Tennessee to Wyoming

We decided to travel a bit harder and faster for a couple of days to make up for a slow start from Florida. In doing so, we passed many things of interest and somewhat lost what we were after, a grasp of the world around us.  We captured some in pictures which we will now reflect on and always remember...even if in a slow blur..

Artistic sculptures of horses or older men chatting.

Wonderful vegetables and fruits were found everywhere on the small roads.  We tried to stay off any road with more than 2 lanes and found America the way I remembered it.  Smiling faces, warm greetings were also included in the price.   Of course an extra 5 minutes or so chat time  could not be missed.  So glad we took this path.
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Took time to view sights and really enjoyed some of those special little things each town can offer/one of the benefits of staying off interstate highways!


Sometimes, Older RV's like this Chinook of late 60's were seen.  This one was still being used by a used car lot by it's owner/salesman I think as his office/home.   This model of Chinook, the 1400 built on a Dodge truck chassis, and other big ones up to the 2500 series, went belly up due to gas prices in early 70's, but the company were inovators for using fiberglass front and back sections.  In later models almost everything was built of fiberglass.

Dickson Tennessee was one of my family's favorites.  We passed thru to pay my respects and place flowers on their graves..   I miss them, and as the sign says....Our Country roads have many tales to tell.

You never know what you will see out there.  A Studebaker Pick-Up truck!

A Hahn Motor Inc. firetruck?



Hahn was an innovator in the 30's and 40's making fire trucks and WW2 war equipment.  Loved the hood ornament. Often these older vehicles were works of art, in whole or in part.

How about a pig farm with a sign at the road, warning you to STAY AWAY!!  THEY WANT TO KEEP PRODUCING SAFE FOOD!!  yeah right!  check out the dumpster on their property!!

OK, we read the sign, yet the 2 photos attest to something probably different.  Safe?  Healthy? Hmmm.

Some small towns had amazing artwork.  This Bank Building was done in an extraordinary manner with either etching brick or carving them..  Absolutely extraordinary!!  Click to enlarge a bit.

 

Vintage travel trailers. were surprising still found in use

like this 1955 or so, 15 footer.  

Local campgrounds run by states were magnets on the weekends for families enjoying their local marvels...in this case a waterfall and gorge leading to a stream fit for swimming or tubing.

Small towns preserved their heritage as here, with this sod roofed cabin of an older female pioneer resident's.

 The Badlands of Dakota were spectacular.

The animal life unafraid of humans to a great extent.  It was such a pleasure to share the land we both stood on.  

Any idea what she's doing?

Well, she's cleaning the glass over a missle silo, so we citicens can see the last remaining Minuteman II missles in place.  yes, look down into the silo!

Talk about the Cold War!! yikes, memories of this are still chilling.

A chill easier to take was on our way to Mt. Rushmore monument to see Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lincoln.

We found ourselves jamming on the brakes during a thunderstorm as traffic ahead were slammed with a hail storm..  2" of hail laid on the road 200 yds in front of us.  We stopped just short of it and only got a minor pelting.

Wheeler Dam, Tennessee

Back in '97 Dorothy and I took our boat, Memory Rose, up the Tennessee River during a 5000 mile river trip.  Now, driving north on our motor home adventure of 2010, we had the opportunity to cross one of the dam;  the Wheeler Dam.


  In 97 we had to use their lock system to raise our boat up to the next level on the river at each of these dams.  Now, we can just drive across.

 Viewed from the top, we smiled seeing the many fishing boats just downstream from the dam.  It seemed we passed a couple of thousand of them during our boat trip and it brought back good memories.

Stayed mostly on secondary roads and enjoyed the view and sense of America.

Decisions decisions....which way to go?










Stopped often to stretch our legs and give the little dog a break and in this case........ "Swim Training"!   Ready?  Set?

Later on we stopped on the Chattanooga River on a fine Corps of Engineers campsite.  Again, watching the river traffic put us in a great mood.  We sat outside till well after dark and enjoyed the setting.

This sight is common on the river.  In this case the pusher tug has 8 barges, 4 long/2abreast, moving upstream.
By the way,  the LOCKS are usually 800' long and 110'wide to accommodate these commercial operations plying the rivers.

Wheeler Dam, Tennessee

Back in '97 Dorothy and I took our boat, Memory Rose, up the Tennessee River during a 5000 mile river trip.  Now, driving north, we had the opportunity to cross one of the dams, Wheeler Dam.


  In 97 we had to be locked into with the boat and floated up, in order to pass it over it.

 Viewed from the top, we smiled seeing the many fishing boats just downstream from the dam.  It seemed we passed a couple of thousand of them during our boat trip and it brought back good memories.

Stayed mostly on 2ndary roads and enjoyed the view.

Decisions decisions....which way to go?












Stopped often to stretch our legs and give the little dog a break and in this case, "Swim Training"!

Later on we stopped on the Chattanooga River on a fine Corps of Engineers campsite.  Again, watching the river traffic put us in a great mood.  We sat outside till well after dark and enjoyed the setting.