A Tennessee morning while
leaving camp.

Driving in Tennessee continues to
be a wonder and entertaining. On this
day were on our way to Shiloh
National Military
Park, another scene of
Civil War carnage. Clair, our GPS Aussie
girl, sends us on Finger Road
otherwise designated as Tennessee Highway 199.
Don’t let the label “Highway” fool you; it is a narrow two lane country
road with nary a straight part to it. Up
and down, round and round with a posted speed limit of 55 mph. Remember, in Tennessee that refers to the minimum
speed. There is no shoulder to the road
except for the 4 inch wide strip on each side with the painted white lines. Now throw in some logging trucks coming at
you at top speed and it is all great fun. We’ve stayed in
three Tennessee State Parks and I could write a bizarre story on each one. Last night was at David Crockett
State Park. I was hoping for a coonskin cap along with my
camping fee but no luck. Tennessee
has got to be the goofiest state I have ever been in and I’m enjoying every bit
of it.
Shiloh NMP was
the most beautiful tranquil place you could imagine. It was so difficult to imagine the chaos,
destruction and death that took place there 151 years ago this month. As I drove around I wondered how I could
avoid being killed. Nowhere to run to,
nowhere to hide. Play dead?
One of the
battlefields. Try to picture hundreds of
dead or dying young men lying out there.
Also dead horses, mangled guns and cannons, and personal effects strewn
about. Hard to do isn’t it?
This is what I
have to deal with while driving slowly around these parks with the window
down. Same for driving through the
campground looking for spot #64. Oh
yeah, he attracts attention for sure. Just what we both don't want. In case you are wondering, I have a hold of his tail so he doesn't fall out. He did one time in the desert falling out of the Land Rover on a rough dirt road.

Of course I’ve
been missing out on a lot of great photo opportunities all along this trip just
because there is nowhere to pull off, or nowhere to turn around and go back or
some other reason. Like the photo of the
farm scene the other day. I am taking the
picture and all of sudden someone is laying on their horn. I thought I’m
off the road far enough. I turn and
look and the dumb dog across the highway decides to come over and greet me and
nearly gets run over. He turns and goes
back, then tries again and another car locks them up blowing the horn. The dog goes back home again and then goes
for a third attempt to come over and I see these cars barreling down upon
him. I quickly got back into the vehicle
and left before I became responsible for killing a dog just for being on the
other side of the road taking pictures.
Anyway, today I decided to try a new tactic – I’ll take pictures of old shacks,
abandoned gas stations, barns and farms on the fly while I am driving. Don’t worry, I’ll wait until I leave Tennessee before I begin
doing this.
Okay I did
practice a little today and caught this “typical” Tennessee home.