On the Redneck Riviera

Day 6 - Meridian Ms to Biloxi Ms



We left the place with the funny name, Toomsuba, and took a state road that parallels Interstate 59 south toward Hattiesburg. We're learning that some state roads are NOT scenic. Ugh, rural and trashy, with teeny towns that we wonder why anyone wanted to live there. I'm sure the people in these little towns can't imagine living where we live. Different strokes...



It was very humid and the wind was blowing hard into the storm system forming over the Mississippi Valley states. Glad we left there yesterday or we may have encountered some nasty weather today. We stopped for a quick lunch at *Chez WalMart Parking Lot*







We are at a lovely, upscale RV resort tonight in Biloxi. We got here about 3:00pm and try as I might just couldn't get on line. They said they were having problems with it. So when we went out for dinner (YES, we ate OUT!) I took the laptop to look for a signal. I finally found one on the way home near a residential neighborhood. Jim said there was NO WAY we were going to sit outside someone's house in the dark, it looked suspicious.



He said, "If I was a cop, I'd pull me over."



Huh?



When we got back to the RV I tried the wifi here again and it worked. And that, my friends, is how much I went through to upload this tonight!

Tomorrow we are staying here in Biloxi, weather may be severe too and it's nice to avoid being on the highway when that happens. Also later in the day we are going to visit one of the casinos to throw money away....er, I mean try our luck at the slots and maybe take in one of the shows.

The King Has Left This Building

April 9, 2008

Day 5 - Nashville TN to Meridian MS

We had NO mechanical problems yesterday. Do you think it was because we were parked all day?

This morning we woke up to ominous, threatening skies. Somehow the heavens know to open up as soon as we get on the Interstate. Fortunately, we didn't have far to go before we exited on to the Natchez Trace Parkway. We entered it at it's northernmost point and drove on it to Tupelo, Mississippi

It winds south, southwest through hardwood forests and later pastures. The beginning was hilly and windy, but NOT like the mountains of Sunday's drive. Soon after entering the Trace, as it's called, we observed our first glimpse of wildlife in the open, grassy border on the side of the road...a wild turkey! A few twists and turns later and there were more, this time a flock of seven! Every turn brought more and more and more. The last time I saw that many turkeys I was leaning over the Butterball freezer in the supermarket. After 50 miles or so it was, “Look, another stupid turkey...”

We stopped for lunch at one of the many turn-outs along the way. My 'City Kid' husband never can relax when we're out in the woods. He can't stop looking all around. Says, you never know who is out there. I told him that we were much safer here than at home. When he protested, I asked him how many murders did he think had occurred out in the middle or nowhere, lately? Case closed.

Further on down the road we encountered the first of two detours.

Detours are scary.

Tom Tom the navigational device was very upset too. Actually, we should have listened to Tom Tom...But, noooooo, we assumed the the nice, 'detour' people would have put a sign up to tell us the detour was finished and to get back on the highway 'this way, and maybe an arrow would have been nice! Tom Tom continued to beg at every county road so we relented followed Tom Tom's suggestions and for a few miles took one of the skinniest roads that the RV has ever been on. We traveled through farms and saw cows, chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, goats and other animals...and that was only in people's front yards! A slice of rural America that we'd never have witnessed if it wasn't for the nice 'detour' people.

Late afternoon, we jumped off the Natchez Trace (it continues on) in favor of 'real' roads with things like traffic, crazy drivers, scenic industrial parks and tandem semi's zooming by and to visit Tupelo's most famous tourist attraction – The birthplace of the 'King'! Actually, it's a nice little stop. The two room house has a little museum behind it with some of the ACTUAL TACKY CLOTHES that Elvis wore...among other priceless memorabilia like this car that may or not have carried Elvis to Nashville

We had a three hour drive down to Meridian. By this time, I was getting a little antsy so I pulled my Ipod out and 'sang' my favorite songs to Jim. Jeff and Lori know what a treat for the ears that is! Maybe that's why he looked so frazzled when we finally got to the KOA Campground near Meridian, in a place I can't pronounce...Toomsuba. Hah, spell check wants to change it to 'subatomic'! The ad for the KOA ad said it had cable, NOT and Internet..(note to self, make sure future campgrounds say 'wifi' ) because the 'internet' here is a modem in the office...which was CLOSED when he got here a little after 7:00 pm.! Phooey.

I made a nice dinner in about 20 minutes...getting really good at fast and healthy. Thin, lean pork chops, boiled tiny potatoes, Steamfresh peas(no clean-up) and single serving unsweetened applesauce. Nice because it needs no refrigeration and there's no waste.

We're running out of a few things. Need to visit WalMart tomorrow, I'm sure there are a few thousand around here...we're in Mississippi after all.Hopefully, I can upload this in the morning.

I'll try like hell to blog every night, but that will depend on getting a connection daily. Even when I can't upload, I'll be writing a travel journal document so I can just copy it and update the blog while it's fresh in my memory...and that 'ain't what it used to be!

*Put gas in TWICE today...ouch!

Sweets for My Suite

Day 4 - Nashville TN - Non travel day

Woke up to the Today Show and a segment about something near and dear to Jim's heart - the Haven Brother's Diner in Providence! About a million years ago, Jim worked at the main branch of Hospital Trust, the graveyard shift. He'd enjoy their white beans and hot dogs in the wee hours of the morning. Of course, these days such a meal at that hour would probably kill him. Literally.

The local news called for *filtered sunshine*. I looked out of the window, I saw clouds. What ever happened to the word cloudy?

So we made our way in *filtered sunshine* the mile or two down the road to the Opryland Hotel. A couple of years ago my sister-in-law told me how impressed she was with the place (and she's been all over the world) and I made a mental note to go in for a look around if I was ever in the neighborhood.

The parking fee was $16 and we agreed that 'this better be good'.

It was.

Our jaws dropped so many times in that place that we're still trying to close our mouths. We've been in many stunning hotel lobbies, but this was unbelievable. It feels more like a botanical garden, with restaurants, shops and so much more. Every time we thought we'd covered it all we discovered a new atrium that was more spectacular than the last.

We've been really good about eating healthy and getting the exercise in. Thankfully, it was early so most of the hotel's restaurants weren't open yet. BUT...the pastry shops were! And let me tell you that my yogurt and strawberries didn't hold a candle to those sinful, rich creations in those display cases. Not to mention the aromas of cinnamon wafting through the air. However, we were not to be tempted and quickened our pace to escape the beckoning finger of temptation under our noses. I think I made little sobbing sounds scurrying past the Godiva Shop...

Homonyms

Later, after we'd been walking for over an hour we stopped to take a little rest on one of the many benches in the gardens. Jim was looking up at the top floor of the hotel. I mused that on previous trips we'd have behaved badly, diet-wise and would have probably would have already had sampled a couple of things. Now, you must realize that he hears the drone of my voice, so he knows I'm saying something, but like most guys...he doesn't really know what I'm saying.

Still looking up at the upper floors of the hotel he responds, "This place sure has a lot of *suites*.

I replied that we've been so good and have to have will power with all these temptations around.

He started to laugh..."I wasn't talking about that kind of sweet!"

I guess it's easy to see where my mind was!

Later in the day, still enjoying the *filtered sunshine* we visited the Hermitage, the home of the seventh President, Andrew Jackson. Nice place, historic and educational. Jim's the history buff, so I learned a lot. Let's just say that the guy on the $20 bill was a good thing for this country but not for the Indian Nation. Of course, the tour kinda, sorta, just skims over that fact.

Had a quiet evening, rode our bikes around the many (huge) campgrounds in the area. Oh yeah, in the setting *filtered sunshine*.

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...

I Hear Banjos!

Day 2 Pickens SC to Knoxville TN

The rain finally stopped. We took a nice, one hour walk, with a good bit of hill climbing in the campground. The Palmetto Trail ran through the park and we ventured into the forest to walk a small portion of it. I remember when I was very young and learned about the Appalachian Trail. I couldn't believe anyone could possibly walk from Maine to Georgia!

The Palmetto Trail traverses South Carolina from the mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. I think I missed being able to hike the length of either one of those trails by a few decades!

We left the campground late morning and decided to go the 'scenic' route through the mountains. Um...next time we need to look really closely at the map to see just HOW FAR it is! Man, we were so far in those woods...

A few hours, many twists, turns and over-heated brakes later we decided to forgo Chattanooga in favor of Knoxville. From where we were it would have been over 4 more hours of those roads. It was beautiful, but NOT the proper road for RV with a tow car. Can't believe we did that....

We pulled up at the Soaring Eagle Campground in Lenoir City, just west of Knoxville around 6:00pm. It's right beside the highway and that's just what we wanted, easy in, easy out. Made a

healthy, quick meal. Thank God for microwaves.

Haven't decided what we're going to do tomorrow yet, the only thing I'm SURE of is that we will NOT be driving on winding mountain roads!

Forget Anything?

Yesterday, DAY ONE was interesting...to say the least!

Jim and I have been joking around the last couple of days asking each other, “How far we will get before we realize there was something that we forgot?”

Not far.

I have been staging all the things that needed to go into the RV, and Jim has been packing everything away in there. Consequently, I don't know where most of the stuff is, but I'll learn quickly. So when we finally finished packing/stowing, took showers and the one last walk-around the house we felt pretty darn smug that, for once, we remembered everything...EVERYTHING

I'd had lists.

I even had a list of all the dog paraphernalia that we needed; health records, heart worm preventative, flea control, shampoo, brushes, combs, clippers, nail clippers,foods, food bowls, water bowl, tags, harnesses and leashes. All of it was already safely stowed in the RV.

Jim hooked the car to the back of the RV around 10:30 this morning, came back in and said everything was as ready as it was ever going to be and he wanted to go...now. He had the RV in front of the house, ready to go. We walked out together, locking the front door behind us. I asked him to get in the driver's seat and wave so I could take an official 'beginning' picture. Then, with great fanfare, I jumped in and we were off!

We started down the street...past our next door neighbor, and the house on the corner. I turned to Jim and mentioned that I hadn't said goodbye to Brandy, our third dog, who does not like to travel and my daughter was coming to pick up later today.

He got a funny look on his face and said, “Where are the dogs?” I turned around, thinking he was kidding and lo and behold, the dogs were NOT in the RV! Good Lord,
We forgot our dogs! Thankfully, we'd only gotten two doors away.

We can't back up with the car in tow so we had to take a series of rights, all about a mile apart...so 4 miles or so later, we were back home. We pulled up, ran into the house, he picked one dog, I got the other. I remember thinking that I hoped none of the neighbors were watching us scurrying down the street with our two forsaken pooches!

Started out again...
Made it to Newberry SC before trouble started. Thank goodness for Good Sam Roadside Service. Last time we never needed to use it, this time we used it only a few hours out...on Day ONE! Long story short, Jim had valve extenders put on so we could check tire pressure and the guy didn't know what he was doing. So this man in the photo was FIXING what the guy in Summerville messed up...

Continuted on in POURING rain to Pickens and a very nice campsite in Table Rock State Park. Tomorrow is supposed to be better, weather-wise and and HOPEFULLY equipment wise!

Leaving in the Morning

I'm pooped!

We've been running everywhere tying up all the loose ends and packing the RV. It's like preparing for a long cruise AND moving at the same time! Unexpected problems pop up at the least opportune time to add to the annoyance...even the coffee pot gave up the ghost. It only needed to last another two days!

My next post will be on the road...*IF* we don't forget the laptop!

I need to get to bed now...