Tennessee travels and back to New York

   

I see that I have been very bad a keeping up with this blog.  As we turned toward home and headed across Tennessee, the activities were numerous leaving little time to stop and write things down.  You just hate to stop having a good time!
     We made it into Tom Sawyer RV Park which is located on the banks of the mighty Mississippi in West Memphis, Arkansas.  It was a very nice park with gravel and cement sites.  It was truly enjoyable to be able to sit and watch the barges on the river again.  It's located about 8 miles from Memphis, but it's a short drive across the river into the city.

We had traveled to Memphis to attend the Memphis Barbecue Competition which involved nearly 400 teams from the U.S. and Canada.  The event was located next to the river on the end of Beale Street.  As we arrived, the aromas of ribs and pulled pork were flowing throughout the competition. Unfortunately visitors are not given the opportunity to sample any of the competitors sampling s  And according to the Tim Doody's  theory on judging barbecue, they should have all been great barbecue since there wasn't a bathroom anywhere.  For a complete explanation you'll have to contact Tim directly.
 While in Memphis we did tour Sun Recording Studio which recorded such greats as Johnny Cash, Elvis, Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis.  The 4 of them never performed together, but Sam Phillips secretly recorded them as they happened to visit the recording studio one day and just started playing.  The Broadway show Million Dollar Quartet recalls this event.  After sampling barbecue on Beale Street, we headed for Nashville and the FORBPO Convention.
   

     In Nashville, we attended the Fraternal Order of Retired Border Patrol Officers Convention.  It was great reconnecting with a few Agents I hadn't seen in years.  We also got to reconnect with Randy and Retha who we had visited in San Angelo, Tx.  They are traveling in a beautiful 5th wheel and were headed for Michigan to visit relatives.  We may be meeting up with them next year in Florida, but Randy promises a visit to NY.
     We had the privilege of attending a show at the Opry and being entertained by a remarkable group of war veterans!  They called themselves The MusiCorps Wounded Warrior Band.  They are associated with Walter Reed Hospital, and are using music to aid with their recovery efforts.

   Ricky Skaggs had the  opportunity to perform with them, and seemed pretty humbled by the experience. Debbie sent a congratulatory email to the lead singer Timothy Donley, and received a very nice note back.
     After Nashville we headed a little south and stayed in an RV Park near Pikesville, Tn called Mountain Glen RV Park.  It was a quiet park for a holiday weekend, and it was quite comfortable. From there it was an easy drive down to Chattanooga, Tn, where we stumbled into another barbecue competition.  This time visitors were able to purchase samples from the competitors for $2 or full meals for $6.  The money raised was being used for a charitable cause which made us both feel better.  They also had a Farmers Market included, along with musical entertainment.  We only passed through the city and didn't get the opportunity to visit, but it seemed like a very friendly city.  We had a great time at the festival.  Sampled some barbecue...sampled some local brews...and listened to some nice bluegrass music.  We also took the opportunity to visit the Cumberland Caverns home of the very unusual Bluegrass Underground Concerts shown on PBS.

They actually have concerts about 300' underground in a very large cavern several times a year.  We had attempted to get tickets to a show, but they sell out quickly.  We both enjoyed a guided tour through the caverns, and perhaps someday, we'll get to attend an underground concert.
   
     Continuing west, our next stop was Pigeon Forge, TN and Dollywood, where we were fortunate enough to attend another Barbecue and Bluegrass Festival.  The highlight of the event was one of our favorite bluegrass bands and locals from Chateaugay, NY, The Gibson Brothers, performed several times while we were there.  I even got the opportunity to meet Eric and Lee and visit for a minute which was pretty neat.  Of course it cost me $15 for a CD, but it was worth it.

Eric is a school teacher up here, so it's pretty remarkable that they've been named Bluegrass Entertainers of the Year, 2 years in a row.  They do lots of concerts around the country, but come home regularly to do benefit concerts to help with local issues.
     Joining us at Dollywood were 4 of my high school classmates which was a ton of fun.  We all turn 60 this year, so we took the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays with a trip to Pigeon Forge.

  We don't look too bad do we????
      But finally, this leg of our Trip To See America, had to end.  It was time to get back to NY and get the grass mowed and the camp opened before fall arrived  It's a short season up here in the north country.  So we headed north up I-81 and in 2 days we were parked where this trip began.  Amazingly, within a few days, we were both anxious to get back on the road.  I think there will be a late Fall trip to Maine, Nova Scotia and maybe Prince Edward Island.  Traveling by RV is a great way to see the country, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Debbie did a great job navigating across America, and I think I only made 1 wrong turn in just over 11,000 miles.  At least that's all I'll break to.
     So we hope you enjoyed our journey.  I know we enjoyed stopping and visiting with so many old friends along the way.  In a few months we'll be back on the road again, and Rondackers on the Road should start up again.  If you are traveling, we hope that you would start a similar blog.  We really enjoy reading about other people's wanderings.  It gives everyone fresh ideas on places to visit and paths to get there.