Another Cave

 If you've been following our adventures, you know that we went to Karchner Caverns in Arizona in 2009. Although we loved the tour, I groused about not being able to share the day through photos. Not so this time.

 Just a few miles from Mountain View Arkansas, where we're camping, is one of the most beautiful caves in North America, and they let us take photos. Woo Hoo!

 Although the pictures don't do the spectacular views justice, I can't help trying. This glistening natural sculpture stands over 30 feet high; hard to image isn't it?

Walkways have been carved into the 1.1 mile trail with lots of photo ops along the way. Can you imagine this type of natural beauty thats so common in here that eventually you stop wasting pixels on them?

 This is one of the most spectacular views of the whole cavern. This is about 60 feet wide and absolutely jaw dropping. The railing on the left gives you some perspective.

 This area is about 100 feet deep and 75 feet wide. Doesn't look like it does it? Dimensions are lost in the sheer size of the caverns. The "hair" hanging from the ceiling are called soda straws and are a natural formation of dripping water. It takes 100 years for a straw to grow 1 cm. Time has a different meaning down here.

This is one of the most unique formations formed by water and chemical action. Its called the "Titanic" and if you look close you can see why. Its only about 30 feet long! Amazing isn't it!

 Although I have dozens of cave photos, I can see I'm losing you so lets go elsewhere. Its believed that the caves were full of water and when the water drained, the amazing formations started. This is the outlet of the caves and water has been draining from here for millions of years as the caves developed.

 The water from the caves flow down this creek making a beautiful  stream. What doesn't show up in the picture is the fact that the caves are full of bats and the water is very polluted from their droppings.

 Drinking this water would cause diarrhea and cramps. I wonder how many natives or pioneers became sick from the water and didn't know why.

The water flows into this lake which was used for a grist mill and and ran a water wheel. 

I guess, somewhere down stream, the waters fine. Its a lovely area and its great to finally show the inside of a beautiful cave system. What amazes us is that every area we camp at seems to have some historical or geological claim to fame. So, we'll keep looking and informing our loyal audience. Its a tough job.

Another Civil War Battle

 Its another nice day and time to get exploring again. As we head to our next history fix, we came across the town of Adamsville, the home of Buford Pusser. If you haven't seen the movie "Walking Tall", you wouldn't have any idea who he is. He was a real sheriff who tried to clean up his town of moonshiners and other ne'er do wells. His true story is more heroic and tragic than Hollywood could have dreamed up. He was shot, stabbed and beat up many times. His wife was murdered and he died in a car crash. Quite a life.

The reason we're down this way is to see the Historic Battlefield site of Shilo. It was one of the major battles of the civil war and started the southern retreat that enabled Grant to push on and burn Atlanta. But, I'm sure you knew all that already. Skip this blog if 150 year old battles don't interest you; but they do us, so here goes. This is the Shilo church after which the battle was named. The original church was in the centre of the battle and was destroyed; this one was eventually built to replace it. Its still an active church inside the park. The first attempt to rebuild used local stone, but they ran out of money. They finally finished it using brick. Can you see the difference?

 This is where the welcome centre and interpretive buildings are. Its also the farthest point north that the Northern army retreated on the first day.

 In early April, 1862 the Confederate general learned that the union army had marched down to southwest Tennessee and was preparing to attack them in Mississippi. He marched his army of 15000 troops to meet the threat. They arrived about 1 mile from the union army the evening of April 5th. Early on April 6th, they caught the union army by surprise and pushed them back and overran the union camp. The battle stalled as the Rebs ransacked the camp for food and loot. This is a picture of the peach field which was in full bloom during the battle. The field changed hands during the day and they said after the battle that bullets and cannon fire knocked so many petals from the trees that the fallen were covered with so many petals it looked like snow. All the trees were destroyed and the park has now planted a new orchard. Those fence like boxes are protecting the young peach trees from deer.

 Along this line, the centre of the union army dug in and although the Rebs threw everything they had at them they held the line. This allowed the other retreating union soldiers to regroup and prevented a general rout. This area became know as the "hornets nest" caused by the sound of so many bullets passing by.

 By mid afternoon, the Confederate artillery had massed 62 cannon along a line directly facing the hornets nest and fired directly into the union positions. This was the largest use of cannon during the war. They were forced to retreat and 2500 of them were captured by the Rebs.

This is a statue indicating where the trapped union soldiers surrendered. Almost half of the soldiers who surrendered died as prisoners of war.

 This is the union position at the end of the first day. Their cannon and darkness stopped the southern attack. It rained an icy rain most of the night and neither side had any shelter. Wasn't war fun.

 The biggest goal of the southern attack was to get between the union army and the Tennessee river but they failed. Overnight, union replacements were ferried across the river as gun boats shelled the Confederate forces all night. A southern defeat was now certain and the next day the union army pushed the Rebs back past the starting point of the battle. The southern army then retreated back to Mississippi.

The weather was warm so General Grant had all bodies buried in a number of mass graves. Over 25000 soldiers died in those 2 days. Almost half of the original Union army and over a third of the Confederates died. 20 years later Union bodies were dug up and buried in this graveyard. Only about 25% of the bodies were identified so most of the headstones don't have a name on them. The river behind me is where the union reinforcements crossed on the night of April 6th.

On a lighter note, we had a great lunch. One of the park wardens told us about a great catfish restaurant about a mile from the park called Catfish Hotel. Apparently, the original owner used to catch and cook up batches of catfish and his visitors would eat and drink until it was too dark to go home so they stayed in this cabin with the owner. It became know as the Catfish Hotel. He was finally talked into starting a restaurant on the site. Thats where we ate although I must admit the current building is much bigger (almost as rustic, but bigger). His cabin was used by the union officers during part of the battle. Quite the history. His great grandkids are still running the restaurant and it claims to be the oldest family owned eatery in the US. The food was delicious. The quantities were so large we brought back enough to have another meal. So we enjoyed it twice. History and fine dining, how can you beat that!

Tennessee Next

 Time to leave Talladega and head to Tennessee for our next adventure. The day started cool and foggy but improved as it went along. Talladega waves goodbye.

A lunch stop at a lovely roadside welcome centre gave us a break. The new flowers and smells of spring make it a great day to enjoy.

 After getting settled in at our site near Memphis we did what anyone our age would do.. GO TO Graceland. I mean, Elvis' home. Way cool. The more I learned about him, the more I respected him.

After his first couple of hits, he bought Graceland at 21. He paid $100,000 and lived here until he died. He moved all his friends in as well as his family and had a great time here.

 This was his living room. Gaudy but comfortable. 

He liked to be occupied so he had a lot of games and entertainment around so he could blow off steam with his close friends. When he became famous he couldn't go out for fun so he created a private sanctum with lots of diversions.

 His rumpus room had an Africa theme. Proves he can be tacky just like us.

 There were 13 acres at Graceland and he liked to race golf carts and dune buggies. He also had horses and they would race horses through the yard.

 In the back yard he had a pool and a meditation garden where he could sit and enjoy the silence.

He got into handball and had a court built so that they could play at home. On the upper level he had a gym and an area to relax. On his last night alive, he played and sang songs on this piano. 

 The court area of the handball court has been turned into a display area for some of his memorabilia. Elvis had earned more number 1 hits and platinum records than any singer in history. These are some.

 A lot of his costumes are displayed here as well. He had a unique style; you either loved it or hated it. 

 In other rooms there are more displays. Here are the wedding outfits he and Priscilla wore when they got married. Also one of his military uniforms.

Here is another room with more of his music awards. He has sold more records than any other singer.

 Museums across the street from Graceland include his car museum which includes this Caddy which was the first one he bought and gave to his mother. He loved cars and motor cycles and had an extensive collection.

 He also had 2 jets which he used all the time. He took his little daughter Lisa Marie to Denver for the day because she had never seen snow. So they flew there, played in the snow for an hour and then flew back home.

The jet was completely renovated to include a dining room, areas to relax and his bedroom so he could sleep after shows.

 Not a bad looking dining room. They had a food fight on one of Lisa Marie's birthdays. I guess you can do that on your own plane.

 Elvis died at 42 and is buried in the meditation garden he loved. His mother, father and grandmother are buried there with him.

It was quite the experience to go through probably the most famous gates in America and spend some time in the world Elvis created. He was a huge talent and a very unique person. We enjoyed the day.

On the move

Its a beautiful sunny day and time to leave Florida for the RV rally in Perry Georgia. Either we can take a long roundabout Interstate route to get there or head cross country. Although it goes against my basic beliefs, we're going to program the GPS to take us on roads that don't even show on the paper maps in an attempt to save a few miles.

The secret to driving the back roads is to do the speed limit and ignore the dozens of cars that back up behind you. Maybe they'll take time to smell the roses! Image going through a small town with warnings about  "no trucks" (which basically we are) and venture forth to find street that cars hardly fit in. We found a couple of towns like that but managed to fit through the streets and really enjoy the views we encountered. Fortune favours the bold. I enjoyed the drive much more than using the interstate. Is this an epiphany?

We spent 5 days at the FMCA rally. We went to seminars on all things RV. We had free coffee days, free ice cream and peach cobblers, but it was the free evening entertainment that kept us entranced. Every night a new show with world class entertainment kept us from vegging in the RV. Here we are waiting for the Lori Morgan show. If you're a Country music  fan, you know who she is! If not, think tall, slim and sexy with a voice that doesn't stop. Not that I noticed.

 After learning all things RV, we head out on further adventures. Our next stop is Talladega Creek Resort, in Alabama. Why that name? Well, firstly, its about 5 miles from the Talladega Super speedway, one of the top NASCAR racetracks.

 Secondly, its right beside a pretty little creek that has lots of fish and in the summer is a mecca for tubing.

And, when you say resort, what more can I add. Here we are camping with all our friends.

Just because we're at an all inclusive resort doesn't mean we can't find some "me time".

Grammie takes a break while I clean and wash the entire motor home. All that driving in the rain has covered Harvey with a layer of road crap thats needs some attention. Its a beautiful day and I'm enjoying listening to Harvey purr with the attention. We've got to be ready for our next adventure.