Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Twelve Days of Vacation

(to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas")
On the first day of vacation, we weeded for our son
a rosy purple rhodendron.
On the second day of vacation, we weeded for our son
two bleeding hearts, and a rosy purple rhodendron!

On the third day of vacation, we weeded for our son
three nameless lilies, two bleeding hearts, and a rosy purple rhodedendron.
On the fourth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
four tiny iris, three nameless lilies, two bleeding hearts and a rosy purple rhodedendron.
On the fifth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
five towering pines;
four tiny iris; three nameless lilies; two bleeding hearts;
and a rosy purple rhodedendron.
On the sixth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
six pink Columbine
(and you can read backwards faster than I can write it out!)
On the seventh day of vacation, we weeded for our son
seven spikes of 'sparagras (etc.)
On the eighth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
eight fanning ferns (etc. etc.)
On the ninth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
nine little violets.
On the tenth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
ten greening beans
nine little violets, eight fanning ferns, seven spikes of 'sparagras, six pink Columbine (etc.)
On the eleventh day of vacation, we weeded for our son
eleven red-leafed somethings.
Ten ... nine....eight ....seven .... six ....
On the twelfth day of vacation, we weeded for our son
twelve dozen hastas!
Eleven red-leafed somethings; ten greening beans; nine little violets, eight fanning ferns; seven spikes of 'sparagras; six pink Columbine; five towering pines; four tiny iris; three nameless lilies; two bleeding hearts; and a rosy purple rhodedendron!
So, what that means is that
on the first day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground
a wicked-looking poison ivy vine!
On the second day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground
two piles of dog poop, and a wicked-looking poison ivy vine.
On the third day of vacation, we pulled out of the ground
three kinds of grasses,
two piles of dog poop; and a wicked looking poison ivy vine.
On the fourth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
four buckets of clover,
three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop, and a wicked looking poison ivy vine!
On the fifth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
five acres of dandelions,
four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop,
and a wicked looking poison ivy vine!
On the sixth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
sixty burdock bundles.
Fifty acres of dandelions, four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses,
and a wicked looking poison ivy vine.
On the seventh day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
seven leagues of weed vines.
Six ... five... four ...  (you know the routine by now!)
On the eighth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
eight miles of (Virginia) creeper.
Seven ... six ... (etc. etc.)
On the ninth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
eight slimy earthworms,
(etc. backwards again.)
On the tenth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
ten thorny thistles,
(you know the routine!)
On the eleventh day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
eleventeenth tiny critters.....
On the twelfth day of vacation, we pulled up from the ground
twelve multifloras,
eleventeenth small critters, ten thorny thistles, nine slimy earthworms, eight miles of creeper, seven leagues of weed vines, sixty burdock bundles, five acres of dandelions, four buckets of clover, three kinds of grasses, two piles of dog poop, and a wicked looking poison ivy vine! 
WOW, are we pooped!
Bruce and MarySue

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Athens County, Ohio

On Thursday we arrived at our favorite mid-western RV "park":the meadow above the home of our son, Joel.  He lives near Athens, Ohio and keeps this area mowed up for us whenever we tell him we're coming his way!

He has lived here for three years and is slowly transforming his little jungle into a pleasant and cozy country home.  Each time we visit we try to help him out with some of his on-going improvement projects.  This year, so far, it's been mowing, weeding, hauling off trash and putting up a protective structure for his wood pile. 


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

We enjoyed a pleasant visit with our friends, Keith and Joan, in Campbell County Kentucky.  Yesterday Keith took us on a driving tour of some of the sights of Cincinnati, Ohio and Newport, Kentucky.
View of downtown Cincinnati from Mt. Adams.
The Ohio River from Mt. Adams.  Newport, Kentucky is on the far side of the river and Cincinnati, Ohio, is on the near bank.
 Fountain Square, Cincinnati Ohio, the "Queen City."
The Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.  Built in 1931, Union Terminal had the capacity for 216 trains a day -- 108 in and 108 out.  After the decline of railroad travel, most of the building was converted to other uses, and now houses museums, theaters, and a library.
One of the mosaic murals in the rotunda of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
Another of the mosaic murals in the rotunda of the Cincinnati Museum Center.
The World Peace Bell in Newport, Kentucky, is one of more than twenty peace bells around the world. This bell, cast in Nantes, France, is twelve feet in diameter.
We also enjoyed seeing Cincinnati's two new sports stadiums, Eden Park, Kountz Conservatory, the Art Museum, and Newport on the Levee before raindrops sent us back home.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mysteries of the Natchez Trace

Today is our rest day as tomorrow our Nachez Trace Parkway travels come to an end.  We will leave natural beauty and highlights of American history behind and re-join the present day fast-paced world at Nashville TN.  The beauties of the Trace will linger on in our minds, but so will some on-going mysteries of that 444 mile long National Park.

For example, Bear Creek Mound pictured here was built about 1200 to 1400 A.D.  However, as early as 8000 B.C. the site was a village established by a nomadic people who were hunters.  Later peoples in this location developed limited agricultural practices and built this uniquely shaped mound as a ceremonial to house sacred images.  Who were these peoples of the various eras of history?  Are they the ancestors of the groups we mistakenly call Indians?  Or did they disappear completely?  If so, why?  How did they build and shape this large earthen mound without any construction tools? What was their worship like? Our minds were filled with unanswered questions.

A little further north on the Trace we discovered another unsolved mystery.  Here at the Tennessee River, in the early 1800s, George Colbert of the Chickasaw tribe built and operated an inn (called a stand by early travelers on the Trace) and a ferry across the river.  Colbert's Ferry was the only way to cross the river before bridges, such as the John Coffee Memorial Bridge pictured here, were built. 

Colbert provided an essential service to the traveling public.  However, he also took care of himself and his family.  In 1814, General Andrew Jackson was traveling south on the Trace, pursuing the Creek Indians who had assisted the British in the War of 1812.  He and his troops arrived at Colbert's Ferry and requested transport to the other side.  Colbert, sympathetic to the Creeks, informed Jackson that the toll for their trip across the river on his ferry would be $75,000!  That was big money in those days.  Where did "Old Hickory" get that much money without access to ATMs or credit cards? 

A dam was built upstream from the site of Colbert's Ferry some years ago.  It has transformed the Tennessee River into Pickwick Landing Lake pictured here.  George Colbert could really make a killing if he were still living, couldn't he?  
The old Trace hides one other interesting unsolved mystery.  Meriweather Lewis, Commander of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the west coast, was traveling north on the Trace in the fall of 1809.  President Thomas Jefferson, his close friend, had appointed him Governor of the Louisana Territory and he was on his way to Washington D.C. to do a final editing of his journals from that historic 1804 to 1806 expedition.
On the evening of October 11, 1809, Lewis arrived here at Grinder's Stand and made arrangements to spend the night.  The next morning, he was found dead in his room with a single gunshot to his head.  The proprietor of the stand had heard nothing during the night before nor was he aware of any other person coming or going during the night hours.  Meriwether Lewis was only 39 years old.  Was he a victim of murder or suicide?  That question has not been answered to this day,
Near Grinder's Stand there was a small burial ground.  Lewis' body was laid there as its final resting place.

In 1848 the state of Tennessee erected a monument in Lewis' honor at the site of his grave.  The question of whether his death occurred at his own hand or at the hand of a personal or political enemy will probably never be answered.



Thursday, May 19, 2011

Final Resting Places along the Trace

We continued our leisurely way northeast up the Natchez Trace.  As we illustrated with our pictures, yesterday's learning was the awesome power of the recent tornadoes.
Today's travels reminded us that, since the beginning of history, every generation of humankind has faced life's final challenge of death.  The human desire to be remembered after death has been expressed in various ways in different cultures.

A short walk along a tree-shaded section of the Old Trace brought us to the final resting place of thirteen Confederate soldiers.
Were they wounded in the nearby battle of Shiloh?  Did they die of disease and discouragement?  No one knows because their original grave markers were destroyed by the weathering of age.  These simple stones, erected by the state legislature, simply read:
"Confederate Soldier
Unknown"
But long before the Civil War, near the Natchez Trace was the final resting place of the dead of a much earlier Native American civilization. 
In order to honor and remember their dead, they erected, not grave stones, bui huge mounds of earth within which they buried the cremated remains of the deceased.  Although they lived a nomadic lifestyle, once a year they returned to the site of these burial mounds to remember those who had died.
Our resting place for tonight is here in Mississippi on Haynes Lake in Tishomingo State Park.  It is named for a famous chief of the Chicasaw tribe and is located near the Alabama state line, thirty miles south of Tennessee.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

New Travel Game

     Today we learned a new travel game. (Sorry, no pictures to illustrate it!)  The game is called "Construction Zone Chicken."  It's really not much fun to play but it is exciting.  And we WON the first time we played!
     The game, we discovered, goes like this.  I (MarySue) was driving north on the Natchez Trace Parkway (as we have been for several days).  The parkway is narrower than an Interstate so I was carefully spacing my wide truck and house close to the outside edge of the lane so as not to crowd traffic traveling in the opposite direction.  As luck would have it, we came to a Construction Zone where the southbound lane was being resurfaced.  The orange safety cones blocking off the work area narrowed our lane even more.  Several times the drivers' side outside mirror gently bumped the top of one of those cones as I tried to squeeze my wide load into a narrowing space.
      We were obediently following the posted speed limits and moving very slowly.  We approached the traffic control worker with the two sided sign: red on one side reading "Stop" and orange on the other side reading "Slow."  The "Slow" side was facing us so I slowed a bit more but didn't stop. 
       Creeping thru the one-lane area, I suddenly realized that a white car was coming toward me in the one lane that was open.  He had apparently driven past the "Stop" sign facing his direction and was now challenging me for the right of way!  He slowed, but kept coming.  I slowed, but kept creeping ahead until our front bumpers were just a few feet apart.  There we sat, staring at each other.
      I couldn't move out of his way because there was a line of traffic behind me and construction workers close on my left side.  Our stares became glares as we sat wondering who would move out of the way first.  I was twice his size and weight and, besides, I had obeyed the traffic warning signs and he had not!  So I wasn't budging. 
      Finally, after what seemed like a long time (probably about 2 or 3 minutes!) I propped my elbow on the window frame on the driver's side and leaned my head on it as if to take a nap while I waited.  He slowly backed up and let me through!  I couldn't see the look on his face as I drove past but I felt mighty proud at winning my first ever game of "Construction Zone Chicken"!

Storm Scars along the Natchez Trace

How we have enjoyed our travels on the Natchez Trace Parkway for the past three days!  Most of the time we have enjoyed the peaceful surroundings of forests, meadows and an occasional cluster of late spring wildflowers.
Yesterday, however, we began to notice trees down, some broken off, but many of them uprooted.  Today we found out why.
Around milepost 190 we drove into a swath of destruction such as we had never seen before!  Then we remembered the "Super Outbreak" of tornadoes that tore thru more than seven southeastern states last week, April 25 to 28.
Wikipedia reports that as many as 341 people may have been killed in that temper tantrum of Mother Nature.  Insurance estimates list damages of  $5.5 billion.  For over twenty miles we drove thru the chaos left in the wake of those storms.
Bare tree trunks, with their leafy branches twisted off,  pointed at the sky like pleading arms.  Fresh wooden debris littered the sideditches and shoulders of the road.  Huge whole trees, with root systems wider than we are tall, uprooted and lying helplessly on the ground like beached fish.  What an awe-inspiring demonstration of the power of nature!
.
 We were shocked and saddened by the sight of the scars left by the largest tornado outbreak in U.S. history.  But we, our trusty truck and home on wheels continued safely on our way north, thanking God for safety in travel!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Along the Natchez Trace Parkway

We continue our journey on the Natchez Trace Parkway -- a modern 444 mile two-lane highway from Natchez, MS, to Nashville, TN.   Maintained by the National Park Service the Natchez Trace Parkway parallels the old Natchez Trace.  

At first the trace was probably a series of hunters' paths that slowly came to form a trail from the Mississippi over the low hills into the valley of the Tennessee.   By 1733 the French knew the land well enough to map it and showed an Indian trail running from Natchez to the northeast.

By 1810 the Natchez Trace was the most heavily traveled wilderness road in the Southwest.  By 1820 more than twenty inns (locally called stands) were in operation along the Natchez Trace.
Frequent pull-offs along the Natchez Trace Parkway feature signs describing important historical places or events.
There are places where visitors can walk on the original Natchez Trace.
Foot and horse traffic on soft soil created places where the Trace is sunken.
We ended our day at the Ratliff Ferry Campground with a waterfront site on the Ross Barnett Reservoir.