Upstate NY to Knoxville TN to New Mexico

[Tom&Shelly]

We made the trip back from Upstate NY to Albuquerque in the last two weeks in October. This time, we started the trip by going South to Knoxville Tennessee, mostly to visit some of Shelly's relatives, but also to see the best of Fall and to try and catch some warmer weather sooner. Our original idea was to go to Shenandoah NP and then take the Blue Ridge Parkway to Great Smokey NP. But a hurricane late in Summer shut down that route, so we chose a path through Central/Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Turned out well, and I think we caught the peak of the leaf season in many areas along the way.

The biggest challenge for us had to do with selling my family's home in Upstate NY, loading what we wanted from it into the Tundra, and also having our camping gear handy



No problem! We had the coolers in the back seat, paperback books everywhere they could fit, and a metal lathe somewhere way back there in the bed. We could have handled any emergency, but I'm glad we didn't have to; I don't remember where the tool box was, but it would have taken an effort to get to it! Incidentally, the reason I haven't posted this until now is that it took us nearly two weeks to unload the truck.

Our first stop was Prince Gallitzin State Park in Pensylvania



Pretty nice campsite and we saw some great color along the way. We spent the next day touring the Portage Railroad National Historic Site



Back in the early 1800's New York was busy building the Erie Canal, which brought commercial goods back and forth between New York City and areas West of the Alleghany Mountains. Pennsylvania wanted in on this commerce, particularly since they had Pittsburgh in the West and Philadelphia in the East. Their solution was to join two rivers/canals with a system of rails that could haul entire canal boats over a small mountain. Only lasted a few years before the railroads as we know them today (steam engines, passenger and freight service--well, we know them that way mostly from old movies, but still...) drove the Portage RR out of business. Time marches on, and so did we...

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Our next stop was a rustic campsite in Seneca State Forest West Virginia. We've driven through West Virginia several times with the teardrop but never had the opportunity to see anything in the state or even camp there. (It was colored gray on our map.) Wonderful campsite hidden in a valley between two tall hills



It made the temperatures interesting. Rather cold nights, in the low 40's that time of year. It got warm--to the high 70's--but only late in the morning and it dropped quickly in mid-afternoon. Since we had no shore power we couldn't use the coffee maker so I perked coffee on the propane stove. Not a big deal, except I'm proud to say I got it right that time! Just not enough practice to make it a certain deal. The campsite also has no flush toilets or showers. We were only there two nights so we didn't need to set up our shower tent (which is good--it was probably packed somewhere near the lathe).

As a retired electrical engineer, who had worked at an observatory for awhile in my nefarious past, the West Virginia tourist site on the top of my list is the Greenbank Observatory, not coincidentally just 15 minutes from our campsite



The Greenbank Observatory explores the universe through radio waves, much as an optical observatory uses light waves. Interestingly, radio transmitters over a certain power level are not allowed within a certain radius of the observatory, which is one reason there is no cell service at the campsite. Folks in that part of West Virginia (as well as nearby areas of Virginia) have no cell service, and have to use cable TV and cable internet. The reason is to mitigate interference with the low powered signals the observatory is trying to see.

The observatory offers a bus tour (led by a starving college student/researcher). Cell phones and digital cameras are not allowed past the visitor center on the tour. All phones were placed in a Faraday Cage on the bus.

After touring the observatory, we spent an hour or so in Cass WV, a nearby tourist stop (there is a railroad there, but we didn't ride it). Very windy* roads through the mountains in that part of the world, so folks towing campers be aware of what you are trying to do!

Tom

* The road winds around topographic features, it's not necessarily breezy. When we got to Knoxville, which also has roads you should respect if you are towing a trailer, Shelly's uncle called them "crooked". Not to be confused with certain politicians of any part of the world.

[Tom&Shelly]

We camped at Big Ridge State Park, in Eastern Tennessee, near Knoxville. I forgot to take a picture of the campsite itself, but it was nothing to write home about. We had nearby neighbors who, for some reason, had to decorate the one tree between us with LED lights. They were positioned so they couldn't see them at night, but we could. Oh well!

We did get this spectacular view on the way out our last morning



Shelly's aunt and uncle took us on a drive Southeast of the city, into the mountains



Looks smoky, just as advertised!

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

From Big Ridge State Park in Eastern Tennessee, we drove to Pickwick Landing State Park in Western Tennessee, on the Tennessee River.



We were going to stay just two nights, visiting the Shiloh battlefield on the off day, but the weather and park were so nice we decided we could use the break and stayed an extra night, spending the first day hiking in the park. The second day included some light rain, but it was still warm and quite suitable for touring the battlefield. If I were a Civil War soldier, I think I would have spent my time hiding behind the numerous cement monuments that always seem to be on these battlefields



When the park service took over the area, they built their buildings like a brick....they built them to last!



Seriously, it was the bloodiest battle of the war up to that time, and, ironically, was named after this log church ("shiloh" is a Hebrew word for tranquility)



There is a little picnic area near the church, and I was taken aback by this



I was surprised to learn that, in addition to the battlefield, the park includes some indian mounds, near the Tennessee river.



We took a ranger tour of the mounds in the morning, then went to see the battlefield. If you go to the mounds on your own, it's not signed correctly, but they don't want you climbing the mounds. (One exception is the mound with the wooden steps installed.) It's confusing because some civil war units buried their dead in the mounds, and there are metal signs on them commemorating that, and paths up them, and no signs forbidding climbing. But the ranger who gave the tour said they are trying to prevent further erosion.

We took the driving tour of the battlefield in the afternoon. Shelly drove, and I got out at every stop and took pictures of the scene and the placard. It really helped me make sense of the battle, which I failed to get from the guidebooks of the park or books on the battle itself. However, it hasn't stayed well enough that I could describe the action, other than the Union got kicked the first day, and then got reinforced that night and won the next day. Evidently, it's also where Sherman and Grant got to know each other, which would play later in the war. I do hope the next time I read about the battle, or see it in a documentary, having toured the battlefield will help appreciate the action a little better.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

From Pickwick Landing SP, we wanted to go to either Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, or one of the state parks nearby, but we didn't see any suitable open sites while looking online. So instead we spent two nights at Wooly Hollow State Park, north of Little Rock



Nice enough, for sure.

We drove into Little Rock, and toured the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. President Clinton has a penthouse on top of the building, complete with putting green. The docent told us he does come by from time to time and greets visitors. I'm glad he wasn't there the day we were though. I don't play golf, and this saved me the embarrassment of declining an invitation!

From there, we went to Lake Thunderbird State Park, just Southwest of Oklahoma City. Warm but windy the first night. We baked ourselves banana bread in a dutch oven when we arrived, but decided that was a bad idea, put out the fire as soon as it was baked, and ate cold sandwiches for dinner



The next day we drove into Ok City and toured the Cowboy Museum, a mix of real life and Hollywood Cowboys that would have seemed strange had we not found out that John Wayne had been on the board of directors. Anyway, that is worth a day if you are in the area and interested in that sort of thing. (I won't claim I am particularly, but Shelly can attest I got a perfect score when it came to naming cowboy TV and movie theme songs.)

Turned rather cold while we were at the musuem, and we spent the night enjoying the tear's heater in a cold drizzle.

From Ok City, we drove to Palo Duro Canyon State Park in Texas. They had a fire ban, so that ended our charcoal cooking for the season



We only spent one night at Palo Duro Canyon this time, and drove home from there. We had spent a few nights there on our way out, and it is particularly nice, but we had unpacking to do!

Tom