USA / Canada, Newsletter 4 - July, 2012

Shopping. We go to a Super Market like Walmart about twice a week - we call it exercise as we walk from one side of the shop to the other. Harrisonburg Supermarket was 260 steps wide and 160 steps deep.

Walmart - 260 steps wide

 The huge veggie patch would only be a tenth of the food section, and very cheap for things in season. At the moment it's cherries, strawberries, peaches and nectarines about $3 Kg. A lot of foods come "ready" – carrots; organic, baby carrots, peeled, chopped or grated, beans topped and tailed, and asparagus with a sachet of butter/garlic sauce you heat and pour. 

Half the Fruit/ Veggies section

Meat prices are similar to home and we had to look really hard to find a decent tasty cheese. So many products are sweetened. Each store is set out much the same so we are becoming familiar and able to find things we need more quickly. 

Supermarket Aisles

We stocked up one Sunday morning and were told that we couldn't buy the half doz beers before twelve. Could only be in Tennessee!! So we used their restrooms and went back 15 mins later to get the beer. 

Twenty six checkouts

There are other shops in the complex too: hairdressers (we booked in for haircuts (shampoo and blow dry) for $15.50 – nice job too; a bank; pharmacy; customer service and of course a coffee shop, Maccas and Subway.

The other shops

The supermarket in Lancaster had the front corner set out with a gas fire and lounge chairs. I can just imagine in winter sitting there supping a coffee and reading the papers. The Sat Nav (GPS) can be set to find a Walmart or whatever we need. Found a bookstore and picked up The USA Lonely Planet for $29.99.

We can't find a real milkshake that's not frozen thickshake made with some sweet "long life tasting" pretend milk, Garry doesn't like the coffee, and cakes are really sickly sweet and they want to cover them with thick "fluffy" non cream. So we won't be having morning teas like we did at the local bakeries in NT and WA last year. It's good we have the RV and can make what we like and the way we like it.

Good roads, interesting geology

The roads are so busy and fast. City ring roads are 4+ lanes wide each way with an extra lane for the exits/entrances. We would not get anywhere without the GPS. Maps just aren't good enough. The Interstates (everyone talks of roads as numbers) are the connecting motorways and you just travel up to 75 MPH, bypassing the cities. They started building them during President Eisenhower’s time (1950’s – cold war), so they could move missiles. It is now a great network of highways but many parts of them are starting to need a lot of maintenance.

A Country Interstate

Semi trailers have a higher axle loading than trucks in Australia, with only two axles in the rear.

Typical semi

 We plan ahead for the RV Park we've picked out (from a book as thick as the Sydney phone book) and set the GPS for it. 

Big Rigs at the RV Park

Generally motorists seem to know their rules and must keep moving and get on with it rather than "letting someone go”. If we aren’t in the right lane well before we exit or keep left to stay on the hwy, we have to continue and then find a place to turn around down the track. The GPS is good but we have to be on the ball and continually keep an eye on it as we approach our exit. When we get out "into the country" and travel on those roads (seem narrow as there is no verge with letterboxes and trees close to the edge), it’s quiet and pleasant and you see the farms and small towns.

Historic Franklin is just south of Nashville.

Carnton Plantation, Franklin TN

We stopped there to tour three houses that were used as hospitals in the Civil War when battles were waged on the farmland nearby.

Carter House, Franklin TN

Chattanooga is surrounded by big hills in the Tennessee River Valley. Here, the civil war battles are more important for local tourism than the Chattanooga Choo Choo.

River Boat on the Tennessee River

We travelled up to Point Park for a spectacular view over the city, 

Chattanooga from Point Park

where we’d walked the day before, and stopped in to see Ruby Falls on the way down.  

Ruby Falls entry

They were found in a cavern that is now accessed by a lift down through rock for 160ft. We then walked half a mile further into the mountain to see the magnificent, 150ft, underground waterfall. 

Ruby Falls- sound and light show

Something different!

Gatlinburg

Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. These two small towns as they were in 1950’s, realised they were at the entrance to The Smokey Mountains National Park, and as half the population of USA live within a day’s drive and 10 million of them visit the Park every year, it’s no wonder the area’s become “holiday paradise”.

"Hollywood" in Pigeon Forge

It took us half an hour bumper to bumper, to travel the few miles of The Parkway through town, but we did get a chance to view the constant barrage of places to stay, places to eat and places to be entertained. Dollywood (of Dolly Parton fame) is a huge entertainment complex second only, to Graceland. We could have seen another Titanic exhibition,

Titanic hit an iceberg

a Dixie Stampede, Country Jamboree Breakfast Show or a Lumberjack Feud.   It was all too much and that night at a quiet camp in the Smokey Mountains, at about 4000ft, we slept for the first time without the AC. The drought and hot weather had passed. Maybe the elevation helped too.

Camping - Smokey Mountains

The Smokey Mountains leads onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. This non commercial vehicle road winds its way for 460 odd miles through mainly forest, a little farmland and no towns. Only cars, RV’s and motorbikes travel it, and there are not too many roads entering.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Came off the Parkway at Asheville, Nth Carolina to visit America’s biggest house.

Biltmore 

 Biltmore House was built 1889-1895 by George Vanderbilt. 

Biltmore, entrance

The family wealth was made over three generations of good business in shipping and railways, and has been open to the public since 1930 to generate funds to keep it preserved as a national treasure. 

Biltmore Stables

 I thought it would be a bit “cheesy” but it was WOW and really worth the visit. Every part of the tour runs like clockwork and after spending over an hour “hurrying” through the gardens (saw Tasmanian Blue Gums), conservatory (NSW coastal tree ferns) and South Terrace, 

Biltmore Conservatory

 we then spent over three hours in the house, being able to look at 45 of the 250 rooms. Some of the 8,000 acres are farmed and a lucrative winery helps fund the business.

Biltmore Estate

So then we returned to The Blue Ridge Parkway that was begun during The Great Depression as part of a work program. It travels through spectacular mountain country from ridge to ridge with campsites, overlooks (lookouts), tunnels

Blue Ridge Tunnels

 and many trails for hiking. There were lots of interesting places to stop such as waterfalls, 

Linville Falls

the Mountain Music Centre, 

Blue Ridge Mountain Music Centre - Maggie and Bill Anderson

Mabry Mill (early 1900’s) and a collection of old Appalachian Farm Buildings to name a few. 

Mabry Mill

We were enjoying the trip and took four days to get to the northern end of the park, camping each night in one of the National Park Camps. We met Dan and Monica from Ohio numerous times and followed them to W Virginia a few days later (to Blackwater Falls State Park)

Blackwater River

 when we abandoned the Shenandoah Skyway due to fog. We had some good times together and will call and see them in Ohio later on in our trip.

Monica, Dan and dogs

Headed to Pennsylvania. It was a very pretty trip through mountains, ski areas, lakes with lots of boats and forests. Had a bit of a giggle when we passed through the town of Accident especially when we saw the Accident Fire and Emergency Station. 

Accident, Maryland

The Interstate 68 (hwy across northern Maryland) had been cut through mountains and valleys

Country Interstate 68

and there were extensive fields of corn and soy beans growing, with dairy cattle on the hills.

Black Angus Cattle

We were heading for Gettysburg. It had been a long day so we camped short, at Caledonia State Park where a steel furnace and forge had been established in early 1800’s. 

The header lake for the 1830's Caledonia furnace

Gettysburg town probably hasn't changed much in 150 yrs. 

Gettysburg town centre

We felt Gettysburg was America’s Gallipoli, (such a waste of life)! The new Visitors Centre was opened a couple of years ago, 

Visitor Centre

where we saw a film, a cyclorama and the museum.

Part of Battle Painted Cyclorama

We did the two hour bus trip taking us to places where part of the three day battle was fought. Confederate Gen. Robert E Lee’s army seemed to have held the upper hand after the first day, except they did not hold the higher ground and ridges.

Virginia Memorial - Gen Robert E Lee

Reinforcements arrived to swell Maj. Gen. George G Meade’s, Union Army’s numbers and by the end of the second day it was fairly even. However on the third day Lee directed 12,000 Confederate infantry to try to break the Union Lines on Cemetery Ridge. 

Cemetery Ridge

After a two hour canon bombardment, the men raced across open fields for about a mile. This became known as Pickett’s Charge. They had no chance, and after losing 5000 in an hour, Lee retreated to Virginia and the war continued for another two years.

Many, many memorials

We couldn’t see it all on one day so returned the next to visit some of the memorials, 

Pennsylvania Memorial

finish the museum and see Eisenhower’s Farm as well.

Mamie and Dwight Eisenhower's Farm, Gettysburg

York was the next stop as the Harley Davidson factory held tours – the amount of robots used here really surprised us. 

Pick a Harley, any Harley

We weren’t able to see the production line as they are about to release a new model, so we will have to come back after mid August.

My kind of Harley

Hershey Chocolate land was the next stop – a “bit of a have” - $9 to learn how to taste chocolate!?! But there were thousands there and Hershey was very philanthropic and gave $$$ to the upkeep of an orphanage and school.

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate

Lancaster, the home of the Amish and Mennonites had been on the list for some time as I knew there was a Museum of century old quilts in the Intercourse Quilt Museum. 

The Old Country Store - Intercourse

Susan, a Yass quilting friend, had insisted I call her son’s father-in-law, Ed, who lives in Lancaster, which we did. 

Lancaster Covered Bridge

We had a really enjoyable few days with him. Ed took us to a Mennonite Goods Shop. Garry tried the hats and I was able to buy materials.

Amish

       or 

                 Mennonite?

Fat quarters - thin quarters??

I couldn’t help myself!!

Watch out for speeding buggies

   
So we saw many Amish people and their modes of transport, and bought foods and goods from the Mennonite owned businesses. 

Beautiful Quilts

They sew, cook jams and preserves, bake shoofly pies and whoopie pies.

Baking - Shoofly Pie

The farmland is the most fertile in America and fields of corn and dairy cows dot the landscape with tall silos and huge barns. 

Amish Farmland

The houses are like dolls houses with flower gardens and big vegetable gardens. 

Heading home before the storm

The people are very distinctive in their hats and “uniform style” clothing. 

Taking the girls for a ride

There are many differences between the two sects and I’m sure there’s plenty of information on the net if you’re interested.

Going visiting on Sunday afternoon

We also visited a Landis Valley, Living History Museum where Ed works as a volunteer and has a love of Conestoga Wagons.

Conestoga Wagon (about 1780)

He has a wonderful collection of wagon jacks, tool boxes and antique metal work.

Ed and his prized collection

He suggested we call our RV "Conestoga" and as we didn't have a name for "her". We said "why not?" so Connie she is.
We also had a great day in Philadelphia with Ed, saw the Liberty Bell

Philadelphia's Liberty Bell

Independence Hall, where the declaration of independence (from Great Britain) was documented and read, July 4 1776,

Independence Hall

visited the mint, Ben Franklin's PO, 

Ben Franklin's Home and PO

had a horse and cart ride through Society Hill,

Carriage ride with Guy and Emily (the horse)

and shopped at the Bourse.

The Bourse (renovated Stock Exchange)

We then went for a drive up the beautiful Ben Franklin Parkway to the Art Gallery, where Garry ran up the steps like "Rocky" in the movie. 
(Flags at half mast for the Colorado shooting massacre).

The Art Gallery Steps

From the top we could look back over the G. Washington Memorial

George Washington Memorial

to the city of Philadelphia.

Philadelphian Skyline

We ended the wonderful day with dinner at a Cuban Restaurant, paella and Cuban fish fillet.

At the Cuban Restaurant

So after a wheel alignment and two new front tyres we said our goodbyes to Ed and Lancaster and headed for Canada before the summer ends.