Keeping up

For all those that do read this blog, I just want to give you an update as to what and where we are and have been.


 Sitting at Raccoon Valley I noticed the weather wasn't looking good for the plans on the etch-a-sketch so I shook it up a little. We pulled out Sunday just before noon because rain was in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday and I don't drive in the rain if I can avoid it.

 The etch-a-sketch showed us arriving at SMI on Tuesday and not Thursday as planned, so we went to Ft Knox KY to hang out over the fourth. Camp Carlson is a nice place, but the cell service was/is lacking. We did ride around and saw what you can see of the vault that supposedly holds all the gold.

 Tuesday AM we headed west to Newburgh IN, the home of SMI, the makers of Air Force One. That is the breaking system I bought last year and never had installed. A phone call confirmed they could squeeze us in Tuesday afternoon, and that would allow us to get to Phoenix Commercial Paints a day early, and give us a day at Camp Newmar.

 The one employee at Newmar that we talked to was very pleasant, almost too pleasant, and the customers we talked to were shocked that Newmar had refused to even talk to us about having the boo boo fixed there. We did pick up a few items we could only get at Newmar before parking the rig at Michele's for the boo-boo to be fixed.

 Michele and I hashed out what all I wanted her to do to repair the rig, and what she could do, and how much it all was going to cost me. By the end of the day the Boo-Boo had been put back together, and by the end of Friday the rear of the coach and one door had been sanded and painted. These were small places that the clear coat had chipped, but they kept getting bigger so I wanted to have them fixed.

 Today we drove the rig to Elkhart Camp Ground because I didn't want to stay inside the building at Phoenix Paints, and neither of us had 100' of 50 amp cord. We will hang out here until Monday morning and then Phoenix Paints will complete the painting of the front cap, removing the diamond shield, and making the Kountry Star look better than new.

 Everything should be finished by the end of next week, maybe sooner, and then we start our journey west...........

On the road again.

 Our two months with the CGNHP ended Monday, Ranger Scott was kind enough to offer us the site we were on until after the 4th of July, but I had hitch itch and was ready to move on. Three months in the same spot was long enough for me.

 We did sign on for another two months next year at the CGNHP, June and July we will be back there. Maybe next year Marcia won't have to do the 32 required hours by herself, I won't be running to the hospital everyday so I will be able to do more.

 We were lucky enough to get tours of the Cumberland Gap tunnel, Gap Cave, and Hensley,s Settlement. I did a blog on the Tunnel and Gap Cave, and I plan on doing one on Hensley,s Settlement some time in the future. Marcia met plenty visitors to the park and offered her knowledge and wisdom to everyone that asked for information. We even met a guy that claimed to have been to every National Park except two, and they had just been declared National Parks this year. I was impressed!

 Tuesday we spent cleaning and packing between the rain drops, so a lot off stuff had to be brought out and dried today. We also said good-bye to our two sons, and four grand kids Tuesday, Jon had to fly back to Korea Wednesday morning so he left Middlesboro Tuesday evening, and Corey left Wednesday morning headed to VA Beach with his loving wife Jennifer, and his precious daughter Jaelynn. So we had a pizza party in the park for lunch. All the good-byes were said and the sorrow of not seeing them all for a while was dealt with.

 Wednesday morning we took the rig to our mechanic for the annual service, oil and filters were changed, and he found the antifreeze was a gallon low. ( I,ll have to watch that close because he couldn't find any leaks, and couldn't tell me where it had gone.) We caught Stacey before she left for work and said goodbye to her, then we finished some last minuet things that needed to be done before saying bye to Scott and heading to Raccoon Valley RV Park.

 Scott really impressed me with the changes he has made in the past year, he has really gotten his act together. His significant other, or girl friend, Stacey might have something to do with his changes. We really liked Stacey and hope the very best for her and Scott, because they both will have their hands full.

 Now we are getting back into "vacation mode" as full timers, we have this weekend to see the sights around Knoxville, and spend a little time with our daughter Jenelle before we aim the nose of the Kountry Star north. Next week we will get the air force one brake system installed on the rig, (I've had it a year now) and then we will wind up in MI to get the front end repaired. Once the repairs are finished we will point the nose west and follow the old saying, "go west young man go west"............................

Gap Cave

Gap Cave is located within the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The Park is located on a map where KY, TN, and VA meet. Middlesboro KY is on the north, and Cumberland Gap TN is on the south. The cave has been used by mankind since the first settlers passed through the gap of the Cumberland's. Early pioneers used it as a place for shelter as they passed through the area, A slave named Cudjo, used it as a hide out, both union and confederate soldiers used it during the civil war, Lincoln Memorial University used it as a money making tourist trap, and now the CGNHP has it, and they are committed to preserving it, although they do offer tours through it for a small fee.

The tour offered by the CGNHP starts at the visitors center in Cumberland Gap. Here you park your car, and pay the $8 fee, ($4 with the golden access) and $4 for children.

Once you have paid the fees you meet up with the tour guide under the covered gateway. The gateway offers sounds of the pioneers passing through the gap, and you will see silhouettes of people, Indians, and animals as you might have seen in the 1800's.  

The guide will give a brief spill about the cave and history before he leads you on a 6/10 of a mile hike up the mountain to the cave entrance.

 

There will be a stop or two on the way up to give us old folks a breather, and that gives the tour guide a chance to tell a little history about the area.

Once you reach the cave entrance the guide will unlock the gates, and give a short safety briefing. Both the entrance and exit have locked gates to keep the cave safe from all kinds of creatures.                             (man being the main one)

Once in the cave if you happen to shine your light in the right spot you will see a bat clinging to the ceiling, or a wall.

The guide will ask you what formations are in the cave, and if nobody knows he/she will tell you. The guide will also tell you about the history of the cave.

You will find out about the water in the cave, and what the water does to and for the cave.

The guide will explain how long it takes to make some of these formations.

You will also hear some of the tales that have been passed down from generation to generation.

You will learn about some of the cities found inside the cave, such as the one below.

If your in the tri state area (ky,tn,&va) you will be glad you forked over the $8 to see this awesome piece of history. Here is a picture of us as we exited the cave a couple weeks ago.

                                Marcia, Jenelle,Joe,Corey,Joshua,and Justin after a GAP CAVE TOUR.

Paul Blaine Jones 09/09/1936 06/04/2011

Dad lived a full life, he passed away at home with family surrounding him.

Once things get setteled back to some kind of normal I will do a blog about the greatest dad anyone could ever have.......

The Greatest Dad

 I'm sure almost everyone thinks they have the greatest dad ever, and I feel really sorry for those that don't. I know I have the greatest dad, but his time here on earth is short. He has been in the hospital or rehab since March the 20th, with the exception of one week he was able to go home.

 Today the decision was made to get him back home with hospice care. He said he was just too tired and it hurt too much to continue with the rehab. When the social worker explained the hospice care and told dad they would make him comfortable he decided that was the way to go.

 Tomorrow we will head back to the old home place, if hospice can get everything lined out that dad will need. He requires so much oxygen that most of the rehab centers couldn't help dad even if he wanted to continue with the rehab. Tomorrow night I will make us a large pan of biscuits, and Marcia will make plenty gravy. Dad will be home and most of his family will be there to welcome him back home, and maybe some day I will tell you a few reasons of why I KNOW I have the greatest dad.........

The Cumberland Gap Tunnel

I don't think anyone really knows when the thoughts of a tunnel through the Cumberland's was first thought of, but it was opened in 1996. In the 1700's Daniel Boone made the Gap through the Cumberland's known. He and others led many people through the gap into Kaintuck, or Kentucky as we know it today. In the 1920's a road was built for automobiles to cross the Cumberland mountains, one of its names was Wilderness Trail, taken from what settlers called the trail that the road followed.

The road was a winding road connecting Cumberland Gap TN to Middlesboro Ky, but you had to pass through a short section of VA to get from one place to the other. This 3 mile section of road was named Massacre Mountain by the locals because there was so many crashes on it. As in most mountain roads a crash often resulted in fatalities.

Here is a pic of TN side opening of the tunnel.

It took 17 years from start to opening, I'm not sure if the 17 years included the many years of planning before they actually started the digging. The Tunnel is located in the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, and park Rangers do the patrolling. There are two tunnels, one for the north bound traffic and one for the south bound traffic, each tunnel has two lanes of traffic. The tunnel is 4600 feet long, and connects Ky to TN. The state line is not marked inside the tunnel to avoid state rivalries.

We were fortunate enough to get a tour of the tunnel thanks to the Great Staff at the CGNHP. About 22 volunteers were taken on a tour of the tunnel a few weeks ago. This is a picture of the control room where many cameras, temps, carbon monoxide, and a lot of other stuff is monitored.

This picture was taken inside the the control room looking towards Middlesboro.



This picture is on top of the tunnel looking towards Middlesboro, with several of the volunteers walking to the edge. We were told two deer have jumped to their death from up there, one landing in the north bound lane, and the other in the spillway of the north bound lane.

 US 25 E coming out of the tunnel, taken from the top of the tunnel.

The Tunnel employees 37 people, all EMT trained, it has ambulances, wreckers, and fire trucks on both ends. An average of 35,000 vehicles pass through it daily, and that doubles when NASCAR races are held in Bristol. The tunnel has made it easy to get from KY to TN and eliminated many crashes. The Middlesboro rescue squad had a 50% reduction in the number of crashes it responded to the first year the tunnel was open.

In 2002 the old US 25 E was restored ( as best as they could) to the way it was when Daniel Boone led settlers through the Gap into Kaintuck. You can walk the same trail that Daniel Boone walked.

Where have I been????

It is safe to say I haven't been on the PC doing my blog.

Things are a little on the busy side here in SE KY. Dad has been in and out of the hospital too many times, and the worst part is he is in the hospital now. He is doing better, but all the therapy he had has been lost with this last set back. On top of his bad lungs, and failing heart, he has an ulcer in his stomach that acts up way too often, but we aren't ready to give up, and neither is he.

 We found out today that Wal-Mart didn't mount my wheels right on the jeep. The wheels are uni-lug which requires a washer to be placed "correctly" between the wheels and the lug nut which they didn't do on half of them. After Wal-Mart in Fountain City decided they couldn't fix them they sent me to one of the shops that covers their mistakes. That shop didn't have the washers or lug nuts that we needed replaced, so I wound up taking it to a wheel and tire shop to get the lug nuts replaced. Now I have to take it back to Corbin to get the wheels replaced that they scared up removing the messed up lug nuts.

 We did make it to Raccoon Valley SKP Park for their dine in tonight. It was really good to see some of our RV friends. Sue and Niel are back at Raccoon Valley, Carl is there, and several others we have met in the past four years. We left some pamplets about the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park at the office, and I was shocked to find out some people don't know about the park or all it has to offer.

 So that has inspired me to do a blog about the park. In the next couple blogs I'll be telling a little about the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and some of the things you can enjoy if you happen to be lucky enough to visit this little part of the world. And now that "Blackberry winter" has passed the weather should be just about perfect. Blackberry winter is the last cold spell in this area, so I will be a happy camper......