Where the Wind Comes Sweeping Through the Plains

Arrived in Forrest City, AR after a long day because of construction and bad roads before and after Memphis. It is just a straight shot from Nashville on I40, but as you near Memphis the roads became very bumpy and construction had us down to stopping and starting making the trip a lot longer.

The RV park here is very nice. Small and no amenities such as bathhouses, laundry, but great internet and satellite TV.  The spots are large with nice green grass. There is a restaurant - Sawmill Café - right outside campground and grocery store, gas, etc close. Very nice overnight stay. Nothing to do in area, but convenient for a short stop.

Walked to Café for dinner. Typical buffet dinner with fried chicken, okra and tomatoes, cabbage, and dried out desserts. As we were leaving a local started a conversation with us - she could tell we were not - and talked and talked and talked.  She and her husband eat at the Sawmill Cafe often.  She recommended we visit a state park near the farm where she grew up.  Not much to do in Forrest City, AR. She was very nice, though.

Spent the next night at a KOA in Sallisaw OK.  OK park. Staff is nice. Not as pretty as some but fine for overnight.

We stopped for gas at Checotah. A man gassing up his truck asked Dennis about his "rig", where we had been, etc. Dennis asked him if he had an RV since he seemed to know a lot about them. He said he used to. Dennis asked him why he got rid of it.  He said, "The ex-wife got it in the divorce."….. Enough said.

We feel like we are almost home since coming into Oklahoma. Dennis grew up in Edmond and most of my

Parking lot RV Park but close to our stops

relatives were born here.

I know the other states are not another country, but seems like "our country" back in this part of the world.

Checked in at Rockwell RV Park in OKC. Dennis' brother and sister-in-law are here, too. We are visiting friends and relatives.

On Saturday evening had dinner with old friends, Jerry and Jerre Lynn, friends Dennis grew up with. Jerry was best man at our wedding. It was nice to catch up!

Sunday evening we all had dinner with one of Dennis's aunts, one of his cousins, and her husband.  We found out Dennis's cousin's husband grew up on a farm in western Oklahoma down the road from where a friend of mine in Sugar Land grew up!   It is amazing what you find out when you sit down and visit with people.

Monday we went to the Oklahoma National Memorial. It was the most moving memorial and museum we have visited on this trip -  and we went to the 911 Memorial in NYC. It was so well done and an experience everyone who is near OKC should do. Dennis's brother had walked through the memorial before but not done the museum. He said he was sorry he had not done before as it added so much to the experience.

The chairs in these photos represent the  people who died in the bombing. There are nine rows of chairs which represent the nine floors in the building where the attack happened. The chairs on each aisle represent those on each floor who were killed.  The large ones are adults and the small ones are children - there was a daycare center on the second floor. The chairs are lighted at night. The name of a person who died are on the front of each chair.  I saw a chlld's name on one of the smaller chairs and then inside the museum where there were items found after the bombing  I saw the same child's pink tennis shoe.  My sister-in-law and I teared up often.

Statue of Jesus outside the Memorial: Inscription "Jesus Wept."

Wall of children's tiles sent from all over U. S.

 Our daughter, that we adopted when she was 6 months old from Oklahoma, had a biological uncle and aunt who perished in the bombing. I was able to take a photo of their pictures with their names to send to her. It is part of her heritage and important and she was able to share with her children.

 

We visited with another of Dennis's aunts and another cousin in the afternoon. The older people know so much history of the family and are so glad to talk about it when we take the time to come to see them. We don't have many older relatives left and it reminds me to see and talk to them while we can.

Toby Keith's for Lunch!!!!!

Crossed over into Texas the next day!!! Almost home. 

Nashville

Arrived in Nashville in between rain showers. Checked in at the KOA.  It is very close to Opry Land and shopping Mall. Very nice park with paved spaces and enough trees to make it pretty.

Got set up then went to tour desk to ask about tours and places to eat. 

She recommended Nashville Palace - a bar type but has live music all day.

The food was OK with mostly fried. Also, we were offered all types of drink, but when I asked for ice tea she said we have sweet tea - just sweet tea. OK, so when in Rome…. I had the "sweet tea." Actually very good. Drank lots!

Entertainment was excellent. He sang Roger Miller, Tom T Hall among  other things and even cowboy music from Riders in the Sky!  We could have listened to him all afternoon.

Opry Stage

Saturday we went to Grand Ole Opry. Took a back stage tour. It was interesting to see the dressing rooms and history behind the Opry. The original building was in the Ryman Theatre. In 1974 the new building was built. A circle of wood from the original theater was cut out and placed on the new stage and became the performance circle. You can see the wood is a different color. Performers from the beginning until now performed in the same circle. During the tour we were able to have our picture made in that same circle!

Little Jimmy Dickens

Trace Adkins

During the performance Saturday night Little Jimmie Dickens surprised us with an unscheduled  performance. He was all dressed up in a western suit with sequins everywhere! He is 93 years old and still can sing! Trace Adkins was the key performer, but in between there were  a number of good acts.

Enjoyed being able to go to the Opry!!

Sunday we  went to the grocery store and to the mall to get some things for the grand-kids.  We actually cooked dinner that night: grilled fish, rice and sauteed spinach.

Our neighbors in the campsite next to us are from New Hampshire and are very nice. Have enjoyed visiting with them.

We hit the wall on Monday. Too much sightseeing, walking, etc. Spent the morning sitting around, then in afternoon drove over to "The Pickers" Nashville store. Small shop with lots of old stuff. Nice old motorcycles. The store is in an old warehouse - Marathon Automobile  factory. 

Jacket in The Pickers Store

Then it rained and rained and rained, all evening and night.

On Tuesday we rested again until the afternoon and then went for a tour of the Blackbird Recording Studio.  Our reason for going was actually to visit Dennis' cousin who manages an academy for sound technicians.  The academy is a part of the studio.  The tour was great.  Some of the biggest names currently in the music business record at this studio.  But most of all it was good to reconnect with family we have not seen in quite a while.

On Wednesday we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Saw the Ryman Auditorium and walked around downtown Nashville. Noticed LOTS of boot shops!! Most of them had a "buy one pair, get one free" sign in the window.  One of the shops had a "buy one pair, get two free" sign.  People must buy a lot of cowboy boots in Nashville.

Hee Haw's original set

Hank Williams suit

Earnest Tubb Record Shop

Eating lunch at the Acme Seed Farm Restaurant. Alan Jackson bought the building recently and re-opened the restaurant. Food was good.

Nashville has a shuttle bus that picks up at the KOA campground and drops off downtown then makes the rounds and picks up to return us to camp. It is a nice way not to have to drive and park downtown.  On the shuttle bus going back to the KOA we met another couple from New Hampshire who are camped at a Jellystone Campground not far from the KOA.  As it turns out, they come to the Texas Hill Country every spring and camp at one of the campgrounds in Kerrville that we like to camp at.  We spent the entire ride back comparing notes about the Hill Country and the area around Galveston that they also like to visit.  It seems to be a small world out on the road.

We enjoyed our time in Nashville and glad it was on the way home.

Tomorrow we head for our first stop on our journey to OKC.

Onward we go!

Ft Chiswell RV Park

While traveling to Max Meadows we stopped at a rest area. A college football team from North Carolina was stopped too. - Dennis had to wait in line this time for the restroom! It looked like half the team was ahead of him!

View from campground

Arrived safely at Ft Chiswell RV Park. Such a nice park with pull through sites. Temps have dropped and will be cooler for a few days. Will be a nice rest from all of the sightseeing we have been doing. 

Part of our "roughing it" was one night one propane tank ran out in the middle of the night and since the temp had dropped to in the 40's Dennis had to go out and switch to another tank.

Planned to stay here two nights but rain storms came up and we decided to stay an extra night here.

This is the same campground we stayed in going East. It is the same as before. About 2:00 RVs start coming in, lining up to check in. The campground fills up. By 10:00 the next 3/4 leave and then it starts all over again. It is just far enough off the Interstate not to hear road noise but close enough for a stopover.

We made our reservations for the continuation of trip. Will head to OKC after Nashville to visit two of Dennis' aunts and some cousins.

We started this trip with a freezer full of food prepared at home: soups, casseroles, etc.

 Even camping you gotta do Fall!!

 We are now down to a chicken casserole, taco meat and a one pound package of hamburger meat. First night at Max Meadows was jambalya - so good on a cold night! I have not seen a dishwasher since the first of September. Somehow it does not seem to matter. Paper plates often, simple dishes, cooking out, and, of course eating out it does not take long to clean up.  We have also been using an RV size refrigerator. Have done fine with it. Makes you wonder why we feel we need a huge one at home…. Just thoughts while sitting in recliner watching "Xtreme RV's" on television!

 

We are now at Caney Creek RV Resort for 2 nights before landing at Nashville. Very beautiful park on Caney Creek. It looks like a river and we are camped backed up to it. Beautiful sunset.

 Beautiful view for dinner - sometimes is best with simple dinner by the water.

 And breakfast the next day! Great cook!!

We are now - except for Nashville coming up - on our rest and visiting part of the trip. Plan to visit relatives in OKC, camp with friends at Texoma and visit Tiffany and family on our final leg of our trip.

Williamsburg

We spent our first day here resting up from long day before. Did laundry and walked by the river. Weather today was cloudy with spells of light rain and high 70. Part of the day we sat by the river reading - beautiful views.

In the evening you could hear the rain on the roof of the RV. Very relaxing!

 

We started our second day getting my hair cut and colored (you gotta keep up). Dennis went to visitor's centers at Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg while waiting on me and got info on stuff.

We then went to Colonial Williamsburg and walked through the streets. They have a shuttle bus from visitor's center to all the stops and back.

At the court house an actor read the Declaration of independence in costume. I don't remember from history class it being that long but it was very inspiring.

 We went into several buildings and businesses to see the way people lived in Colonial times.

We watched some shopkeepers making silver, shoes, cooking and apothecary meds used during the day.

We had an interesting tour in a coffee house - even serving coffee, tea or chocolate!

 

Looking for a place for dinner on the way back to camp, we found a restaurant on the York River in a marina. Nice to sit and relax with the boats in the background. Dennis had a good lobster roll and I had shrimp and crab quesadillas. Excellent!

The next day was spent in Jamestown. On the way got an oil change. Even on vacation when you are gone for a long time you have to do certain maintenance if you want to make it home with everything in working order……

Jamestown museum was good and then we did a walking tour of the settlement - reenactment. Very good tour guides telling the story and showing us the Indian Village as well as Jamestown Settlement.  We could have spent a lot more time here.

Then to Williamsburg Winery and tasted some good Virginia wines.

Grocery stop for milk, etc then back to camp with a gourmet dinner of Food Lion fried chicken and potato salad…. Sometimes just too tired to fine dine!

Returning to Colonial Williamsburg the next day, we enjoyed tours of Governors Palace and Capital building all led by costumed actors telling the story.

We went to a colonial dance instruction class and learned how to dance two country dances. It was fun learning the same dances I had watched in Pride and Prejudice!

  

We ate lunch at the King's Arms Tavern - great food with a man playing the lute while we ate.

 

Came back to camp and sat by the river reading to rest our poor legs and feet. There is so much walking and stairs, but thankfully the shuttle bus helps out.

Our final day in Colonial Williamsburg was Friday and we finally have the bus and layout figured out. We went to the parish church and saw the pews where George Washington and other forefathers sat. Their names were on the pew.

We also toured the museum.  It is where the original sanatorium for mental patients was. It is scary to see how they "treated" them. 

The other floors house artifacts of the colonists.

Martha

We heard a very nice concert of music in the 1700's, had a tour of dishes used in colonial times and Martha Washington gave a talk on how she met George and their years before he became to be president.

We had a nice lunch and a $5.00 cupcake! - it was tasty!!!

It would not take much time just to walk around the old city but it takes days to do all the tours and talks that bring to life the colonial times and events that happened here.  It is a must see and do if you are interested in colonial life and the founding of our country. In about 30 miles including Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown you can experience the beginning and the end of the British Colonies in what is now our country.

Now on to Nashville. We will take several days getting there so we will be rested and ready to take on another city.