We reached Memphis TN after dark, and this time of year (November), dark seems to come so darned early! We found a very nice state park (T. O. Fuller SP) near the river kinda on the edge of town. The bath house had just been rebuilt so we enjoyed the luxury of decent showers while we were there. The next morning we took the obligatory drive past Graceland and headed for Nashville. In retrospect I wish we had been able to spend a bit more time in Memphis to see some of the famous things there such as Beale Street, but as has been the key statement for the whole trip: we can't do everything. The last week we had really seen the first bad weather of the whole trip with cloudy, cold, and rainy being the rule rather than the exception. The topography and scenery of Tennessee were much as I expected, hilly, lots of trees, very scenic especially with the leaves changing, and drained by many large rivers. I-30 and later on I-40 were filled with wall-to-wall 18 wheelers, we had never seen so many on any stretch of highway we had traveled.
We ended up stopping at a Flying-J truck-stop just about 25 miles short of Nashville due to bad weather and all around bad traveling conditions. We spent what was probably our quietest night in a truck-stop due to our position of being parked right between two large RV's - a nice spot! It is amazing how many tricks we are still learning at this late point in the trip. The next morning we traveled on into Nashville where we set up in a nice RV park in the middle of a raging storm. That afternoon we traveled around a bit looking for a place to hear some country music. Since we were camped about 10 miles away from downtown and didn't really want to take the motorhome into the city after dark, we checked out places in what is called music valley. We walked around inside the Grand Ole Opry Hotel, a huge complex with nearly 3000 rooms and several acres of enclosed gardens under huge domes. We went to the Jack Daniels Saloon inside which promised live music but ultimately the group turned out to be pretty mediocre and it looked like our Nashville experience was going to be less than we had hoped for.
The next morning as we were leaving the RV park to hit the road though, things changed a bit. When Flora went inside to get directions to a grocery store on our way out of town, she was asked by the lady at the desk whether she would have any interest in attending a live taping of Prime Time Country with Gary Chapman which plays nightly on TNN. Naturally we would have been remiss to have skipped such a serendipitous opportunity, so we changed our plans and headed to the studio. We had to wait for about an hour and a half in line before we were allowed to go inside. While waiting we met several very nice people including a couple from Quebec (Andre and Diane) who were just beginning their first RV trip, one of about the same duration as the one we were just ending. Naturally I was feeling like a bit of an expert by this point in the trip and tried to share a few bits of advice with them. Eventually we entered the studio and the program began. It was an hour long show and we enjoyed seeing Billy Ray Cyrus and his band perform several cuts from his new album, Shot Full of Love, it was actually pretty exciting. They were also taping a Christmas show right afterward, to be played at a later date, but we opted to skip that one and went back to the RV park for a second night. The next morning I met our new friends Andre and Diane in the RV park while I was walking the dogs and they gave us a copy of the album which they had managed to acquire for us, it was a sweet thing to do and we have enjoyed the album a lot.
Finally we did get underway again and headed for Knoxville which we finally reached after dark. We stayed in a Wal-Mart parking lot and enjoyed a night with temperatures down into the 30's for the first time on the trip. The next day took us into the mountains and we stopped at a small and strange RV park in Asheville. We drove through Asheville but it is really difficult to find RV parking in the city so we never were able to stop in this, one of my favorite towns. The weather was ominous with some rain in the night, and foggy and rainy weather for traveling, the next morning. The country along I-40 between Asheville and Greensboro was beautiful and we had apparently just missed the peak of the fall colors. Still, the leaves were quite lovely. We arrived at the Hagan-Stone park outside Greensboro a while after dark and really had a tough job finding it. We have learned that the directions listed in the camping guides are usually not very accurate, especially the mileage figures. Most of the sites were filled which we found most unusual for this time of year but eventually we found a site although it was far from level. The next morning we found out that there were two different camping clubs at the park for the weekend which accounted for the crowded conditions.
Ever since we had left California we had both become all too aware that we were indeed on the last leg of our trip. Before we knew it the Big Adventure would be but a memory. This knowledge had contributed to a wide range of emotions, especially from me. Flora reminded me that at a point in the trip a couple months back, I had remarked that I was almost becoming tired of traveling. In retrospect I think what I was becoming tired of was the stress of breakdowns. Now that the trip was finally winding down I was becoming a bit depressed, partly because it was the end of the most wonderful trip of my life, but also because of the uncertainty of what is to come next. I must admit that job hunting is high on my list of 'least favorite' activities, especially late in the year when most companies suspend their hiring activities until January.
And so given the knowledge that this was the last day of the trip we packed up a final time and headed on down the road for the triangle area of North Carolina, the name given to the area roughly bounded by Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. We were both quiet as we filled up with gasoline at a Flying-J for a final time. I had been unable to find any RV parks in the triangle area which offered monthly rates and so we had no idea where we were going to go. Once we were in the triangle area I made a few calls and found a mobile home park that offered the required hookups and where we could get phone service. The only thing we will have to deal with is that it lacks a bath house, so we will have to be using the less than satisfactory shower in the motorhome.
And so this is it, the end of this chapter of our lives. It WAS the adventure of a lifetime, it DID live up to all our expectations. We learned a lot, went with the flow whenever we could, and stopped to smell a lot of roses. To anyone who had ever dreamed of taking such a trip I would say by all means JUST DO IT! We traveled for 5 months and covered nearly 15,000 miles, all in an old motorhome which cost just over $8,000, so this kind of trip is not just for the rich. I am glad we took this trip while we are still young enough to do all the things we wanted to do along the way. If anyone who reads this has any questions please ask. So unless someone wishes to sponsor 'The Big Adventure - the Second Wave' (let me see, that would take about $25,000 to build a modest bus conversion, and about $3000 a month for expenses…) this will be the final installment. Be happy and follow your dreams.
Bob and Flora 11/15/98
