Having finally completed our move to Texas and settled in to our new home in the Kissing Tree community in San Marcos, it is time to take Ushingi on the road again. We are headed to Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
Our first stop is at a Corps of Engineers campground named Clear Springs on the shores of Wright Patman lake.
Next stop is an overnight at Century Farms winery near Jackson TN (yes, the famous Johnny Cash “Jackson” )
Century Farms winery is family owned on land that they have owned for 150 years. They have an amazing array of grapes, most varieties we have never heard of like Norton and Chardonnel. We met the owner and his Scottish sidekick from Kirkentilloch who had a storied history that was very interesting.
After numerous tastings we retired to the RV with a bottle of Chardonnel and a bottle of Cranberry fruit based wine.
After two long days of RV driving we meandered slowly to Nashville to meet up with our youngest son Greg at a Vietnamese restaurant (Miss Saigon). With full bellies we then headed out to Seven Points campground on the shore of Percy Priest lake.
An amazing Harvest Host location to stay overnight. Cesar, one of the employees, met us at the gate with his wife Lynsey and son Jason. Jason’s role was the official interpreter and keeper of the gate code. They were very hospitable and showed us where to pick our own fresh Blackberries.
This was a welcome retreat from the madness of nearby Pigeon Forge, host town of “Dollywood”.
What better place could there be to have your morning coffee, absolute tranquility.
We happily left Pigeon Forge for Elkmont Campground in the Great Smoky NP.
We hiked about 8 miles in the park on Tuesday, somewhat ambitious for us ol’ folks but the views and foliage were worth the effort.
Undaunted by our stiff legs from yesterday we went off to hike Clingman’s Dome. The traffic was so bad we decided to abandon Greg’s van on the side of the road and walk the remaining 2 miles to the entrance and then up the very steep …… hill to the observation deck.
We departed the Smoky Mountains on Friday and stopped for the night at the Wrangler Campground in Natchez Trace forest just outside Nashville. At 7pm our phones went berserk with weather alerts about severe thunderstorms, hail and 60 mph gusts for the next 60 minutes. We stayed put, hunkered down and Ushingi survived unscathed and cleaner.
With a spare day we decided to stop in Memphis to visit Graceland and soak up the Elvis folklore.
We spent the night at the Graceland RV resort. Very convenient to get to the Elvis exhibits; a short walk to the entrance.
Homeward bound now. Staying at Clear Spring campground again in Texarkana. We managed to snag a great water site for the night.
ushingi 