Day 32 - Home and Stats

Wednesday we woke up to 20F but the Serenity was warm and we did not have any frozen pipes. We had hot water, yay.   

We set off for home but planned a stop to visit my mom in Moriah, NY. We arrived at mom's around 10:30 and spent a couple of hours catching up with her, showing her pictures of our trip, etc. She recalled visiting many of the same places we did with Dad in their motor home. I think she really enjoyed reminiscing. 

We also delivered a photo album that my cousin Valarie put together for mom. It included lots of old pictures of the family. It was very thoughtful of Val and Mom really appreciated the album. 

After mom's we stopped at June's twin sister's house just to say hello. Lucky for us they were just having lunch and were willing to share :-). 

We arrived home about 1:30PM, after 32 days, 5779 miles, 25 states, 3 National Parks, and many friends and relatives visited. 

We were very lucky, other than one night when the batteries went very low (we still don't know why) and one night when the pipes froze, we had no real issues. 

It was a great trip. 

Statistics: I know everyone loves numbers just as much as I do...

Our route:

Our fuel mileage was the worst we have ever recorded. On our 2020 road trip of 4122 miles we averaged 18.2 mpg. On this trip of 5779 miles we averaged 15.8 mpg. That is a big difference.

I attribute this to a combination of things. 

- It seemed we were always headed into a headwind.  I can't recall ever seeing a flag flying in our direction of travel. 

- We brought our RV into the Mercedes dealer for a emissions recall in 2021. They changed a lot of things and although they say it should not impact the mileage, I think it did. It was a class action lawsuit, lots of money was involved and I have read on the web that others have seen an impact to mileage. 

- We are carrying bicycles on the front of our RV which increase drag and disrupt air flow. I suspect this contributes more than the other two but until I take a long trip without the bicycles I will not be able to verify this. 

Diesel fuel prices ranged from $4.10 when I left VT to $5.20 in Florida. The average was $4.84. We picked a fine time to take a road trip, we laid out $1768 in fuel. 

Here is the data.

Our Route took us through 25 States, 6 we had not been to in our RV.

This filled out most of the east side of our RV sticker on the inside of our door. We clearly have lots of the USA left to explore by RV. (We have visited many more states, just not by RV)

I have more stats, but I doubt anyone but me is interested. :-)

Day 31 - Traveling North

Tuesday I was up early, we slept at a Cracker Barrel in Youngstown, Ohio, since it seems the northern campgrounds are still closed. All was fine until a Big Class A pulled in a few spots from us. One would think that if you have Class A it would have enough batteries so you don't have to run your generator all night long, but they did and it was about the loudest I have ever heard. I kept waking up thinking our furnace was stuck on, but it was just the idiot next to us running his genny.  End of Rant. 

When we pulled in Monday night it was about 20F, when we woke in the morning it was 15F, and despite my effort to open compartments to all heat flow, and being warm in the RV, our water was froze. No running water. Of course we always carry a few gallons of drinking water, but washing up with cold water is not much fun. Given we did not sleep much, it was not a good start to the day, but we got over it. I suspected and hoped that after we drove for an hour or so the heat from the engine would travel under the van and thaw out whatever was frozen. 

We decided to head north then east on I90, this route brought us by Syracuse, close to where one of my college friends lives whom I have not seen since we graduated. In college we hung out together and I worked for his dad during the summer. We have stayed in touch electronically but just haven't managed to take the time to visit face to face. We stopped for fuel just west of Syracuse and even though it was still in the 20s, the water had thawed out just like I hoped. So at least I was able to get cleaned up and shave with hot water.  

We arrived at Neil and Marie's house around 1PM and they had made reservations at one of there favorite restaurants for lunch, the Angry Garlic, which is owned by one of their neighbors. It was very good. 

We had a great visit and vowed not to let another 40 years go buy before we get together again. 

After our visit we debated the route home; go direct or stay on I90 to Albany then I87 north. We carry bicycles on the front of the Serenity, so I prefer not to drive in the dark since it does impair the headlights a bit. We elected to take the Albany route and stop at my nephew's house in Troy NY to visit and spend the night. It was a good call, we visited with Gabe, Cassandra, Wes and even got to see Mike and his new bride Karen. Of course we also got a big dose of Brewer, their golden lab puppy who is now the size of a horse and full of energy.  

Today, Wednesday, we will head for home. It is just a bit over 2 hours and we will stop to visit mom in Moriah, we should be home by midday.  As I write this it is 20F, but nothing froze and June already had her hot shower so it is a much better start than yesterday. The forecast at home is for the 40s today and 50s tomorrow...it is trending the right way. 

I looked at my lake cam this morning, Lake Champlain is still very frozen. 

The ice is pretty late leaving this year, the ice left 15Mar2020, 25Mar2021, 2022 is still hanging on, it might be April before it leaves this year. 

Day 30 - Into the cold north

Monday we slept in a bit and did not hit the road until about 10:30AM, We headed for Cuyahoga National Park just outside of Cleveland, OH. We just wanted to check it out. The drive was uneventful and we arrived around 4:15PM, it was about 25F and windy.

We spoke to the nice rangers at the visitor center and they said about the only thing to see in this weather was the 60ft waterfall called Brandy Wine Falls, so that is what we did. 

I am sure the falls are more enjoyable on a nice summer day. 

The park is full of hiking and biking trails, it is too bad it was not warmer. We wanted to get a campground for the night, to reload our water etc., but they seem to be all closed until mid April. So we headed for a Cracker Barrel in Youngstown, Ohio and parked for the night. It is going to be in the teens. 

Tuesday we will work our way towards home. 

Day 29 - The Bourbon Trail

Sunday was my birthday, I am 46 and dyslexic. We planned to cover some of the bourbon trail as we work our way east and north.   Our first stop was Jim Beam, one of the oldest and largest distilleries in Kentucky. We arrived at 11:30 AM and waited for their 12PM open time. 

Unfortunately when they opened we found that there were no tours to be had, so we just browsed and went back to the Serenity somewhat miffed. We did not realize that if you are going to do the Bourbon Trail, and want to do a tasting or tour at any of the name brand distilleries, you need to have reservations well in advance.

We got on the internet and found that many of the tours are booked out 3 months.  We really only wanted one or two since we are driving; you really can't do that many in a day.   I eventually found a tour at a distillery I was not familiar with 'The Bardstown Bourbon Company' for 4PM.  It was only 1PM and it was only 45 mins away so we decided to see what we could find on the way. 

We found the Four Roses Bottling and Warehouse facility in Cox Creek was on the way, so we just pulled in to check it out. It was a fun stop. I was introduced to Four Roses Bourbon by my friend from Japan, Gaji. We were not only able to get a tasting but a tour of the storage facility, and we learned a lot about the company and the bourbon. It is registered and located in the USA but is a Japanese owned company. The company went through several owners in past years including Seagrams. 

The tasting session was like sitting at a bar with your buddies, very casual and intimate. 

The Rickhouse was impressive.

After our tour at Four Roses we set off for Bardstown.  We expected a small distillery but the complex is huge.  Bardstown Bourbon Company was established in 2014, but now distills spirits for more than 30 brands. It is one of the top 10 distillers in the USA by volume, 7 million gallons per year. In 2019 it launched its own line of bourbon, Bardstown Bourbon. 

The storage buildings for aging bourbon, called Rickhouses, are massive and too many to count. 

We arrived with about an hour to spare so we sampled one of their special Old Fashioned drinks, it was yummy. 

Our tour guide, Ashley, was very nice. The sampling process started with pure moonshine (unaged spirits) and ended with small batch bourbon. Even I could not drink the moonshine.

After the tasting we moved onto a tour of the distillery, it was much like what we saw at Jack Daniels in Tennessee only more modern.

The smells were awesome.

At the end of the tour Ashley took us out to one of the Rickhouses for a sample straight from a barrel. I got to go first because it was my birthday, :-)

We very much enjoyed our tour and will be looking for Bardstown Bourbon in the future.  

We set off for our final stop for the day, Country Boy Brewing in Lexington Kentucky. We arrived around 7PM, the place was hopping but we had no problem finding a parking spot or a table. 

Country Boy Brewing had good brews and good food. It was our server's second day on the job, she was still learning but very attentive and friendly. It was a great way to end our day. 

It was a long day on the Bourbon Trail, it was good that we only had to walk to the Serenity and go to bed. 

Monday we are unsure of our plans other than we will work our way north. 

Day 28 - Mammoth Caves

Saturday we got up, left camp and drove up to the visitor parking lot to make breakfast. At least it was somewhat level and our plates would not slide off the table. 

We had intentions of riding our bicycles or scooter around the park, but the wind was howling at 35 mph and it was in the 40s, at least it was sunny.  We drove the Serenity to the trail head of Cedar Sink Hole.  It was a nice hike with about 100 stairs steps down and up. It is not spectacular to look at but a nice hike, of about 2.8 miles round trip.

On the way back we stopped at another short hike called Sand Cave. It is the site where in 1925 a cave explorer named Floyd Collins got stuck and ultimately died after 12 days of trying to rescue him. So many people gathered it became a party and it gave Mammoth Cave notoriety so people started coming to see the caves. 

It was a good way to spend the morning and get some exercise. We had tickets to the Historic Cave Tour at 12:15. 

June and I have toured caves in New Zealand and the Howe Caves in NY state, they were spectacular and worth seeing. What sets Mammoth Caves apart from those is the scale, they are massive, the name Mammoth is entirely appropriate. Overall there are well over 400 miles of caves and they are discovering and mapping more everyday. 

We booked the 'Historic Tour' which is about 2 miles long, takes 2 hours and has 540 stair steps. Most of the tour is pretty easy going but you have to watch your head, I bashed mine a few times before I started really paying attention. There is one section called 'Fat Man's Misery' that is a couple of hundred feet long with narrow passages and low ceilings. It was nothing like what we did in New Zealand where you had to crawl on your belly through water, but was a tight fit for big people.  It is hard to believe the PC police have not forced them to rename this section. 

Two miles seemed like a lot more, and every section was a bit different.  Towards the end of the tour we saw holes that seemed to have no bottom or top. 

We finished the tour in the lowest area of the caves. They had high water marks showing how high they flood to when they get big rains. Some days the tours are canceled because the caves do flood from time to time. In the picture below, you can see the post with the tape on it, the ranger said that post holds up the ceiling and it cracked so they taped it.  It really is a water marker, the tape marks the high water. He said he was glad someone put the tape there or the water might have gone higher. The ranger was not only informative but entertaining. 

We very much enjoyed the tour, there is a self guided tour that you walk through as you exit. If you get the chance, take the guided tour, it covers so much more, for $20 it is worth it. 

After our tour, we grabbed lunch at the food truck outside the visitor center and set off for our Harvest Host location in Radcliff, KY.  The ferry across the Green River was something we wanted to do. I checked with the Ranger at the visitor center and they said it will take up to a 32ft RV, we are about 30ft with the bikes and scooter, so we decided to go for it. We arrived at the ferry and there was one pickup on the ferry already, I was unsure we could fit in, but we just fit. 

We filled that little ferry, I wish I could have got a picture but we were not allowed to get out of the vehicle. June took this picture out the back window as we left. 

The route on the other side of the ferry put us on secondary roads to get back to I65 North for many miles. It was classic Kentucky countryside, lots of green and horse farms; since the wind was still howling it was much better than the interstate. 

We thought we arrived at our harvest hosts destination, Boundary Oaks Distillery, well before their closing time of 6PM. However, we were clueless that we passed a time zone on the way, we were back in eastern time, so it was only 45 mins before their 6PM closing. 

No worries, they set us up for a tasting and said stay as long as you want, very nice people and good bourbon. June is not a bourbon person so they made her a nice mixed drink. 

We did our tasting and I purchased a bottle of  Lincoln Bourbon. We settled in for the night and were treated to a beautiful sunset. 

Sunday we plan to work our way through a few more distilleries and end our day at another Harvest Host that is a brewery, Country Boy Brewing.  We are playing it by ear. 

 

Day 27 - On to Kentucky

Friday we departed Memphis around 9:30AM and made the drive to Mammoth Caves National Park. We arrived around 3:45PM and checked into our campsite around 4:15. 

There is lots of hiking in the area and since our cave tickets are tomorrow we decided to take a hike, but we forgot the map.  Using my phone we managed to make our way to the Green River, it really is green and has a ferry for car crossings. I plan to put the Serenity Falcon on it tomorrow afternoon if they will let me. 

We even saw some deer on our hike, they were not the least bit disturbed by us. 

By the time we got back to camp we had trekked just over 4 miles (per my watch), it was a good walk. 

I have to say our campsite is one of the worst we have ever had. I have been in driveways much more level, but for $12, I guess I should not complain. We will tough it out for one night. 

We have tickets for a cave tour tomorrow at 12:15PM.  

Day 26 - Graceland and Beale Street

Thursday we had tickets for Graceland at 10:15, it is within walking distance of our campground. We were  unsure how long the tour would take and thought if it wasn't too long we might go down to Beale Street in the afternoon. 

Graceland is rather expensive to tour, but what the heck we are in Memphis. It is one of those American stories that is very good except for the ending. We are not the least bit sorry we did it. 

Elvis was one of a kind and so was his house. It screams 1970's because that is when time stopped in 1977. The mansion is big, the rooms are not overly big but they are all Elvis. 

The living room was like any other living room, but on steroids. Custom everything. 

I took a lot of pictures that will not be included in the blog, it was hard not to because everything was so unique. For example, the stair way to the basement level is all mirrors on the wall and ceiling, you get disorientated going down the stairs. 

Yes there was a  jungle room.  Check out the colors and carpet.

The pool room has matching pleated cloth walls and ceiling.

The kitchen was like anyone's kitchen, just a bit larger. The house goes on and on, and we only saw the first floor. Elvis never let anyone but family upstairs, so we were not allowed. 

We toured other buildings that house the offices, trophies etc. and ended the house tour at the family memorial where he and his family lay at rest. 

After leaving the mansion there is building after building of exhibits about his life. I really liked the one on his military service. I did not take any pictures but was fascinated at the way, despite being a national celebrity, he served his 2 years and was deployed in Germany after the war. I seriously doubt any of our contemporary celebs would do the same. 

He also had a love of all things that moved, cars, motorcycles, golf carts, dune buggies, snowmobiles, you name it. To that I can relate. He loved snowmobiling so much he had about 6 with wheels on them so he could ride them at Graceland. 

He also had three personal airplanes, his Convair 880 Jet Airplane was something.

The interior was all decked out with gold sinks and fixtures, it had a conference room, and a bedroom (complete with a big seatbelt across the bed) with a private bath.  

We finished our tour at about 1PM, it took a bit over 2 hours and there was so much to see we got tired and hungry.  We did not see everything but got enough to confirm he really was larger than life.

After Graceland we walked back to our campsite and had a good lunch. It was a nice day so we decided to take the scooter downtown to see Beale Street. It was an easy commute of about 15 mins. We found a few pot holes along the way  but nothing like the streets in New Orleans. 

Beale Street reminded me of Nashville Music Row, lots of bars and restaurants with music. It was bricked and pedestrian only with some bars that have a window that opens to the street. 

We walked a bit of Beale and headed down to see the water front. The water front is very nice and modern, with lots of park space. 

There are tour boats that take you out on the Mississippi. This is a big one.

From the water front we walked the entire length of Beale Street and kept walking until we found the WiseAcre brewery. The brewery huge and the beer was pretty good. It opened about 3 years ago, it is the second location that WiseAcre has, it seems they are doing well. 

We wanted to sample some food on Beale Street and stopped at one of the less crowded places called King Jerry Lawler's Hall of Fame. We had a sample plate of pulled pork and BBQ ribs...it was very good. 

We had a good experience in Memphis and we scootered back to camp to rest up for our trek to Mammoth Caves National Park on Friday.