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.

One of the Newer Parks

October 15-17, 2017

So many battlefields in this area that it would be impossible (and draining) to see them all.  Cedar Creek and Belle Grove has only been part of the park system for a few years and there are several historical entities involved in keeping it going.  The Park Service Visitor Center is in a little strip mall in Middleton but they have an amazing CD they've recorded to provide details as you drive through the historic areas.  Be sure to pick up a map as well because there aren't any signs yet and you're driving through so rural areas.  Some wrong turns dead end on small roads that are really tricky to turn around on.  Trust me on this - get a map.

Back at Walmart for the evening I did get to call the fire department on an older RV with a for sale sign that was dripping something caustic from a tank.

Not sure which tank but it smelled like acetone.

Fire department showed up followed by a hazmat truck.  Looked like most of the group is volunteer so I guess this was kind of training for a true hazardous situation without much actual danger.

I think eventually someone called the number on the 'for sale' sign because a car showed up and eventually a tow truck.  See how close that rear end is to the ground?  A minute ago it was on the ground.  I hate to see what the underparts looked like at the end of the tow.

Right next to this area is the undoubtedly phenomenal Shenandoah National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway but I had reached my limit on twisty mountain roads.  I headed south through the valley between two mountain ranges.

Fields of Death

October 10 -13, 2017

Manassas (Bull Run) was the site of the first Civil War Battle.  Both sides figured it would be a quick fight that they'd win and go home.  Spectators sat on the hills to watch. It turned out to be only the first of four years of battle in which more than 600,000 soldiers died (and presumably a large number of civilians as a result of starvation or exposure or stray fire).

Those things that look like giant bullets on the corners really were leftover ammunition when the monument was first erected.  The visitor center has what's left of one that exploded after it was removed and replaced with something less dangerous.

That line of trees was where the rebels stood and fired on the northerners standing right about where I am.  Serious guts involved to stand that close and fire back.

Replica of a civilian house that was pelted with bullets during the first skirmish and dismantled for fuel in the following winter.

The park ranger didn't know if this cannon (or any of the others on the field) were used in the first battle but they are all from the Civil War.  Kind of remarkable to be standing that close to history.

Harpers Ferry

September 29, 2017

The only reason I went to Harpers Ferry was because a guy at Pinchot told me about it.  It wasn't on my list of things I really want to see and I didn't notice it while perusing the National Parks page but I am really glad I went.  It's a mix of lovely scenery, historic buildings and lots of hiking trails.  You can park at the Park office and take a bus down to avoid the limited parking in the steep, old town.

I think this is the Potomac but I guess it could have been the Shenandoah

Hikers are about halfway there, whichever side they started from.

Railroad trestle has collapsed

Downtown street

Dissolving stairs

Downtown from the other direction

The old church from three different viewpoints.

The map shows a trail going back up to the parking area with some ruins along the way.  The rivers have flooded several times and everything near the banks is foundation only

This was a cotton mill that used the power of the river to run the plant. It's on Virginius Island (no longer an island, really, in the Shenandoah River.

Along the Shenandoah

Pond on the way back to the visitor center.

The path back to the visitor center is slightly sloping until you get to the very end, then it's really uphill.  Guess I should have done the hike down and the bus back up.  Got to learn to plan better.

All around a very cool place and with many more hiking trails than I took the time to explore.

I'm meeting my dad in DC in a few days so I'll mosey along, taking short hops between towns.

Twelve Score and One Year Ago

September 21 - 22, 2017

I know nothing about history but I'm finding that visiting the parks is giving me incentive to learn.  The National Battlefields and Military Parks have been amazing in that they work very hard at presenting a non-slanted viewpoint, emphasizing the good and bad things done by both sides.  Gettysburg is more focused on the North but I think that's because the army's were in a collected area while Southern troops were spread around the Northern horseshoe.

I never saw this guy but his license plate is from Washington State. Not sure if he's on a big summer adventure or living in his Scamp.

Veterans from many wars are buried at Gettysburg.

Civil War soldiers are marked by strips of concrete. Many have names, many are just numbers. All are Union soldiers, the Rebels are buried all over the area.

I guess this guy's regiment was known so he got a place with his compatriots.

I did one Ranger talk and went to the cemetery but couldn't muster the energy for much more than that.  Pennsylvania was about 15 degrees hotter than normal and there is no shade anywhere near the parking areas.  I took the sweaty kitties back to Walmart and parked in the shade provided by a giant RV in the lot.  

All good things come to an end, even batteries. I thought maybe I was parked in the shade too long and the battery couldn't charge enough to manage the refrigerator overnight but no, even getting the battery up to full charge didn't provide enough juice to keep things cold.

Oh well.Thankfully Walmart has all kinds of batteries and the lovely gentlemen were kind enough to hoist that heavy thing into the compartment for me and hook it up.  Everything seemed to work after the operation and I'm assuming we are good to go.