Montgomery, Alabama to Franklin, Tennessee

About 285 miles, mostly Interstate, should have been a nice easy drive, right?  Wrong ....







Friday:  I checked the weather report for temps and humidity percentages and rain forecast, and picked Friday (it was still 85% humidity, but I'm in the South) to get up at dawn and wash my very dirty coach.  You don't realize how dirty it is until you swipe a wet cloth across the white swirl and see the mud form .... It took 3 hours to wash, dry and spray wax the outside, but it looks good!
Unfortunately, my Fitbit only gave me 2500 steps for all that bending and reaching and scrubbing.  After I sat for awhile and had a cold one (diet Coke that is), I went back outside to check the fluid levels in the engine and generator, grease the jacks and steps, spray the seals, etc ....  And then I worked on the inside....  even living the dream has chores.  ha.



I called the local Jeep dealer in Hohenwald, TN to make an appointment for an oil change while I'm there and found out that this weekend was Mule Day - Mule Day is an annual celebration of all things related to mules and is held in Columbia, Tennessee, the “Mule Capital” of the world.  As I didn't want to get hung up in the parade, I took my time getting on the road Saturday morning.

No need to worry .... traffic on I-65 was so bad, I averaged 20mph for over 100 miles.  So much for the 70mph speed limit .... 

For a little less than half the drive I had the generator running with the coach A/C on, because, as you may or may not know, you need to run the generator with load at least two hours each month.  If I haven't used it,  I run it while I drive, so as not to disturb my camping neighbors.  Although it was over 80 degrees outside, it got so cold in the cab I had to run the heater to keep from shivering.  A/C works good. ha.

I got to drive on about 15 miles of the Natchez Trace to get to the campground; beautiful, very peaceful drive.  From all the still-bare trees, I imagine the color on them in the Fall would be awesome. 

And the second part of my fun day ..... no cell service/no GPS and the road to the campground has a bridge that says 11ft.  My coach is 13ft .... so I turn left and try to call the campground ... no cell service remember?  By the time I find a place to turn around (many, many miles) I have passed two police officers target shooting in an open field ... twice.  What's a girl to do?  I stopped at the sign before the bridge and turned on my flashers.  I didn't have to wait long before the officers asked if I needed help.  

What has been done to remedy this situation is a trench has been dug along the side of the road to allow an additional 2ft of clearance under the bridge.  The officers were kind enough to guide me through and send me a mile up the road to the campground.

It isn't clear in the picture, but that dirt area is actually a 2ft drop below the road .... which was also fun because there was no "gradual" decline like a driveway ....

It was after 6pm before I got into the campground, so I took the first site that was level and long enough ... not the best choice, but I'm here now!  I drove around the campground on Sunday and decided it wasn't worth moving.



So .. now the fun stuff.  Lots to see in this part of Tennessee and I'm only here 11 days!

Sunday morning I went to the Mule Days fairgrounds for the worship service at the Main Stage.  It was provided by a local Baptist Church; the service was good and the entertainment was wonderful.  I purchased one of their CDs.

 
And then I walked the Arts and Crafts and Flea Market ... and the food rows.  Between the mules, horses and dogs, you better watch each step you take.

Here are some things you don't see at the OC County Fair....

The the "tour" took less than an hour, including the roasted corn and ice tea, so I headed for Franklin to see what was open on Sunday ...









 First stop was the Carnton Plantation  and the Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864) - the battle that was supposed to be fought at Nashville was fought here because the Federal troops couldn't cross the river - the frontal assult by the Confederate solders on the Federal position was bigger than Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.  The combat raged for five hours, leaving nearly 10,000 casualties in its wake.  The Carnton Plantation was set up as a field hospital.  In the bedrooms where the surgery was set up, you can still see the blood stains in the wooden floor (that had carpet covering it at the time).

Main house and entrance to the garden

One of the slave quarters

 


 
The Public Square has a tall statue of a Conferate solder and several actual canons.
Lots of pretty tulips in bloom all over Franklin ...




I stopped at the GM plant to see if they offered tours, but they don't.  





The Leeson Covered Bridge - is mostly wood, with concrete supports set into the East Fork Creek.

 I had the pleasure of driving under this bridge both going and coming from the Leeson bridge .... I have found out something about myself in my travels that I didn't realize before - I like bridges.

I just thought this one was cool .... apparently you can walk as well as drive over it because there were people up there waving ....

Driving around the area, there is a much larger percentage of brick structures, both public and residence, than I've seen anywhere before.  I don't know if that means brick is less expensive as a building material than wood, or it's the climate ...

A section of the Trace is under construction (the section right where my campground is), so there are many detours, I don't get to take a direct route anywhere I want to go and, of course, my GPS is not aware of the construction .... I get lost a lot coming and going ... :)