Sep 27, 2012 - Lenoir City, Tenn.

Okay, so remember what I said yesterday, well, forget it. We are not going to the Grand Ole Opry, probably not even going to drive by it. See, plans do change on a day to day basis with us. We are just spending one night in the Nashville area. We want to meet up with Roger and Monique in Memphis day after tomorrow. Today we roamed around the town and found it to be not to scenic. Reminded me of my town of Federal Way. No historic buildings, no statues, no plaques, no parks. Unless we drove down the wrong roads. Our main thought was "here...

Sep 26, 2012 - Tenneseee for a couple days

No pictures today. We were mainly on the road, in fact for 6 hours and it is getting harder to take photos when your target is whizzing by at 60 miles per hour. Actually, I lie, I did take some photos, but they were of half signs, tree in front of building, and a bunch of bug splatter on the windshield. We left West Virginia about 10:30 this morning and I must admit, it was difficult for both of us. Well, actually all three of us were crying like babies. Doris Ann is so sweet, and I fell in love with her kind nature. We will miss her very...

Sep 15, 2011 - Lenoir City TN

Another “not much” kind of day, but at least we weren’t still in Red Bay. We got on the road from Cornersville at about 9:30 and headed north on I-65 to I-840 around the SE side of Nashville, then east on I-40 to Lenoir City TN which is just west of Knoxville. The weather overnight was damp – it started raining and lightning about 10:00 and went on for a few hours so this morning dawned cloudy, misty and at times pretty breezy. Of course the wind waited to really kick up till we got on the highway. It was a bit challenging keeping the bus...

Aug 4, 2011 - OTRA - TN - Lenoir City

8/4/11 – Left at 9:30 on an overcast day. Easy drive along I-40. Added another name to my "weird name" collection ... the Frozen Head State Park (I can just imagine how they came up with THAT name!) Into the Lazy Acres RV Park around 12:15. There are a lot of contractors living here. Evidently this area had a huge hail storm in March or April and a lot of roofs were badly damaged so these guys came to the area (some with their families) to work. I think that's what's going to be happening more and more...people driving throughout the...

Nov 19, 2010 - Tennessee Hills

Amanda says: you sound more cheerful the past few days, is it because you are getting closer to the family that loves you best? I am cheerful when I feel cheerful! Randy says: think of boiled peanuts as mini-potatoes. Then they won't seem so weird. This would only work if either I was used to removing slimy skins from potatoes, or if the peanuts had no shells! Tennessee is quite a wide state to drive through, especially when you enter in the most southwest quadrant and depart through the most northeast one. We got caught up in a little...

Jun 26, 2010 - Day 13

Another day of driving. Not one of our better days - encountered a severe traffic delay and a considerable detour. Saw some nice countryside, however. We are just outside Knoxville, TN and we hope to make Pigeon Forge in the Smokey Mountains tomorrow. We are meeting Jean’s brother, his wife and perhaps his daughter and son-in-law for lunch tomorrow. They’ve driven all the way from Louisville, KY just to have lunch with us. Still hot and humid and we are hoping for some cool air in the Smokeys. As of today we’ve traveled 1,943 miles. Thank...

Aug 13, 2009 - Jeep Hard Top

From Caney Creek RV Resort, Harriman, 40 miles west of Knoxville, TN. I mentioned in a previous column that I was looking for a hard top for the Jeep, that the original factory soft top was beginning to show signs of needing to be replaced in the next year or two & that a hard top would provide much easier access to the rear cargo area. I had begun scouring Ebay for a hard top & had found a few that were within a reasonable (300-mile) driving distance. Shipping a top was out of the question due to cost & bulk. Knowing that a new top costs...

Jun 22, 2007 - Fri. - Shennandoah Nat'l Park

(Leaving: Shenandoah NP, VA - Destination: Lenoir City, Tennessee - 402 Miles) 06:30 AM We are up. We all get showers, get dressed, do some packing and then head to the dinning room for somw breakfast. 07:45 AM We get to the dinning room and have a very good breakfast. After breakfast, we visit the gift shop and buy a few things. 08:45 AM We return to the room, finish packing, load the van, check out and then leave. 09:30 AM We start out driving on the Skyline Drive heading south. 09:35 AM After a mile or two we stop at the trailhead for...