Making the Best of It

Things weren't quite as dire as that blog title might suggest.

We were 42 miles into a 46-mile drive to the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, driving the two-lane roads of rural Kentucky southwest of Lexington, when we came to two highway workers. They gave us this map, showing how we could drive around a rock slide near the Kentucky River that had closed the road we were on.



Since we weren't sure our GPS would be able to follow the detour, we headed back to our RV park.  John was disappointed in what had happened, so he decided to find some more tourist stops.   The first thing we found on the GPS was the Wilmore Rail-side Museum.



What we found was an old caboose. It wasn't in very good repair, and it was closed, to boot.



They did have deluxe restroom facilities, courtesy of Bluegrass Portables.



And if you want to check out this museum (when it is open) the Potters Inn is nearby.



And the park has a nice gazebo.



But we didn't give up on the day, yet. As we traveled, we found McConnell Springs in Lexington. In 1775, William Mcconnell, his kinsmen and companions from the upper Monogahela River region, had a crude cabin near a large spring in this area. They intended to obtain land grants and create a new town. As they were deciding on a name for the town, they received news of a battle that had taken place two months earlier in a small Massachusetts town where the Colonial militia stood up to the British regulars, launching the American Revolutionary War. They took the name of the town where that battle took place for their new settlement, calling it Lexington.

We hiked through the park.



This is Blue Hole, probably the spring McConnel settled near.



This a reconstruction of the kind of a half-face cabin first built by the early settlers in this area.



This is another spring, called a boil. It is an artesian spring that can produce a column of water of up to 24 inches high after a hard rain.



There are numerous dry stone walls like this in the park and throughout Kentucky. They were most likely built by itinerant Scottish and Irish stone masons beginning about 1830-33.



I also found a photo assay by Annette Gendler with more photos of these fences. She took many of the photos in the Shaker Village we tried to visit this morning.

This magnificent Bur Oak is likely 250 to 300 years old and could have been standing when McConnel established the town of Lexington.



We were able to take a mile plus walk through this shady park before returning to our RV park. We made the best of the time, though we weren't able to reach our original goal.

Thursday we saw this classic car



pulling this small trailer into the campground at Levi Jackson State Park in London, Kentucky.



A couple of hours later, we saw this car



pulling this trailer.



We couldn't ignore what we saw. So we walked the campground until we found them. We learned that the cars are restored antiques, but the trailers are new, built by their owners.

There was another trailer that didn't have an antique car in evidence as a tow vehicle.



We were told there would be more of the same today. Unfortunately, we left the campground before 9 this morning, so we didn't see them. One of the women gave us a small wooden coin-shaped object with the outline of a tear-drop trailer on one side and the words "lil tin purse" on the other. I would guess tear-drop trailers, at least those made of metal, are called lil tin purses. Googling the term, I found a web site that sells items with the teardrop logo and a Facebook page for Lil Tin Purse.

A Couple of Hikes

When we began planning for our trip east this summer, I looked over posts by blogger friends Danny and Shula, who had explored Tennessee and Kentucky in 2011. They often hiked to waterfalls and I was determined to do the same. We haven't done a good job of planning our days around that kind of hikes. But Tuesday, our last day in Sevierville, we checked out Laurel Falls in Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

The short trail is paved, though the asphalt is rough and broken.



It passes through dense forest.



We were too late in Spring to see many blooming laurel, but we did spot a few. At least, I guess these are laurel. This type of plant was all over the hillsides and it had the only flowers we saw.



A bridge crosses the creek between the upper falls



and the lower falls.



This small pond is next to the bridge, before the stream falls to the lower level.



This beuatiful butterfly hovered around us as we walked one section of the trail.



When we arrived at the trail head, there were several cars already there. As we hiked up to the falls, a number of people were coming down. But when we reached the stream, there were only a few people there. I think we timed our arrival just right. As we hiked back down to our car, there was a steady stream of people going up. And when we reached the parking area, all spaces were full and cars were parked on both sides of the road and in the middle. If we ever come back to the Smokey Mountains, it won't be in summer.

We are now in Kentucky and the Boone Trace and Wilderness Road pass through Levi Jackson State Park, we where are staying for two nights.



You remember "Daniel Boone...King of the Wild Frontier" don't you? Or are are you too young to remember that song from the 1950s? He led a party into Kentucky in 1775, establishing a way from the eastern settlements through the Cumberland Gap into what is now Kentucky. A small section of that trace or road is here in the park and we hiked there today.

We again were in a beautiful, dense forest.





McHargue's Mill is next to where the trace crosses the state highway that passes through the park.



The small mill is open at times, but not when we were there.



We even got to see another small waterfall at the mill.



And what is called a Library of Mountain Millstones, which contains the largest known collection of old mill stones, is located in front of the mill.





We spotted this turtle along the trail.

On Balance, a Good Decision

Looking back, we made a good decision to come to the DRV rally. We have been looking for the opportunity to have our RV weighed wheel by wheel, so we would know not only if it was an appropriate weight for our truck but also if it was balanced side to side.

Sunday, Howard and Lynda from RVSEF weighed our truck and trailer together. Friday, the truck had been weighed separately. They have scales that are placed under each wheel set. That way, we learn the weight each side of each axle is carrying.





We were delighted to learn we were quite light. In fact, they said we were the lightest Mobile Suites they had weighed. Of course, we also own the shortest model they make. Our trailer is rated at a maximum of 19,000 pounds. Ours came in at 16,700. The truck has a gross combined weight of truck and trailer of 30,500 pounds. Our GCWR is 25,350 pounds. We work very hard at carrying as little weight as we can and we were very glad to see how successful we have been.

At the Friday evening final dinner for the rally, there were numerous door prizes awarded. In fact, everyone there won something. We were among the last people to receive a gift. Others had received a 60 inch TV, chairs, a table lamp and other items we didn't need or want. But we are delighted with our prize--a $100 gift certificate to Home Depot!

After being weighed Sunday, we moved to a different site in the same RV park. Our new neighbors have a 2012 Montana, the make of our two earlier RVs. We talked to them a while and they asked if they could see our Mobile Suites. They were considering replacing their current RV. Since they liked ours, we recommended they check out RVs for Less in nearby Knowville, one of the rally sponsors. They did and they ordered a new DRV suites trailer and told the dealer we had referred them. DRV has a new rewards program for such referrals and we will receive a $200 check because of that purchase!

We also were able to buy discounted Coach Net roadside assistance and tire and wheel insurance through RVs for Less. All in all, coming to the rally was a good deal financially and we found we are not carrying too much weight in our trailer.

Tennessee

Tennessee is a beautiful state and the farther east we go, the better it gets. Saturday we wanted to check out Gatlinburg's Arts and Crafts Community and pick up some information from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitor center. We missed a couple of turns while driving to the Arts and Crafts Community, so we had extra time to check out the lush green mountains and hollows of this part of the state.

The roads were curvy and narrow. We were glad we weren't pulling our RV. All these photos were taken through the windshield of the truck, so there were some reflection issues. There are trees everywhere.







In places, we also saw orange day lillies.



The Arts and Crafts Community consists of 118 artisans working from their shops close to or in their homes in an area called the Glades. There is an 8-mile loop road through an area bounded by Glades Road, Buckhorn Road and State Highway 321. At one stop, we saw this creative  waterfall.



This old wagon was in front of one shop.



We also saw this covered bridge.



Next, we drove through Gatlinburg toward the national park. On a Saturday afternoon, that was a big mistake.







If you can find a parking place in Gatlinburg, this trolley would be a good way to move through the city streets.



After finally getting into the park and stopping at the visitor center, we found a road that bypasses downtown Gatlinburg and were able to get back to Pigeon Forge fairly quickly. The traffic there was heavy, but not as bad as in Gatlinburg. Pigeon forge is one long amusement park. It must be heaven to young children.












We hope to return to the park and hike tomorrow. Hopefully, the traffic will be a little lighter on a Tuesday.