Oct 20th to 24th - KY to Tennessee

Oct 20th - Mon - Cave City, KY
We stayed an additional day here so we could go on a cave tour on a boat. Decided to do laundry as well so I got everything ready and we headed south to Bowling Green about 25 miles away for the boat tour. 3 miles from our exit, the 3 lanes of traffic nearly came to a halt. Soon, 2 large tow trucks passed us on the shoulder so we figured an accident was causing the problem. After about ½ an hour, where traffic merged to one lane, we passed the accident - a truck and large travel trailer sideways and on their sides with the trailer mostly off the pavement.
We got to the cave location and found out that due to construction, there were no tours right now! I asked about a scenic bi-way return trip but the guy could not help so we took the highway back to the laundromat in Cave City. Oops, the change machine did not work and the little business next door had run out of quarters so Terry went to a car wash with a change machine. But it only took dollars which gave us enough for the washers. Another guy directed Terry to the local bank. Terry washed the truck on the way back and we dried it while we waited for the wash. Then I decided to use a laundry sink to rinse our micro fiber cloths and then throw them in a washer. We used the 45 minute super wash cycle and discovered after about 10 minutes that the washer had barely started and then stopped. Opening & closing the door several times and pushing buttons finally got it going.
Found a grocery store, some diesel at $3.31 per gallon and wandered through an “import” store with an incredible amount of “who buys this?” stuff.
We had just got a fire going after dinner when a woman came around the front of our rig. We thought it was Ruth from next door (yes, it was dark) and started asking her what she had seen in Nashville and what she recommended. FAYE didn’t bat an eye and started telling us what she knew about Nashville. How embarrassed where we?!
Faye’s husband Jim showed up looking for her after a bit so we got out a couple more chairs and talked a mile a minute until about 10 o’clock. They started full timing about 6 months ago and have lived in different areas of the US so had lots of information for us. Jim has lived in Gulf Shores, Alabama where we are heading this winter. They will be in the area in November so we are going to meet up with them somewhere.

Oct 21st - Tues - to Nashville, Tennessee
About an hour and a half to Nashville this morning so didn’t have to get an early start. We are staying at a PA park (Nashville Country RV) just north of Nashville where Billy & Lauri are staying. We didn’t decide to stay in Nashville until yesterday so they were surprised to see us. We set up, made a reservation for the Grand Ole Opry and relaxed a bit.
We drove with Billy & Lauri for dinner and the Opry. I was a little disappointed with the show - don’t know what I was expecting. I knew there were commercials during the show as it is taped live for radio broadcast but I didn’t realize how many commercials! The lineup included John Conlee, Josh Gracin, Connie Smith, Jesse McReynolds, Luke Bryan, The Whites and Tracy Lawrence. I knew some of the names and recognized a lot of their songs.

Oct 22nd - Wed - Nashville, TN
We drove today and started with a trip to Costco with Billy & Lauri. The main reason for the Costco trip was for them to buy a computer. They were delighted that we were staying at the same spot so I could help them get it set up.
On the way back from Costco, we went to downtown Nashville. The weather was wonderful and we happened to drive down a street where we found a parking meter and could walk past a lot of interesting stores to the waterfront. Nashville is an interesting mix of old and new buildings. Stopped for a late lunch on the way back to the truck and then back to the park to get the computer set up.
The wifi at the park did not work very well at our spot and was a little spotty at first when we started setting up the computer at Billy’s site. I just got their email situated after the basic setup and we called it a day.

Oct 23rd - Thurs - Nashville TN
We all went to the Lane Auto Museum today. They advertise “150 unique vehicles” so we had to check it out. It was great! Prototypes that never made it to production, cars with very few produced, an entire section of very small cars including the smallest car in the world and the smallest 2-seater car in the world, motorcycles and military vehicles. I will be posting pictures soon.
Next to a WalMart for some groceries and back to the campground to continue the computer set up and lessons. I loaded Picasa for them and got some pictures loaded from a camera card and a CD so I could show Lauri how to organize and include captions. Kind of overloaded her with information but who knows how long we will travel together and how much time we will have for more lessons.
We made RV reservations in Pigeon Forge for us and them and also made reservations for the Dixie Stampede which I will write about after we go.

Oct 24th - Fri - to Pigeon Forge, TN
It RAINED last night and continued the entire time that Terry was outside disconnecting and hooking up. His jacket & hat were soaked through. There was a tree at the front of our spot that we had to maneuver around to get out so I got out to make sure that our swing did not get the neighbors (a whole 4 inches to spare!) and then stood out while Terry backed up to get just enough room to get around the tree. When I got back in the truck, my hair was so wet that water was running down my neck.
At 9:30 we were going bumper-to-bumper through Nashville - don’t they know rush hour is supposed to end at 9? Finally onto 24 east with periods of heavy rain and fog that made it very difficult to see traffic ahead. A detour around construction in Knoxville that went better than expected. Then bumper-to-bumper traffic again from Sevierville to traffic light #3 in Pigeon Forge where we turned off for our campground - at 2:00 pm. Terry won’t like me including this in the blog, but we got unhooked and set up the front stabilizer before he discovered that the electric cord was about 4 inches short of connecting! Not a good day!
In our infinite wisdom, we decided to go exploring & shopping back towards Sevierville. Yup, crawled through the traffic again. There is only one main road through town so I expect this to last for the weekend. Good thing we had reservations as all campgrounds are full.
Our friends Billy & Lauri got an oil change in Nashville this morning so got here later. We phoned them about 5 and they were just getting to Sevierville. They thought they would be here shortly but I told them it would be a while. Then they ended up at the wrong campground and called us for instructions. Finally got set up in the dark - backed in with the help of a couple of flashlights - and came over for a much needed drink. I made fajitas for us all for a late dinner.