Week 5 & 5 1/2 - Still in 'Bama

We arrived in Noccalula Falls Alabama to 90 degree weather and loads of sunshine.  Didn't arrive under the best of circumstances - I had a small incident (as the police called it) with the RV.  I tried to pull into a gas station with a driveway that went up a hill and the tow bar was too low and stuck into the road.  Traffic had to be stopped and they had to tow us backwards about 3 feet to get the tow bar out of the asphalt.  Few cosmetic issues with the RV, but fortunately nothing structural.  As we've met people along the way, we've learned that this is the norm when driving a RV, and that we should expect these things to happen!  We've heard some amazing stories.   But why oh why was I the one driving!

So, onto better things.  The falls are pretty and are named after an Indian pricess who jumped to her death after being forced to marry in her tribe (her statue is behind me in the picture).  The falls are owned by the City and they had a great little park with old buildings, a train that drove you around the area and a mini zoo.  We thought we heard a lion roaring when we were at our campsite!



We spent 2 days at a bluegrass festival in the Horse Pens 40 area.  The setting was awesome and the rocks helped with the acoustics.  Some bands were great and others shouldn't have shown up.

Back behind the stage area are great hiking paths, with tunnels, beautiful flowers, a stream and loads of rocks for climbing.  Young people were walking with these huge cushions on their backs, much like a backpack, but maybe 3 x 3 x 2.  We had to ask what they were, and found out they wear them so that when they're hiking on the rocks and take a tumble it doesn't hurt as much.  Seems to us that the cushions would make the climbing harder.  When we went through the entrance, which was a tunnel between rocks, Greg was inches away from stepping on this huge 4 foot gray and black snake.  He never saw it and when I screamed, he jumped ahead and it slithered away.  Needless to say, he kept his eyes on the ground after that.  Really nice area.


Lookout Point - views were awesome



Hercules?

 

Slim Pickins - down 10 lb.!
















We spent one afternoon at a "Save the Tigers" refuge.  There were numerous wild animals that people had tried to raise on their own and when they got too large had to get rid of them.  Really nice place and certainly a good cause.

Our next stop in Alabama was in Rogersville (Joe Wheeler State Park), which is close to Huntsville.  Weather was hot and humid and the second night we were there we had another tornado scare and had to seek shelter in the restroom again.  This is getting to be the norm.  Fortunately it passed by quickly and we had no damage.

We spent an afternoon at the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville which was cool.  Great museum showing the history of space exploration as well as some of the actual rockets and many models of the real things.  Fun, hot day.

Another day was spent at the Botannical Gardens which were pretty, although many of the spring flowers had already died off. 

We rented a pontoon boat for 2 hours and cruised around Wheeler Lake and the Tennessee River.  Turns out Greg was quite the pilot.  We met a couple in the laundromat the very next day and they mentioned how bad the waves were on the river and lake and that only experienced pilots should have been out.  Who knew?    They ended up inviting us to their place to fish, but since Greg isn't a big fisherman, we begged off.  We were able to do some hiking in the State Park which was great.

We went to The Hot Air Balloon Festival in Decatur, which was really our main reason for coming to this part of Alabama.  It was held in this awesome park and there were thousands of people on the lawns with blankets and chairs having picnics and just enjoying the day and watching the balloons.  They had rides for kids, food booths, an arts and crafts show, tractor pull, and car show.  There were 24 balloons and we arrived when they were doing tethered rides and balloon glow (it was getting dark).  Really wonderful event.

Sadly, we are leaving Alabama and heading to Nashville.  We loved the campgrounds here, the extremely friendly people and the outdoor activities which were everywhere.  We will be coming back here some day to check out the Gold Coast which we hear is great. 

Week 4 - Alabama

I've gotten way behind due to lack of WiFi, so two weeks are coming at you quickly.  The weather is finally hot and sunny, and Alabama has been great.  Unfortunately for those that live here, the tornadoes have been devastating.  We drove through 2 different towns and couldn't believe the disaster.  It is one thing seeing it on TV, but another witnessing it.

We arrived in Double Springs, Alabama to a fabulous campsite along a lake and enjoyed our traditional Friday night martini.

Our goal here was to spend 5 days hiking through Bankhead National Park.  Unfortunately a tornado had gone through the Park and many of the trails were closed.  We found enough to satisfy us, but the experience was definitely a little different than we expected.  It seems that natural disasters are following us.

Dismals Canyon, was a gorgeous area where we hiked.



Crazy bridge we had to cross built on fallen tree



We then went to another area with a great waterfall and then to the Natural Bridge.  This Bridge is the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies and was pretty cool.  There was a really nice nature trail along a babbling brook.

Natural Bridge - maybe hard to tell that it's natural



View from directly underneath

















We stumbled upon the Ava Maria Grotto, which is a site where a Monk named Joseph built miniature buildings, mostly religious, but some just whimsical.  They are in a park like setting, with natural rock all around..  It was amazing and beautiful.  Here a few samples of his work.

Everyone here has been so friendly and it's making us miss home less.  Alabama is beautiful and definitely a place to return as bluegrass is plentiful.  Our next week will be spent at a different location, and we will be attending several festivals. 

We had to see the latest super heroes movie -Thor, and found a funky little theatre in a neighboring town.  It's fun to do normal every day living in towns and not pass through as a tourist.

A month has passed way too quickly.  I miss my dishwasher as the one named Greg is often not available!

Week 3 - Still in Memphis

This flooding is crazy as I'm sure you have all seen on the news.  The Mississippi is now 3 miles wide, when it is usually 1 mile.

This has been a busy week for us.  We took a boat ride on the Mississippi River which was eerie.  The river is now a huge lake, so you can't tell what's underneath you, and you are riding beside the tops of the trees.

wow

high waters on the Mississippi

Greg ready for the boat ride

We spent a day at the Memphis Zoo, which was a great zoo (we are zoo people).  Lots of nice cages for all the animals and we got to see them feeding the polar bears and the panda bears which was cool.  Never saw grey wolves in a zoo, but they had four.  Fun day.

Spent another day at a Greek Festival.  Let's say it was interesting food, although the pastries were to die for so we had to buy a sampler package to take with us.  Lots of fun music and dance.  Who would have thought Greek in Memphis.
We drove down to Clarksdale Mississippi which is a small town with big blues.  Spent the day at a small blues festival with some great bands.  If we lived here, we would be attending these festivals which occur every weekend - amazing.

We didn't have Graceland on our list, but when in Memphis........   Turned out to be an interesting stop.  The mansion isn't a mansion by today's standards, but the rooms were decorated nice and the grounds were pretty.  Nice museums giving a lot of Elvis history which was good for us since we never followed his life.

Living room - peacock stained glass - beautiful

Guess who?

TV room - great colors

Gravesite - right on Graceland property

We went to the Memphis Redbirds AAA baseball game since the stadium is right in town and a few blocks from Beale Street.  Awesome stadium - even served Yuengling beer.  Great seats right behind home team dugout.  We even brought them a winner.  Here are some pictures of Beale Street at night.

 
Jackson Browne was in town at a local theatre, so we went there after first sampling some great southern fried chicken.  We love this town!  The good music and food are never ending.

Last day here was spent at the BBQ Festival which was what we were waiting for.  It was moved to the fairgrounds because of flooding and was huge - biggest one we ever attended, but very different from those at home. Unless you knew the folks BBQing, you couldn't sample anything.  We had to walk around watching everyone partying.  We did join the Peoples Choice and sampled many kinds and then cast our vote.  I am addicted to BBQ pork nachos.  All the booths had great names like "Pigfather", "Pig Fiction", "Pigapaloosa" and many more.  Here are a few pictures.

Our Favorite

Week 2 - Memphis

Wow, the worst storms and flooding in 80 years and we managed to get in the thick of it.  We arrived to a sunny day in Memphis and spent the afternoon and evening on Beale Street.  Very mini Bourbon Street for those of you that have been to New Orleans.  Great bars and music, so good times.  The Beale Street Music Festival was held the next 3 days and fortunately the first 2 days were sunny and nice. There were 3 Major stages, one tent and one very small stage all in a park that is beside the Mississippi River.  The river is so high it is frightening.  We are staying here so long because the Barbecue Festival is in 2 weeks, but they now know the river will be flooding the park and will have to relocate or cancel the festival.   Grrr



Greg in front of one of the major stages



Really small stage, but great band




A new group we really liked - Amy Levere



On Sunday, the last day of the festival, we showed up in the afternoon since the rain had stopped.  We had just gone through security when the tornado warning sirens started wailing and we had to leave.  Sat in the parking garage for awhile and then since it was still raining, headed back to our campground.  Major winds had gone through and limbs and branches were everywhere.  Tents were ripped to shreds and laying all over the place.  The wind was so strong that it blew the braces we place in front of our tires out from under the tires.  We lost our electricity for about 6 hours and the storms kept coming.  We had to move our campsite the next day as ours was underwater by about 3 inches.   Fortunately only one more day of storms and then hot, sunny weather.