Saturday, July 15, 2017, Hattie B's Nashville Hot Chicken, Nashville, TN

I grew up in the Nashville, TN, area and do not remember ever hearing about Nashville Hot Chicken. That's why I was surprised to hear about it on some TV show while we were way out west somewhere. My brother, Doug, was pretty familiar with many of the Hot Chicken joints and agreed to introduce me to the famous cuisine. "Making grown men cry since 2012," told me we were going to get some authentic hot chicken at Hattie B's.

We arrived just after they opened and the line of customers out the door meant it was going to be about a 30-minute wait before I could sample the famous tasty treat (the line was even longer when we left). 

You had your choice of chicken heat - Mild, Hot, Damn Hot and finally, "Shut the Cluck Up". Doug cautioned me to avoid that last one, so I chose a couple Hot and a couple Damn Hot. That was some pretty impressive heat. I had a few beads of sweat break out as I was eating, but I have to say I was immediately a fan! Wow! I will be back for more and maybe even try some of that Shut the Cluck Up.

Tuesday, July 4, 2017, Colonial Village Gathering

In Mom's neighborhood, Colonial Village in Lebanon, TN, the residents are pretty active and get together regularly. They have a  nice clubhouse for gatherings. A large group meets on some mornings for coffee and on some afternoons they play games. Of course, holidays are a great reason for a gathering and they had more than 45 get together for a 4th of July barbeque.

A great group of people and lots of great food made for an extremely nice get-together. I should have taken more pictures but I forgot to bring a camera and totally forgot about the phone camera until things were winding down. Anyway, you get the idea and can probably imagine how much noise there was with all of the spirited conversations around the room. 

Sunday, July 2, 2017, Soggy Pool Party

Joani and I lived in Tennessee during our teen years, so we still have some high school friends that live in the area.

Good friends Joey and Susan held their annual Independence Day Pool Party (a few days early). All went well until a pretty violent storm decided to rage over our heads. Joey checked his radar app and found it was just a small storm. Unfortunately, it parked above us and dumped between 5 and 6 inches of rain on the party - it was easy to gauge by the water level in the pool. Everyone huddled under the cabana poolside but with the wind, we were all soaked eventually.

Several times the lightning struck so close the flash of light and crack of thunder appeared simultaneously. In fact, one lightning strike was close enough to the house that it fried their big flat screen TV and satellite dish receiver.

When the torrential downpour eased up a bit we made a dash to the house and gorged ourselves on delicious ham sandwiches and a wide array of sides and desserts. Even with the rain, it was a great afternoon and a nice start to our stay in Tennessee. 

Friday, June 30 and Saturday, July 1, 2017, Into Storage in Lebanon, TN

It would have been easy enough to drive all the way from Memphis to Lebanon in one day, but our storage rental did not start until the first of July. Instead, we stopped at the Pilot Travel Center in Hurricane Mills, TN, a short hop of 131.2 miles (83,582.7 miles total). It was a warm one, so we spent a lazy afternoon in air-conditioned comfort inside our coach. 

Thinking through our plans for the next couple of months, we realized we needed to empty the coach of a lot of "stuff" at Mom's. So when we arrived in Lebanon, TN, on Saturday morning after another 116.3 miles (83,699.0 miles total) we parked right in front of her condo. That made things a lot easier than the alternative of at least three loaded round trips in the car. We felt pretty conspicuous parked at the curb, so we made it quick and then headed over to All Things Storage where we tucked our home away for the next two months.

Thursday, June 29, 2017, Pink Palace Museum, Memphis, TN

While we were in Memphis we visited the Pink Palace Museum (an ASTC member). The huge mansion was built by the founder of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain, Clarence Saunders. Things did not end well for Clarence as his empire was usurped by financial rivals before the home was finished. The property was later donated to the city and it became the home of the Memphis History Museum.

Inside we found a little bit of everything - part natural history, part science and part local history. They had an extensive collection of minerals and gems as well.

Rhesus Monkey

"Giant Owl Butterfly" Caligo memnon

Ventral View (belly)

When we saw the electron microscope below, Joani and I were both reminded of the response of a frustrated Dr. Frasier Crane to an obnoxious caller:

"Roger, at Cornell University they have an incredible piece of scientific equipment known as the Tunneling Electron Microscope. Now, this microscope is so powerful that by firing electrons you can actually see images of the atom, the infinitesimally minute building blocks of our universe. Roger, if I were using that microscope right now, I still wouldn't be able to locate my interest in your problem."

Walking through a replica of the first Piggly Wiggly really made us appreciate today's modern grocery stores especially when it came to the refrigerated and frozen foods sections.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017, Move to Memphis, TN

Today we drove 167 miles (83,451.5 miles total) to Memphis, TN. It was mostly a boring drive that got a little exciting as we traveled through Memphis with all of its traffic. We are no longer "out west" since we are now on the east side of the Mississippi.

Within an hour of settling into our campsite at the Agricenter RV Park on the east side of Memphis, we were headed to the IKEA located just 5 miles north of our park to scratch Joani's itch for some Swedish meatballs. I fully expect someday to live in a house that is completely furnished with IKEA furniture.

We followed the IKEA visit with a trip to Costco and then a Kroger - it's good to be home again!

Monday, June 26, 2017, Move to USACE, Maumelle, AR

The Corps check out time (3:00 pm) allowed us time for showers and a nice leisurely breakfast before continuing on our way to Tennessee. Today's drive -124.3 miles (83,284.5 miles total) to another Corps of Engineers Park near Little Rock, AR named Maumelle.

Maumelle was even nicer than yesterday's park, sites here were spacious, grassy and shaded. Our first order of business was to remove Sam's stitches. He had healed nicely and we had to decide whether we should find a vet or do it ourselves. Joani had already discussed the procedure with a vet in Tennessee who seemed to think it was relatively simple, so with no formal training, I clipped the stitches with a small pair of scissors. Sam never even flinched - what a trooper!

We took a sunset walk but did not really capture a lot of color. Fortunately, we did not find a lot of mosquitos making our stroll exceptionally pleasant.