One More Battlefield and Some Ancient Peoples

Nov 4,5, 2017

I had vague ideas about travelling across the bottom of Tennessee but I mad these plans without looking at map.  There is no road across the bottom of the state, instead you have to travel in a series of 'w's to get over all the hills 'n stuff.  I was still tired of hills and hey, there's another state right below me!!

First stop was Chickamauga Battlefield.  It's only one part of a larger park but Tennessee was enshrouded in fog rendering the view from Lookout Mountain (near, well, part of Chattanooga) kind of pointless.

I was burned out on Battlefields by this point so not so many pics.  Also no ranger talks and those are usually the best part of a visit.

Did see this sign in the ladies' room.  I can't imagine why it needs to be said but I sure wish I'd seen whatever events led up to it.

After the Park I headed vaguely west, still trying to decide which direction to go.  On the way I passed a sign to Russel Cave and decided Alabama looked like a good direction.

As is evident from the number of photos, this is more my style of National Park

Trail to the cave

The website made it sound as though you could tour the cave with a ranger but no, it's an active archaeological site and viewing is from a platform.  Ah well. 

The park has a trail as well that winds up the hill.  I went a little past the point where most people turn around and didn't feel like continuing to trudge up a now-mossy path with questionable weather on the way.  Still pretty and a bit of a workout.

Nerd Heaven

Oct 21 - 30, 2017

Starting this post with yet another amazing sunset.  It was too dark to get a good picture but I tried.

The birth of the Atomic Age pretty much happened in Oak Ridge Tennessee where three individual projects were launched to enrich Uranium and produce Plutonium.  To tour the sites, catch a tour bus at the American Museum of Science and Energy.  You can probably visit several areas on your own but this three hour tour is included in the $5 entry fee for the museum and is something that is worth $30 or more.  The guide is amazing and the tour covers many sites.

"To help with "moral confusion".  Mary is all about nuking the bad guys so put your mind at ease

What exactly did they sew with this?

This.  This was the first nuclear reactor.  Dear God, how did we survive our own ignorance?

How the atomic pellets were added to the reactor

First reactor was called a "pile", presumably because graphite bricks were piled around the fuel to contain it.

Back side of the reactor

Lots of dials and gauges like this one to measure the reaction.  The building also has a sign that instructs people to run if the warning horn sounds.  You'd have to run really, really fast...

And this cool looking thing is a building created with 3-D printing technology. 

Farther down the road is Dayton, TN known primarily (only?) for the Scopes Monkey Trial that took place here.  I didn't find any quirky, touristy stuff capitalizing on the trial but the area is quite pretty.

Another Cylinder Head Post

March 24 - April 16, 2017

One of the nicest things about not being able to achieve freeway speeds is the opportunity to see a lot of rural America.  Churches seem to cluster together (I saw seven in one two-mile stretch) and little cemeteries are everywhere.  Small town Walmarts are also interesting in that they adapt to the local situation.  This one in Trion, Georgia sells straw.

You also meet some lovely people in small towns, like the wonderful guys at ARI Auto Repair.  I was fortunate enough to meet them after deciding that changing the spark plugs really didn't help and Rigadoon was doing the same sorts of things she had been doing earlier in the trip.  The shop did a quick look, thought it might be a burned cylinder, got everything set up so that they could do a complete rebuild if necessary, and then discovered that it just needed adjustment again.  Phew.  They also thought that the first shop back in El Paso had reused the gasket (they had) and it had failed.  They replaced it, suggested I use 100% ethanol-free gas when possible, and wished me luck.  Although I ended up spending more than a week at the Cleveland Walmart while waiting for parts and waiting out storms, time in the shop was only two mornings.

In addition to aiming for 100% gas, I got some Marvel's Mystery Oil to add to the gas.  The thinking here is that the ethanol dries things out and older vehicles aren't really designed for that.  By using pure gas and adding a splash of lubricant, the pistons should move smoothly and not cause more problems.  It's a cheap remedy if it works.