Bouncing from Spring to Spring

Location: Montauk State Park, MO

Missiouri is one of the most naturally beautiful states. We decided to spend the next 4 days exploring more of Missouri. Today was all about driving the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. In 1964 Congress authorized the 134 miles of rivers as the first national scenic riverway. Significant for its scenic, free-flowing Current and Jacks Fork Rivers, its caverns and its high volume springs, how could we pass this up?

 

Mid morning we arrived at Bollinger Mill and covered bridge. There was a 90% chance of rain today. I don't know how we've managed to luck out this trip, but as seemed the norm, it stayed dry most of the day. Feeling very blessed. The humidity, of course, is off the charts!

We arrived a little before they opened and were entertained by a group of boys in a blow up swimming pool, that they were using as a raft, horseing around in the water. They were just a little ways from the falls and kept throwing each other out of the raft and swamping each other. It was the essence of summer.

This is also one of the 4 covered bridges in Missouri.

The next springs we visited were Big Springs. OMG - the colors, the mist floating above the water, and the amazing volume of water bubbling out of the ground made it seem more like a Disney exhibit than something natural. This is the clearest water I've ever seen!

280 million gallons of water a day, enough to fill up a football stadium in 33 hours, pours out of this spring! It is the largest freshwater sping in Missouri and one of the largest in the U.S. I swear we haven't altered any of these pics. Just so ridiculously gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

Continuing up the Current River, we explored an off shoot called Jack's Fork. We had visited this spring and mill several years ago and were looking forward to seeing it again. Yep, Alley Mill is even more beautiful than we remembered.

 

Can you believe these colors?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took a short hike around the grounds. They discovered an Indian arrowhead here that was dated from about 12,000 years old! Looks like we're not the only ones to appreciate this area. Here's Ned next to one of the caves.

Continuing along the Current River we next visited Round Springs. While quite beautiful, its volume and colors just can't compare to Big Springs or Alley Mill and springs.

 

 

 

 

I just love hanging out and enjoying the country feel of Missiouri.

Our final stop of the day was Montauk State Park, the headwaters of the Current River. We visited here about 5 years ago and have always listed this as one of our favorite State Park in the country...that's saying a lot! When we arrived, as luck would have it, the skies opened up and boy did it pour! This didn't give us any opportunity to explore the park, but it sure helped pick out a campsite that wasn't under water! Here's a picture of the Current River with the mist rising above it. Taken after dinner when it was just drizzlin.

 

We decided to have dinner at the "lodge". It's a step back in time for sure, circa 1960's. Ned had the local trout and I had Ozarks catfish. Montauk State Park is quite picturesque, with the mist rising from the river, lots of fisherman in full garb - hip waders, vests, and reels and lots of Amish families with traditional clothing and bare feet.

This is our 7th cross-country roadtrip and we have things pretty much down to a science as far as organizing things. The one thing I'm always battling is no ccounter space, literally none. Ned tonight came up with a brilliant solution. He turned a cutting board into a detachable extra shelf. Did I mention how much I love this man?!

We're really looking forward to biking and hiking this park tomorrow. Fingers crossed for good weather!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Mighty Mississippi

Location: Trail of Tears State Park, MO

We tried to find the most obscure roads to get from Tennessee to Trail of Tears State Park in Missouri. We knew we'd be crossing thru 4 states today and driving where several big rivers converge. Fun! We ended up taking the history trail through Tennessee. We passed by several old ore furnaces used during the Civil War.

 

Ned suggested we stop into Fort Donelson in TN and what a good choice it was! Fascinating Civil War history. This is where Ulysses S. Grant won his first big victory and earned the nickname "Unconditional Surrender Grant." The battle that took place here was instrumental in the South losing the war. The Union took control of several important waterways, thus controlling the shipping lanes and enabling them to takeover Nashville. We really enjoyed the Visitor Center/Museum and the movie explaining all this was awesome.

As we were touring the battlefield and National Park, as luck would have it, a huge barge came drifting down the Cumberland River on its way to the Ohio River. I just love this shot of Ned standing next to the mammoth cannons with the barge slowly making its way up the river.

This river (Cumberland) feeds into the Ohio which converges into the Mississippi. Really gives you a perspective on just how mighty the Mississippi is!

 

This spot was so gorgeous we decide to have a picnic lunch here. Nevermind it was 99 deg. in the shade.

We took the trace thru Land Between the Lakes and crossed into Kentucky. (So far this trip we've seen two beavers run across the road. One in Cherokee and one today in Kentucky. Pretty strange, I wish I had caught them on camera.) We crossed onto the Southern tip of Illinois at Fort Defiance near Cairo where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers converge. Here's exactly where we are on the map! Pretty cool!!

That's the Ohio River on top and the Mississippi River on the bottom.

 

 

This is also the place that Lewis & Clark camped out for 5 days in 1803 teaching each other how to use a sextant for celestrial navigation and surveying before they took off on their big trip.

 

 

 

 

 

Fort Defiance from Debi Russell on Vimeo.

Dang...the power of these two massive bodies of water converging is impressive! Here's our first attempt at posting a video on the blog. Hope it works!

We continued up the Great River Road (GRR) along the Great Mississippi, finally crossing over into Missouri. We really enjoyed exploring the town of Cape Girardeau. Like many towns along the Mississippi River they have a huge river wall to protect the town from flooding. What this town did that was unique was paint several murals alongs the wall depicting the towns history. It goes on and on for several blocks and is quite impressive!

And another close up of one of the murals. This one is depicting when President Taft came to town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ned along the wall reading about the murals

We're camped tonight right ON the Mississippi River. We tried to camp here two years ago when doing the GRR Road trip, but it was completely flooded. The first thing Ned did upon arrival was hop on his bike and head down to the river. He's like a kid enjoying watching the tug boats push the barges upstream. It's going to be a lot of fun to hang out tonight and watch life on the river. The only downside is there's a railroad track about 10 feet from our campsite. Sure hope this isn't a working railroad! We talked to the campground host and he said that the river is expected to crest in two days and most likely they'll be evacuating the park.

 

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Cashing in on Nashville

Location: Montgomery Bell State Park, TN

We enjoyed the cool mountain air last night. It was a chilly 65 degrees with 75% humidity. We were used to it being in the 80's during most nights so this was a delightful surprise.

We decided to take advantage of the cool morning and go for a hike to Clingmans Dome. This is the highest point in the Smoky Mountain National Park at 6643 ft.

 

 

 

The last time we were here the visibility was really poor, in fact, we were almost completely socked in with fog. This time we were lucky and had a pretty clear day. Unfortunately, the pollution from nearby cities and coal-fired power plants still reduces the visibility.

 

 

Here's a picture of the observation tower at the top of Clingsmans Dome.

 

 

Some guy at the top had set up a Morse Code station and was clicking away. Pretty impressive to see how fast he was doing it too! We also crossed the Appalachian Trail. There were a lot of interesting characters up here.

On the Western side of the park we stopped by the Visitor's Center and took in a film. Things I learned: There are more species of trees in the Smoky Mountains than in all of Europe combined and there are more types of salamanders here than anywhere else in the world.

We spent the morning at the park and really enjoyed the sights, sounds and beauty of our nation's most visited National Park.

 

 

 

Leaving the pristine forest and entering Pigeon Forge is a bit of a shock. This side of the park is much more over the top with tourist attractions than the kitschy Cherokee side. You've got your rides, buffets, miniature golf, water slides and of course, Dollywood!

We passed on Dollywood cuz once you've been to Disneyworld there is no going back...haha.

 

 

 

They bring their coffee in by the truckload in these here parts...

p.s. what no milk tanker? I don't drink my coffee black.

 

 

 

 

By mid afternoon we were ready to sample some more 'cue. (We gained an hour so we were really hungry-ha!) So far this trip we've tasted Texas BBQ (brisket rub), Florida BBQ (a little bit of everything), Carolina BBQ (a mustard based sauce with a good rub) and now we're ready for Nashville BBQ. We heard about Martin's BBQ thru Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and it's won some contests so we thought we'd give it a try. The Redneck Taco comes highly recommended. What do you think Ned?

 

What exactly is a Redneck Taco you ask? BBQ (Ned opted for the brisket) on top of a cornbread hoe-cake topped with slaw and sauce. His two sides were beans and potato salad, along with my Texas toast.

I stuck with pulled pork, broccoli salad and my latest addiction, hush-puppies. Yum! So far we give Martin's BBQ joint the first place award. (We still have Kansas City BBQ tho, so stay tuned).

 

Our original plan was to visit the Johnny Cash Museum in Nashville. Upon arrival there was a bunch of crazy happening. Streets were closed down, bandstands were set up everywhere and there were thousands and thousands of people milling around in the heat. Turns out it was the last day of the CMA Music Festival. Jackpot!! We parked and became one of the thousands milling around. Only difference is I wasn't properly attired in my cut-off shorts, cowgirl boots and cowboy hat.

There were bands everywhere playing from one end of Nashville to the other. We saw Craig Wayne Boyd perform. He was last season's winner of The Voice. He was playing on the Riverwalk stage with lots of boats on the water watching.

 

 

 

While roaming the streets we ran into Corey White, one of the contestants of this year's The Voice. He was kind enough to stop and chat with us and let me take a picture with him. He's a really sweet kid and still very humble.

I also ran into Forrest Gump. Say what?! Life IS like a box of chocolates...you never know what you'll get.

 

 

 

 

We took in a couple more shows and even though there was a lot going on, we needed to escape the heat (it was well into the mid 90's) so we decided to duck into the Johnny Cash Museum afterall. Glad we did.

 

The museum featured everything Johnny you can imagine; childhood report cards, early recordings, costumes, movies that he acted in (some were really, really bad), every record album, and lots of June Carter things too. My favorite was watching a recording of Johnny Cash impersonating Elvis Presley.

 

 

 

 

The museum had a lot of interactive kiosks wherein you could listen (with headphones) from just about any Johnny Cash song recorded. I really enjoyed listening to the early years.

After a long day of too much fun, sun, music, and walking nearly 8 miles, we decided it was time to head for the campground. Montgomery Bell is a sweet campground, mostly built by the CCC. It's still hot, way into the 90's, so I'm mostly excited that there are lots of trees here and we scored a campsite on the creek. First thing we did upon arrival was go cool off.

After a bit I convinced Ned that what we really wanted to do was go ride our bikes and explore this enormous park. It has a golf course, hotels, conference center, etc. Well, we rode about a mile or so, hit a couple of really big hills and called uncle. What was I thinking?! It's still 90 and we're plum tuckered out. Next plan is to stick our chairs IN the creek and call it a day.

 

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Appalachia Hills

Location: Smokemount Campground, Great Smokey National Park

First things first: an update on last night's entertainment. Ned and I continued to float in the lake until way past sunset, almost 9:30. It was amazing to float in the warm water while watching a bald eagle soar overhead. Meanwhile, the bubba's kept working on rescuing the stuck trailer and car. Further reinforcements were called in, including a pick-up truck and two winches. Didn't seem to help much. Ned and I went to bed about 11ish and continued to watch the "Great Trailer Rescue" perched on our observation platform in Winnie. These guys were hilarious. Their final solution was to chop down trees, yes in a State Park, and then finally power 'er out. At one point they were in our campsite, all 4 vehicles' lights on, trying to locate their ropes, belts, winches, plywood, etc. Good times for sure. There was also a Russian Church Revival going on in the next loop. We were serenaded with Russian Church songs this morning. Here's their posted sign. On our way out we drove to the tent Revival area. They approached us, were very friendly, inquired if we were lost and then asked us to be on way. Sadly, we weren't invited to the revival.

We spent the morning enjoying our coffee while floating in the lake.

We continued into the Appalachia Mountains, on some really obscure roads, enjoying the cool mountain air and getting a respite from the 90 degree humidity. We passed through many mountain towns that were having their church revivals. We're still in Baptist territory with a few Pentecostal churches dotting the land. One of the church signs read "Our Sundays are better than Dairy Queens." (Mmm, are they sure? That Blizzard is pretty darn good!) Biggest excitement of the day..smoker fell out of the back of the pick up truck. I hate when that happens.

We eventually crossed back over into Georgia where the movie Deliverance was filmed. This area is stunningly beautiful, incredibly green and lots of rolling hills. Wish it was Friday night I would have loved to take in some Bluegrass Music!

We finally made it to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This park doesn't take reservations so we weren't sure we would be able to find a camp spot in the beginning of summer on a Sat. night. As luck would have it when we arrived there were a couple left. Here's me being a very happy camper.

 

 

 

After securing our camp spot we decided to do a little exploring of the park. First up was the Visitor's Center and then the living history village. They do a nice job of explaining the Appalachian way of life before the park took over their land. They've got hogs, the spring house to keep food cool, the blacksmith's shed, the apple house, the corn crib, meat house, main cabin and barn. Here's Ned in front of the corn crib.

We also took in Mingus Mill. We just missed seeing it in action by a few minutes, but were still able to tour the inside. We were impressed to learn that it had been built long ago, in three months, for a total cost of $600. It ground both cornmeal and wheat flour for the local residents.

 

 

 

 

We took a walk along the Oconaluftee River. Even tho it's not as humid as the low country, it's still pretty hot here, low 90's. It felt good to walk under tree shaded cover.

We thought about going swimming, but this mountain water was no Lake Strom Thurmond. A bit too chilly for moi.

We made a quick trip into Cherokee for supplies, but I just couldn't bring myself to do the touristy shopping thing today. There's only so many MinneTonka moccasins, Indian blankets and trinkets I can look at. Cherokee is technically an Indian Reservation and the Gateway into the Eastern side of the park and they sure do play up the Indian theme.

 

 

 

Princess pancakes anyone? Nothing says Indian quite like a buffet breakfast...or Indian tacos. We passed.

We opted for a quiet dinner home tonight. We're camped in the middle of a wide open setting. We figured it will be great entertainment as the evening wears on. After all the big RV's we've seen, it's nice to be in the tent section watching families interact, play ball and horseshoes, ride bikes, etc. Unlike the Russian Rivival Group, maybe we'll be invited to join in one of these games?

 

 

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