Thursday, August 11, 2016 -- Daniel Boone National Forest

Another night going to sleep with the sounds of a chorus of night insects and tree frogs.  We left the Cumberland Falls campground and drove a half hour through some poor rural areas northwest to the Natural Arch area in the southern section of the National Forest.  The Daniel Boone National Forest (formerly the Cumberland National Forest) runs from southern Kentucky border northeast almost to the northern Ohio border.

Natural Arch from the Lookout

We stopped and walked to a pretty overlook of the arch and then I hiked down and out to the base of the arch and then completely around it - a very pretty walk, but the uphill return in high humidity was not so much fun.

A colorfully diseased Maple leaf on the path

The Arch as I got close to the base

The side of the arch

After passing under the arch, the view from the far side

The patch around the back of the arch

Interesting pure white fungus

About 3/4 way around the back of the arch

Pretty groundcover alongside the trail

The humidity has been in the 90% range for the last few days and although not as hot as Charleston, still quite uncomfortable in the middle of the afternoon.  Luckily we have found campsites with electric so we can relax in the AC during the worst part of the heat.

After the Natural Arch hike, we drove east just north of the small city of Corbin where Colonel Sanders started his signature fried chicken in 1941.  He also had a motel and cafe that served breakfast, lunch and dinner before he decided to franchise his famous chicken recipe that was the start of an empire.

The Colonel's office

While looking at the mini museum they had, a local started telling us his grandmother was the tax collector and the Colonel asked for a reduction in property taxes, but she said she couldn't do that.  Didn't stop him from asking the next year and the year after that and every year he lived there, but her answer was always the same.  He ran for Senator, but lost the race, and according to this local, it was partially because of his reputation for foul language and was not Godly enough.

The original kitchen

After lunch we headed northwest to another part of the Daniel Boone National Forest called Laurel River Lake where we got a great campsite adjoining the marina.  Beautiful crystal clear water and popular boating lake with 200 miles of coastline.

Laurel River Lake

 

Wednesday, August 10, 2016  Cumberland Gap to Cumberland Falls

The driver side front wheel on this old truck in front of us wobbled so bad we were worried it would fall off!

Cool enough last night to sleep with windows open, with the roar of cicadas providing a soothing white noise.

We left Cumberland Gap campground and drove through the tunnel under the Gap where we then took a shortcut over the mountains west to stop at the Kentucky Welcome Center on I75 for additional information about Boone National Forest.  We became one in a long caravan of vehicles led by coal trucks moving between the coal mines near the top of the mountain and the train loadings at the base.

This road was full of hairpin turns up and down.  Often oncoming trucks had to back up to let another one get around the bend.

Pretty views from near the top of the mountain

Kudzu everywhere - we often saw just chimneys sticking up out of the kudzu.

Yukky tent caterpillars everywhere, too!

Dramatic outcropping in the distance

After we got through the coal trucking areas, we saw some poor Appalachian homesteads.....mostly mobile homes surrounded by the kudzu with trashed cars and junk everywhere.  A few small towns had buildings boarded up and the few that may have been open did not look viable.  I suspect this is one of the areas where the folks live that the media talks about that are angry and disillusioned with America and looking for political outsiders to make things better.

Cumberland meandering towards the Falls

After stopping at the Welcome Center that had no information about the Boone National Forest, we headed north and west to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park (within the Boone National Forest).  Got an okay campsite a few miles from the Falls.  After a nap, we drove to the Falls and spent time walking along the overlook.  These are considered the largest Falls (125 feet wide) east of the Mississippi after Niagara Falls.

A thoroughly enjoyable day with the interesting backroad mountain driving, rewarded with a beautiful waterfall.  Wish we could be here during a full moon as this waterfall produces a Moonbow - the only one in the Northern Hemisphere.

Welcome to our Summer 2016 RV Trip, Part II.  The Doctor has okayed my traveling after ear surgery, so we decided to get away from the Charleston heat and humidity for the next few weeks.

We left home Sunday afternoon and drove west on I26 straight to the North Carolina mountains for some cooler, drier air.  We stopped for the night at a great Pisgah Forest campground just outside Asheville.  Nice private campsites, a lake and cooler weather -- perfect!  We had already toured the  Biltmore Estate in Asheville, so we decided to just look into some of the fabulous art and craft galleries - we spent more than an hour exploring the New Morning Gallery - fabulous pottery, metal sculptures and furniture....  although we saw many items we wanted, Jack decided on their signature item - a beautiful hand-thrown pottery large cup and saucer to make crispy bacon in the microwave....we will see.

After lunch, we drove northwest on scenic Route 25E through the Great Smokey mountains to the Cumberland Gap and found a nice campsite in the Cumberland Gap National Park campground.  Met a wonderful couple in the campground who were in their 80,s and had been sweethearts since the 5th grade!  That may even rival some of our family and friends who have been married for-EVER!

This morning we drove to the visitor center and viewed the two movies they showed about the Cumberland Gap.  One highlighted the history (famous for Daniel Boone establishing a trail that westward immigrants could follow) and the other was "geophysical" about how the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Gap were formed.

I hiked a short, but pretty wooded, trail up to the saddle of the Cumberland Gap where Daniel Boone and 300,000 immigrants had gone before me in their quest to find the rich Kentucky farmlands west of the forbidding east coast mountains.

We next drove up a restricted road to Pinnacle Point (guess how long our RV is?) 

Pinnacle Point gives a view of three states (okay, Friday Trivia folks, we have to remember this) Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Beautiful views from the pinnacle included lakes and the three states.  

The Cumberland Gap has been restored by moving the major highway through a tunnel built in 1996, allowing the National Park to let the Cumberland Gap trail revert to close to what Daniel Boone would have established in the late 1700's.

Thursday, June 2: Connecticut's "Quiet Corner"

Woke to another beautiful day - clear skies and 64 degrees.  We headed north to Norwich where we caught route 169 that runs through northeast Connecticut, known as the Quiet Corner.  Small towns, many from the 1600s with regal old farmhouses, old-fashioned barns, rolling hills, unbiquitous New England stone walls and beautiful spring-flowering shrubs and trees.

Rhododendrons in purples, whites, and dark reds everywhere!

We stopped at a National Historic Site in Cranbury where Prudence Crandall allowed a black girl to enroll in her Girl's Academy in 1833 that was teaching not only the typical female curriculum of sewing and music, but foreign languages, history, geography and other courses similar to male academies.  White Parents quickly removed their daughters, so Prudence enlisted the help of both white and black important men throughout New England for their support for a school for non-white females.  Connecticut quickly enacted a law saying it was illegal for blacks to come to Connecticut for education, but Prudence continued her school.  The school was violently attacked and she finally had to close the academy, even spending a night in jail.  She eventually moved to Kansas, continuing her teaching and working for women's rights.  Fifty years later, the Federal Government apologized for her treatment by granting her an annual stipend.

   

We diverted from the scenic route to visit an old fashioned, unadulterated diner in Drayville called Zip's Dining Car. Jack had a great turkey dinner and I had a BLT - my favorite diner food from my teenage years! Reading the history of the diner I had to laugh when I saw it had been shipped there in the 1950s from Elizabeth, New Jersey. For those who do not know, Jersey is The Home of The Diner - a shiny aluminum shell housing a long counter with stools and booths along the opposite wall. The 60's brought the innovation of jukeboxes at each booth - one of the greatest things to happen to a teenager!

Continuing north on scenic Route 169, we arrived in Woodstock, near the Massachusetts border.  We visited the grounds of the Rose Cottage - a beautiful old home with pretty gardens.

Interesting carved chimneys

Beautiful Formal Gardens

We are staying the night at a campground in Woodstock that has a large private lake for catch and release bass fishing and a separate area for swimming with a sandy beach.  We are enjoying the great weather today and the forecast for tomorrow is rain.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016--Connecticut

Jack and I shared a wonderful lunch with his childhood friend, Marc Goldsmith and his wife, Terri.  Lots of shared memories for the men and Terri and I got to know to each other...a very special day.

After lunch, we drove Route 1 through old-time Connecticut towns along the coast, then north through Lyme and to Devil's Hopyard State Park.   A small campground, no facilities, but a pretty little waterfall nearby, called Clapman Falls.

2016 Summer Trip Begins

After spending two weeks visiting family in North Carolina and New Jersey and enjoying a soccer game, sewing lessons, childhood cardgames and a lot of baseball games, Jack and I headed north today into Connecticut in heavy traffic and terrible roads, but it was all worthwhile when we stopped and enjoyed a campsite in a beachfront park on the Long Island Sound.

 

Our ultimate destination this year is Newfoundland, but we will take a week or more to meander up the New England coast and on into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia where we will catch a 6-7 hour ferry up to Newfoundland.

And so our 2016 adventure begins...

Home Again!

Our First Trip to Alaska in 2003

2015 brought us a spectacular trip from South Carolina to Alaska and return.  We were fortunate to revisit some favorite places from previous trips and do many new things - like flying to Denali and landing on a glacier, watching the grizzlies fish and eat their salmon, and let's not forget getting Hydercized!


Some 2015 trip stats: 

States:  11 from SC to Canada
             16 from Canada to SC
Provinces
& Territories:  3
Miles:  over 14,000
Propane:  3 tankfuls
Diesel:  935 gallons (luckily it was cheaper than regular gasoline in most places)
Good health was enjoyed by the RV and The Pitts throughout the trip - priceless!

Click Map to see our route across the United States, up into Canada and Alaska (green line) and our return (orange line).

We are so fortunate to be able to make these trips and they are much more special when we can share our journey through this blog with family and friends.  Thanks for vicariously taking this trip with us.

Safe Travels Everyone!