Tennessee Ernie's State & the Tennessee Stud, and then Georgia

Nov 4th
Morning looked good so today was the day to take in the sights of Chatttanooga. With all the brochures we have, there are several things points of interest here, The ones we want to see are Ruby Falls, Rock City, and Point Park. These are all up on a high Ridge that overlooks Chattanooga and the Tennessee River. We are camped in Georgia, but only a few miles back to Tennessee and Chattanooga. Time we got rorganized it was about 11:30 AM, before we got going.
First stop, Ruby Falls:
This is a guided tour, and our guide, Susan, was fabulous. She had
a large, loud, vocal voice that could be heard booming forever down the cave shaft, and her puns and quips were just great. I wish I could remember them all, but one that struck as as a good one was when she asked us if any of us knew the name of a particular structure was protruding from the edge of the cave holdng a light,. None knew, so she says it's called a stalaglight!!

Ruby Falls Cave features many of the more well-known types of cave fformations (or speleothems) including stalactites and stalagmites, columns, drapery, and flowstone.

The Falls are located at the end of the main passage of Ruby Falls Cave, in a large vertical shaft. The stream, 1120 feet underground, is fed both by rainwater and natural springs. It collects in a pool in the cave floor and then continues through the mountain until finally joining the Tennessee River at the base of Lookout Mountain. Ruby Falls Cave, has no natural openings and was not able to be entered until the 20th Century; it therefore does not have the various artifacts which are often associated with caves in the southeastern United States. In 1905 the natural entrance to Lookout Mountain Cave was closed during the construction of a railway tunnel. In the 1920s a chemist and cave enthusiast named Leo Lambert thought that he could re-open the cave as a tourist attraction, and formed a company to do so. He planned to make an opening further up the mountain than the original opening and transport tourists to the cave via an elevator. For this purpose, his company purchased land on the side of Lookout Mountain above Lookout Mountain Cave and in 1928 began to drill through the limestone. In doing so, they discovered a small passageway about 18 inches high and four feet wide. Exploring this opening, Lambert discovered the formerly hidden Ruby Falls Cave and its waterfall. On his next trip to visit the cave, Lambert took his wife Ruby, and told her that he would name the falls after her. In 1954, the pathway around the basin was cut in order to allow tourists a better view of the falls. This began the tour-related quip regarding not drinking the falls' water. Though pure and thus safe to drink, it has large concentrations of magnesium from the strata of the mountain, which makes it a natural laxative. (Susan says "If you drink the water , there are no facilities down here, so if you do, you will make it a crappy day for her") In 1975, the secondary exit from the falls to the base of the mountain was cut. This was to comply with recreation regulations in Tennessee. The secondary exit is used in the event that the main shaft elevator fails. Completion of the tour, Susan says, "It is Tennessee State Law that all must pass through the gift shop." That's always a "given."

Next stop, Rock City.

Rock City will amaze you, it's in our nature. Only six miles from downtown Chattanooga, Rock City is 1700 feet above sea level, with a 100-foot waterfall that cascades down the mountain, and the famous Swing-A-Long bridge that spans nearly 200 feet. This self guided tour along the brow of Lookout Mountain gives visiters a birds eye view from high atop Lookout Mountain. Some of Rock City's other features include the climbing wall at Lover’s Leap where you can “See Seven States,” the birds of prey shows, Big Rock Grill and the Fairyland Caverns

Incline Railway - We didn't ride up the mountain on it, but did cross the rail line on the road up the mountain.

The thrill of riding “America’s Most Amazing Mile” has delighted guests for over a century. The Incline Railway up historic Lookout Mountain is the world’s steepest passenger railway, at 58%. In operation since 1895, the Incline is a National Historic site and Mechanical Engineering Landmark. You can even visit the machine room where the giant gears are put into motion.

Last Stop was Point Park, where a pivotal battle of the Civil War was fought.

In 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought for control of Chattanooga, known as the "Gateway to the Deep South." The Confederates were victorious at nearby Chickamauga in September. However, renewed fighting in Chattanooga that November provided Union troops victory and control of the city.
Lookout Mountain Battlefield

The 3,000 acre Lookout Mountain Battlefield contains monuments, historical markers, trails, and scenic vistas. Point Park, a unit of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield, is located on top of the mountain and is the most prominent feature in the area. The Visitor Center, located across the street from the Point Park entrance gate, displays artist James Walker’s 13 x 30 foot painting the “Battle of Lookout Mountain." Self-starting audio visual programs and various other artifacts and exhibits are also located inside the Visitor Center.

Nov 3rd
Rained all day so just relaxed and did some computer stuff . Spent a lot of time figuring just how to go about placing Collages and Slide Shows into my blog. Some of these things are not just Client Friendly. Finally figured out on Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.0, that I have had for some time,but never had the time to really study it, that I was able to do a "collage." And save it as a .jpg!! The "Slide Show," I was also able to figure out how to do it, but try as I might, was unable to save it, as a file to be viewed by others. I could save it for myself, but it has to be viewed in Adobe. Finally went to "Help," When all else fails, sometimes even a man has to ask for help. "God, help Us!!" Well this guy with about as much knowledge of computers as me, wrote that he solved the same problem by going to www.slide.com. He said it was easy with that program, so away I go. And it was easy!! In a short while I was able to organize a half dozen of my pictures into a slide show. It's rather slow up loading them into the program, but alas it did work. Then the directions said to copy the code into your blog where you want the show to be shown. I did that, published my blog as a trial, and Voila, it worked!! Now these pictures that I chose were just a few random ones, so now I wanted to remove them and do a proper slide show. So I went to edit, and removed them, back to publish and view my blog. Shit, they are still there!! Back to edit. They don't show there. Back and forth, back and forth, for the next hour. Finally remove about 3 lines of text, above and below the show entry point, publish, gone! Back to edit again, replace the text, publish again, and now we are finally in business. Must remember this process better for the future. Oh yes, somewhere along the line with this new program they want you to adopt a "Cartoon Pet" from a list they show. OK I'll do that, and name him "Phiedeaux," after the one that travels with us on our dash. So now I can do "Slide Shows" and I have a pet dog. Not sure of the significance of this just yet!!
Nov 2nd
Another moving day and another 200 miles, plus or minus, down the road. Again on Interstates 81, 40, 75, 24 and 59. All very busy!! We were just sailing along, doing great after navigating through Knoxville Tennessee, without an issue, and then we decided to stop at a rest stop about noon for a quick bite to eat. Finished and pulled out again, but only proceeded a mile or so and then the traffic was backed up as far as we could see. Stop and Go for the next hour or so and then started to move again. Never did see the real cause for the slow down, but now we were in the middle of a huge pileup of trucks and cars, all wanting to raise ahead, and pass whoever was in front of them, to be the first to get to where ever they thought they might be going. It was bumper to bumper for the next 50 miles and through Chattanooga, Tennessee. Then we swung onto I 59 and into Georgia. Only a couple of miles to our reserved KOA Park at Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga West KOA, in Trenton, GA. And as the name says, another Mountain Climb, but nice when we got there, after a couple of miles of steep climbing.

Nov 1st
Born in Bristol Tennessee, this was his song:
"The Tennessee stud was long and lean
The color of the sun and his eyes were green
He had the nerve and he had the blood
And there never was a hoss like the Tennessee stud"
Moving day again today. Completed our conservative 200 miles to our
next reserved RV Park at Blountville, Tennessee. We were on Highway 81 all the way. It is a good highway, although truck traffic is rather heavy, but they tell us its not nearly as bad as on Highway 40. We passed Roanoke, Virginia on the freeway with out even actually seeing the city, as it was obscured with a forest.

Some of these are "Borrowed."

A little bit about Roanoke:
The town first called Big Lick was established in 1852 and chartered in 1874. It was named for a large outcropping of salt which drew the wildlife to the site near the Roanoke River. In 1882 it became the town of Roanoke, and in 1884 it was chartered as the independent city of Roanoke. The name Roanoke is said to have originated from an Algonquian word for shell "money". This was also the name of the river that bisected it (probably where shells had come from) and the county. The city grew frequently through annexation through the middle of the twentieth century. Roanoke's location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in the middle of the Roanoke Valley between Maryland and Tennessee, made it the transportation hub of western Virginia and contributed to its rapid growth. During colonial times the site of Roanoke was an important hub of trails and roads. The Great Wagon Road, one of the most heavily travelled roads of eighteenth century America, ran from Philadelphia through the Shenandoah Valley to the future site of the City of Roanoke, where the Roanoke River passed through the Blue Ridge. The Roanoke Gap proved a useful route for immigrants to settle the Carolina Piedmont region. At Roanoke Gap, another branch of the Great Wagon Road, the Wilderness Road, continued southwest to Tennessee. Chances are the first thing you’ll notice in Roanoke Virginia is the 88-foot illuminated star-shaped sign shining down on the city from a hilltop near the Blueridge Parkway.


It towers over 1,000 feet above the city and is visible from 60-miles by air. If you head up to that star you can get some fantastic views of Roanoke, a pleasant city with much to offer its guests.

I guess our hi-light for the day was entering Tennessee as we have never been here before. We stopped at the Tennessee Info center at the border and picked up a few brochures on interesting places to see.

Hello Dolly!!Now there is a guitar!!

Then carried on, and arrived fairly early (about 1:30PM) at the RV Park. Found this, another one setting on a side of a hill with sites contoured into the hill. The road in is steep. I mean really steep!!! Made ELTORO get right down in the botom hole to make the grade!! But it is away from the Interstate, so no highway noise.