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the continuation of Road Hazard I

Back to the Beginning

The last few days have been a struggle to accept the fact that we are back to the beginning and the trip is over. The other struggle is that since we have ended, this blog will also come to an end.

I've enjoyed writing our daily blogs and have also enjoyed reading your comments along the way. We made new friends along the way like my friend in Dallas who still claims to have heard "The Shot Heard Around the World". Then, there is my friend in Nebraska that followed us closely along our journey. Sorry we never did take you up on the "Home Cooked Meal" offer. There are others that we met in campgrounds, restaurants, bars and parks that have kept in contact with us. The journey took us over 12,000 miles around this great country. We saw places that we had only seen on television or read in books. We ate different foods that we were only told about. We experienced the "dry" heat of the southwest and were witness to the few sunny days of the northwest corner. We dove 60' below the clear blue waters of the Keys and climbed to 8,000' and saw for miles around Mt. Rainer. We saw the mighty Mississippi up close and tasted the powerful Colorado River as we rafted down her rapids. We were in awe of the clear waters in Rainbow River that felt like we were swimming in an aquarium. We experienced moments of fear (when the Pick Up truck we were towing cut loose) to moments that took your breath away (our first glimpes into the Grand Canyon) to moments of happiness (see our friends along the way) to feelings of accomplishments (reaching the top of Angles Landing in Zion National Park). During our trip we saw a variety bands playing Rock N' Roll in Austin, Texas, and Bluegrass in BB Kings Memphis restaurant. We even sat in for a show at the Grand Ol Opry in Nashville and found ourselves clapping and 'he hawing' along. Through out the trip we had a first hand seat of the economy as we paid $3.29 a gallon of diesel all the way up to $4.95 to thankfully see it come back down to $3.39.

Now we sit here in our friends backyard that it all started from last December. What started with us being stuck in the mud turned into a beautiful experience. They say that all good things must come to an end but I'll tell you what, we're going to try and keep this trip alive. If not with more trips it will be through pictures and memories collected along the way.

So, as a last toast to this journey please raise your beverage:

We have seen many beautiful places,

We have experienced wonderful things,

But nothing is better than to see

Your friends smiling faces and warm embrace.

Thanks for the memories.

Almost Back

Sorry for not posting anything in the last few days. We are just outside of Knoxville near Gatlinburg and the campground we are in does not offer Internet. I am typing this post on my phone so it will be short.

It's hard to believe but we are almost back to our starting point. We have almost completed a circle around the country. In the next couple of days we will be ending our journey and the time will come for us to sit down and think about our next move.

Our next post will be in a few days since we will be in transit.

Change of Colors

We arrived in Knoxville and were greeted by the changing colors of all the trees lining the slopes of the Smoky Mountains. We hope to go out and take some pictures to post.

Downtown

The weather finally caught up to us and we awoke with the sound of rain splatting against the roof. With today being our last day in Nashville we decided to still go out and explore the city.

The first stop we hit was the Parthenon. It was built back in 1897 for Tennessee's Centennial Exposition. It is the only building that survived from the Expo because the people at the time felt it was a structure worth saving. Today is houses an art gallery and is home to a 42 foot statue of Athena.

The original building was built in Greece and dates back to 428 BC. The only thing left there are the columns in front. This is the only replica of what the Parthenon would have looked like. This building stands as the centerpiece of Centennial Park which is Nashville's premier urban park.

A stroll down 2nd Street lined with busy shops and restaurants reveals the home of Hooters. They were getting into the spirit of the Breast Cancer Awareness that happened here this weekend. I think it is fitting.

After dodging the raindrops most of the afternoon we ended our journey inside of Tootsies. This bar was a hangout for the many famous singers that would perform around the corner in the Grand Ole Opry. They would come in after their performance to hang out and relax. Of course they would get up on this tiny stage and perform for their close friends. Today, as we sat here and listened to this band play they would pull their friends, that would walk in off the street, to come up and perform a song or two with them. Even a lady that was visiting from Florida made it up on stage to get down with the band.

Friday is moving day again. Still heading east and looking for sunny skies.

Bless His Heart!

With the weather being unusually warm for this time of year we headed out to explore downtown Nashville. Someone at another campground had recommended that we take at tour with Tommy Tours to see the entire area. We're glad we did because Tommy was entertainment from the moment we got on his bus until we left. Nothing better than getting a tour of the city and laughing hard while doing it.

The tour took us into downtown Nashville. Into the business district with the State Capital Building and Court Houses. Into the entertainment district with the many bars and restaurants with live music.

Tommy took us to a building that used to be the train station but has since been converted to a fancy hotel. Filled with stained glass windows and intricate wood finishes throughout.

We next toured the many large mansions of the stars in and around Nashville. This one in the picture above belongs to Dolly Parton. We also saw the homes of Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn and Trisha Yearwood. All small homes of 15,000 to 20,000 sq/ft on many acres of property.

Tommy taught us some southern slang. We learned that in the south you can talk bad about anybody as long as you start or end the sentence with "Bless his/her heart". Here is a for instance...That boy, bless his heart, doesn't seem to have all the chairs pushed in under the table.

We decided to stay an extra day because there is still so much to see.

Pickles and Music

Part of the reason that we took this trip around the country was to learn about the people and their cultures. So, tonight is really just a study lab. As we sat down to dinner and enjoyed the local favorite Fried Pickles we asked ourselves, why do people like country music?

On the way into The Grand Ole Opry we met a famous celebrity, Mini Pearl. With her high pitched "Howdy!" and her dangling price tag hat she welcomed us to the show.

It's a beautiful performance hall that has had countless country singers have their voices echo between these walls. I'm sure all the names and pictures along the hallways indicate that their famous. The show was being taped and will air this Saturday on your local country cable channel. Just like old time TV the show would stop for a few minutes while the MC would read off a couple of commercials. "This hour is sponsored by Trane AC units."

There was one singer that when I heard her name I thought it was someone who invented the fried pickles we had at dinner but once we saw her I knew the name, Kellie Pickler. Good thing I watched American Idol a few times.

So the question remains, why do people like country music so much? The lyrics are usually about something sad. Wife cheated on me, crashed the pickup truck, dog got run over, boyfriend is no good, cook'in chili. I just don't get it. Well, I learned tonight that most country music songs are really just stories. Maybe grownups still enjoy having a good story told to them. It must have worked on the gentleman next to me because he was sound asleep by the time the last act got on stage. I guess there really is not an answer to the question but I can tell you that Nashville has a big concentration of people who happen to like twangy, washboard, accordion, violin, guitar playing music. Not that there is anything wrong with that.