Left Early, Nice Drive, A Little Caching, Driving Through the Smokies and a Bear 5/3/2008

Well quite a day!!!!!!!!!!!!! I woke up early to check the Weather Channel to see what to thunderstorms were going to be like and no Weather Channel, don't know why either. So I got the PC out and checked the local TV sites and it didn't really look all that good. No severe stuff but lots of thunder, lightening and rain so I mulled it over for awhile and decided to wake Mom and get on the road as discretion is the better part of valor and besides we were sitting in a wooded area and we didn't really want to drive in a torrential downpour. So I woke her at 5:30 and we had the car loaded and we were on our way by 6:00 am as we watched the lightening flash in the distance. As it turned out it was a good decision because by the time we got to Pigeon Forge at 8:30, we had out run the rain and by the time it reached us it had weakened and all we got was a few showers. We pulled into Lowe's parking lot and had breakfast and sat until 11:15 and then headed to Creekside which was only a few miles down the road. We checked in, took the car off and set up and were done by 12:30. So what to do now? By the way very nice campgrounds, clean bathrooms, roomy sites, nice and clean and friendly. Well we decided to take a few caches and do those and then they have a 6 mile drive up into the Smokies and back down into Gatlinburg. We loaded the caches into the GPS and set out. Well let us tell you Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg reminded us so so much of miniature Myrtle Beaches. Everything that you find in MB you can find here, restaurants (every kind you can think of), t-shirt shops, gift shops, Tanger outlets, miniature golf, go-kart tracks, NASCAR Cafe, tons of resorts, condos and motels, Ripley's, amusement parks, Dixie Stampede, and just about anything else you want.
We went to our first cache in a small park with the Roaring Forks Creek running through it, the next cache was also in a small park that had a wedding reception going on it it, and the third cache was on top of one of the mountains where there was a resort located.
Then we started up Mount Le Conte. We know more than got 100 yards up the road when all the cars in front of us stopped and we couldn't figure out why until we saw something ambling out of the woods almost next to the road and it was a black bear. WOW first one so far and he didn't seem afraid at all, so I took some pics and we continued on our way. The first mile of the drive was on a 2 way road but then turned into a 1 way road and very very narrow and windy. Along the way they had certain spots where you could stop and see some of Tennessee's history.
The first place we got to was Noah "Bud" Ogle's Place which was the family farm between 1883 and 1925. They called the area "Junglebrook" after the dense growths of rhododendron and magnolia that bordered the stream. Noah "Bud" Ogle didn't let a land assessor's comment get in the way of making a living. He and his wife, Cindy, started out on a 400 acre farm in 1879 in the White Oak Flats community (now Gatlinburg) despite the assessor's belief that the land was "not fit for farming." They lived temporarily in an older one-room cabin while they raised the lower half of the new house that now stands. As the family grew in number, a second section was added to create a traditional saddlebag configuration. Efficiency was the operative of the mountain farmer and no amount of space was wasted. Outside the Ogle house, the chimney alcoves were used for storage. The front one held meat, salt and cornmeal while the back one sheltered chickens from foxes and other predators. There was also a box tacked up near the window of the lower pen that served as a hen's nest and gave the Ogles ready access to eggs. Like many farms located on streams, the Ogles had a small grist mill for grinding corn into cornmeal. Neighbors sometimes used the mill in exchange for a one gallon per bushel toll. Widows and other "unfortunates" had their corn ground for free. The Ogle home also had the unusual addition of running water. A wooden flume ran all the way from the spring above the house to the back porch. Here, the water dumped into a double sink, hewn from a single large log. Very interesting to see and walk through and imagine a family living and farming the land.
As we drove higher we stopped at a couple of overlooks of the Smokies that were beautiful as you can see by the pictures. Also we stopped several times along the whole drive to take pictures of Roaring Forks Creek which runs down the mountain and through Gatlinburg. Roaring Forks is a classic mountain stream in every way. It is clear, cold, ever-flowing, shady, fast and noisy. If you listen it will talk to you all day, but never say the same thing twice. Our impression of this place is greenness, except in fall and winter. Green moss, green fern, green vines, trees and shadows. The water is the reason for that. During its cycle from sky to sea, water seldom displays itself so well as a sustainer of life and creator of beauty, as it does here.
The next historic stop was at Ephraim Bales Home. Just below the Jim Bales place is the farm of Ephraim and Minerva Bales who raised 9, that's right 9, children in this house. Ephraim, Jim Bales' older brother, farmed some 30 acres of his 70-acre plot. The other 40 acres were mostly wooded, which the Bales family used for construction material and firewood. The Bales cabin was a double cabin with a passageway known as a "dog trot" in between. Dog-trot cabins, which are fairly common throughout the southeastern U.S., typically involve two adjacent cabins with roughly 10 feet in between, but with one continuous roof. The space between the two halves was relatively cool in summer and warm in winter, making it attractive to dogs. Both halves of the cabin have their own chimney. With the exception of a back porch, the cabin remains largely as it was when the Bales family lived in here in the early 1900s. Along with the cabin, Bales' corn crib, hog pen, and barn are still standing today, just a few yards from the cabin. A rock wall and paling fence behind the cabin are representative of the two major barriers used in the Northern Smokies in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The house was never larger than it is now except for a missing back porch. Puncheon floors were drafty and allowed an occasional snake to crawl in. Small doors conserved heat, the large cabin was the living area, and the smaller one the kitchen. Additional beds stood in the once closed in dog trot area. The only window is the small "granny hole" which looks out on the family pantry....the corn crib. As one who knew him put it "old Eph kept his rifle hangin' right here over the window. In front of the hearth is the "tater " hole, yes just what you think it is, as they would take them out and throw them in the ashes of the fire. Quite an achievement raising a family of 9 children in this home believe us.
Just down the road was the Alfred Reagan Place. Alfred Reagan, a descendant of the area's first settlers, owned a small farm just below the Ephraim Bales Place. Reagan was a jack-of-all-trades, operating the Roaring Fork community's blacksmith shop, general store, and its most consistent grist mill. Reagan was also a part-time preacher at the Roaring Fork Church, for which he donated the land and helped build. Of all the buildings on Reagan's farm, only his cabin and mill remain today. Due to its sawboard paneling and coat of paint, which by the way was bought at Sears -Roebuck and the only 3 colors they had, Reagan's cabin stands out among historical structures in the Smokies today. The cabin's design is known as a "saddlebag" design, which involves two cabins constructed around a single chimney. A kitchen area was added later. The Reagan mill is a standard tub mill, with a flume redirecting water from Roaring Fork to power a tub-wheel turbine. The turbine turns a grindstone which breaks down corn and wheat into cornmeal and flour. Reagan's mill was well-designed and well-positioned. It is said that when other mills lacked sufficient water power due to low water levels, Reagan's mill would continue to operate. After their fifth or sixth child they raised the roof and added an attic. The house and mill are the only buildings left today but are original.
Our next stop was at some sheer rock cliffs that ascend about 100' up. These boulder fields were painfully obvious to the local farmers as the rocks off these sheer rock walls fell onto their fields.. Perhaps the farmers cursed them as the thousandth one was hurled from the field, yet praised them as the cabin's chimney neared completion. They were considered a nuisance to the road builder of long ago. How did they get there? The climate during the last Ice Age was much colder than it is now. These cold conditions caused rocks to split from high mountain peaks. With each freezing and thawing cycle, boulders would tumble down the mountains in roaring masses, or inch their way along over the years. These rock walls are the ones that the boulders have been falling from for hundreds of years.
Our last stop back down the mountain was a waterfall called "The Place of a Thousand Drips". The Place of a Thousand Drips is well named. The water falls 80 feet and several streamlets fall 10 to 20 feet at a time. It is slightly slanted at an approximate 15 degrees. These waterfalls are not spectacular they are a place of beauty and home to water-loving plants.....mosses liverworts and ferns. The air around these falls is moist and cool so we could sense nature's natural refrigeration. As you can see by the several pictures why it is named as there are a thousand little drips springing from the rocks all the way down the falls.
After driving out of the Nature Trail we got our las 2 caches one in a small shopping center and the last one again near Roaring Forks Creek. Then it was on back to the coach after stopping at Krogers and picking up milk. We got back and Mom did the logs and I started dinner. Oh by the way finally back on Eastern Daylight Time. As we were eating we noticed ducks waddling across the road as did Muffy and Raggs but they weren't quite sure what to make of them and as we watched here came Mama duck and her brood of probably 15-20 little balls of fur, so so cute following Mom. We ate and I am doing the blog and Mom is watching TV so seeing as I am done we will say until tomorrow and we love and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2,3-Our first black bear in the wild, 4,5,6-Smoky Mountains, 7,8,9-Roaring Forks Creek, 10,11,12-A Place of a Thousand Drips, 13,14,15-The sheer rock cliffs, 16,17,18,19,20-"Bud" Ogle Farm, 21,22,23,24,25,26-Ephraim & Minerva Bales Farm that's right 9 children in this 2 room farm house, 27-Alfred Reagan Place, 28-29-30-31-32-Alfred Reagan Place...the Mill on his farm.

Thunder on the Mountain and Some Caching 5/2/2008

They expect thunderstorms here later tonight or early tomorrow and they did say that some of them could be very severe with 2" or more of rain so we may have to scoot out of here quickly tomorrow morning or wait out the storms depending on the timing as we will be on our way to Pigeon Forge, TN.
Well anyway we did go out to do our last day of caching in this area and started out with a cache in the old train depot in Crossville. The Crossville Railroad Depot was where Sgt. Alvin York boarded a train for fame and glory as the most prominent hero of World War I. It has since been made into a gift shop and there's more to see at every turn than you every thought possible in this one-of-a-kind gift shop housed in Historic Crossville Depot. Your eyes will be filled with the imaginative, creative and beautiful gifts available. But the aroma of the freshly brewed gourmet coffees and teas will insist you have a cup. And not to be left out are the delicious gourmet sweets calling to you from their counter.
Next was a cache near a Italian restaurant,then one near an outdoor store, then one behind a shopping mall. Next cache was located in a small park and we mean small park.
Next cache was at the Cumberland Playhouse near the entrance and there is quite a story behind it as follows. In 1963, Crossville, Tennessee was a town you passed through on the way to other places. Located in Cumberland County, the town and surrounding Appalachian region was economically depressed. In December of that year, Paul Crabtree's The Perils of Pinocchio was presented at the Crossville Junior High School with a cast, crew and orchestra of 200 youngsters. The performance electrified the community. to a community with no museums, college, university, live performance organizations, one movie theater and an hour-and-a-half drive to the nearest city, the idea was extremely compelling that Pinocchio might be the beginning of new educational horizons for their children. Civic and cultural leaders asked Crabtree how they could keep things like Pinocchio happening in Crossville. He replied, "Well, you'd have to build a theater. The old junior high auditorium isn't even safe." Remarkably, in a town of 5,000, in a county of 25,000, that's exactly what they did. The entire community got behind the idea of the Playhouse because people believed it could make a vital contribution to education and the local economy and help create some new jobs. The Cumberland County Playhouse is now the only major non-profit professional performing arts resource in rural Tennessee, and one of the 10 largest professional theaters in rural America. It serves more than 145,000 visitors annually with two indoor and two outdoor states, young audience productions, a comprehensive dance program, a concert series and touring shows. The Cumberland County Playhouse is the only non-profit professional performing arts organization in Tennessee that wholly owns and operates its own major performance facility. With an annual budget of over $1,800,000, the Playhouse is among Tennessee's most sufficient arts institutions. Since its opening in 1965, 78 - 85% of all revenues have been from earned income, including funding of the construction of the original facility. The Playhouse operates on a balanced budget and has no accumulated deficit. Construction of a 27,000 square foot expansion to the original facility has recently been completed, making the Playhouse a four-theater complex featuring proscenium, black box and outdoor arena spaces. It was quite a lovely facilty and it was to bad they didn't have any shows while we were here.
Next cache was in a very exclusive neighborhood, then a virtual cache located at the local airport, next cache was at an Oriental restaurant in a light pole, then a cache at a hobby store named Hobo's. The cache was named in honor of a local caching couple who just found there 10,000 cache, who we are meeting for dinner tonight along with another couple from this area TheTwoOldCrows. Next cache was an ammo box placed in the country under some of the Old Orchard Stone we saw yesterday. Then our last cache was behind a shopping center on a light pole.
Well as you can see there wasn't much historical today to speak of so not many pictures. We drove back to the coach and had lunch and we both showered and Mom did the cache logs and I am doing the blog now. As I said earlier we are meeting 2 other caching couples for dinner at a local restaurant so that should be fun. Well we will say until tomorrow and we love and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2,3,4-Crossville Railroad Depot, 5,6-Crossville's First Steam Engine, 7,8,9,10,11-Cumberland Playhouse.

May Day and Caching in Crossville 5/1/2008

Well here it is May 1st already and we are on our way out to do some caching. Not many historical caches today but we did have a good time finding what we did. We started with a cache right down the road from the campgrounds on a antique sign. Next was 4 caches hidden "Florida Style" all located in the woods. Now what is "Florida Style" you ask? Well we asked the same thing and after finding the 4 caches we now know. It is a 35mm film canister hidden in in a camo colored drawstring bag and these 4 caches were all located in the woods hanging on tree branches. Then it was on to another 35mm film cannister hidden on a guardrail.
Next was the only historical site we visited today and that was The Homestead Tower located on the outskirts of Crossville. The Homestead community was started during the early and middle thirties as part of a homesteading project. The purpose of this homesteading project was to provide the people of Cumberland County and surrounding areas with employment, and to provide a total of 256 families a low cost means of purchasing homes. The Homesteads Tower stands in the center of the Homestead Community as the most visual landmark of this area. It is constructed of native Crab Orchard Stone and became known as the "Showplace of the New Deal". It was built in 1937-38 and housed the administrative offices, as well as a water tank that held 50,000 gallons of water that was used to serve the whole Homestead Community. The tower is 85 feet tall and has a winding staircase of 97 steps that winds up into the tower and brings you a breathtaking view of the Homesteads from a lookout room at the top of the tower. In July, 1934, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Cumberland Homesteads. She viewed many of the homes, both finished and unfinished and the splendid crops that were now evident everywhere. She urged the Homesteaders to keep faith in their undertaking, and praised highly what had already been accomplished. Lovely tower made out of the local stone but more on that later.
Next was another cache hanging in a tree near The Bear Trace Golf Course. Situated in the heart of Tennessee's scenic Cumberland Plateau, The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain was named "Top Ten Courses in Tennessee" by Golf Digest in 2001. Cumberland Mountain was also named "1998's Best New Golf Course in Tennessee," by local and regional golfers that was followed in 1999 by Golf Magazine's "One of the Top Ten You Can Play" in North America. Today, The Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain is one of the most sought-after sites among the Jack Nicklaus designed Bear Trace courses in Tennessee. The 6,900-yard (gold tees), par 72 layout features a design that capitalizes on elevation changes as well as natural features, such as flowing brooks and clustered, mature pines. The signature 7th hole, a 393-yard, par 4, incorporates another of the region's natural resources, layered flagstone, along the front of the green. Tees Yardage Rating Slope
GOLD 6900 73.1 135
BLUE 6405 71.4 130
WHITE 5895 68.9 128
RED 5066 69.9 128
It was a lovely course and as you can see had hills galore as it was built in the mountains. The clubhouse was not what we expected but was very lovely and different.
Next cache was in a local cemetery, then a cache by a street sign, then a unique hide near a limestone quarry and the last cache was along the start of a small creek with a great story, true or not. Daddy's Creek stretches app. 47 miles and crosses the road 13 time, with 13 bridges of course, as it winds through Cumberland County. The story goes back in the early settlement of Tennessee 2 travelers were crossing the mountain in the vicinity of this stream and another one. They evidently were husband and wife, as they were quarreling violently and treating each other with that disrespect characteristic of long continued marriage. As they reached the bank of the first mentioned stream, both dismounted. As the horses were watering, the husband, whose patience seemed to be worn out, seized his loving partner tenderly by the nap of the neck and administrated to her a sound cuffing. He then named the stream Daddy's Creek in honer of this event. They then continued the journey, still slinging adjectives and invisible skillets and broomsticks at each other. The second stream was reached, where they again dismounted so the horses could drink. While standing on the bank of the stream, the old lady picked up a large tree limb and dealt her loyal consort a rattling blow to the head that stretched him out. She then administered a few kicks and cuffs upon his recumbent person, and triumphantly named the stream Mammy’s Creek. If they were traveling west I'll bet i can guess what they were arguing about. Mammy's Creek is East of Daddy's Creek by several miles!!!!! Cute!!!
OK now about Crab Orchard Stone which is native to this area and seen on almost every building in the area. It is also sold at almost every business along Rt 70 and that includes restaurants and gas stations. One of the first things you might notice when visiting Crossville, is the stone that is used in many of the buildings and homes in the area. This beautiful, multicolored sandstone is found only on the Cumberland Plateau and is most widely referred to as "Crab Orchard Stone". Over the past 70 years, both national and international demand for this rugged, beautiful sandstone has created a multi-million dollar industry for Cumberland County. The outstanding characteristics of Crab Orchard Stone are its hardness and colorful appearance. Basic sandstone, consists of quartz grains bound by silica, iron oxide, calcium carbonate, or a combination of the three. Crab Orchard Stone has an unusually high quantity of silica which creates a much harder, weather resistant variety of sandstone. Crab Orchard Stone also has distinct colorings not found in other sandstone. Shadings of tan, buff, blue-gray and pink are found in this stone. These colors are created by the minerals, iron, titanium and magnesium. The yellow and brown swirls and ripples are caused by natural iron stains and weathering. Crab Orchard Stone was first used by early settlers as fire brick in fireplaces. It was also found in use in Indian burial mounds. It was first used commercially in 1903. Carles H. Young started the Cumberland Stone Company in Crab Orchard. In 1905, the stone was used in constructing the Cumberland County Courthouse. For 20 years the stone business grew, however they were mostly mining for the softer sandstone. The harder stone was considered scrap and thrown away. In the mid 1920Õs the stone company made an effort to market the scrap stone. A Nashville architect named Henry Hibbs, needed stone for a Gothic-style chapel he designed for Scarritt College (now part of Vanderbilt University). He used the beautiful stone in building the chapel. In 1926, Scarritt College bought 20 acres near Crab Orchard and began shipping stone to Nashville for other buildings being constructed on campus. This was the first large scale success for using Crab Orchard Stone commercially. n 1991, Crab Orchard Stone was used for renovations at the vice presidential residence in Washington D.C. Other notable places where this stone has been used include: The parking lots at Rockefeller Center in New York; Detroit's United Auto Workers headquarters; Atlanta's Cathedral of St. Philip; Washington's Internal Revenue Service Building; the Church of Heavenly Rest in New York; the Nintendo office building in Honolulu; and the courts and walks around President Franklin Roosevelt's pool in Hyde Park, and Elvis Presley's pool at Graceland. Former Tennessee Governor Ned McWherter is using it in his new home in Paris, Tennessee. It really is a very very lovely stone and looks great on the outside of a home.
After finishing our last cache we drove down into Crossville so Mom could stop at the Outlet Stores to look around. We were there about an hour, then drove back to the coach and had lunch. After lunch Mom did our cache logs and I showered and I am doing the blog now and she is watching TV. Well it's almost time for dinner so we say until we see you all again tomorrow we love you and miss you all.


Picture List:1,2-Now you know why they call it Bean Pot Campground, 3,4,5,6,7-Homestead Tower, 8-Old Buckboard, 9,10,11-The Bear Trace Golf Course.