I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel

Day Three - Knoxville TN to Nashville TN

The weather was BEE YOO TEE FUL in Knoxville today so after a hilly walk around the campground, we decided to visit the Knoxville Zoo.
















We've visited zoos all around the country in our previous travels and this one was one of the better ones. It was spotless, the animals looked well taken care of and the grounds were landscaped lovely.

















They had camel rides available on some VERY BIG CAMELS. Jim suggested that *I* climb aboard one of these beasts for a little trip around the corral, and it will make a' great picture for the blog'.

Now, you see, I have a mind that flashes news headlines when I'm faced with a routine, but 'what if ' situation. As I looked over to the camel paddock I could already read the crawl line on CNN...

*A 58 year old grandmother got the ride of her life today when the camel she was riding at the Knoxville Zoo got spooked and took off at a gallop. The distraught animal made it's way onto I40 which in adjacent to the zoo. All traffic on one of the nation's busiest interstates was halted by the police as they desperately tried to rescue the terrified woman, hanging on for dear life, with authorities in hot pursuit. They were last seen headed east, toward the mountains...*



I told him "No, I'll just feed these two , cute, little baby camels here."















We continued on to the terribly, ferocious lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!









Well, the grizzly was quite intimidating, and white tiger was breathtakingly beautiful.
But the lions?































Got back to the campground, had lunch and left for Nashville on a gorgeous, sunny day. We started out on I40 but after a fill-up ($120 yikes!) we dropped down on State Route 70 that runs parallel to the interstate, but is much more interesting and scenic. If I'd done my homework I'd have known that it is a designated scenic highway. All along the three to four hour drive (we forgot that we were given an extra hour when we entered Central Time!) were beautiful horse and cattle farms nestled in the green, rolling hills. The recent heavy rains have certainly helped the local drought and brought lush, spring growth in the area.




We are at a KOA campground very close to the Opryland. Today almost went trouble-free...until we pulled in for the night. We were having an electrical problem on the right side of the RV, the overhead lights won't work. Jim even got the owners manual out! He 'fixed' it by accident when he opened the under the bed storage area and moved some stuff around. Now how that fixed the problem is any one's guess. Then we couldn't get the cable to work...turns out it was plugged into the satellite dish plug. Jeff, I'm trying to keep him out of the tools! Like father, like son...



Then I couldn't figure out how on earth to get on this wifi...now THAT was upsetting!



We plan on being here two days. Don't have solid plans for tomorrow...but I'm sure we'll find pleanty here in Nashville!



*Highest gas price we paid was $3.69/gal waaaaaay in the mountains on Sunday. I understand. I can't imagine how difficult it is to get a tanker into those areas.

Thanks for the comments, Jeff and Lori, John and Pat, Jann, Steve...