Blog #23

April 26 – May 3

When is Tennessee really Arkansas? When you stop at the West Memphis KOA in Marion, AR. Met fellow Airstreamers and talked for a couple of hours. Love our community of silver bullet travelers!

Got out of the campground by 8 ish and made it to Germantown, TN by David’s 9am appointments. It’s the nicest area of Memphis, which is actually a crime infested s-hole for the most part. We were speaking with the local property manager over BBQ for lunch. He explained that in 2/3 of the properties he manages (not David’s center), he doesn’t let his employees visit his customers for repairs solo after 2pm. That’s when the lowlifes wake up. If employees are on the roof, they must lock the ladder to the building – or someone will steal the ladder while they are a couple of stories up. They should only park in front and they are never to enter an vacant store (one they are renovating for a new tenant) alone as there may be squatters or drug dealers inhabiting it. It’s a scary world out there, folks.

We left the shopping center around 3pm and drove for about three hours and made it to the middle of the state. We hadn’t even gone as far as Nashville yet. Tennessee is a BIG state.

What a difference a couple of days makes. Instead of the white, dried grass, flat topography of New Mexico, we are in lush yellow-green of new tree leaves and rolling hills. It reminds me what a little rain can do.

State Parks Rock! — and Lake and Forest and Mountain and….

After our stay in Millwood Lake, Arkansas, David remembered how much we love state campgrounds. We looked for one on our route and found a likely spot in Montgomery Bell, TN just west of Nashville. We got a lovely spot in this wooded campground with a river. There is a lake and marina in the state campground as well as hiking trails. The sun was setting, but we had to hit a restaurant we saw on the way in – Catfish Kitchen. And the special tonight was quail. I liken this to the local shacks on Long Island serving fried clams. We got half orders – just one filet and one quail – but all you could eat of the fried bonanza was just $3 more.

We left Montgomery Bell State Park in the morning. Driving through White Bluff, TN I got caught in a speed trap. First ticket in over 20+ years. Went from 55 to 30mph in a heartbeat. I was going 50 but still got on the radar. It had to happen eventually.

Headed over to Knoxville for some business. Decided not to stop at our favorite ice cream store, Cruze Dairy, so we could could make it to Asheville that night. The drive is amazing. You know there are mountains in the East? The four lane highway had us going up 6% grades around twisty roads with 18-wheelers that we passed and that passed us. It’s pretty brutal driving. But the drive itself is gorgeous. It reminded me of a deciduous Oregon only with more traffic. The mountains rise up before us with the yellow green leaves of spring. A few pines are sprinkled in between. The Pigeon River rushes next to the highway.

We made it to our apartment before the sunset. I love Daylight Savings Time. We had lots of work on Friday and hit the road again on Saturday to visit with my mom. It’s only a 4 hour drive so why not? David was hoping to do some modifications to the Airstream to help with our connectivity but it rained in the afternoon. He needs 24 hours of dry weather because he has to cut a hole in the roof (!) and the adhesive/caulk won’t dry in the rain. Maybe this weekend.

We had 24 hours with my mom and it’s not enough. We fit in book club, dinner, a breakfast of quail eggs (remember her baby quails from Blog #10? They grew up!), and lots of organizing of stored items. After some local ice cream and a search for local strawberries, we returned to Asheville.

We’re spending two days here and have to head up to Long Island for some doctor appointments but more excitingly to see our kids and other family and friends!