Tue Oct 21 - Lynchburg

Tue Oct 21 - Lynchburg

Jack Himself All 5ft 2in of him!!

Their own charcoal for filtering

Proof we were here!!

Jack Daniels Distillery- Lynchburg, Tenn

A trip to Lynchburg, Tennessee for a tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery. We were surprised to discover that all Jack D sold around the work is produced in this one location. We managed a quick walk around town as well as the distillery tour. The distillery is located in Moore County which is a ‘dry’ county... go figure!!!! But it was a fascinating experience to see how ‘hands on’ the production still is right down to coopering and toasting their own barrels and making their own charcoal. Apart from the fact that they are caving in to the modern trend for flavoured alcohol (Cinnamon flavour and honey flavour), they still make the distilling of their Old NO 7 an art form.

Heading in to the Grand Ole Opry

We drove back to Nashville directly to the (Modern) Grand Ole Opry in Music Valley as we had tickets for the live-aired Grand Ole Opry Show. There were 3-4 okay performers, but then a 12 member group of musicians called The Willis Family (they are all sisters and brothers) playing mostly Irish based celtic music. They were phenomenal!!!  Keith Urban topped off the evening’s show with a great performance … sheesh that’s one good looking country music star… Janice is ready to buy boots and a lasso.  Another great day in Nashville. Tennessee… time to roll on to our next destination… Memphis!!!

Happy to be here

Anticipation inside the Opry

Keith Urban - Great performance

Sun-Mon Oct 19-20 - Nashville Tennessee

Sun - Tue Oct 19-21 – Nashville

Sun 19th

Finally parked in Nashville .. Full circle!

After leaving the Walmart… refreshed and ready for anther beautiful sunny day on the road, we drove happily to Nashville, we went back to Two Rivers Campground, the VERY SAME campground where we started this journey almost 2 years ago on Dec 1 2012. It is totally surreal to be back and it seems like a lifetime ago since we were here… what a journey we have had in these ‘almost’ two years. Having been here before, we knew we hadn’t explored the city enough.

Tim Atwood (R) and Brent Ronen (L) - Excellent

After setting up camp we decided to stay at the campground for the evening and head into the city on the shuttle the next day, and we were glad we did. There happened to be a free live music performance on the stoop by the camp store and we were treated to some awesome music and hilarious comedy by a couple of talented artists called Tim Atwood (worked at the Grand Ole Opry for 38 years) and  Brent Ronen (the lion story was the funniest – ask us about it when we see you)

We settled down for the evening still talking about the fact that we have come full circle.

Mon 20^th Oct

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN VIEW

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME FOYER

A tourist on Broadway strip - Nashville Tenn

Inside the Ryman Auditorium

Backstage Ryman - Old Grand Ole Opry

We hopped on the shuttle right at the campground and got driven into the centre of Nashville City.  On the way in, the driver told us that he thought Lynard Skynard was playing a free concert at a street party in town that night. That made us decided to hang out in the city to see them. A quick look in the Country Music Hall of Fame, we decided not to pay the entry fee and instead headed straight to the Ryman Theatre, the original location of the Grand Ole Opry show from 1925 to 1974 when it moved to the new site in Music Valley. It was a really interesting tour and quite the experience to stand on same stage and in the same spot as such greats as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Hank Williams etc.   After this tour, we headed over to the Johnny Cash Museum. Janice’s Dad was a great fan and we reminisced about the time we surprised him and took him to see Johnny in a live show in Toronto many years ago.  It was well worth the entry fee… go if you have the chance. We left when ‘ I Walk the Line’  became just too overpowering… it took a while to get it out of our heads!! We walked up and down and stopped in a Honky Tonk bar to listen to some local music. After more walking in town we stopped for a coffee and then headed back to Broadway where preparations for the street party were underway. We found a great little spot for a bite to eat and were treated to some very talented music by  father/son (and occasionally mom) called The O’Donnells. We eventually braved the chilly evening air and stood on a curb and thoroughly enjoyed watching Lynard Skynard and a couple of guest performers including Michael Allman (Gregg Allman’s son)…. They were great. We hopped the shuttle back to camp totally pleased with a fabulous day in Nashville.

Sign for Johnny Cash Guitar-JC Museum

 

Johnny Cash's first Guitar

Johnny's parents, him and his Brother

Hall of discs and albums- SO many

Self Explanatory!!

Great music ion a Honky Tonk

A Nashville-size street snack !!

Nashville Broadway strip sunset

The O'Donnels- Father and son

Lynard Skynard - Free street party

Wed-Sat Oct 15-18 - Sarnia

Wed-Sat Oct 15-18  -  Sarnia

Camped at the Countryview Motel and RV park

On our way south we decided to stop for a couple of days and spend some time with Grant in Sarnia.  We camped at the Countryview RV Park about 20 minutes out of town (the closest we could find) It is a basic but sufficiently comfortable RV park.. not a 'destination resort' but good enough for a few days while visiting the city. 

Getting some mighty good hugging

We had a great time with Grant just chilling and cooking and catching up (with a little guitar playing thrown in). We were treated to one amazing trout dinner at Grants apartment, cooked to perfection and we even managed to watch a hockey game together, (which was fun despite the loss). 

Time to say goodbye.. see ya soon!

Grant stayed with us in the trailer on the night before we left and we dropped him off close to home, with a few tears shed by Janice as we took off again for points south.




We drove for about 7 hours through Michigan, Ohio, into Kentucky and after a disappointing stop at a truck stop where we intended to park for the night (it was too full and very noisy) we drove on for a while to a Walmart parking lot just north of Louisville, Kentucky in a small town called La Grange. It is a perfect spot for a quick overnight free boon-docking, and we could even pop into the store for a couple of supplies before filling the hot water bottles in anticipation of a cold night.

Summer 2014 - general

Oct 10 2014

Backyard family time with friends

Our site at Fifty Point Conservation Area

Since we got back from West Africa and UK in June, our summer was spent at Fifty Point Conservation area and we took a break from blogging other than to document our six week trip to the East coast. . Fifty Point is a great place to hang out and we have booked it for next summer based on the fact that our 2 year allowed absence from Ontario (for government health coverage)  is over and we now have to send a minimum of 5 months in the province each year for the next 5 years.  It has a marina, a beach, picnic areas, a restaurant and some great views across the lake.

We reunited with friends and family and enjoyed a trip to a cottage, BBQ’s, a baptism, plays and concerts. (Seeing Colm Feore play King Lear in Stratford was fabulous.) We enjoyed a ‘family thanksgiving; with friends and visits from so many people it would be too hard to list them all. It was a beautiful summer and we loved being able to visit family and friends. The biggest problem was that the time went so fast that we missed seeing many people. We have booked to return to Ontario for 6 weeks in Dec/Jan and will be staying in a cottage in Niagara On The Lake, so hopefully we can tempt a number of people to come and see us there.

So I am going to start up the blog again after leaving Fifty Point and hope to find time to diarize the next stages of our journey of adventures. …. So stay tuned. 

Tues Aug 12th - Tour around Ile D'Orleans

Tues Aug 12th - Tour around Ile D'Orleans

Lovely boulangerie...

Scrumptious treats

What was forecast to be a rainy day turned out, to our delight, to be quite sunny with a few high clouds, so after a slow breakfast we set off at about 11am to tour around the island. We reminisced a little as we drove about the time we were here many years ago with our friends from UK Derek and Lin. Stopped at a Boulangerie for coffee and bakery treats late morning, then drove around the point of the island looking out over Quebec City, then on to the Cassis maker where we bought some Cassis, then a winery ( Le Vignoble de Ste Petronille) to have a tasting and bought a bottle of nice white. More tastings at various food and cideries etc with a last stop at the 'fromagerie' for a tasting of fried cheese... yum!!! Bought some local cheeses, some dry smoked sausage and, armed with our fresh bread from the boulangerie, we headed back to camp to enjoy a lovely platter of our goodies... a quick walk to the Quai before bed.

Land around Vignoble de Ste Petronille

Vignoble de Ste Petronille

Cheers to the good times

Mon Aug 11 - Truck Radiator blown

Mon Aug 11 - Truck Radiator blown

Montmorency Falls from Bridge

Homemade chips and mayo

Church next to pub

View from Pub parking

Good to have truck safe again

Janice up early... back is rather bad... so she walked to the end of the quai (quay) with a cup of tea and watched the ships sail by. We had a quick toast (with homemade marmalade from Alma farmers market) and set off for the dealership to have the truck checked... we made it gingerly without issue, but when we arrived we looked under the truck and coolant fluid was flowing unchecked onto the floor...  No need for the service tech guy, who speaks little English, to explain what was wrong!!!! New radiator needed to be ordered, so we sat on this beautiful sunny morning in the waiting room of the dealership, racking up the bill as we sat. BUT... we are so very lucky. Safety in this lifestyle we live is first and foremost above all.  The idea of being stuck on a highway with the 'condo' attached, in the rain, with no help in sight on a Sunday in the middle of the wilderness.... or  sitting comfortably in a waiting room on a sunny morning catching up on the blog.... the choice is clear and we are indeed counting our blessings today. .... more to come later..... here we go... so after about 4 hours... finally new radiator and we had a quick intake of breath when the bill came to discover, much to our delight, that it was covered under our extended warranty... just $200 deductible.... whooo hoooo!!! So .. happy and surprised (and feeling a lot safer) we headed back to the island and went to a micro brewery / pub for a bite to eat and a nice beer... then back to our campsite. Made a cup of tea and walked to the Quai again..

End of the Quai at Ile 'D'Orleans Campsite

The End of a good day!

Sun Aug 10th - Move sites and truck leak!

Sun Aug 10th - Move sites and truck leak!
We hitched up and moved to our site for the next 5 nights (site 72).. very nice. We did however notice that there was an inordinate amount of water coming from the front of the truck. At first we thought it might be from the air-conditioning. After setting up and sitting outside with a coffee on our wooden deck!!!, Derek checked and noticed that the coolant level was down... he filled it and it took quite a few litres, so we knew we may have more of a problem than we thought. We decided not to leave the campground today in case there was a major issue with the truck, and so spent most of the day reading, walking around the campground and generally relaxing. We wandered down to the shore at about 10pm after a fabulous pork chop meal (chops from New Brunswick farm). We were told by a guy camping nearby that there was supposed to be a meteor shower (an annual event here). But after about an hour sipping our beers in the dark on the beach we gave up (turns out it does not happen until Aug 12th). We researched GM dealers to take the truck to tomorrow. Sad to give up a day in this heavenly place to go get the truck looked at.. but such are the hazards of this lifestyle.
No Photos today... !!!!!