Random Thoughts and Moving Day

Location: Jackson County Campground; Scottsboro, Alabama

Today was moving day and I moved about 100 miles east, but still near the Tennessee River. It was a short and easy tow. I'm liking this routine that I started using earlier in year as I was exploring parts of Texas. I'm trying to keep my tows to less than 100 miles and just leisurely drive to my next campground. My purpose of traveling has always been to see new things. So, I figure I can see new things 100 miles down the road just as well as 200 or more. The 100 miles is so if I pass something on the way to a campground, it is close enough for me to easily drive back to explore it after setting up Liberty in the campground. Some RV'ers like to "ball the jack" and cover a lot of distance in a day. You may need to ask a seasoned citizen or an old railroader about the meaning of "ball the jack". I also think my optimum length of stay is 4 days. It just feels right. It's long enough to explore some and still have time to rest up before moving on down the road.

The foothills of the Appalachian Mountains came into view today.

More mountains in the distance. Definitely not like the Rockies but bigger than anything in Louisiana.

Man was I ever surprised to find a Buc'ees on the way. A Buc'ees in Alabama. Wow. 

Campsite #80

The view out my back window. Not as good as I've had the last couple of times, but still not bad.

This campground has a lot of permanent RV's, but there seems to be a pride in their ownership. They keep their sites neat and clean. I believe the RV's are also being used as weekend summer houses with their boats tied up to one of several campground piers. The money they save from storage fees for the RV and boat would generally pay for their summer season campground fees.

I didn't write it up in my last post, but I visited the Indian Mound and Museum in Florence, Alabama during the time at my last campground. I finally got a reasonable answer to the question I always ask the people at Indian Mounds. I always ask, "the people back then were hunter/gatherers and worked hard to get food and shelter just to survive. Why would they build a mound? How would they have enough time to do something that would appear to be frivolous." I've gotten many answers over the years, but none seemed reasonable or logical. The guy in charge of the museum answered it this way. The Indians in the area gathered together at least once a year to trade, visit, pass along information and get married. This was much like the Annual  Rendezvous created by the mountain men of the Rockies. While the Indians gathered up, they would work a little bit on the mound to commemorate that years gathering. After several decades, the mound was completed. Now I'm not 100 percent sure that is how it happened, but it might have been that way.

I'm a sucker for $5.00 museums. The very best Indian Museum that I've visited is in Cherokee, North Carolina. 

The more I learn about the TVA, the more impressed I am with its success. You don't have to quit reading, I'm not going to type up more dry statistics or old history. One thing I don't understand, is why it hasn't been replicated on our other rivers. Yep, we have hydro dams that have improved navigation on many of the rivers in the country, but nothing like the things the TVA has done and is doing. One of the latest examples of an opportunity missed is the Corps of Engineer work to make the Red River navigable in Louisiana. They built 5 lock and dams between the junction with the Mississippi River and Shreveport, Louisiana. None are Hyro-electric dams. The only hydo dam in Louisiana is near the junction of the Mississippi River/Old River/Red River and it is owned by a city. While all the equipment and manpower was available to build the lock and dam, it would have been cheap to add on a powerplant. The TVA also has lots of free boat ramps, parks and picnic areas. Very few of those exist along the Red River. Oh well, life is full of missed opportunities.

I'm still undecided about my route back to Louisiana after the Rally. If ya'll have any suggestions, I'm willing to listen. I thought about paying a return visit to Washington D.C. but then changed my mind quickly. If something would happen while I was in the city, I could be arrested just for being there. Currently, there are over 1000 people that were arrested for being at the Capitol on January 6th. Had I have been the city on that day, I would have went to the Capitol, not as a rioter but as a tourist, "seeing what I could see". I would have been swept up with the other 1000 people. Just thinking about me changing my mind about visiting D.C. because of what could happen gives me a funny, icky feeling inside. It ain't right, and needs to change. Maybe a Convention of the States is what is needed. The founding fathers put it in the constitution for times just like this. Maybe.

On a lighter note, ever since I left Louisiana 12 days ago, I seem to be one step ahead of hot and stormy weather. Heat advisories are being issued for places as I'm leaving and the temperatures are 10 degrees cooler where I'm headed. Just lucky I guess. My luck will run out one of these days soon though.     

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe, I'll Cya down the road.