Gurley, Alabama

The Cris Craft Restoration Project

I didn't have the heart to subject you to another campground photo, so here is one of Cathy's projects.


Friday, May 11 -Cathy's - Gurley, AL - 43.5 Miles Today, 1441.5 For the Trip

Another short drive. The morning shower at the Fairview Campground was interesting - 49°F and an unheated bathroom. At least there was hot water, once I figured out that turning the faucet all the way to hot produced cold water - nudging it back a little made hot. It is amazing how fast one can dry oneself in 49°F weather!

I'm overnighting at a friend's house in Gurley, AL. Cathy was one of my students back when I was teaching theatre, although she was a music major. She was also one of our baby sitters, and spent a vacation with us in Nantucket. After graduation, she went to New Mexico for a graduate degree in engineering, of course! Anyhow, she has worked for Boeing for the last 15 years, some of which was on the Dreamliner project. She moves back & forth between here & Washington state.

While in Washington, she lived in a floating boat house & on her restored Chris Craft boat. The boat is now in the back yard here in Gurley waiting for a second restoration after a crane dropped it in the process of unloading it after hauling it across the country. Cathy does always have a project!

The plan is to leave tomorrow for Tupelo & a campsite at the Trace Campground. I made a reservation using Reserve America. I know many hate the site, but so far (knock on wood) I've only had good luck with them, although I have to admit I don't make reservations all that often. One thing I like about the site is that they have a campground map of every place they do reservations. I often use it to preview a campground before pulling in (without reservations) to choose where I'd like to be. Anyway, I'll let you know tomorrow how well it worked out.

Til tomorrow -

Fairview Campground, Winchester, TN

Yes, We're Back to Campground Photos!

Thursday, May 10 - Fairview Campground, Winchester, TN - 191.5 Miles Today, 1398 For the Trip

For the start of my second week I spent most of the day driving down US 231. I took a short jog east on US 64 to get to the Fairview Campground in Winchester, TN. I'm in site 78, Water & Electric for $20.00. You have your choice of sun or shade - because it is fairly late in the day I chose sun - somewhat more level sites & less sap dripping on the trailer & car.

I did hear on the news that the man on our tour didn't make it. I feel for his wife & family, although it is the way I would prefer to go - traveling rather than days or months in a hospital bed.

Fairview Campground is part of the TN State Park system. The sites are nice, with about 1/2 of them on the lake. The campground host said the lake is lower than normal which is why there are so few campers. It looks like a great place to spend some time. While the campsites are nice (although 30 amps, so the big guys might complain) the bathrooms are a little rough. Clean, but old. You know, there are lots of sites that have reviews of campgrounds that include photographs of the sites; I think I should start one that has photographs of the bathrooms! There sure is a wide range, and the quality, shower stall size, cleanliness, etc doesn't always follow the cost of the campsite. Then again, I know many RVers don't ever use the bathrooms anyway so it would probably make more sense for a tenting web page. Sounds like too much work anyway! There are more photos of the campground (but not the bathrooms!) on today's LakeshoreImages page.

I'm going to grill a pork tenderloin for dinner. Far too much meat for one, but I'll be able to make sandwiches for a day or two so it will work. It may be a bit difficult - the Coleman grill is not the greatest at producing a low temperature setting; I'll have to keep a closer eye on it than on my home grill.

Well, the pork tenderloin was a success, along with fresh asparagus. Not bad for a camping meal.

Till Tomorrow -

Mammoth Cave National Park, KY

Mammoth Cave, KY

Wednesday, May 9 - Mammoth Cave National Park, KY - 9.2 Miles Today, 1206.5 For the Trip

Definitely the lowest daily mileage of the trip. I'm in site 13 at Mammoth Cave National Park campground - $8.50 with the old geezer pass (to be more exact, the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior Pass). Beats last night a $36.00, although here there are no hookups. I don't really miss the hookups as long as I have meal plans that don't need the toaster oven, but there is also no Verizon data or WiFi available, at least at the campground. There is a pretty good AT&T signal so the iPhone is working. I did see a sticker stating WiFi was available at the visitor's center, so I'll try to post this after I process the cave photos after my tour.

The site is quiet, not too far from the bathrooms, and gets some sun for the solar panels. All in all, very nice.


I definitely need to stop wanting "interesting" tours. I had signed up for the 11:00 History Tour of the cave. I arrived at about 10:40 & there was a bus load of junior high school kids (maybe two bus loads - there were a lot of them!) Anyway, I thought about trying to trade in my ticket for the next tour, but a ranger came out and announced that they would break us into two groups, with the school group going first.

We started the tour about 15 minutes later with a great ranger. He had all kinds of stories about the cave, and the area, and told them well. Then the interesting part (and not "good" interesting). At the half way point there is a large amphitheater where everyone sits down for a break before the steep stair climbing to get out of the cave. Someone in the back row had what looked like a heart attack. The ranger called over the phone system for help, and for what seemed like the longest time we waited for help. There was a line of people doing CPR until the first ranger rescue team arrived. After that our guide stayed with the patient while a new ranger came to lead the rest of the group out of the cave. I hope he pulls through.

The cave is a "dry" cave, carved by water, however because the water is now running below the main cave level (most of the time) there are no stalactites or stalagmites in the sections we saw. You can certainly tell why it is called Mammoth - some of the rooms are bigger than many other caves.  More photos on today's post at LakeshoreImages.com.

After processing the photos I'm here at the visitor's center to post the pages.  Their network is a bit slow, but it gave me a way to post since there isn't any Verizon data coverage at the campsite. After that it is back to the campsite to make another "Bubba" burger for dinner.

Till next time -

Cave Country RV Campground, Site 16, Cave City, KY

I promise to have something more interesting that campground photos, at least for tomorrow!

Not too much in the way of mileage today - yesterday's stop wasn't all that far from the Mammoth Cave National Park. I'm in a commercial campground tonight since I want to try cooking my first "Personal Pan Pizza" and I need electricity for the toaster oven. Even the 1000 watt inverter can't deal with the 15 amps the Crusinart draws.

Yesterday ended with a mad dash to pack away the chair & fold the awning as a thunderstorm rolled in. It rained heavily for awhile, then off & on all night. Fog & drizzle on the drive to Cave City, but it cleared up nicely by 12:00 (which is now central time).

After setting up the trailer, I drove into the park. I was hoping to get a tour today, but all of the Historic tours, the one I wanted to take, were filled for the day. I made a reservation for tomorrow at 11:00. In a way that's good, because I wanted to stay in the National Park campground. Very pretty, shaded sites. I drove through on my way back from making the reservation for the tour & picked out a site that has a bit of sun (to keep the solar panels happy). The campground is almost empty - a few tents & RVs, but lots of open sites. I guess it is still early...

Anyway, the plan is to head over to the park in the morning (it is about 5 miles to the campground), set up the trailer & head to the tour. After that I'll explore some of the rest of the park.

I did dig out my camera GPS - when attached, it adds the location of the camera to the EXIF data attached to each image. If you have an EXIF viewer, you can see where I stood to photograph today's campground photo (only works with the large version of the image), at least if you look at the image at the LakeshoreImages.com page - Google strips out the EXIF info when images are transferred. Unfortunately, the signal from the satellites doesn't make it underground - no locations for tomorrow's cave photos ! I do have an extra photo for today - there is another fiberglass "egg" in the campground, a Casita a couple of sites down from me.

So, for the rest of the afternoon I'm waiting for the pizza dough to rise, and relaxing with a book. I'll let you know how it worked out.


Well I/m back. I have to say the pizza was OK, but not quite ready for prime time. First off, the dashboard of a warm car makes a great rising oven. In fact, almost too good - the dough was ready before I was. The toaster oven was set at 500°F, the same temperature I use at home in the standard oven. First problem - I use Crisco to keep the pizza from sticking to the pan. Since I didn't have any, I used olive oil. First, it made it very difficult to spread the dough, and second, it stuck!

As to cooking, it is usually done in 10 minutes in the full sized oven - in the toaster oven the top was done, but the dough could have used another 2-3 minutes. Not sure if changing the temperature will improve things; not even sure which way to go - up or down. I guess I'll still have to keep experimenting. By the way, for those interested, it is a vegtarian pizza - onions, mushrooms & peppers with my homemade sweet & sour tomato sauce that I developed for veal cutlet - works well on pizza.

Till Tomorrow!

Kentucky Horse Farm Campground, Lexington, KY

Kentucky Horse Farm Campground, Site 245, Lexington, KY

Monday, May 7 - Lexington, KY - Kentucky Horse Farm Campground - 274.2 Miles Today, 1064.2 For the Trip

I can now add Kentucky to my list of visited states. The last time I was in the state was on out 1996 trip. The Kentucky Horse Farm is a huge complex, with the campground only a part. Even so, the campground is huge, as well - 260 developed sites plus a primitive area. My site is # 245, a nice location with some shade (which is good since it is hot today (I know, I complain about the cold or the heat - I just want it to be 75°F everywhere!

I have been sticking to the interstates, something I don't usually do, but the choices coming across West Virginia other than I 64 were limited. I hope to use US 68 to get to Mammoth Cave tomorrow. Other than that, not all that much going on today. I'm sitting in the shade of a Hickory tree & my awning waiting for things to cool off before making dinner.

Till Next Time!