Lab Cooking

Welcome summer at beautiful White Lake in NH! After 24 hours of rain and more rain, we had blue skies and sunshine to experiment with breakfast! We seem to have mastered crescent rolls over the fire. Now it is time to try bacon and eggs in a paper bag! The results are mixed at the moment.

Lake play and the great salsa challenge to come later.

Shenandoah National Park

Our last national park of the trip! We got on Sky Line Drive at the southern end and drove to Big Meadows campground which is at about the halfway point up the park. The view was so different from the Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday. Today we were at lower elevations and driving at tree line. The viewpoints flashed in and out between the trees. There were lots of wildflowers on the roadside including an unusual looking one called Black Cohash which had a tall white spiky flower.  We had dinner at the lodge--a nice change for us. The desserts were yummy-- blackberry ice cream pie and chocolate ganache.  Our excitement of the day were the bears we saw between the lodge and the campsite. First we saw a young bear foraging before dinner. Then after we saw a mama with her two cubs.  Thankfully all spectators kept their distance.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

Verdant forests, mountain streams, cool temperatures, and yes, smoky mountains. Quite a drastic change from a week ago!!  This photo from taken from Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smokies at 6,643 feet. This national park is different from others because the land was purchased by state legislatures and private individuals and then donated to the federal government since the government was not allowed to buy land for national park use. Much of the early work done in the park was by the CCC.

After leaving the Smokies, we had to do some fancy navigation to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The southern section has several tunnels that we would not clear. Not wanting to leave the top of our rv behind, we got on the parkway at Balsam Gap and drove to Asheville, NC. The parkway is a narrow two lane road that John managed like a pro!  Turn after turn we saw mountains around us and valleys where they converged. This drive was different from the Smokies where we went over the mountains. Most of the time on the parkway was spent traveling along the ridge so we were up high. We were surprised to see all the evergreens. It seemed as if we should be much further north with the number of them on the mountains.

Our day ended in Virginia at Stony Fork campground. Some of our best drives have been on the smaller roads where we can really see the countryside. We passed some lovely rolling hills in a rural area this evening.  We are back to the basics for camping tonight though (well minus the rv for sleeping and the red box movie).  We have seen lots of fireflies this trip and while cooking on the fire we were serenaded by a whiporwill.

A little aside.. we realized we passed into Tennessee at least five times in the past couple of times from various borders. We left it for the last time this evening--at least for this trip!

Waiting for Isaac

Did he get stuck in that slide?!

Today was supposed to be a short day driving. Ha. We had hoped to find another small town local restaurant for breakfast. With that aim, we set our course on Google maps and away we went...down residential streets with low wires and one lane country roads. Neither of which make for easy rv driving.  We did finally arrive at our destination only to find the restaurant closed. Of course, then we had to make our way back to the main roads. We pulled out the trusty atlas for that. 

Today really was just a driving day. We crossed Tennessee via Chattanooga so we could cross into Georgia. We were in Georgia for exactly....wait for it...four minutes before we crossed back into Tennesee.  That was a hoot. It will also add one more state to our count which will bring us to 25 states we will have traveled through by our journey's end.

We broke away from our usual campsites tonight and are staying at Anchor Down RV resort in Dandridge, TN.  Very fancy. It is on Lake Douglas with the Smoky Mountains in the back. They have lots of amenities such as the above pictured pool, a beach with swimming area including big floats to play on, a boat landing, the much desired laundry facilities,  a pet park, tennis courts, and a camp store.  They also rent golf carts so people are constantly zipping around.  Even the showers are amazing. There are individual  bathrooms and the showers are free.  Our site has a big fireplace on it which seem to be highly coveted. We made good use of it.  It was a  beautiful night. As we were sitting around the fire we first saw fireworks in the distance and then a storm with lightning flashing in the clouds and  illuminating them. The moon was practically full and it was big and yellow in the sky.  The moon and the storm made quite a sight. 

Meriweather Lewis Monument

Our last stop on the Trace was the grave site of Meriwether Lewis who died on October 11, 1809. He was on his way to Washington DC  and stopped for the night at Grinder's Stand, an inn along the Trace. Although by most accounts Lewis committed suicide, there are some suggestions that he was murdered. He was 35 at the time of his death. Pretty incedible he accomplished so much and had such a lasting impact on our history and nation.

John braved city traffic and parking in Nashville for birthday dinner. We counted guitar and after guitar slung on backs as we walked downtown. Music came from every doorway. Quite the sight and sound overload!

The Parkway

The parkway came into fruition through efforts of the Mississippi Daughters of the Revolution in the early 1900s. The Trace was being lost and overgrown in some areas. It became part of the National Park service in 1938. It is a beautiful, scenic two lane road bordered by woods or fields. John read that the agricultural fields bordering it have to grow traditional crops.

John Explores the Old Trace