I'm Alright.......

……“ain’t nobody worried ‘bout me”.  Kenny Loggins’ theme song from “Caddyshack” was playing in my head all afternoon this past Friday.  Ya see, I’d worked hard this week putting in the miles in a never ending northeast Nashville neighborhood.  After consulting my map in the morning I got a great idea.  I’d just go golfing.

Hank, happy in the clubhouse parking lot.

Actually the Ted Rhodes Golf Course was in the survey area on my map.  A good section of the distribution line runs all over the course.  I figured I’d hit the links after 12:00 when most of the golfers had headed for the clubhouse to get out of the heat.  I didn’t look forward to dodging tee shots.

I checked in at the clubhouse with the pro, just to let him know what I was up to.  He couldn’t have been nicer.  “No problem. Now it’s hot out there. Bring some water.  You want a cart?  I’ll get ya a cart,” he said.  “No thanks”, I replied.  “I sorta have to walk it, that’s the point”.  He shot back, “Well that’s ridiculous but suit yourself.  Watch your noggin out there”.

So off I went to the first tee, a dogleg left with a wicked sand trap.  The map indicated to head toward the cart path and the river.  The Cumberland River runs next to the course so I checked that out.  Next a par 5 that would favor anyone with a slice.  All in all a good afternoon of work.  Yeah, it was hot but if you have to be outside you might as well be on the wide fairways of the Ted Rhodes.

The Cumberland River



Most people have no idea the yellow lines on the cart path mean a gas line is underground.

Labor Day weekend is here.  We’re going to leave a few days early from the KOA, hook up LuLu Monday and head over to a Corps of Engineers campground south of Nashville (Seven Points).  There’s a recreation area there with a dam, reservoir and all kinds of outdoor opportunities.  Joining us for a couple of days will be our good friends from Ocala, Ron and Carol, as they make their way out west for vacation.  Mt. Rushmore is calling their names.

Where will we be going after that?  Who knows.  There’s talk of South Carolina but those details won’t be known until later next week when I get with the boss and get our marching orders.  Till then keep it out of the rough.

Crazy Town

Hey Folks,

To quote Wikipedia, “Music Row is an area just to the southwest of downtown Nashville.  It’s home to hundreds of businesses related to the country music, gospel music and contemporary Christian music industries. Centered around 16th and 17th Avenues South (called Music Square East and Music Square West), Music Row is widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry. In this area, one will find the offices of numerous record labels, publishing houses and recording studios...”

Some of the superstars you hear on the radio today as well as the session musicians you hear backing up the Brad Paisleys and Carrie Underwoods of the billion dollar music industry walked Music Row with high hopes and made it big.  Most though never found their fortunes through the front doors of those offices on 16^th and 17^th Avenues.  Well, guess what folks, I walked The Row too.  It took me about two days but all I found were a couple of leaking meters and what I thought was a leak underground but was just a stinky storm water drain.  Now, if I had learned to play the guitar or was born with a good singing voice then maybe things would have worked out differently.  My point here is, I felt a kinship walking those same sidewalks with those seeking their fortune and fame.  I hope they find what they were looking for.  Hey, who knows, the 20 something kid who looked at me strangely when he saw me climbing out of the bushes at Sony Music (to get at the meter) just may end up on the main stage at the Opry one day.  Oh, and Sony, trim the bushes around your place will ya – it took me forever to find that thing.

The capital building.

My overall impression of Nashville isn’t that of the trendy “Music City” persona the visitors bureau describes or the “Hollywood with a twang” that Jason Aldean conveys in his song “Crazy Town”.  There’s a good mix of southern hospitality and class but for the most part, to me, it’s an edgy and gritty working town.  You can tell they were riding the wave for a long time but now with MP-3’s and free downloads the gold has lost a little bit of it’s lustre.  The parking lots on Music Row still contain high end sports cars they’re just a couple of years old and need a good wash.

Don’t get me wrong though.  It is a cool place and on Saturday we went downtown again and toured the area some more.  Culture was on the agenda this trip so we made a beeline for the Tennessee State Museum.  Okay, maybe not a beeline.  We first stopped at the funkiest donut shop this side of Woodstock.  I mean come on, culture is important but this was DONUTS! 

“Peace, Love and Little Donuts” is stuck in a little hole in the wall a block or two from the bus station so if you’re ever in Nashville don’t miss it.  May I suggest the double chocolate.  Margo went for the maple.

We finally made it to the museum after strolling around downtown for a bit.  We were thinking art exhibits.  I was pleased with the admission price of free ‘cause if I was going to have to suffer through a bunch of art it better at least be free. That isn’t the case though.  It’s more a museum of natural history.  The exhibits run from samples of a mastodon found in the state to prehistoric pottery all the way up to pioneer history (think Davy Crockett), the Civil War and World War II.  We barely saw a third of it so I’ll save that for another post.  We plan to go back next Saturday and yeah, maybe I’ll warm up to some art.  Till then, take care and have yourself a donut – it’s cultural.

It's a Family Affair

Hey there folks,

I’m a bit out of sequence with this post.  The last one was meant to tell you all about our family get together in Eastern Tennessee with Mom, Mel, my brother Wayne and his wife Theresa, but as you know, I reported on our water woes instead. The flooding around the Nashville area earlier in the week made national headlines and family and friends were inquiring if we were okay.  I wanted to get the news out.

So back to Elizabethton we go.  Not much has changed there since my visit over Christmas.  The white snow has yielded to lush green.  Rain has been plentiful so there’s an abundance and the fields and gardens are giving back.

Cousin Mike's house viewed from Mom's blueberry patch.

Yeah, eating while my mom does all the work.

We’re all at the age where we don’t need to be entertained.  No busy agendas.  Just sitting around the back porch and catching up is plenty.  However, the women went into town to their favorite consignment shop (The Corner Nest) to “window shop”.  I told Margo we didn’t have room in LuLu for any more “windows”.  The guys hung out at the gunshop where the usual suspects dropped by and a lot of the same old stories were told.

Wayne served up a fantastic fish fry Saturday.  The guy fed the whole crew out of a 12 inch electric fry pan.  There’s something to be said for the fact that most of the meals came from within view of that back porch and yes, the world famous pies were served, then served again.  I know for a fact we all gained weight.

We had a concern about air conditioning in LuLu.  She can be plugged in anywhere to a standard 15 amp, 110 household outlet and everything works fine.  The only exception is the air conditioner.  It requires 30 amps so a special RV outlet is required.  I made a stop at Lowe’s while in Dalton and picked up the supplies needed, it was just a matter of wiring it into the breaker box.  Funny thing though, and this is a testament to where my Mom and Mel decided to settle down, their house is high enough in the hills that even in August it’s still cool enough to go without AC.  We were fine, actually the mornings were on the chilly side.  That isn’t to say it doesn’t get hot in the summer, it does, we just lucked out and caught some good weather.

Our harvest from Mom and Mel's garden. Margo snagged some of mom's quart canning jars to make her sun tea (perfect size for LuLu's fridge).

 As with any vacation it ends too soon.  Sunday morning we said our goodbyes and scattered in opposite directions.  By Sunday evening we were settled into the KOA here in Nashville where we remain.  We’re supposed to be here for a month but it may turn out to be longer than that.  I hope it does, this is a very cool place with a lot to see and do.  We took a trip downtown yesterday and plan to spend more time there next weekend so pics of our adventures will be forthcoming.

Till then we’ll be working off that pie……

I Love a Rainy Night.......

…… except when it turns into a morning like this. 

We arrived in Nashville safely last Sunday after a great mini family reunion in Eastern Tennessee at my Mom’s and settled into the Music City KOA.  This particular RV park is less than a mile from the Grand Ole Opry.  How’s that for being in the thick of it.  It’s also next to the Cumberland River, which flooded said Opry a few years ago.  You might remember the news stories back then.  It was quite devastating.  As is our habit though, before we decide on an RV park we do a Google Maps survey looking for anything close by that might be a hazard; you know, nearby fertilizer plants, fireworks factories, dams, lakes, rivers, streams, clown colleges.  Anything that might cause us to be awakened in the middle of the night and that might put our lives or our LuLu at risk.  Our site was less than 100 yards from the Cumberland River so it was of great interest to us.  A check though revealed that it was actually quite low.  With all in order we set up camp.

However, as with anything the “best made plans” sometimes just aren’t good enough.  Overnight on Wednesday we received about 4 inches of rain within an hour and a total of about 7 through the night.  Although the Cumberland River was handling it just fine the KOA’s drainage system did not.  The last three rows started flooding, and fast.  LuLu was stranded on a slight rise but Hank was in peril.  I got him to higher ground and then things started to settle down.  The rain slowed down and the blockage was fixed.  The water drained in a couple of hours and we were able to move LuLu to a new site.

"Looks like I'm dog paddling to the tree".



We discussed moving to another campground but felt that at least with this one we KNEW where it floods.  A new campground would be an unknown and with the current weather pattern of more rain expected we felt we should stay in a spot that was tried and true.

High and dry on our new site.

So Eddie Rabbit was right, we do love us a rainy night, just not a flooded morning.  Stay tuned.  There’s a post coming about our trip to Mom’s with bean picking goodness and we’ll have adventures in downtown Music City to report on.


Till then stay high and dry.