Arkansas--The Good, the Bad and the Bobcat

After Memphis it was time to find some nature. We did just that at Cane Creek State Park, where David had located a trail he wanted to ride. But first we drove on small country roads past vast fields of corn and other crops. We visited the White River National Wildlife Refuge but only took time to see the video and a few exhibits at the visitor's center because it was too hot to leave the cats in the trailer without A/C. Next we stopped at the tranquil park-like Arkansas Post National Monument with its huge trees and large expanse of lawn surrounding a lake with bayous on either side. We watched the video about the 300-year history of the post--at one time or another and sometimes more than once it was French, Spanish, English and American.

I took a short walk and spotted a small alligator while David returned to the trailer to make sure the cats didn't overheat.

At Cane Creek I asked the woman checking me in if the bike trail was easy and in good condition. "Yes, if you have a mountain bike," she said. Well, turns out she didn't know what she was talking about. The following morning after riding about 3 miles of the 15-mile "easy" trail and pushing my bike up very steep hills, I decided it wasn't my idea of fun. David liked the challenge, so he continued, and we planned to meet on a later section of the loop trail that was a dike. How hard could that be? I still had a few miles of woods and a mile or so of road to get there.

Then I started on the dike, but it was covered with grass and was a soft, unpleasant surface to ride on. Also, it was hot and humid in the sun with no shade, so I decided it was time to return to the trailer. After several attempts, I got David on the walkie-talkie. He had gotten to the dike, was extremely hot and didn't have enough water. When he finally got back to the trailer, he was exhausted and overheated. By the time he had gotten to the dike he was tired and then had a couple miles on the squishy surface in the hot sun among thigh-high grass (it got shorter closer to the road where I was) without the benefit of an electric-assist. A little while after he talked to me on the walkie-talkie, a growling bobcat jumped out at him from within the grass, none too happy about being disturbed from his siesta. David shouted at him and kept riding, hoping the bobcat wouldn't pursue him.

After our communion with nature, we enjoyed a pleasant respite in Little Rock, which itself isn't devoid of nature. Our campground was (basically a parking lot) right next to the Arkansas River, and we walked across the Clinton pedestrian bridge

to the Clinton Presidential Library.

A docent gave a good tour through the building with its massive amount of information on Clinton's time in office and more.

There was even a fabulous exhibit of Chihuly glass.
Then we walked around downtown in the sweltering heat.

The next day we did a 27-mile bike ride that I thoroughly enjoyed along the Arkansas River.

It was mostly pavement, mostly off-road and quite scenic, taking us through downtown and in and out of parks.

Great trail, and it connected to other trails for even longer rides. We saw two fawns frolicking and two adult deer eating beside the trail, completely unafraid of us.

Later we visited the state capitol, an imposing building (most state capitols are but this one was particularly so) with marble columns, huge chandeliers, massive rotunda, glass ceilings

and the first woman's bathroom I thought worth photographing. We didn't get a guided tour, but the self-guided brochure was excellent.

We went to the Central High School National Historic site where nine young black kids tried to attend an all-white high school igniting a firestorm of protests and violence in 1957. The governor tried to keep them out; Eisenhower sent in federal troops to protect the kids and control the situation. The high school still functions. There is a visitor's center across the street.

After Little Rock we spent a day at Hot Springs National Park, where we had a pleasant wooded campsite that both cats appreciated. We strode up and down Bathhouse Row where people used to visit the baths for their health in the mid to late 1800's believing the hot water from the hot springs to be therapeutic.

At least one house is still a functioning spa and another, the visitor's center, is restored to its previous glory and interpreted by the park service. We walked around in the brutal heat and took a short mountain drive but really didn't find much here to interest us for more than a day, especially because it was too hot to hike and then started raining. Other than the bathhouses and scenery, it seemed very touristy. Well, any place with a wax museum is bound to be touristy.

Our final day in Arkansas was at Fort Smith. Our two excursions here were to Miss Laura's Social Club, the visitor's center and historically a brothel, and

Fort Smith National Historic site, which had a massive amount of information arranged in a rather helter-skelter fashion about the lawlessness of the 1800s in the Indian Territory. Judge Isaac Parker was tasked with overseeing the court in this area and sentenced many outlaws to death by hanging.

All in all an enjoyable time in Arkansas. Time to move on to Oklahoma.

Elvis, Miscellaneous Memphis

Of course we went to Graceland. Whether you like his music or not, Elvis had a phenomenal career, and it's quite interesting to learn about, but you only get to see the bottom floor of his home.

The rest is mainly a museum of his many accomplishments as well as displays of his outfits and other memorabilia.

You can also see his planes and cars. In fact, you could spend all day if you wanted to see everything. We spent a couple hours.

The day we got to Memphis we went to Mud Island park, which shows the entire lower Mississippi River in inches (a mile=an inch) in pavement with all its twists and turns. It depicts the towns along it and other points of interest. Interesting, especially with the real Mississippi right beside it.

We visited Sun Studio but got there the same time as a huge tour bus and decided it wasn't worth the money to be crammed in with lots of people on a tour.
We tried going downtown--the action happens on Beale St, but it was cordoned off, and there was a nearby festival, which took up all the street parking. We didn't really want to pay expensive garage fees, so we just drove by and parked at the riverside park. I suppose we could have walked up the bluff and then 6 or 7 blocks, but it was too hot.

Instead we looked at the river

and a statue of Tom Lee, who saved 32 people from drowning by rowing people ashore after their boat capsized.

Our campground had a big laundry with free machines, so we were able to get all our laundry done. Neptune was eager to get out and explore. I had him outside on a leash when our neighbor across the road opened the door and walked outside with her dog. He saw Neptune immediately and shot over in a flash. Neptune saw him too and ran to the trailer, but the door was closed. I couldn't run as fast as Neptune, and got there after the dog, who, by then, was chasing Neptune around the steps while the leash was getting fouled. About this time David opened the door and let in Neptune, and the owner of the dog appeared and apologized. The dog was on the small side but bigger than Neptune, and unlike Tinsel, our previous cat who would have taught the dog a thing or too, Neptune's first instinct is to run. Neptune has not completely warmed up to this trip. Every time David starts cooking fish on the stove, Neptune dives behind the couch because he thinks the smoke alarm will go off. In fact, every time David reaches his hand to the ceiling, Neptune's eyes get wide and he dives behind the couch for the same reason. Plato can't fit behind the couch, so when he's scared, he hides under the bed.

We also went to Overton Park and walked around a bit and then visited Dixon Gallery & Garden.

The gardens were nice enough but not really worth the time to get there.

The gallery had some modern pieces

and a few awesome paintings.

Two Towns and Montgomery Bell

In Chattanooga we opted to forgo the more touristy attractions, of which there are quite a few. Instead we spent a few hours walking downtown in the Bluff View district, visiting the sculpture garden, bread bakery and art gallery.

We walked across the Walnut St. pedestrian bridge for great views of the Tennessee River and bluffs and walked along the riverfront in stifling heat. People were setting up for the Riverbend Festival and a band was practicing.








The following morning it was pouring rain. We went to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and by the time we left the visitor's center, the rain was just a drizzle. The park is similar to others we've been to, like Vicksburg, but not as big or as compelling.

The battle itself was a rather confusing affair, also very bloody, the 2nd bloodiest battle of the Civil War (after Gettysburg) with over 34,000 casualties. The Union lost but retained control of Chattanooga.









That afternoon we went to Point Park on top of Lookout Mountain, a tall, steep mountain on top of which is an upscale community. It was also part of the battle and afforded great views of the city and river.






In Nashville we stayed at the fairgrounds, which had full-hook-up and the most convenient campground to downtown. It was set apart on a bluff, overgrown with weeds and devoid of other campers. You feel a little funny when you're the only ones there. Trashcans were overflowing with trash and covered with flies. By the time we finished setting up, it had started pouring rain. We found the office to pay for the campsite and went downtown.

We took an excellent tour of the state capitol, visited nearby Bicentennial Mall State Park with its interesting depictions of TN history and geography and drove up Broadway, famous for live country music. Tourists were out and about, but the good stuff doesn't start until later at night. Our untrusty GPS directed us north of town while our campground was south, so we got to experience a double dose of rush hour city traffic. Fortunately I had a city map. We're finding paper maps extremely useful on this trip.
Back at our campsite, we met our newly-arrived  neighbors, a young, friendly Venezuelan couple now living in Miami. They said they wanted to go RVing because it was a very American thing to do, but they were concerned about riding their bikes around town, especially at night.

The next day we visited Gaylord Opryland to see the vast, lush, indoor gardens.

We also saw the outside of the Grand Ole Opry and a river showboat and went back downtown to see a few things we had missed the day before,

 including a full-scale replica of the Greek Parthenon in Centennial Park (doesn't have quite the same impact).

The highlight was a performance that evening of four bands at Music City Roots, a small, inexpensive music venue around 18 miles south of town. When the last band started playing bluegrass, all the young people and some of the older people in the audience rushed onto the dance floor and danced or just stood, enthralled, for the rest of the performance. The band was great.

Next stop was Montgomery Bell State Park, which had a bike trail David had read about and wanted to ride. The adventure started with the GPS, which kept insisting we drive down narrow, gravel roads into areas no RV should go. We kept ignoring it until finally it directed us down the proper road, which also happened to have a park sign, always reassuring. Our site was pretty, beside a river and a nice contrast to our previous location. We had lunch and David assembled the bikes. The trailhead was not close by, but we didn't want to take the time to unhook the truck, so we rode our bikes to the park entrance, rode a short distance on a busy road and then about a mile or so up a steep country road to the trailhead.

The trails here are rated from easy to advanced, but the so-called easy trail was by no means easy. There were more roots, rocks, dips, turns and narrow passages than on Tsali. Not only that, where it was narrow was lined with poison ivy. At one point we took a wrong turn and ended up on the intermediate trail with some ridiculously steep bridges.

I kept slipping and had to walk several places. Maybe the rain had washed dirt from the trail, exposing more roots and rocks. In any case, it wasn't my idea of fun. David had to lift our bikes over a couple logs. Right before we rejoined the easy loop, I rode through a short, steep dip and fell, right into a thick patch of poison ivy, banging my shin on my bike. After I stopped screaming in pain, we got out the cryptic black and white color-coded map to try and figure out where we might be and my bike fell (because we each thought the other was holding it up). When David stooped to pick it up, he ended up tumbling backwards into an even thicker slope of poison ivy. We made it back to the trailhead, and I returned to the campground. David decided to go back on the trail to find the branch that said "Danger, Expert Level Only."

When I got back I put my poisoned clothes inside out in a plastic bag and took a shower. I tried to take Neptune for a walk, but he was scared of the stream. He couldn't figure out what kind of animal it was. In Bryson City he was afraid of a couple of quacking ducks that came to visit and dove head first behind the couch to hide. In Chattanooga he was afraid of golf carts. Now streams. Plato simply doesn't want to leave the trailer. When we open the truck door, he makes a mad dash to the trailer, jumps inside and won't leave until we carry him back to the truck.
When David returned, he said the advanced trail was very steep up and down, slick, muddy, rocky and rooty with hills he slid down trying not to fall. Some places were so rocky and steep he had to walk up. The trail went through washes and ravines and crossed two streams. I asked him if he liked it. "I liked the fact that I made it back without busting my posterior. I'm glad I did it because my curiosity is satisfied. I wanted to know what it's like to go on an expert downhill run and what it is is extremely difficult." I'm going to take his word for it.
Next stop Memphis.

Moab or Bust, but First, Riding Tsali and Tanasi

After months of planning and preparation (you'd think we had never done this before,) we're off on a new adventure--10 weeks from NC to Moab, Utah and back. Our 4-year-old trailer needed a lot of work. David replaced an axle, all the brake assemblies, a drum and all bearings and races. He also had to pull out the plastic shower stall, called a surround, because it was cracked in several places, and replace it with a new one, a task that took about 5 days.

I won't bore you with the entire list, but it was quite extensive. I got about half the trip planned. The morning we left I made two campground reservations while David was hooking up the trailer. I particularly wanted to make sure we had reservations in Albuquerque over 4th of July. It takes us a couple of hours to get the trailer out of the driveway because of its steepness and because he can't put the bikes on until the trailer is at the top of the driveway. All kinds of people were milling about while we were trying to leave, including the mailman, garbagemen, city workers working on sewer lines in the middle of the cul-de-sac, even a couple of women preaching the dangers of smoking and handing out pamphlets titled God's View on Smoking.
We finally left around 12:30 and got to the WalMart in Waynesville around 5.5 hours later without a problem, if you don't include the part where the GPS insisted WalMart was up a steep, narrow road in a residential neighborhood. Nope, not going there. In fact, it was half a mile in the opposite direction.

The following day we went to our campground outside of Bryson City, set up, had lunch and called David's cousin. We met him at his shop where he makes cabinets, doors and other wood products for houses.

Then we all went to Tsali where we met a friend of his and biked the Thompson Loop single-track bike trail. I'm not a single-track biker, so all the rocks, roots, mud puddles, steep ups and downs were challenging for me, but with the help of my great friend, the electric bike-assist, I didn't exactly keep up but made it. The more difficult of the two trails we were biking was behind me, or so I thought. The following day we did another Tsali trail, Right Loop, that some campers had told me was much easier. They were wrong. It was much harder. It was steeper, narrower, rockier and rootier. There were narrow ledges you rode past, steep switchbacks with water and mud at the bottom you splashed through and even a little ledge you jumped over. For experienced mountain bikers it would probably be considered intermediate if not easy, but it was a bit much for me. We passed the first bailout but by the second one, I was more than ready, and maybe David and his cousin were too. It wasn't a piece of cake either, but we made it.
The morning of our departure we went up a long, steep, winding, rutted dirt road to the site where David's cousin plans to build a house on top of a mountain where expansive views of the Smoky Mountains greet you in every direction. It will have a lot of glass, so you can see the views through it.

We left Bryson and drove to Ocoee Whitewater Center in Tennessee and rode Tanasi trails. Well, actually, I followed David up a steep fire trail about a mile and then turned around and found the much friendlier Rhododendron trail, which follows the Ocoee River and was much more to my liking--few rocks, almost no roots or steep hills and beautiful scenery. I took my time and even took some photos.

 Meanwhile David was trudging a couple miles uphill to the Thunder Rock Express where he went barreling down an advanced downhill run, brakes fully engaged, testing his limits. The next day his arms hurt from clutching the handlebars so tightly. When he got back to the trailer I asked him if he liked it. "It was different. My curiosity is satisfied." Mine too. We drove another hour and a half to Chattanooga and arrived at our campground just before 7pm.