April 16  through April 22, 2004

Friday April 16:

It's 56 degrees under the RV at 7AM; we slept late after the night in Mountain View last night.   We stopped on the way at the Dulcimer Shop, but found no bargains; all their instruments are hand made, and priced accordingly.  

We could watch the craftsmen working through the windows.  They did offer a dulcimer kit for around $100, but by the time the instructions and music book were purchased, the bill would be nearly $200; not a "whim" purchase for us!  Then we'd have to build the kit and learn to play it; success far from guaranteed!!  It was near noon by the time we got parked at the Folk Center, and moved right out by shuttle to "downtown".   The crowds are much more evident than yesterday, and more groups played and sang in impromptu settings. Unusual instruments abound.

This lady played what I THINK is an autoharp while she sang.  Groups are everywhere, and as usual, the hardest thing is having to choose ONE to listen to...

The lady sang as her dad played the guitar like instrument on his lap that I was told when I asked is a "dobro".   The courthouse porch was set up as a stage for more formal scheduled performances by different groups, with a dance floor in front.

The dancers were doing something unfamiliar to us, similar to clogging, and we felt the audience was a bit large for us to learn the steps here.  :-))   Couples and single dancers would participate, but NOBODY danced to the gospel tunes.  Claire went back to the RV before I did, having walked her legs into submission.  Folks in the crowd were friendly and talkative;  many were from out of town, but long time visitors to the festival, and knew the lay of the land.  I found out there was free music tonight at Jimmy Driftwood's barn, with only a passing of the hat to reward the performers.  I also found out the Ritz restaurant in town was featuring a seafood buffet Saturday night....hmmmm, it had a good looking white tablecloth dining room too....  :-))  I returned to the RV by shuttle, passing the time waiting for the bus in the Folk Center tent in town.  Music was playing here all day too, on a schedule.

The tent was nicely done, with chairs, sheets with song words laying about, and frequent sing along numbers being played by the couple performing on the accordion and guitar.  I was a bit disappointed when the bus finally came...  it was FUN! :-)  It's too bad there is SOOO much great stuff going on here at the same time that we must choose to miss out on a lot of it, or only take tiny samples when it would be good for several hours.   We decide to eat in the Folk Center parking lot, then go to Jimmy Driftwood's barn.  We found it easily, but there was no parking left for a vehicle of our size.  We decided we'd had as much fun as we could in one day, and came home before dark, and were quite glad we did!  We needed the rest!  The campground was filling up, with a group of boy scouts occupying the group campsite.  This is an early to bed night for both of us!!

Saturday April 17:

It's 65 degrees at 4AM when I awoke.  We were late getting out, as I took time to finish the web page in the cool of the campground.  We did decide to do the Ritz for dinner.  I called for reservations from the Folk Center parking lot, then Claire looked over the craft center while I uploaded the web page. We took the shuttle to town around 2PM, and wandered enjoying the music groups in the heat; it is SOOO hard to choose which group to listen to...  This group had a very unusual instrument.

The lady in the center is playing a single string (nylon rope) improvised rhythm instrument, which is an upside down plastic bucket having an eye hook in the bottom to attach one end of the rope, and a pole (this one fancy cut to resemble a fiddle head) that is pivoted on the bucket to adjust string tension, changing the note.  The thing gives good volume and the band sounds really GOOD, with the plink-plunk multi-toned rhythm from the Bucket Bass.  :-)))  I do wonder if I could learn to play this.....hmmmmm.  I do think I could BUILD it!  :-))  I was really glad for my long sleeved LL Bean sun shirts today; they allow air to circulate while keeping the sun off.  Summer is coming to Arkansas!  This "Old Hippy" group meets regularly in Mountain View twice a year at the spring and fall festivals;  

They come from as far away as Tarrytown NY to partake in the long weekend of musical fun and friendly fellowship here.  A bit before 4PM we walk to the Ritz, and are seated.  The dinner hour here starts at 4, so we have a few minutes to wait for the buffet to be ready.  We find the seafood EXCELLENT.  We did not expect seafood this good so far from the coast. The couple at the next table, the man gray haired, bearded and tattooed, but both well dressed as motorcyclists, had several conversations with the folks back home on their cellphone about their goats, which were about to have babies.   We ate more than enough, then caught the shuttle back to the folk center.  We walked to the hilltop auditorium as Ralph Stanley's bus was unloading outside.

THAT is some RV, but for Dr Stanley and his crew, I guess it is more work than recreation.  :-)   I didn't appreciate it until Claire pointed it out, but the "kids" fooling around in front of the bus are the 19 year old fiddler in the band, and Ralph Stanley's 11 year old mandolin playing grandson.  We are in time to be inside the music auditorium at 6:06; just six minutes after the doors opened, and we find seats almost half way back in the center of the auditorium.  The seating is first come first served, and these folks know what happens when the Folk Center sells more tickets than they have seats.... I suspect they did that last year, from what one chatty gal on the info desk said.  This year, she said the tickets have numbers.  :-)  The concert starts at 7:30PM, leaving plenty of time for conversation with our neighbors...one gal is running a farm with 30 head of cattle, a cow calf operation, and is branch manager of the local bank branch too.  She said the farmers in these parts all have full time jobs to support the farm...she is doing it herself since her husband died. She does not look old enough to be a widow, either....   She contracts the haying operation out, and uses the big round bales that she handles with the tractor.  She said the 70 pound square bales were too heavy for her to lift by hand, but the big ones on the tractor  worked fine.  Her cattle lived outdoors year round, but this is the calving season, and she is anxious that nothing happen while she is away at this festival.  Usually all goes well, but sometimes intervention is needed to save a cow or calf.  She wanted to be there to summon help if necessary; they had no vet available, but knowledgeable folks in the community helped out.  The concert is lively and Ralph Stanley is pretty amazing for 77 years old.

Dr Stanley, as he likes to be addressed, (he was granted honorary doctorates in music) is from Virginia and his band is known as the Clear Creek Boys, named for his home town. Most of the instrumentals were handled by the band without Dr Stanley, which  included his son Ralph Jr, and his 11 year old grandson who picked a very lively mandolin.  Dr Stanley played a very lively banjo number, after apologizing that he could not pick like he used to...  :-)  Claire talked with him, and he even went so far as to advise Matt to play more country music...  :-))  This is a late night for us; it is after 11PM by the time we wait for traffic to clear out of the folk center, and make the drive over the dark mountain roads to get parked back in the campsite at Blanchard Springs.  We waste no time collapsing into bed this night!

Sunday April 18:

On Sunday we awoke late.  I bought 2 CDs from Dan Merry for $15, and he threw in a free sample of "Sweet Feet" ointment.  I gave him our "card" with the website URL.  Dan is interested in preserving raptors in the wild, and told of his organization which has a member who has a falcon license for a golden eagle.... those birds are HUGE, and they could kill a man given the motivation. This man can tell stories, and not only in song.  :-)   We shower in campground before leaving, then dump and fill on the way out.  We are parked at the Folk Center by a bit after noon, and visit the craft area there. Since admission is free, it seems foolish to miss it entirely.  The exhibits are interesting. We look hurriedly at the schoolroom, blacksmith and tool shop, and we buy a nice cone of black walnut ice cream for $1.  WOW, black walnuts are a lot of work to crack, but sure are GOOD!  I guess this is one benefit of an area with little employment; folks will crack these nuts and sell them!  I recall not liking to crack nuts as a boy.....  The music instrument exhibit here is quite interesting. The Folk Center's writeups on the history of many of the instruments ( banjo, fiddle, autoharp, dulcimer, and mandolin) used in mountain folk music answered a lot of MY questions, and is worth reading if you have an interest in the music (just hit that hotlink).  This lady was in the old time kitchen exhibit demonstrating cooking on the coal stove.

I can dimly remember my grandmother's coal stove in the kitchen; it was fine in winter, but sure heated up that room in summer!  Everybody seemed REAL HAPPY when she got an electric stove.  All I could understand about it was to NOT TOUCH... HOT!!   :-))  The cookies the lady here baked were excellent, nicely browned and tasting of corn meal.  She talked of making sorghum syrup, which they always called molasses, cooked down from the juice pressed from the sorghum plant.  The juice was extracted in a mule driven "gear press" which crushed the plant.  Cooking the juice required real expertise to avoid burning it, and to skim off the scum which rose to the top, giving the syrup a bad taste. A community expert always cooked their juice into syrup. It was nearly time for the rodeo, so we took our leave of this interesting place and walked to the rodeo grounds.  This is the first rodeo ever for me; Claire had seen one at a very young age, but remembers little of it. We saw the horses being ridden in circles when we arrived, and assume this was to get them warmed up for the trials ahead.  Then the arena emptied and an honored rider galloped around the arena with a large flag as the Star Spangled Banner played.

The events started quickly after that.  First came the bucking broncos.  These guys have a ROUGH ride.  

They fly in the air, and land with a big BUMP as the horse is coming back up to meet them.....and they all ultimately land on the ground in a cloud of dust!  These bucking horses do not stop with a man on their backs.

Here the bucking horse gets his way, and the attending safety rider rushes to place himself between the bucking horse and the downed rider.  This next rider is on a fast course for trouble.

 An instant later he is thrown, but his arm is hung up in the grip. The announcer sees his difficulty before we do.

He is being dragged and tossed awkwardly as the safety riders close in to restrain the bucking horse and get him loose. He suffers an apparent broken arm, and limps out of the arena.  There is risk in this sport, but the prize money attracts cowboys who pay a significant entry fee in hope of taking home a bundle in winnings. Only a few do, but the rest have that hope....   Next came the ladies calf roping.  The calf is let out of the box, and the rider cannot cross a rope barrier too soon thereafter to give the calf a chance for a head start.  Then the chase is on, and the skill of the horse and rider tested.

Here the loop of the rope settles perfectly over the calf's head; now the objective is to get the horse stopped, mostly the horse's job. The finish time is taken when the rope pulls off the saddle horn.  The men's calf roping includes tieing the legs of the calf, such that it cannot get up when the horse loosens the rope.  Thus, the rider must dismount and tie the calf while the horse holds the calf with the rope.

Here the rope has just tightened, the calf is about to tumble, and the rider is already dismounted (behind the horse) to run tie the calf.  It does not take long to tie the legs.

The horse helps by keeping the neck rope tight.  The cowboy then raises his hand to stop the clock, then mounts and moves the horse to ease the tension on the rope.  If the calf can get up, he is disqualified, otherwise his time is good.   The haze we see here is real dust.  It is noticeable in the grandstand; I really feel for the riders, who I expect literally get a taste of  it!   Bulldogging steers comes next.  The competitor rides after the steer, jumping off his horse to grab the steer's horns and wrestle it to the ground.

This cowboy from Heber Springs AR has just grabbed the bull by the horns.  His effort is good, the steer is downed quickly, but he started the chase too early, thus was disqualified.  The second rider keeps the steer going straight, and drops off as soon as  the competitor gets the horns. Then it's man against beast.

Here I am not sure WHO is winning.....the man is in front of the horns, but that is the steers snout in the air above the man's left shoulder.  :-)  In a split second it's over....

The man may not have done this quickly enough to win the event, but he did beat the beast (who looks kinda beat, doesn't he?)   The Heading and Tailing competition is next, requiring teams of two riders to rope the head and rear leg(s) of a steer.  Here is a successful catch.

This seems like a very difficult event; most teams are not successful in getting ropes around both the front and rear of their steer.  The ladies goat tie did not look difficult on the surface, as the goat was tethered to a stake in the middle of the arena.. However,  the goat seemed to always get loose and stand up after being tied, disqualifying the competitor.  I guess "nimble as a goat" has real meaning here ...  :-)  The last competitor had a huge advantage; nobody before her had qualified.  She took her time, but the goat stayed down, and she won. The ladies barrel race sure demonstrated the teamwork required between rider and horse as they try to turn around the barrels and finish with the fastest time.  Some competitors were YOUNG...it appeared they may be riding even better than they walk. :-))

This little lady's stirrups hardly reached below the saddle.  :-)) These young kids might not turn in super times, but they did try very hard, and were CUTE.  They also did a heck of a lot better than I could have in that race!  The older competitors asked their horses to do a LOT, and most came through with flying colors.

One gal's horse went around  the first barrel, then headed out of the arena despite the rider's best effort to pull it back.  She did get it to complete the circuit later, but I think she was disqualified.  The final event that everyone waits for comes NOW; BULL riding!  This guy comes out of the chute with VIGOR, and gives his rider a strong boost!

That kinda reminds me of a kid's book about the cow that jumped over the moon...but this ain't no cow!  The bull in chute two suddenly decides he'd rather be a bull rider in chute one than be ridden...and creates all sorts of excitement in the arena.  :-)

The shocker probes come out, and finally number two is back in his own chute.  He tries again to ride number one, but finally the cowboy that drew him is able to mount.  As expected, he does not stay aboard long.  These bulls do not always want to let bygones be bygones when they get the rider off...

Then it seems to be the job of the fellow in the white shorts to divert the bull's attention long enough for the fallen rider to escape.  There is a dressed up rodeo clown here, but his main function seems to be telling VERY corny jokes over the PA system, and razzing the announcer and selected fans too.

The WORKING clown is the guy in white shorts. When the bull rides are over, competition is complete. NONE of the bull riders managed to stay on long enough to qualify; I'm not sure if any prize money gets distributed or not, or what happens to the riders' entry fees in such cases.  It appears that informal events will continue outside the formal sanctioned competition we've just seen, but we decide to leave.  We appear to be in the minority.....but we are tired and getting hungry too.  We walked back to the Folk Center, and soon depart for Walmart in Mountain View.  I started to walk downtown to see if any folk groups were still playing, but soon turned back...I've had about as much fun as I can stay awake for in this long weekend.  Walmart gave us permission for one night in their parking lot.  They do have long parking spaces for RVs and trailers at the edge of their lot, but they were QUITE specific about one night only.  We did this well, as our route east to Kentucky takes us further southeast from here.  We've saved ourselves another round trip on the hilly roads to Blanchard Springs.

Monday April 19:

It rained overnight;  the temperature is 65 degrees under the RV at 7AM.  The Seabreeze motorhome that pulled in right next to us at 10PM last night pulls out at 6:30 AM;  they must have a long way to go and little time to get there, keeping those hours.  Today we MUST plan; I have no idea which road to take out of Mountain View, or which direction to go on it.  :-)  The phone service is good in the town; 2 to 3 bars.  I can see the unique design Alltel tower standing tall on a ridge overlooking the town.  We decide to leave early (for us) and drive the 200 miles to the Matthews, MO Flying J.  It is on the route to Kentucky, and we will sure need fuel when we get there.  The route leads through some twisty turning hilly roads. The scenery is magnificent, even in the cloudy weather.

 We get to look down from unusual heights on the small farms carved out of the mountains.

At one point a sign says "Crooked and steep next 12 miles; Drive with care".  I am a bit concerned, as I sorta thought the roads we were on were ALREADY crooked and steep..... but it is a state road, and it's paved.  :-)  Claire does a great job getting us through it and into the flat Arkansas Delta region. In retrospect, it really was no worse than the Blanchard Springs road. :-)) The rice farmers in the Delta are preparing their ground, with shallow contoured dikes to control the water.

Many farmers have their irrigation pumps in place along the roadside, and a few have started flooding.  

I do wish I knew a bit more about how rice is grown here.  I recall the way it was grown in Korea, with tiny terraced fields on the hilly terrain that were flooded, then seedling plants were hand planted by farmers wading barefooted in the paddies.  I have an idea that is NOT how it is done in these huge fields, but I have no idea what the process is.  We do see farm machinery traveling on these 60 MPH two lane roads. Even though the drivers stay as far right as they can, we note that there is no room to pass without using the opposite lane.

We cross into the boot heel of Missouri, and head north to Matthews. We stop at a Missouri information center and ask if they have any info on the rice culture in the area; the lady on the desk has NO IDEA, and gives the impression she has absolutely no interest either!  She points out the rice packaging plant nearby....and MY interest wanes rapidly.  This is country we've traveled before, on the way down the Mississippi last fall.  Then, the crops were ready for harvest; now it's planting time.  We see the full cycle, and the RV has not seen home in that time.  In Missouri our cellphone service switches back to native Verizon.  We get voicemail service again, two old messages we delete.  The towns become almost...urban.  The 20,000 population towns seem like cities compared to the 2000 population "large" communities in the Ozarks.  The Flying J is not busy, and we fuel on arrival; the price is the best we've seen since western Arkansas, but the 73 gallons we need makes for "sticker shock".  There are few opportunities to buy in the Ozarks, and none are reasonably priced.  We tend to use our 600 mile range to advantage in such situations, but cringe when payback time comes.  :-(  Dinner is left over broccoli and tofu, tossed salad, with dessert being a sweet potato "pudding" that Claire made special for my birthday;  it was delicious, made with a left over boiled sweet potato, dried cranberries, and what I thought were apples, but she said were sauteed ONIONS.  I do wonder where she gets these ideas, but I'm glad she does! We must turn her loose with them mountain wimmin' more often!!  :-))  There is much choice of TV tonight, coming from many directions, and the nightly business report is back on PBS.  This had been missing in Arkansas, as they do not carry it on their otherwise excellent PBS network with coverage everywhere we've been in that state, even places with no other TV stations at all.  I guess PBS is one way to overcome the cultural isolation of the mountains....no commercial station would find it worthwhile to spend the money required to reach so few people.  I am amazed at the quality of cellphone coverage, but almost everyone in Mountain View was carrying their cellphone.  It may be more reliable than wire line here.  :-)  I am in bed before dark.  We notice the rapidly lengthening days; in less than a month we will have almost full summertime daylight.  :-)

Tuesday April 20:

It's 64 degrees under the RV at 6:30AM.  Flying J WiFi service is available here at $1.95/hr, $5/day, but we decline.  We took our time getting out this morning.  Claire found the cat food wet this morning from the shower roof leak.  I was surprised, as all I heard was a few light sprinkles, one of which awakened me to close all the open overhead vents.  Claire reported it had rained VERY hard at one time during the night...I am amazed it did not waken me.  I think we must use a hose on the roof at our next opportunity to find and seal that leak!  It's path and source was not apparent in the last rain, when I saw it drip, yet found no wet path for the water to come from after disassembling the trim on the skylight.  I think diagnosing this requires water falling on the roof on demand, from a hose.  We shower, dump, and fill water on the way out, then proceed towards the Land Between the Lakes area in Kentucky.  Our route takes us from Missouri, across the Mississippi river into the very southern tip of Illinois for a brief mile, then across the Ohio river into Kentucky.  It was very windy as Claire drove to the first of two narrow two lane bridges, this one crossing the Mississippi.

The coach was being pushed around on the road by the gusts as we approached the bridge, but she masterfully kept us in our lane as we crossed.  The bridge across the Ohio River is similar, but the Ohio River is wider here, and seems to have more barge traffic too.

There are many fields in the preparation stage here, and animals in pastures too;  this is farm country.  Some folks even seem to mix their work and their fun.

 We notice a field with narrow rows of tall grass waving wildly in the strong breeze, with rows of plastic mulch between them.  We had seen these plantings before, wondering at the reason, but in a flash it became clear;  the grass provides a windbreak to keep the melon plants planted under the plastic from being broken down in the high winds that are commonly blow across  the huge flat fields here.   Ya just gotta see it in action to understand!  :-)  We arrive in Peducah, and find the Walmart we need for resupply before continuing to the Land Between the Lakes.  We shop, observing RVs parked here, then continue on to Sam's for more goodies.  The greeter at Sam's answers Claire's question about what the weather forecasters mean when they report unstable air masses with the remark "They don't know what's going to happen".  I think that is a bit ridiculous until I couple it with the rest of the forecast; 50% chance of showers ALL WEEK.  The old guy is right!  They really don't know, and he knows they don't know too!!  :-))  Here I thought they had something to say that was meaningful, and I just did not understand the meaning....silly me!!  Sam's advertises gas at $1.66.  I expect that could be the non-member price, given Walmart is selling gas at $1.62 with the shopping card.  It does seem that Walmart can undersell Flying J by a couple cents a gallon in most areas now.  We decline to fill here as we have a full tank from Flying J...that is probably a mistake, as we can take on 10 gallons after today's run.  It is probably worth the effort to do that in the morning.  We debate for a short time on the wisdom of continuing on, and decide to stay overnight in the Walmart.  We would arrive at the Land Between the Lakes after the visitors center there closed, as we want to stop at the Kentucky info center on I-24 too.  We notice a buffet restaurant and debate whether we should go there too; we decide it is too soon since Saturday's overfeed on seafood, and Claire quickly makes up spaghetti by adding a commercial can to some of her left over home made sauce.  TV is extra sharp and strong here;  this is a CITY,  with local TV coverage, and the terrain is fairly flat so NO GHOSTS!.  :-)  After I finish the dishes, I'm ready to retire.  A few drops of rain start to fall; that's OK, if it rains at night and is sunny all day who can complain?

Wednesday April 21:

It's 68 degrees under the RV at 6AM.  It sprinkled a bit from time to time overnight.  The forecast for the area is now 60% probability of rain into the weekend (I guess they figured out what was going to happen).  We are not fast to move today.  Claire cooks beef & barley soup for supper before we leave the Walmart lot, while I buy a couple things and check for a laundromat.  I find the Walmart clerk who says she has no clue, and a customer who suggests a trailer park 2 miles away.  Claire decides the trailer park will not have enough machines to do the job quickly, and defers the job.  We then return to Sam's for grapes.  Sam's posted gas price is 4 cents higher than Walmart's, I think there must be a 5 cent member discount on top of that, but am told "no".  I disbelieve, and actually drive to the pumps devoid of customers, and am told they sell only to members, that the posted price is correct.  The clerk seems surprised to hear Walmart (almost across the street) has 4 cent lower prices.  We decline to buy.  Walmart Corporation needs to get it's act together.  Their pricing and discount policies are very different from store to store, and in some areas Sam's and Walmart compete rather than complement.  Claire gathers details on the four day quilting event in Paducah.  She wants to see it, but not today; perhaps Friday or Saturday.  We decide to proceed to the KY info station 5 miles away on I-24.  A pretty blossoming tree attracts Claire...

It may smell sweet, but not TOO close please.....  :-)   Here we pick up many brochures covering the Land Between the Lakes, but none show the Corps of Engineers campground 40 miles away that I thought we would go to. Our COE campground book is old, and I am wondering if the COE campgrounds here are discontinued.  The info center folks know nothing about the COE campgrounds.  We proceed toward the Golden Pond visitors center, hoping for better info....   Along the way we find a county tourist info center.  The lady there is quite helpful, but has no brochures on COE facilities. She says the Golden Pond Visitors center is run by Land Between the Lakes under the USDA Forest Service. She does mention the COE has a campground nearby along the canal, and gives verbal directions to it, pointing it out on the map.  I check the old book, and it seems the same place is shown in there, and it gives complete directions that make sense.  :-)  This is closer than the original area, and better if we are returning to Paducah for the quilting show. It is more expensive, but we'll make up that difference in gas savings. We head there, crossing Kentucky Dam, and it's navigation lock, and wondering at the large stack of soft coal piled up on the lake shore.  We note the sign inviting us to tour the TVA power plant here. I wonder if this is a coal fired or hydro plant.... perhaps we should take the tour and find out.  :-)  This area clearly has a recreational focus

This marina is filled, and we have already noticed pamphlets extolling the virtues of the area for retirement living. We find a nice Corps of Engineers campground with a water view, electricity and water on site, and a dump station.  Many of the sites are not level, and best suited to trailers, but we find a very suitable level one, pay $17 for 2 days, and settle in.  Here we will use the water and hose to (hopefully) find the shower roof leak, too!  Purry enjoys his outdoor walk opportunity, and we all enjoy the TV.  I am already in bed when Ralph Stanley's distinctive singing brings me awake; the Kentucky PBS has a "Mountain Stage" program featuring Dr Stanley and his band this week, and adds Patti Loveless too.  :-)  I've never seen this program in Boston.... but tastes certainly do vary across this vast country.  :-)))  Arkansas did not carry the "Nightly Business Report" at all....  :-(  At the end of this show we both turn in; it is nearly 11PM.

Thursday April 22:

It is raining gently at 4AM.  The temperature is 61 under the RV.  We listen to the NOAA weather and puzzle over the "heartland" geographic descriptions; a look at the map makes the oft mentioned "state line" seem even more cryptic.  The geography of this region is complex, as the Ohio river runs into the Mississippi river, separating Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky by only the rivers' width.  Within 75 miles of this tri-state border you are in Arkansas or Tennessee, and 100 miles northeast will put you in Indiana.  Weather forecasters assume familiarity with this geography and treat the area as one, referred to as the "Heartland".  I have no problem with this...until I must dig out a map to see if the severe weather with possible tornadoes are coming our way....and then cannot remember the cities named.  :-(  At least the TV forecast shows a map, but all this week "unstable air" has been the forecast, and now that I know it means they don't know what will happen, we just have to live with it that way.  :-)  Rain continues until well after noon. The shower roof drips again, so I do not have to use a hose to diagnose the problem; a trip to the roof reveals weak roof caulking around the shower skylight; it must be dry to seal it, but that is VERY necessary now. We are lucky the water path just takes it directly into the shower without wetting the roof support structure that would induce mold and rot.  We have been WARNED, and it is now imperative that we redo all the roof caulking. We must pick a dry day in a place that permits it, with water available on the site to wash the roof.  We have the material, and I see no problem doing it in this campground, as I saw others washing their RVs, but a dry day is a long way away....at least past next Monday now, and the forecast has been moving the clearing date ahead on us day by day all week.  There is a front stalled overhead, moving north and south over us dropping it's rain each time.  This section of the campground seems designed for families with children in summer.....

The water is cold, the swimming beach is unused now, and site occupants seem to be mostly retirees, but the view out the windshield is nice. Claire uses the electricity to vacuum, and decides to use the single washer dryer in the campground to wash our clothes; our campsite is within easy view of it, and the walk is hardly further than the walk down to the cellar at home.  There is no change machine, and the gate attendants cannot give change either. We carried a bag full of quarters all fall, and they went unused.  We finally spent them down to cut down on unnecessary stuff, now we need them. I get $1 in quarters from a helpful camper, and the job gets finished, but the dryer is not very good, and we could have used more (almost CERTAIN to occur, but only IF we got rid of them).  The clothes will finish drying in the RV, but we must work around them lying everywhere until they do.  I spend  most of today on this weeks webpage; there is more to do than usual, as last weekend there was no time to write it up, and there are LOADS of pictures to choose from.  :-))  Dinner is left over soup, both beef &barley, and squash [they go together quite well when mixed  :-) ].  I am ready for bed when dishes are done.

PLANS:  We will continue working east through Kentucky and West Virginia into Virginia.  In this rainy weather driving is not a lot of fun, as we cannot see much, and pictures show little except raindrops on the windshield and haze.  We will probably slow down a bit and try to find indoor activities until it clears.  We are in April shower country, and it is April, but May is coming....  :-) After we see the quilting show Saturday, we will return to the land between the lakes; it is pretty, with many campgrounds, and the TVA power plant at Kentucky Dam offers tours too.  The land between the lakes is large, over 75 miles long extending south into Tennessee, so there is much to see.  We see references to an elk herd and buffalo prairie there too, and if the gravel road is a GOOD one, maybe we do that.  If we get the right place and right weather, the roof is showing signs (water dripping in the shower)  that we can no longer defer recaulking the seams.  We have firm commitments to be in Roanoke VA on May 10, and home by May 21.  Until then, we'll follow the roads in a general northeasterly direction and keep our raincoats handy.

Until next time, ENJOY!  We are.  :-)