Raccoon Valley RV Park

Yesterday we were all packed up, dumped, and on the road out of Defeated Creek COE park by nine in the morning.  It was a 158 mile drive through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains to get just north of Knoxville.  Lots of ups and downs in this state of Tennessee!  One portion of I-40 was rough enough to pop the clock I have attached to a cabinet with super Velcro right off of the wall.  I’m getting kind of used to crashing sounds as I drive in this state.  This one really gave me a start though as it came crashing down on the dashboard and bounced around a bit.  Oh well, that happened just about the time I passed into the Eastern Time Zone, so I would have had to take it down anyway to change the time.

About four hours later, I arrived at Raccoon Valley.  This is an Escapees Park which means you have to be a member of Escapees to stay here.  Since I’m a lifetime member, that wasn’t a problem.  The park looked pretty full, however, as I stepped into the office/clubhouse.  You can’t make a reservation at this park so you may have to boondock for a night until there’s an opening.

After having spent Wednesday on the Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail, the first thing I noticed in the clubhouse were all the quilts hanging on the walls.  I don’t know for sure, but I would assume they were made by fellow Escapees.  I was hoping to get a site and take advantage of the ‘Stay and Play’ feature that is available here on certain sites.  That means you pay for 15 days at check-in, and get to stay for 20 which averages out for a 50 amp site at just over $12/night.  That also gets me through the 4th of July.    A site was available, so I took it and about melted setting up camp.

The pics on the top level of the collage show the sites.  On the left, are the short term sites.  Notice the trees providing shade?  On the right are the ‘Stay and Play’ sites.  One little tree, and not anywhere near my site.  I’m two sites down the row from the tan and rust shower building.  It’s kind of like being a sardine in a can that is being processed in a pressure cooker.  I’ve certainly become spoiled by my refuge and COE park locations.  It’s also my guess that there is not a level site in the park.  It’s located on the side of a hill.

Now on the plus side, there is a swimming pool and a fenced doggy area.  Can you believe that all Emma does here off leash is take a leak, dump, and then lay down?  Uf-Dah.  I was hoping she would run and run and run and use up some of that pent up energy, but the most invigorating thing she has done is chew some of the grass!  Being an Escapee Park, I also have no worries about rowdy characters carrying on all night.  It’s very quiet and peaceful.  It also gives me the chance to leave the rig in a place I’m comfortable with while I drive up to Indiana next week for Robyn’s retirement party.

                                                           Thursday’s sunset at Defeated Creek.

I was able to find a kennel today so Emma will be taken care of while I’m gone.  Doing that and ten days worth of laundry in the Splendide about took up my day.  I was sure to wash all those new bras I bought last week so my trip up north will be an ‘uplifting’ experience! 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

An Heirloom Speaks, and I Listen

Tried to post this last night and this morning, but no luck. 

Remember that little cottage that I took a photo of yesterday with the Wedding Ring Quilt displayed on its side?  Well I returned there today since it was supposed to be open for Hand Crafted Items and Gifts.  Now granted, I’m not the shopping type, but I just had a feeling about this place located way off the beaten path in the hills surrounding the Cumberland River of Tennessee.  I was not disappointed.  It turned out to be a little gem for me.

Of course, there was a welcoming committee.  Can you believe the tail on that peacock?  Sure wish he would have lifted it up for me, but apparently there were no hens around.  I later found out the girls are probably already setting on eggs.  It takes one of them to appear for the males to get all excited at this time of the year.  The two Guinea Fowl just didn’t elicit the same response.

                              Not to be outdone, this striking chicken came to show off her little ones. 

On the front porch of the house was ‘Harry’ standing guard.  He’s the king of the roost and doesn’t allow any other peacocks out front.  I found out he’s about 17 years old.  I never knew peacocks lived so long.  At least the males do.  The females are more often taken by predators because they won’t get off of the nest if they are incubating eggs.

This fellow was strutting about the back yard.  He’s just a youngster.  Notice the short tail.  Mails don’t breed until they grow that long tail, and it takes a couple of years.

When they get hungry and want some feed, they come to the back door and screech!  Apparently, they’re also very good alarm clocks under the bedroom window. (Much to the consternation of the man of the house.)

Once I got inside the little cottage, there was an array of crafty items.  Cindy Horvatin is the artist, and has many talents.  Her specialty is custom designed stained glass art, but she also crochets and makes hand made goat milk soap from her own goats.

Her clear glass items use old farm windows for the panes.  How’s that for recycling?  If I had a house, I’d love this stained glass window set in an old farm window frame depicting an exact replica of a log cabin quilt.  She does very fine work!  She doesn’t do quilting per se, but reproduces some quilt patterns in stained glass. 

I made several purchases including something special for Robyn (which is not pictured).  Robyn said she didn’t want any gifts, so I’m just going to say I don’t have room in the rig for what I got her.    Among the other items I chose, was a bar of apricot and cream goat’s milk soap for my sister.  Not that I think she needs to smell better…

Now for the rest of the story…  I got a much better photo of the wooden quilt reproduction today that is located on the side of the cottage.  The inspiration for this panel came from a quilt that Cindy’s great grandmother made for Cindy’s parent’s wedding.  That was around 1940.  Cindy still has the quilt, and it won second prize at the Granville Quilt Show in the Antique Quilt category.  Cindy’s son painstakingly painted the reproduction for the side of the cottage, and so it could be listed in the Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail.  I just can’t imagine the amount of hours that went into the original quilt, or the painting of this representative panel of a cherished family heirloom.  I suppose the great-great grandma of the son that did the painting knew where every little piece of fabric for that quilt came from.  Amazing!

What a grand time I’ve had here in the Upper Cumberland River area, and such fascinating memories I’ll carry with me as I had out towards Knoxville tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

I went a Quiltin’ today

Ha Ha!  Lest you think I suddenly decided to take up the fine art of sewing, let me assure you that I have not.  Instead, Emma and I went off on a quilting party more geared to my interests and abilities. 

In Tennessee there are sixteen counties where the Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail can be found.  I decided to make a road trip through two of those counties today looking for quilts.  “These painted replicas  reflect treasured family heirlooms that were originally constructed from scraps of excess fabric and made into useful, meaningful quilts.  The Upper Cumberland Quilt Trail honors local quilters – both past and present – who have contributed to this emerging cultural collection of original artwork.”

I must admit that it wasn’t easy finding these quilts.  I had addresses for some, and others I tried to find using the not exactly specific maps I had of Jackson and Smith counties.  Most all were on back roads or found on the sides of buildings in some of the very small towns.

It was kind of like geocaching without coordinates.    See that little place in the lower left?  I just might return there tomorrow.  It is out in the middle of nowhere, and contains homemade treasures for sale.  It’s just not open on Wednesdays.  Next week, I’ll be putting Emma in a kennel, leaving the rig at an Escapee’s park, and driving the car to Dyer, IN.  My daughter, Robyn, will be celebrating her retirement after 20 years service with the Army.  Now I ask you, what do you get for a 38 year old retiring Sergeant First Class to honor her service to our country?  I’m stumped, but I’m hoping that little place in the back woods of Tennessee will solve my dilemma. 

As we traveled around, I passed through communities such as Carthage, Chestnut Mound, Dixon Springs, Gainesboro, Pleasant Shade, Flynn’s Lick, and finally Granville, TN. 

Not all roads led to success.  This particular diminishing road ended at a dead end with an encounter with a very large Rottweiler who suggested that we turn around.  Needless to say, I took his advice. 

Some of the quilts were found on museums or historical society buildings, but all seemed to be closed on Wednesdays.  That’s too bad.

When we arrived in the historic little town of Granville, I had to stop in to see the Ben Sutton Store & General Merchandise.  I wasn’t in the market for a hat or overalls, so I didn’t purchase anything while there.  If I were going to be here on Saturday, I’d sign up for the country dinner.  Afterwards there’s Blue Grass Music with a band performing for a one hour radio show.  I wish I had known that last Saturday!

There was a very nice Veteran’s Memorial Park in Granville which I thought would be the ideal place to stop for the picnic lunch I had brought along.  It started out just fine until a stray dog found us.  It was just a large pup with very big paws and a lot of growing yet to do, but it came after Emma and wouldn’t leave her alone or stop barking and lunging.  Emma did a good job of trying to behave, but after gulping down half my sandwich I felt it was best to just leave. 

I had a hard time deciding which quilt location was my favorite today.  Many of the barns in the area are red with white doors, and that appealed to me.

But, my vote went for this rustic barn with the surrounding hay bales.  The quilt reproduction really stood out, and I liked the surrounding mountains/hills.  The drive from location to location took me through some very scenic rural lands.  I truly enjoyed myself (other than the canine encounters), and just wish I had time to do all sixteen counties this way.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A Congressional Medal of Honor Awardee

The other day, Emma and I visited the Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historic Site in Pall Mall, TN.  I’m sure most of us have seen the movie “Sergeant York” starring Gary Cooper that was made in 1940.  Turns out I even recorded it over the Memorial Day Weekend, so I’m about half way through watching it again.  Of course, it’s a Hollywood dramatization of a real hero’s life.

Never having been here before, I of course did the tour out of order of the way it is supposed to be done.  This is where you should start.  This building is the original Alvin C. York and Sons General Merchandise store that was also the Wolf River Post Office at one time.  If you stop here first, I would recommend the video narrated by Walter Cronkite.  It is well worth watching to get your mind straight on the life of Sgt. York.  (I’ll include a mini-biography at the end of this post for those that are interested)

Across the street from the Mercantile is the home that the movie says was given to Alvin in gratitude by the people of the United States to honor his heroic service in WWI.  That’s not quite right.  He was given the house and some land by the people of Tennessee, but it was not free and clear.  It was eventually paid for due to a huge fund raiser in his honor.

The furnishings inside are from Alvin and Gracie’s life here where she bore ten children.  It is a humble abode.

A very short distance away is the York Gristmill on the Wolf River which was built in the early 1880’s.

It seems to me that Alvin York was a humble Christian man that rose above and beyond the call of duty to save his comrades under dire circumstances.  The fact that he never capitalized on his fame can best be felt by his attitude that “This uniform can’t be sold.”  After his return from the war he tried to help the young people in the Tennessee hills with their education by establishing schools.

I also visited his and Gracie’s final resting place on a back road outside of the community.  It is a very peaceful place, and Alvin’s beloved mountains surround him.

I hope you’ll take the time to read a bit about how he came to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor and forty other awards.  It is rather an amazing tale.

“Alvin Cullum York was born in rural Pall Mall, Tennessee. Raised in the mountains, he learned to shoot guns when he was just a boy, becoming an expert with both a pistol and rifle before his teens. Under the influence of his high school girlfriend--and his future wife--Gracie Williams, he also became a devout born-again Christian and gave up the drinking, brawling, smoking, gambling and bare-knuckle fighting that marked his early days. When the US declared war on Germany in April 1917, York was drafted into the army, where he sought exemption as a conscientious objector, but was turned down. Inducted into the 328th Infantry Regiment on November 24, 1917, he distinguished himself in basic training until he was ordered to shoot at human forms on the target range. After days of soul-searching, York reconciled himself to military service and completed his training, and his unit sailed to France the following spring. His regiment was assigned to the Meuse-Argonne salient during the final great Allied offensive from September to the war's end on November 11, 1918. On October 8, 1918, York, then a corporal, was part of a company assigned to attack a heavily defended hill near Chatel-Chehery. Pinned down by intense machine-gun fire, York joined a squad of 17 men that attempted to outflank the German position from the rear of the hill. After capturing 20 German soldiers, the Americans were discovered by other German troops in neighboring trenches, who opened fire on them. Within minutes the squad was down to seven unwounded men, York included. The squad's officers and NCOs had all been killed or wounded, meaning that York was now in charge of the squad's survivors. He took his rifle and worked his way to a point near the occupied German trenches that were firing on his squad. From that position he shot and killed 17 Geman soldiers one after the other, then shot eight more with his pistol, killing three and wounding five. The surviving Germans had had enough and surrendered en masse to York; the final tally of captured German soldiers, counting the 20 the squad had taken earlier, was 132. Alvin York managed to work his way with his squad and the 132 prisoners through the bombed-out wasteland and back to the headquarters of the 328th Regiment. York was promoted to sergeant and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his amazing feat. At the end of the war he returned to Tennessee, in 1919, married Gracie and settled on a farm presented to him by his home state. The modest hero turned down many offers for endorsements, claiming "this uniform ain't for sale," and used the proceeds from the book and movie of his life Sergeant York (1941)) to establish schools for poor mountain children. During World War II York served on the Tennessee draft board and was a colonel in the Tennessee State Guard, commanding the 7th Regiment. Alvin York died in his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matthew Patay"

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Birds, Battles, and Bras

When I set things up here after arriving at Defeated Creek COE campground,yesterday, I also put out one of the Hard Rock Bird Café feeders.  It wasn’t long before a couple of tufted titmice came to visit.  It always surprises me that in some locations it only takes a little time for avian visitors to appear.  All of the numerous pictures tonight were taken from my rocker in between rain storms.

The reason there are so many pictures is part of my battle that I’ve been going through with Sprint.  In my last post I mentioned that I had cancelled that air card service.  I found their customer service profoundly lacking.  So this morning I headed out to Lebanon, TN, and signed up for Verizon.  These pictures are part of a four pronged test of their coverage.
When I got back to the rig, I immediately set up the laptop, and quickly had two bars of service on the air card.  I checked my email from the last few days, and then went to check some of the blogs that I follow to see how the download/upload time would be.

I haven’t been able to read or comment much for more than a week.  When I checked Rick’s blog, I noticed he had included a short video.  With Sprint, I’ve clicked on very few videos because if I do I only see a second or two before it stops to reload.  Today, I saw the entire video of his dog, Rylie, romping along the trail without interruption.  Granted, it was only an 11 second video, but that’s the first time even a short video has loaded.
Then it was on to Bayfield Al’s blog.  I haven’t even tried to read his blog lately because he usually posts a gazillion pictures, and that just wasn’t going to work for me.  Wouldn’t you know that he only had one picture on his last post!  So, I went to some of his older posts, and Bingo!, everything was there instantly.

The third thing I tested was the “Weather in Motion” feature on the Weather Channel website.  It didn’t load, but two out of three isn’t too bad.  The final test will be to see if I can publish a post with numerous pictures in under a half hour.  Some nights it has taken me many hours to publish a post with pictures using Sprint.

Since there are only two bars here, I think I’ll wait to try to publish until the latest downpour is over.  We’ve had some good rain here yesterday and today.  Lots of thunder and some lightening, but no severe winds.  I can deal with that.

As I made my way to and from Lebanon today, I noticed one of those outlet places along the way.  I decided to stop in for a purchase that always gets my ire up.  Why is it that bras cost so much?  They may be a necessary evil, but how come men can get three pairs of underwear for $10 or so, but a good Playtex Bra runs $30 for one? 

I’d try going without, but you ladies know what age and gravity do.  Reminds me of my old Girl Scout song once again, “Do your boobs hang low, do they wobble too and fro…” 

I have a little adventure in mind for tomorrow, but it will depend on the weather.  I’d like it to be sunny with blue skies, but the forecast doesn’t seem to agree.  I may have to wait until Wednesday. 
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A record breaking drive

(This post should have published on Sunday evening.)

I headed out for Defeated Creek COE campground today in the early afternoon.  It was a rather slow but smooth ride there.

The pull through site is not exactly level, but there’s lots of room and as soon as I put the DISH on the pedestal, I had both satellites honed in without even having to make an adjustment.  That’s a first for me!

It’s not a waterfront site, but this is my view from my rocker until someone moves into the site on the left of the picture.  With the Old Farts Pass, it’s another spot for $9/night for 50 amps and water.  I moved here hoping to improve my internet coverage.  Sorry to say, it’s still on roaming and Sprint has totally cut me off from roaming.

I called my son, Daniel, tonight since the air card account is in his name to tell him I was fed up with being denied access.  I was unable to publish last night’s post, and had no access to internet at all today because Sprint wouldn’t allow the roaming.  The account I have is for unlimited roaming, but Sprint will not honor it.

The result of this hassle is that the air card account has been cancelled, and I will travel by car to Lebanon, TN, tomorrow to sign up with Verizon.  Sprint can go suck an egg as far as I’m concerned.  I’ve been a loyal customer for over six years, and they didn’t give a hoot about that.  I’m not sure Verizon will be much better, but the last two places I was in roaming with Sprint, Verizon had a good signal.

Emma has settled right in and pulled out a log from the fire ring to gnaw on.  She doesn’t eat the wood, but chews it and spits it out.  It was funny to watch her lugging that big thing around.

As for a record breaking drive, this is the shortest distance I’ve ever traveled from one campsite to another.  It was only a total of 11.1 miles today.  If any of you have made a shorter move, I’d enjoy hearing about it. (If I ever get to post this. )

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy