Tennessee

While we were at Nachez Trace Wilderness Preserve in Hohenwald, TN we were able to visit several friends in the area. One was a girl who lives in Nashville that I've known since she was about 3 years old. Lindsey is a very sweet person and it was a fun reunion. Other visits included long time friends Shannon and her husband Von, who taught me so much about sheep when I first got them many years ago. I really loved meeting some of her new farm animals and snuggling with a newborn lamb. We also were able to visit Ron and Cindy who we had met 2 years ago when we were in this area. Here's some photos of the week.

Wonderful to see our friend Lindsey

Friends Ron and Cindy.

Had to get some lovins from Clover on my friend Shannon's farm.

Big lamb born that morning. So very sweet.

There's nothing quite like wet kisses from Hester Moo.

You never know what you're going to find on a hike. These 3 photos were taken by our friend Kevin.

The waterfall right behind our camper

Email friends remember you have to go to the blog itself at https://crosscountrycruzin.blogspot.com/2022/03/tennessee.html to see the following video.

Abbie and Andy had such a good time on their first weekend they decided to come back again the next weekend.

We left TN on Wednesday and headed to our last campground of the 2021-2022 snowbird excursions. There's a bad rain/wind storm headed in and we plan to be set up before the worst of it hits. We will be at Diamond Caverns campground in Park City, KY, until we begin our journey home next week.

A Long Drive and a Thoughtful Friend

Leaving Lake Texoma we headed east to our next campground in Hohenwald, TN and, being almost a 10 hour drive, we planned to spend 2 nights at various locations along the way. We try not to drive more than 4 hours at a time. Jim says I'm not pleasant to live with after 4 hours on the road. Truth is that neither is he! He starts to complain about the idiot drivers on the road when he's tired. Or maybe he complains all along and I just notice it more when I'm tired.

Our first stop was at a Harvest Host location in Washington, AR. Coulter Farmstead is a very picturesque, historic farm Bed & Breakfast with 4 log cabins dating back to the 1840s and a unique barn loft over a working barn. It also has a fully restored 1880s Wolff Mercantile general store that was painstakingly relocated from Bingen, AR. Also included on the 17 acres is the 1860s antebellum Greek Revival home where the owner lives. Everything is just perfect and lovingly cared for. You can even order breakfast which will be delivered right to your door. Check out their website at https://www.coulterfarmstead.com/wolff-general-store. If you're ever in this area I give this location a big thumbs up. This is a video showing a panorama of the site. Listen to those peepers! (If you get this blog through email, you'll have to go to the actual blog to see the video. https://crosscountrycruzin.blogspot.com/2022/03/a-long-drive-and-thoughtful-friend.html ) 

We were supposed to overnight at another place along the way in Williston, TN, but the recent wet spell left their driveway a bit muddy and there was a concern about being able to turn around without sinking in the mud. Instead of finding another place on short notice we decided to drive the extra 3 hours to our campground, making about a 7 or 8 hour drive. We called the campground to make sure we could come in a day early and that wasn't a problem. But the long drive took its toll - on me particularly.

That brings us to the thoughtful friend part. Remember Kevin, one of our neighbors way back in Lake Whitney? He was also at Lake Texoma and now he's here at Nachez Trace campground in TN. He messaged me to say what number campsite he was at and that he had scouted out a campsite near him that we might like. When we got here, he helped guide Jim as he backed into the campsite, and even gave us the password to his Starlink as there's practically no cell reception here. Knowing I like to hike, he said he'd chosen this campsite specifically because he thought it would be great for me. There are stone steps in the back that lead down the hill to a nice hiking area and small waterfall. Being as tired as I was from the long trip, I really appreciated his help with backing in, and especially appreciated his thoughtfulness in choosing a campsite he thought I would like. And I do like it, it's perfect.

Kevin

It's just a short walk down stone stairs to the lake, a small waterfall, and a hiking trail

I have to say that southern roads and highways are awful! The ride was so rough that just about everything in the camper was on the floor, including clothes hanging in the closet. We secure anything breakable and make sure cupboard and refrigerator doors are secure. You've seen TV shows where they shove everything in a closet and get an avalanche when the door gets opened. Picture that. I opened one cupboard in the bathroom and got hit on the head with a bottle of shampoo. I was extra cautious opening other ones, especially the refrigerator. If you ever thought northern roads are bumpy, you haven't driven on some of these!

We discovered we have 2 rock dings in the front windshield of the camper. Jim will have to repair those during the next few weeks before we leave for our next destination. All in all though, we love this area of TN. We had been to this campground 2 winters ago and are glad to be back to investigate things we didn't see last time. 

We also plan to take time to visit friends in Holladay, TN, and another friend in Nashville, as well as friends in Rogersville, AL. We met another couple in this campground from Bedford, NH who we hope will boondock at our house in the north country this summer. Another couple from nearby in TN, Andy and Abbie, were our neighbors here this weekend. We'll probably never see them again but will keep in touch through FB. One thing about RV nomad life is that you make lots of life long friends along the way.

Lake Texoma

If we thought Lake Tawakoni was big (which, by the way, was named for the Tawakoni Native American peoples, who were a larger part of the Caddo Nation. The Caddos inhabited a large part of north and east Texas, including where the lake is located. The name is interpreted to mean "river bend among red sand hills", referring to where a village was located.), Lake Texoma is even larger. At 93,000 surface acres, Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States. It is the 12th largest US Army Corp of Engineers lake with 80% of the lake in Oklahoma and only 20% in Texas. I can't be absolutely sure, but maybe that's how it got its name - Tex (Texas) oma (Oklahoma). I suppose they couldn't make a combination name of the 2 states the other way around!

Lake Texoma's two main sources are the Washita River from the north and the Red River from the west. and drains back into the Red River at the Denison Dam. The Red River is a saltwater river due to salt deposits left over from a 250 million year old former sea that was in the current Texas-Oklahoma border region. As time passed that sea evaporated, leaving salt deposits, mostly sodium chloride. Rock and silt eventually buried the deposits, but the salt continues to leach through natural seeps in tributaries above the lake, sending as much as 3,450 tons of salt per day flowing down the Red River. Saltwater striped bass thrive in Lake Texoma and often reach weights of 12 to 20 lbs, with the record being 35.12 lbs, caught in April 1984. Other species include largemouth, spotted, and white bass, white crappie, channel, blue, and flathead catfish, and others. Catfish typically weigh between 5 and 70 lbs, but in 2004 a 121.5 lb blue catfish was pulled from the lake, temporarily setting a world record for rod and reel caught catfish.

In 1944 when the lake began filling up it changed the area considerably. Railroads, highways, utilities and cemeteries had to be relocated, and 4 towns lost their identities forever. Preston, Hagerman, Cedar Mills, Texas, and Woodville, OK are now under Lake Texoma.

Lake Texoma

Cedar Mills Marina on Lake Texoma

We were able to visit the Frank Buck Zoo in Gainesville, TX. It's fairly small as zoos go, being only about 30 acres. It started as Gainesville Community Circus in 1930. In 1954 it was renamed after Frank Buck, a film actor and director who was also a Gainesville native. and had also worked as a ring master at the circus. The zoo is home to over 130 animals that one would usually find, including giraffes, camels, leopards, wallabies, various reptiles and birds.

We witnessed an incredible event, at least to us. An ostrich was ruffling its feathers, then stretched and plopped down. Then it stretched its neck and body upward. After a few seconds it got up and walked away, leaving a huge egg on the ground. That's something you don't see everyday.

Ostrich ruffling its feathers and fluttering its wings

Huge Ostrich egg!

The darker bird is a Caribbean Flamingo and the lighter one is a Chilean Flamingo

It's amazing the people you meet in the most interesting places. I was at the laundromat and happened to get into a conversation with a lady who was also there doing her laundry. During our conversation she happened to mention about her food storage back at home. That's a term which you find frequently used by members of my church. Then when I was folding my laundry she asked me if I'm LDS. (If you're a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints you'll understand what tipped her off. If not, it's a story I'll tell you about someday if you ask me.) Anyway, she's a member traveling from Montana with her husband and son. We visited with them several times over the next week or so, making life long friends.

Our new friends, Donna and Steve Seler from Montana

Donna and Steve have the cutest dog who tips her head way over, trying to understand human-speak. Just look at those huge ears! Donna is modeling a sweater I crocheted for her.

One curious thing was the number and frequency of Amber Alerts. The previous times we've been in TX we didn't get any. This year it seems they were every few days. I wonder if it's because of the border crisis, or is the world just going crazy? Or maybe a combination? Native Texans I met did say that with the influx of Californians relocating, that Texas cities are no longer what they choose to live there for. Many of the locals are moving out of the congestion and crowding of the cities and choosing a more rural life. I can relate to that because the southern part my own state of NH has attracted an influx of people from MA who move in and bring MA with them, changing the NH culture.

As our time at Lake Texoma came to an end, we were grateful to have good weather for our trip to Hohenwald, TN. We did have another ice storm while there but thankfully it was only a day that we didn't dare to travel on the roads. Most of the time the temperatures were quite pleasant. On to TN, which is at least heading eastward and closer to home.

Juniper berries

If you remember the view from my door a few weeks ago that was all snow, this is the view from my door at Lake Texoma.