It’s called Echo River Spring.

The Park is pretty serious about unauthorized entry into the caves. Notice this entrance has a steel grate covering it.

EJ serenely surveys the River Styx, another underground river that surfaces to join the Green River.

All these hikes have led us lower and lower to the bottom of the valley where the Green River flows. And as we all know what goes down, must come up, one way or another. We scour the map for a less challenging way back to the top, but there is none. We’re not feeling so spunky now.

After we struggle back to the top, we decide there’s just enough energy left for one more short hike. The walk to Sand Cave was a short one and it was via a nice level wooden boardwalk. This cave is famous, or infamous, for being the death place of Floyd Collins. On January 30, 1925 Floyd was searching for a new entrance to the underground network of caves when he crawled into a very small passageway and got stuck by a cave in. Rescue efforts were futile and he died of exposure. Two months later, his body was recovered.

EJ and I decided that we wouldn’t be doing any unauthorized cave exploring.

Movin’ to Mammoth

Mammoth Cave, KY – April 8-9, 2014

Tuesday morning, April 8, we finally made up our minds to head for Mammoth Cave National Park for two reasons. One, we had never been there before and two, EJ gets another stamp in her National Park Passport book.

It was a fairly uneventful trip until we were about half way there. That’s when we found ourselves on a narrow country road where the lanes were barely large enough to accommodate Big Guy. We had about 6 inches to spare on either side, not counting the mirrors. Fortunately we only encountered one eighteen wheeler coming towards us which certainly produced a monumental pucker factor but also let us know that low bridges wouldn’t be a problem. If an eighteen wheeler can make it, so can we.

We pulled into Mammoth Cave Campground in the rain and there was no one at the guard gate. After a couple of circles around the campground we selected a spot with the fewest puddles and it happened to be next to the restroom. Convenient when you’re trying to conserve water and holding tank usage.Most NP’s are dry camp only. This was going to be one of the coldest nights we experienced so far so special accommodations needed to be made for the cats.

The next day was bright and sunny, but the cats couldn’t be bothered.

You know, we really thought we bought that love seat for us.

We decided to take the “Domes and Dripstones” tour. But first, the National Park Passport must get stamped.

We listen to Ranger Linda tell us about all the things that children aren’t supposed to do. Her talk would have been about half as long without that part.

Afterwards they loaded us onto these green buses.

Then they hauled us off to this door in the ground. That’s Ranger Dave on the right making sure no one escapes.

And finally, the this part of the Cave…

No flash photo’s allowed.

The cave was formed by underground rivers which now are further underground because the water table has dropped leaving the caves mostly dry. It was pretty amazing. This tour was rated as moderate, but we were both feeling the burn. It was 300 ft down and of course we had to come back up. They said it was only 3/4 of a mile, but it took two hours.

I can’t believe we were just 300 feet underground…

Yeah Frank. Where are those French Fries we ordered?!

On the way back to the campground we pass the old Mammoth passenger train and a couple of furry residents.

‘So Long’ from the Historic entrance to Mammoth Cave.

Making time to Tullahoma (Or not!)

Tullahoma, TN – April 6 - 7, 2014

We left Blue Ridge and pointed towards Tennessee. We were on track for a 4 PM arrival at Roger and Connie’s.

But first, there’s a Camping World just outside of Chattanooga that needs some of our money. On our way to Gaffney, SC we had a mishap caused by rough roads and a malfunctioning tire pressure alarm. We hit a huge pothole on I-26 that apparently popped open one of the cargo doors. This we didn’t discover until the tire pressure alarm went off, requiring us to find a place to pull into, which necessitated a right hand turn which caused the cargo door to swing open dumping out a container of precious parts. None of this was known to us until I was walking around the motorhome home checking things out and discovered the electric compartment door was ajar.

A quick inspection revealed the missing box of goodies. I looked over at the turnoff we had just driven through and saw the box of parts scattered all over the road. I hurried over and retrieved all the missing goodies, even those that had been run over by others using the same turnoff.

Fortunately, everything was salvageable except for the “Water Thief” connection. This valuable device can be used to hook up a water hose when you run up against one of those faucets that either has no threads, or threads that don’t fit a hose end.

But Camping World has a replacement, and as I said, they need some of our money.

After goofing off there for about an hour, we had just enough time left to make it to Tullahoma by 4PM. Notice the timing now allows for nothing to go wrong if we are to stay on schedule. This is known as “foreshadowing”.

We made it through Chattanooga and about 10 miles on down the interstate before significant forward progress became a mere dream. We passed a sign truck that simply said “Accident Ahead” with no clue as to whether it was one mile ahead or 20 miles ahead.

At this point, our 4 PM arrival at Roger and Connie’s was starting to look pretty iffy.

After an hour and fifteen minutes of slowly crawling up the road to Monteagle, we called Connie and gave her an update. She and Roger said no problem, get here when you can get here.

About 2 miles before our turnoff, we finally came upon the reason for the backup.

That burned out hulk being hauled on to the back of the wrecker used to be a motorhome. We sure hope the occupants were safe because there sure wasn’t much left. Seeing that definitely sent shivers up and down our spines. That’s one experience we hope we never have.

Roger and Connie greeted us and offered us the driveway to park Big Guy. Soon burgers and hot dogs were on the grill and wine was poured all around to sooth our frazzled nerves. EJ and I really enjoyed meeting Roger and it turns out we shared a lot of opinions on the world at large. We all called it an early evening since they had to go to work the next day.

A package had arrived for us at Connie’s that hopefully would solve the rooftop satellite dish problems that had plagued us since the day we left Orange Park. When we were getting ready to leave for this summer’s adventure, the dish would not stow. Since driving down the road with the dish sticking up in the air was not an option, I had to dismantle it and hope to fix it at a later date.

After some consultations with Winegard (the manufacturer of the roof dish), it was determined the unit was still under warranty and they had a fix for our problem. Connie had graciously agreed to receive the part and hold it for us until we arrived.

After several hours of removing and reinstalling parts the rooftop dish was fully functional again. Now we can continue recording “Top Chef” and “Legendary Motorcars”.

The weather has been nice and cool, but we were surprised when the breeze made the trees’ flower petals look like it was snowing.

That evening, we all got together for a supper of fried chicken, salads and dessert. And some adult beverages too. More conversation followed as we caught up and rehashed old family stories.

The next morning we learned that Roger wasn’t feeling well. We sure hope it wasn’t our company that caused that. Get better Roger!

And lastly, a group photo for those family members that might be reading this blog. Every one is smiling because they were sure I was going to trip between setting up the camera and racing across the room to get in the picture before camera went off.

Breezing into Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge, GA – April 3 - 5, 2014

If you look at a map, there is no direct route from Gaffney, SC to Blue Ridge, GA. Instead, there are a series of interesting country roads with small towns to travel through.

Fun stuff in a motorhome towing a car. And as any one who has driven a large vehicle knows, prudence indicates that you don’t go downhill any faster than you went uphill if you want to have any chance of stopping in an emergency. But I’m guessing the long line of cars behind us didn’t share the same opinion.

In Blue Ridge we always stay at the Blue Ridge Mineral Springs Campground. It has nothing special to offer, is a little run down, floods when it rains, but it’s the only campground near downtown and it’s the closest campground to our friends Jim and Shelley. Plus in over 3 years they have not raised their rates.

After we got leveled and plugged in, we drove over to our friends for happy hour. Frank was accused of whining about being the only visitor that Jim never took to the Toccoa River Restaurant. I didn’t think I was whining, I was only doing what any good friend would do by making Jim aware of this glaring omission in his otherwise impeccable hospitality. Whining indeed! We got to sit in the “Happy Chair” so we were thrilled with the whole experience.

The next morning started with a knock on Big Guy’s door. It was Rick, the campground owner advising us we ought to move the motorhome if we didn’t want to end up sitting in a big lake. He said a storm was coming and it looked pretty nasty. Whew, I thought he was coming by asking for us to pay up. I checked the radar, and sure enough, it looked pretty nasty. In a span of about 15 minutes, we had Big Guy secured and ready to move. This time we moved up to the upper level into a space normally reserved for long term renters. It’ll suit us just fine.

Our other adventures included the Serenberry and Nottely River Valley Wineries for a little tasting. On back roads and gravel roads we traveled to find the Serenberry Winery where we purchased the opportunity to discover if we did or didn’t like their offerings. No more free tastings and no waiving of the tasting fees if you buy a few bottles. And if you don’t like any of their wines, tough! You still have to pay. All in all it about equals the price of a standard glass of wine. So no more whining.

On the way to our next stop, we passed several farms that had pretty sizable solar farms installed. When we got to Nottely winery, we asked the owner about them. He went on to explain how those were our solar panels, meaning that the US tax payers had purchased them from Solyndra. Farmers in this area were able to take advantage of some grant money to buy and install these panels but they could only be purchased from Solyndra. You probably recognize the name as the solar company that received a 535 million dollar loan from the Obama administration and went bankrupt without repaying it.

Nottely has a very nice setup and a great covered patio where you can sit and enjoy your wine. Which is exactly what we did. Jim surveys the booty from our wine encounter.

Many good meals and conversations were had during our visit. We wish we could have visited longer, but we had to head north and they had to head south.

Until next time…”Cheers!”

OK Checkup for Big Guy

Freightliner Chassis Service Center – Gaffney, SC – March 31 -April 2, 2014

Our time here at Freightliner is over and it has been interesting.

Frank’s brother and his wife (Terry and Joy) were traveling at the same time we were and altered their plans to meet up with us in Gaffney. Our lack of luck at finding open restaurants with them continues.

Then we met Lynn and Mickey who are also going to Alaska this summer and will also be meeting up with the Loosey Goosey Gang. Didn’t expect to meet anyone from that group this early in the 2014 Adventure.

And Big Guy’s checkup went well with no surprises other than self generated ones. After having spent mega bucks on a new set of tires in 2013, we decided that an alignment was in order. Turns out no adjustment was necessary as all settings were in spec.

But to get ready for Big Guy’s checkup was a challenge. Some of the work they do takes place under the bed. Guess what, that’s where all our paper good supplies are kept as well as extra chairs, packs, a/c filters, and you get the picture. That all had to be relocated.

Next the cats had to be relocated. So all the cat paraphernalia had to be moved too. Beds, water bowls, litter box, pads and more were stuffed into the Element. Oh yeah, and the girlz.

Mocha and Taz were good troopers and handled living in the car for one day very well. Taz spent most of the day on her special pillow and Mocha hid in her portable house.

The self generated problem I mentioned earlier is that I forgot to tell them to service the generator. Of course I didn’t discover this until after they were done and there was no way they could squeeze us in the next day. So I guess I’m going into the oil changing business.

This years adventure has started out with a few bumps, but that’s all part of the experience, the RV life. We’ve had an inverter fail and the rooftop satellite decided to quit working. It looks like these things are going to work out Ok as I got an email yesterday saying Xantrex was sending a replacement inverter under warranty and Winegard is sending a replacement electronic board for the rooftop dish also under warranty. Now if all of these will just end up where ever Big Guy happens to be located, life will be great!

First night on the road–Alaska 2014

Pooler, GA – March 30, 2014

Why is it, when you know your departure date 6 weeks in advance, you’re still scrambling to get everything done on the last day? Yep, that was us.

But we persevered and got everything done that needed to be done, just not everything we wanted to get done. We wonder if we’ll ever get better at this.

We got away at 5:10 PM, much later than we had hoped. But we have a deadline in Gaffney, SC on April 1st, so we must make tracks. We made it to Camp Walmart in Pooler, GA and there must be about 20 other RVs here.

We had settled in for the evening when another RV pulled in right beside us and started their generator. We figured they were just cooking supper and would turn it off eventually. But after an hour the generator was still droning on and on. It’s cool enough that AC is not required, so they were just drowning out the parking lot noise by adding their own noise to it.

EJ wanted me to go over and ask them if they were ever going to turn it off. But after a little discussion we decided to exercise one of the advantages to having a house on wheels. We moved to a more quiet (marginally) location. Having left our rude neighbors, we decided to pack it in for the evening.