10/14/2013 / Yellowstone to Atlanta

Subject: Atlanta bound

This is the eleventh Yellowstone to Atlanta email that was originally sent out as separate emails to family members to let them know where we were, what we were doing and give tidbits about our activities. I have copied the original emails and added some pictures for viewing. The trip started in August and ended in October.  This is the first of our extended stay trips in the Adventurer.

Here is our latest update from Chattanooga.  We have been here for some time now.  We are packing up and leaving in the morning (Tuesday) for Atlanta and the RV Rally.  The last time we reported to you we were expecting a rain event.  The deluge forecast did not happen here but went further west and north.  We got a small sprinkling and slightly cooler temps but not major weather.

Monday has turned into laundry day it seems.  Today and last Monday the laundry was done at a local Laundromat (not laundrymat as previously visited in Indiana) here in Tennessee.  We are barely in Tennessee as we are almost in Georgia and Alabama too.  Literally, we are almost in GA.  There is a parking lot between our campsites and the Camping World store that owns the campground.  Somewhere in the parking lot is the state line between GA and TN.  We camp in Tennessee but renew our campground stay in the store that is located in Georgia.

Tuesday brought an opportunity for a field trip.  We chose to visit a Dairy farm and take a scenic drive. The name of the Dairy farm is Mayfield Dairy Farms.  Note to Brenda and Sam: it is the equivalent of the Wilcoxson brand in Wyoming.  We found our way to the visitor center located in downtown Athens, TN.  We signed up for the tour and free scoop of ice cream after the tour but elected to wait for the next scheduled time approximately 30 minutes later.  Reason why, 100+ young school kids on their own field trip to the dairy and tour.  The loudness factor was a strong influence in our decision to wait 30 minutes.  This decision proved to be sound and rewarding as there were only about a dozen people on the tour and it was much more relaxed since no one had to keep up with head counts, etc.

We began our tour with a short video describing the history of the dairy operation and how it has grown into a large regional supplier today.  Then each participant was supplied with a lovely hairnet to wear throughout the tour.  Notice in the attached picture, the women had a lovely pink color while the men were issued red.  This reminds me I was not allowed a tour of the Moon Pie facility due to health reasons.  Here we are with hairnets while up close and personal to a milk and ice cream packaging facility.  Moon Pie factory take notice and heed my demand; let me tour the Moon Pie factory.  I have not received my invite yet so we will move on with the current narrative.  But as Kenzi used to say, “I can’t like this!”

It is good, but there is also Blue Bell and Wilcoxson's too!  Not sure which is 'best.'

Lovely pink for the ladies and a nice red color for the guys.

Let's not leave David out of this.  Doesn't he look good in his 'red' net?

As we move into the facility, we notice there are three different colored cartons being produced, yellow, white and clear.  The yellow carton is reserved for the Mayfield brand and is designed to keep the UV light from robbing the milk of some of its natural nutrients.  The white carton is for packaging other milk brands and the clear is used for chocolate, orange drink, etc.  This tour of the facility and operations was very interesting and the entire packaging area is completely disassembled, cleaned and sanitized at the end of each day.  

Towards the end of the tour we got to see the ice cream packaging area and told about the various flavors, which is the prelude to choosing our flavor to sample.  After finishing the sample, we went and ate lunch.  Reminds me of my Aunt Bettie taking me to eat when I was little.  She would let me have dessert first and food afterward which is and was a big 'No-No' for my mother.  She was strict about the food first then dessert policy as it would mess up our appetites.  Not true!  I ate as much for lunch as always even though I was already full of ice cream.

We then went for a nice drive along the Cherohala Skyway.  We would have enjoyed the drive a lot more if the trees had been fully colored in their annual fall colors.  They are just beginning to turn a little yellow green.  There were several places to stop and look out along the way and read a few placards.  The highway is a 50 mile National Scenic Byway between Tellico Plains, TN and Robbinsville, NC.  We turned around and headed back before crossing into NC.  

We could see a long way this day.

It was a beautiful drive.

But we were a tad early for the fall colors.

As we drove we noticed a lake and campground up high in the mountains and decided to explore on our way back.  As you know, the government shutdown has most facilities currently closed.  We were driving towards the lake off the main road when I spotted a Park Ranger truck in my rear view mirror tailing us as we drove deeper into the area.  Now you need to know there were no closed signs, guard shacks, roadblocks or any other method we saw to keep us out of the area or off the park road.  We came to a T in the road after several miles and I was certainly relieved there was not going to be a confrontation when we turned left and he turned right.  The lake was very nice looking, although totally deserted and we did see signs saying the campground was closed with a barrier to the entrance of the campground.

We returned to our own campground to rest and reflect on all that was seen.  We also took the opportunity to discuss what we would try and see next.  Since I cannot visit the Civil War Battlefields around here, I am relegated to non-military type locations.  Somehow the discussion came around to the electric scooter I bought for Beverly.  You will recall the battery would not take a charge but the charger appears to work correctly.  We decided it was a fine time to seek out an Interstate Battery store and see if we can get this scooter running.  

We found one in close proximity and a very nice fellow to help us.  After getting the correct battery, we go back to the campground where David attaches the correct clips to the wires to hook up the battery to the scooter.  (David has everything to fix just about anything with him. Which is a good thing too because I only have a screwdriver and a pair of pliers.)  Lo and behold, we put the battery in and it works.  You see, I know it works because the last thing I remember, before running my head into the extended awning arm and knocking myself out, was turning the throttle to make the scooter go.  The tires need some air and the battery needs a full charge so we have to wait until tomorrow for a full test of the scooter’s operational abilities.

The next day, Wednesday, we take a ride over to Rock City.  Now I visited here once when I was a boy (8 years old) but did not remember much about the trip other than my rotund father had a hard time navigating something called ‘Fat Man Squeeze.’  When I walked up to the ticket booth, I told the lady I did not know what I was buying a ticket for and what it would do for me, could she help me out.  She said yes and proceeded to explain that Rock City is a walking tour through trails over, under and through rocks.  

At this juncture in her description she paused and took a long look at the four of us and finally exclaimed that part of the tour goes through ‘Fat Man Squeeze’ but that it looked as if all of us should be okay to ‘make it’ through that part of the trail.  I expressed my appreciation to her for the 'explanation and observation’ then purchased my tickets to enter Rock City.  

There is a lot to the trails and it is all pretty and pretty amazing.  There is a Lover’s Leap (where you actually are looking at seven states from this vantage point, although you cannot see the dotted red state lines), a swinging suspension walking bridge, a couple of caves, deer viewing area, the Fat Man Squeeze and yes, the inevitable gift shop at the end of the trail.  The folks that owned the land and lived on it back at the turn of the century, laid out the trails and built the gardens along the trails for themselves but decided to share the spectacular views with the public.  As part of the advertising, the owners hired a painter to paint barns in exchange for putting “See Rock City” on the roofs.  After finishing the trails, we were famished and stopped at a pizza buffet before heading back to the campground.

Larry and David at beginning of rock trails

Sophie and Larry at the Needles Eye passage

This is advertising example on barns - Minus me of course

Somebody is trying to knock me off the swingin' bridge

and yes, it is a long way down from the bridge!

Fat Man Squeeze, that's me but we all made it through

Sophie in pink on lower observation level and those are people at upper level.

David and Sophie at top of the trail.

Larry and Beverly at end of trail in the gift shop

Once we got back to the campground, it was time to finish prepping the scooter.  After airing the tires and making sure the battery had completely charged, we called for Beverly to take it on its maiden voyage.  A fun time was had by all (as you can see from the pictures) because the scooter works and is a success.  We have all discovered the seat is much too small and a larger seat is a needed improvement.  Just saying!  Not that we would have any trouble making it through ‘Fat Man Squeeze’ or anything.  The battery needs to be fully discharged three times and fully recharged each time as a ‘break-in’ of the battery.  As of this writing, I am having trouble getting anyone to ride the scooter long enough to fully discharge the battery for the second time.  What is wrong with these wimps?  There is a weight limit for the scooter, otherwise I would just ride it myself to discharge the battery.

You think Beverly is having fun?

I know Sophie is too.

And it is David's turn.

Sophie says, 'Oh my that tire is flat!'  Thanks a lot!

Now this scooter, since it is a big huge hit, is beginning to present me with some challenges.  Beverly has taken such a liking to it, the larger seat notwithstanding, she is really getting into this ‘biker’ thing.  She is already talking about her wardrobe and needing to acquire some ‘leathers’ to wear while riding. 

Sometimes you just do not know what kind of monsters you are creating.  She has even taking to handing out warnings and citations to those violating certain traffic rules in the campground and adjacent parking lot.  The next thing I know, she will be wanting a bullet, a pistol and holster with a badge of some sort to wear during her rounds as she makes ‘citizen’s arrests’ ala Barney Fyffe of Mayberry.  Where will it all end?

Thursday was a rest day and was fully utilized by all.  Never has a nap felt so good.  Friday was a ‘girls’ day out’ and a ‘guys’ day out’.  Sophie and Beverly chose a huge shopping complex/mall to spend their time at looking and cataloguing possible future purchases.  David and I decided to make a trip to the movies for a little entertainment.  We used the iPhone app, "Around Me," to locate a movie complex.  But to our dismay, when we got there we could not locate it.  

Now David and I actually have pretty fair navigational abilities but were completely stumped this time.  We looked at the app and it said we were 17 yards away from the movie theater but we were sitting in the parking lot of a Regions Bank.  Looking around, we could not find any sign of the attempted destination.  We decided to punt and look for another complex not really knowing what just happened to us.  We arrived at the second choice and managed to make a 3-D showing of ‘Gravity’.  We along with 2 other people, for a total of 4 viewers enjoyed the movie, popcorn and coke.

When we got back to the campground, I was so full I did not want to eat supper.  So I opted for some Mayfield ‘Extreme Moose Tracks’ ice cream instead.  Extreme Moose Tracks is chocolate ice cream with fudge strips and chocolate filled chocolate candy spread throughout.  A true chocolate lovers’ delight.

The next morning, we departed for the Apple Festival in Ellijay, Georgia.  This area in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee is known as the Appalachian foothills and there is a lot of agriculture in the area.  In particular, apples are grown in the area.  After last week’s fall festival, we expected much of the same for this festival although we should have known that a festival that is scheduled for two weekends in a row would be somewhat different.  

We arrived in Ellijay not really knowing much about the area or where the festival is held.  We found ourselves downtown and saw some activities there when we parked in the First Baptist Church parking lot adjacent to the downtown square.  After roaming through the vendors booths we thought this festival was much smaller than last weekend’s festival, but we were wrong. 

The festival is held in two different locations, downtown which is the original/traditional area and then at the fairgrounds.  There are buses that move people between the two locations to cut down on the traffic since parking and clogged roads are issues up in the mountains.  So we hopped a bus downtown to ride out to the fairgrounds and were totally surprised at the size of the affair.  This is a Lion’s Club sponsored event and they should be raising a ton of money for their charitable activities.  

There had to be four or five hundred craft and food vendors, two dozen kiddie type rides, over 300 cars and trucks at the ‘car show’ and the town’s population must have swelled to ten times its size.  We ate lunch at the fairgrounds and I had a ‘Fried Green Tomato’ sandwich.  Oh boy, it was good!  It was on Texas Toast, with ranch dressing, a slice of cheese, bacon and finally fried green tomatoes.  Sounds like a BLT without the L but tastes nothing like it.  This is something I think would be a big hit in East Texas festivals.  It is a shame we will miss the parade, it is held next weekend, since we will be in Atlanta at the RV rally.  I suspect it is something to see if this weekend is any indication.

Apples, apples and more apples - look at all the people

Beverly and Sophie - doin' their thing at the Ellijay festival

We are taking Sunday and today to rest for the upcoming week that will be loaded with tons of stuff to do and see.  Not to mention entertainment on Friday night (Beach Boys) and again Saturday night (Vince Gill); which will definitely wear us out by Monday week.  So a week from today, we will head back towards Texas.  They say all good things must come to an end and so our journey will too.  This will be the last update until you see us sometime later in the week of the 20^th.  We have had a good time, seen lots of the country, shared some time with fellow travelers, visited with friends in places we have never been before and managed to enjoy each other as we did so.  Since this has been so enjoyable, we are already making plans for a future trip, so stay tuned and we will see you soon.

10/6/2013 / Yellowstone to Atlanta

Subject: Chattanooga times

This is the tenth Yellowstone to Atlanta email that was originally sent out as separate emails to family members to let them know where we were, what we were doing and give tidbits about our activities. I have copied the original emails and added some pictures for viewing. The trip started in August and ended in October.  This is the first of our extended stay trips in the Adventurer.

Hello from Chattanooga.  When we last talked we had stopped at a Camping World RV park and David was getting his RV repaired.  Well he has the rig repaired and ready for road testing.

Sophie waiting on repaired rig to show back up plus a new Winnebago Adventurer

Originally we had planned on moving down the road about halfway between Chattanooga and Atlanta to a Corps of Engineer Park.  Well the government shutdown has interrupted those plans for a time.  We are still at the CW park and decided to stay here until time to move into Atlanta for the Rally.  The park is pleasant and convenient to lots of stuff to see and do while waiting.  We are about two hours away from Atlanta and since our scheduled arrival is in the afternoon after lunch, we can easily drive from here to Atlanta the same day as check in.

The CW park is adjacent to a speedway.  Friday nights are car racing on an oval dirt track and Saturday nights there is motocross for motorcycles plus there is an occasional drag strip race scheduled.  This past Friday we could sing along with the national anthem and there were fireworks at the track after the last race.  Of course we cannot see the racing because of the trees.  I guess we could go around to the gate and buy an entrance ticket if we were not so tight and lazy about it.

But there are other things to do here.  We went to downtown the other day to grab a bite to eat, walk on the walking bridge across the Tennessee River and visit the Moon Pie General Store.  It would have been nice to get to visit the factory and see how and where the famous pies are made.  Supposedly health laws prohibit tours at a factory that makes foodstuffs.  I guess I can see that would be a problem with all the drool splashing on the factory floors from the tour visitors’ mouths.  Excuse me a minute, be right back.  ……  Had to stop and eat a moon pie.  Got hungry talking about it.

Dreamy place

Walking bridge across Tennessee River in Chattanooga

View from walking bridge upriver

Oh yeah, what else is there to do.  Well I for one am ticked about the next thing.  A free bluegrass festival.  Yes, Free!  Do you know when I found out about it?  Well Beverly ‘happened’ to remember to tell me about two hours before the last act of the last day was set to take the stage.  Number one, I am all about free.  And number two, who doesn’t love acoustic bluegrass music?  So here I sit still ‘stewing’ about this revelation into my wife’s care for me.  Now I am having serious questions about whether or not she will actually have a bluegrass band playing at my funeral as requested.  I have not discovered whether Sophie had prior knowledge of this travesty of justice or not but I have my ways of discovering the truth, even when hidden from me.  I am sure David was in the dark as well.  If this story develops into a full-blown conspiracy, I am sure there will be further reporting.  Until then, I am on the case.

Instead of the Bluegrass Festival, we went to an annual Fall Festival in Etowah.  Now I am not saying this is all bad but when you make the comparison between a Bluegrass event and a Fall Festival, there is really no comparison whatsoever.  Bluegrass wins every time ‘hands down.’  

At the Fall Festival there were many vendors and crafters with booths.  Very similar to Alley Fest in Longview but decidedly more Tennessee with the garish Orange and White splashes everywhere.  David and I made the rounds in about a fifth of the time it took the girls to peruse the wares offered by the vendors.  Thankfully there was nothing ‘needed’ to be purchased outside of a homemade fried apple pie for each of us made from fresh apples.  It is apple harvest time in northwest Georgia and east Tennessee.

Now when we drove to the festival about 45 miles away, we noticed as we got closer and closer a number of yard and garage sales on the side of the road.  Evidently, like Thorntown’s festival, this event is well known and an opportunity for bringing the surplus items into the yard for sale to the general public that is out and about moving around.  David and I had spotted what appeared to be the ‘Mecca’ of all garage/yard sale venues anywhere on the way to the festival.  As we left the festival, we decided to visit the Mecca and not take the different route originally planned on back to the RV campground.  When we arrived at the Mecca it was apparent this was different than the normal sale as people were parked all over the place on a four-lane divided highway.  Traffic in both directions was almost at a standstill while navigating through this short stretch.

The Mecca turned out to be a RV campground on normal days but transformed this weekend into a gigantic flea market/garage sale complex.  David and I set out on a mission to find the perfect treasure.  But alas, this particular venue was full of interesting things to look at but nothing that proved useful or required in our daily lives.  As Beverly observed the campground appeared to be full of vendors that are ‘professional’ flea marketers that make the flea market circuit.  The only purchase made was fresh tomatoes that Beverly bought from a woman selling produce.  The tomatoes she was told are from a Mennonite farm and we believe the woman because there are highway warning signs in the area that show a buggy pulled by a horse like the Amish use.  Anyway, these are the best tomatoes I have eaten since we have been on this trip.  You can tell they are homegrown and fresh.  Those tomatoes took a little of the sting out of the missed Bluegrass Event but did not erase totally the memory and shock of the deceptive practices employed to keep me away from the music.

We also spotted ‘Car Show’ signs while leaving the Mecca.  Since the last car show in Thorntown was rained out, we decided to swing by and look over the cars.  Sure enough after a few twists and turns we located the local Lions Club Car Show and yes there they were there doing their thing, the normal buffing, polishing and rubbing routine displayed by the proud car owners.  We saw many nice examples of restoration and a few that simply were old and there without much work to speak of done on the vehicle thus far.  I was surprised to see a ‘Gremlin’ in amongst the group of cars as I did not think this car a particularly collectible or sought after piece of memorabilia.  This just proves the old adage that one man’s junk is another’s treasure.  Having satiated our need for looking at things while getting hot, we left for the coolness of the air conditioned car and drive back to our campground.

Beverly remained in the Terrain outside the fence while the rest of us looked around.

Small show but plenty of nice cars to look at while there.

Once back at the campground, we enjoyed a restful afternoon in the shade and enjoying the outdoors since it is supposed to rain on Sunday and possibly Monday.  It is hard to explain to you how peaceful and relaxing this lifestyle is and why we enjoy it so much.  There are no deadlines or commitments to weigh on your mind which allows you to freely enjoy your surroundings and the daily activities to the utmost.

Until the next time, take care.

10/1/2013 / Yellowstone to Atlanta

Subject: From the East this time

This is the ninth Yellowstone to Atlanta email that was originally sent out as separate emails to family members to let them know where we were, what we were doing and give tidbits about our activities. I have copied the original emails and added some pictures for viewing. The trip started in August and ended in October.  This is the first of our extended stay trips in the Adventurer.

Hello again, this time from the East.  When we last visited we had just arrived (although rather circuitously) in the RV campground at Thorntown just outside of Indianapolis.  Indeed, the 5 miles to I-65 proved to be right but it required multiple turns to locate the on ramp.  Upon arrival in the new campground we observed what we thought was a series of curious sightseers.  A parade of sorts, riding on golf carts, started passing by to look us over (or so we thought at the time) as new arrivals.  After deciding to stay awhile in this campground, to do laundry, go to the weekend Turning Leaves Festival in Thorntown and other assorted reasons too numerous to mention, we found out there is a sub-culture of these golf cart riders in the campground.

About the second day it began to dawn on us that there is a routine to the campground golf cart sub-culture.  Typically most golf cart riders take their constitutional (riding not walking) in the late afternoon to early evening.  Exercise is important and cannot be overlooked, even if it is done by riding on four wheels!  Most of you know what a Pac-Man game screen looks like and can relate to the following discussion.  For those of you not familiar, please picture a series of parallel roads that are connected at the two ends of the roads by 2 roads at right angles to the parallel roads.  This is a typical layout in a RV campground.  

Now, instead of looking down from above, you are sitting on one of the parallel roads looking across the parallel roads to your front and back.  The golf cart processional was not like a parade but more like a Pac-Man game with the little ghosts moving up and down these parallel roads in not any particular order, direction or consistency. Similar to the little ghosts in Pac-Man and very entertaining for us Texas couples that have never seen this many carts in one place prior to this.  

We estimated over 100 carts of varying age, colors and design participating in this ritual.  David inquired from one of the locals ‘what is up with the golf carts?’  The response, we use them for everything.  Later we found out the townspeople in Thorntown use them on the streets and highways too.  It is legal to run them on the highway as long as they have lights and are registered.

Now we also noticed an obvious pecking order to this routine as well.  Part of the pecking order was based upon how long you were a resident in the campground, the decorated aspect of your cart, whether you were a home boy or a transplant and certainly the one that affected us; overnighters were prohibited from using carts.  The campground rules, as promulgated by the ownership, stated it this way IN BOLD AND ALL CAPS – ‘SEASONAL CAMPERS ONLY!’  

There was one decorated as an army jeep with an obviously ex-military owner driving the rig.  We surmised he was in charge of security and protocol.  We nicknamed him Sarge.  There were several decorated as ‘hot rods’ from the 50’s and some ‘plain janes’, some with mag type wheels, some electric, some gasoline motors.  Most were four-seaters but there was the occasional ‘real’ two-seater golf cart you would see on the golf course.  Later in the week, the campground filled up due to the Turning of the Leaves Festival held in Thorntown on Saturday and Sunday.  This really increased the number of drive-bys by the locals.

It was pretty interesting that some people would drive by and make an effort not to look at you.  Almost snobbishly acting.  One of the more friendly locals who owned a Winnebago stopped by (yes, he was using his golf cart) for a quick ‘hidee’ and visit to welcome us and discuss Winnebagos.  He allowed the snobbishly acting folks were probably from ‘snob hill’, which is a section of the campground for seasonal residents that simply do not like to mingle with overnight riff-raff such as us.  

By the time we stayed Tuesday through Saturday, we were almost like one of the regulars and some of them actually acknowledged us and spoke to us.  It also helps to smile real big and wave heartily, similar to the restaurant scene previously described in Knoxville, IL.  Of course, to really look cool and be part of the ‘in crowd’, you must drive with your left leg dangling outside the cart and the passenger (usually the wife) keeps her foot propped up on the dashboard.  You can get a sense of what we saw by looking at the attached pictures.

Sophie and Beverly discussing the processional of carts

One of my favorites

Almost a traffic jam at the end of this street

She definitely knows the appropriate way to cruise

They are everywhere, everywhere

We used one of our days to go into Indianapolis for a visit to the Motor Speedway and Museum.  We learned a lot of interesting facts about the ‘Brickyard’ including such things as ownership over the years, records established during races, innovations that were tested during races and certain traditions created and followed today.  We saw a lot of actual cars that raced and won at the speedway.  We also got to take a lap on the speedway.  No, not in a race car but in a tour bus.  Are you crazy?  Those cars travel at 200 MPH plus around that thing.  We would have been lapped about 15 times by a race car by the time the tour bus made a single lap.  Still we can now say we have driven on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hall of Fame and Museum sits in middle of track

Inspecting the Trophy

Down the straightaway looking towards pit row and scoring tower

There it is, the Start/Finish line with original bricks

One afternoon we noticed a scene play out close to us.  A fellow (obviously one of the seasonal folks since they all had decks, storage sheds and golf carts, which he had too) was mowing the area around his RV.  After he finished, this other fellow walks up to him and says, ‘hey you did such a dang good job cutting that yard, I believe I will get you to cut my hair for me.’  They proceeded to get the apron and hair cutting tools out and went to work.  Sophie says to me, 'Larry, I think I found you a barber.'  Of course I did not think he did that good of a job on the yard so I opted for something else.  It did remind me I was getting a little scruffy and needed to get a trim.  I tried to get Beverly to buy some tools and give it a whirl but she politely refused.  So I was forced to locate a shop in nearby Lebanon, IN that took walk-ins.  By the time the proprietor finished, we knew each other’s history and families.  But I was trimmed and feeling good, not to mention looked good too.  Hope my lady barber in Longview thinks so too.

Friday, David and I went garage sale browsing.  Part of the annual tradition of the Turning of the Leaves festival involves garage and yard sales all over Thorntown.  What is not sold is stored and brought back out the following year.  We did not need a GPS or newspaper with notices.  The town is not very large (around 6 by 10 city blocks) and every street had at least one garage sale.  Most of the time there were 2, 3 and even 4 to a street.  Sam, you would have had a field day with all the sports stuff available.  As it was, we found a few things and had many good conversations.  Some were a little longer than we wanted but necessary to maintain good relationships with the locals.  David located a pop rivet tool for a dollar and we had to schmooz a wheelchair bound widow lady with lots of stories to get some free pop rivets.  This was to repair a couple of tire valve extender hold downs that had come loose from the original pop rivets on my rear wheel covers.  I also located Beverly an electric Schwinn scooter for $15 that looks brand new.  After replacing the rechargeable batteries, she can cruise the campgrounds in style.  

Waiting for the battery to recharge, it never did so time to buy new battery

Saturday morning brought the ‘official’ opening of the Turning of the Leaves festival.  We drove downtown and located a parking spot not too far from Main Street at one end of town and proceeded to the ‘doins’.  David and I spotted a couple of garage sales to look over since they were not open on Friday while Beverly and Sophie headed straight for the vendors booths setup on both sides of Main Street.  We caught up with the girls after they had made approximately 75% of the vendor booths.  There were rides including a zip line, train rides with a tractor as the engine, etc.  There was also a stage with live acts such as a magician, singing groups and local talent.  And the requisite food court with every kind of imaginable fried food product you could possibly want to ingest.  So we finished the vendor tour, made it to a silent auction and came back to have a bite to eat prior to the big parade.  And ‘BIG’ it was too!  We found a cool (read, in the shade) spot that was elevated on Main Street to view the parade which started at the other end of Main Street and finished at the elementary school. 

Before the real parade started we were able to view a few interesting things like golf carts (yes as I stated earlier they are in town too) that have lined up to take their place on the parade route and view the parade as well.  Plus, just like at home, there are some strange creatures that come out of the woods for these free soirees and Thorntown is no exception.  Not too much later the parade begins as our anticipation and excitement builds to the boiling point.  But alas, it seems that someone forgot to tell them about certain key elements to a parade such as marching bands, decorated floats and such.  There were 30 or so parade marshals and festival queens that came by in all manner of transportation before we ever get to see some of the main features in the parade.  Then the political opponents and their supporters came by tossing candies to the youngsters positioned along the route.  No, this was not unusual for all the youngsters had magically appeared carrying sacks, bags and other implements to hold the candies that are tossed by nearly every parade participant.  Nobody bothered to tell me that I needed a bag for the candy.  It is hard to fight for a piece of candy and not drop what you have already accumulated when some fast little urchin is reaching at the same time to procure the sweet goody right in front of you.

Anyway, there is a major political contest for the good folks in Thorntown to decide.  That is, the sheriff’s race.  Do they continue with the incumbent or elect a new sheriff which is currently a deputy for the existing sheriff.  Yes folks, it will be bad for Nielsen, the challenger, if he does not win.  I got the distinct impression the folks in these two opposing camps are not talking to each other.  But there were some familiar elements to the parade.  There was a cheerleading, twirling group of little girls dressed in their pink sparkly outfits marching just like in every other parade I have ever viewed.  One item in this parade I had not seen much before involved a tractor (John Deere, I believe) pulling three (yes three in a row) stagecoaches with a guy on each dressed in western garb firing off blanks from their shotguns.  Very loud and very obnoxious.  We are not sure what that was all about as there were no identifying placards, political implications or businesses that seemed to be associated with the display of tractor, stagecoach, cowboy shooting gun entry.

One of the coolest things in the parade was a series of very old antique tractors that made their way down Main Street just a popping and whirring.  Well most were going under their own power.  There were a couple of them that needed a little help from their friends and were actually pulled by another tractor.  There was even a large semi from Frito-Lay rolling through.  At first, we thought he was lost and had crashed the festivities but soon realized there were volunteers tossing out free bags of Doritos and such along the route.  We are not sure but we think the purpose of that was to convince others to apply for a job with Frito-Lay because the internet address on the side of the truck had the word ‘employment’ in it.  The grand finale of the parade came when every emergency vehicle (fire trucks and ambulances) in the area came by with kids inside blowing the horns and manning the sirens.  Finally it was over (after a solid hour) and we could make our way back to the safety of the campground.  My favorite part of the parade was a wagon pulled by a pickup that contained an old calliope that was played by a woman obviously having a lot of fun.  She was very good and played a mean calliope like it was meant to be played.  I think the local bank (the only bank) might have sponsored it.  Made me want to go open an account immediately with them.

Back at the campground we witnessed the evening constitutional as we prepared to leave the next day.  Made our hearts heavy for these folks as this is likely the last time for all of them to be together.  There was a big bingo game in one of the buildings and something else going on in the other.  There were tractor and wagon rides that went through the entire campground that evening.  You see, the water and electricity is turned off on October 15^th until the beginning of the season next spring.  So this is likely the last big hurrah for the year.

We left the next day and made our way to Louisville, KY.  Actually we stayed in a small city in Indiana just north of the Ohio River for the night.  The next morning before making our way further south, we went to downtown Louisville to visit the Louisville Slugger museum and factory tour.  We thought it rather appropriate on the day after the last day of the regular baseball season we find ourselves in this factory.  We learned all about the history of the company, how they get endorsements from players, how the bats are made and watched them making a bunch of bats.  The tour guide held up a number of bats from various players to show how they are stamped, stenciled, etc. because of the paint or lack of paint.  One was a bat for Chris Davis, our Longview boy, playing for the Baltimore Orioles.  They had it painted black with orange lettering (Orioles colors) trying to entice him to sign an endorsement deal with them.  Then we made the obligatory stop in the museum store before going back to the RV Park and heading out again.

Now that is a bat!

The Babe, the Sultan of Swat

We are working our way towards Atlanta and during our drive from Louisville, KY to Chattanooga, TN we saw at least four different changes in the terrain.  We truly are blessed to live in this land and yet so much of us take it for granted.  Speaking of blessings, you might recall David was having overheating issues with his engine.  Well it started again in the mountains of Tennessee.  We pulled over in a rest area to discuss where to stop and he said it was ‘just in time’ because he was on the edge.  We decided to stop at a Camping World RV Park in Chattanooga.  While there he wanted to get a recommendation from CW about a local mechanic to look at the engine for him.  Well they have a service department at CW that can diagnose and repair the rig.  So we are here for a few days while the parts are ordered, shipped and installed to correct the issues.

We have seen lots of country so far on this trip and will see some more soon as we work our way towards Atlanta.  We will send you another update in a few.  Until then we will leave you with the following thought:  Where is my golf cart?