FARTHER SOUTH

While still in Illinois, we started feeling the effects of Hurricane Helene with wind in the 40 MPH range and lots of rain.  No flooding where we were, but we did see some of the local creeks swell and spilling over their banks.  It rained pretty solid for 3 days before letting up some.  We managed to stay dry and see what we had intended on seeing.

In Kentucky we stayed in a nice Corp of Engineers campground (COE) in The Land Between The Lakes.  Formed when the Kentucky Dam across the Tennessee River was built.   The resulting lakes surrounded the high ground forming a 170,000 acre inland peninsula.  Approximately 110,000 acres are in Kentucky and 60,000 in Tennessee. Lake Barkley and Lake Tennessee are part of the Tennessee Valley Authority which provides power, flood control in addition to miles of river and lake fishing and boating. In my opinion, COE campgrounds are above the rest in the Federal Park system.  Clean, well maintained and usually scenic.  That campsites are spacious with plenty of space between you and your neighbor.

We took the scenic drive which travels the length of the peninsula taking us to a demonstration village set in the 1800’s. Most scenic drives in the east and south consist of a road or highway cut through the thick forest allowing you views of the trees.  Unlike the west, there are few grand vistas.  At HOMEPLACE the demonstration village, the buildings are original but moved there from other homesites in the area.  Not too many demonstrations going on being a weekday, but volunteers who were there answered all our questions.  Check out some of the building methods of the time.

We next headed to Eastern Tennessee to visit a friend.  The community where he lives was spared from hurricane damage, but many places within a few miles were devastated.  We made one more stop at DEFEATED CREEK, another COE campground. This one was a real gem right on another TVA lake.  We were disappointed that we would only be staying one night.  It gets its name from a Cherokee Indian attack on a group of settlers who were surveying the area and were run off by the Indians.

In getting to Eastern Tennessee, we abandoned the blue highways and jumped on the Interstate.  We noted that driving on blue highways was way better and less stressful.  After a month of avoiding the Interstate and now on one, we knew that blue highways were the way to go. We stayed 3 nights camped in front of Randy and Liz’s beautiful home in the Tennessee hills.  Randy and I used to work together back in the day.  We enjoyed catching up, telling war stories and reminiscing about our old partners.  We barely scratched the surface so perhaps there’ll be another visit in the future.

We took a little time away from the story telling, and attempted to pay a visit to Davy Crockett’s birthday place.  We soon discovered that a visit was not possible due to the flood damage it and the adjoining campground sustained.

Leaving Randy’s we again took the Interstate back to the west, landing in Nashville for a couple of nights for a resupply.  It is here where we will turn left and head to New Orleans.