Rolling Across Tennessee

Because we extended our stay in Bristol, Tennessee, we sped our way across the rest of Eastern Tennessee. We have already spent time around Knoxville, so we had a one-night boondocking stop at the Cracker Barrel in Crossville, Tennessee. We had another nice lunch there right outside our front door, and then went out to explore a little bit of Crossville.

We headed to the closest state park for a hike and found ourselves at Cumberland Mountain State Park. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) spent a lot of hours here in the 1930's, and we always enjoy the stone work this group leaves behind. In fact, the eight-arch bridge and dam here is the largest masonry project that the CCC ever built.

There's a trail that runs along the lake, and that gave us a two-mile hike after our travel day. The trail loops back on the other side of the creek after crossing a swinging bridge that looks innocent enough.

Of course, crossing a swinging bridge with someone like Mark is always an adventure.

Actually, he doesn't need a bridge to cross the creek. He also found a fallen log that made for a fine avenue across the water for him.

The area was filled with Canadian geese. Obviously there is plenty goose food in the lake, as they seemed to be bottoms-up and feeding most of the time.

The state park also includes a nice restaurant, but our cafe of choice is Cracker Barrel today. We also made a drive to check out Tripadvisor's #1 attraction in Crossville--the Minister's Treehouse. We are sad to report that the driveway to the treehouse is padlocked, with spray-painted signs that threaten a $350 fine for crawling over the fence. That kind of money will even get Mark to stay on this side of the fence. So our only picture of the Minister's Treehouse is from a long distance.

After a good night's sleep in the Cracker Barrel parking lot, we were up early to make the 2.5 hour drive to our next destination. But the weatherman confirmed what we could see from our motor home windows. The fog was so thick that there was low visibility warnings in the Crossville area. So we waited an hour or so to get on the road. It was still foggy as we headed down I-40.

The sun broke through, and it was finally clear sailing to our next camping spot. This is very unusual for us to have two travel days in a row, with a total of six hours on the road in the motor home. But we have a schedule to keep as we are headed back to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving.

We pulled into our spot at the Williamson County Fairgrounds, where we'll be staying for the next several days. We have a 50-amp electric and water hook-up in the shade of the horse barn. Raised in the country, neither of us mind the fact that they were cleaning out the stalls while we were parked there, but more urban campers might not have embraced the setting (and the smell).

We think we'll be comfortable here--exploring Nashville to the north, and visiting our cousins from Spring Hill to the south as we continue to roll across Tennessee.