Rafting on the Cumberland River

Had the pleasure of taking advantage of the beautiful (mid-80's and sunny) October weather here in Nashville by rafting to downtown on the Cumberland River.  We loosely used the charts on the Corps of Engineer's site, mainly to make sure we didn't end up like we did in Oklahoma City where we put in, travelled about a mile and came upon a lock that was only able to be accessed by the tour boat that came by it.

It took us about an hour to travel to downtown and another hour back.  Our ramp was close to the Port of Opryland where two paddle wheelers do day cruises and dinner cruises.

  It would be a beautiful ride when the leaves are turning.  So hard to believe this river could get out of its banks and produce the kind of flooding it did in 2010.

We only saw three pleasure boats (one was being hauled out) along the ride, but did see the General Jackson Paddle Wheeler steaming along from Opryland to downtown.

As we approached downtown, we could see the "Batman Tower" in the distance. Then the full skyline appeared at the bend behind the bridges.  There is a beautiful ampitheatre along the West Bank of the River, with the Tennessee Titans' LP Stadium on the East side.  We were a little disappointed there wasn't any public docking or restaurants that catered to boaters.

After getting close to the ramp at Old Lock and Dam Number Two Park, we went "Tom Sawyer" and just floated.  The current we didn't realize until we turned the power off was amazing.  And.....the silence.

Records!

Everywhere we've been this year, the weather has been record breaking! Starting with Baytown (TX), where we had record lows for a week, in Tucson, then on our return in Oklahoma City and now in Indianapolis we've had record highs!

It's us.  I know it's us!

Laundry

Laundry - what a dirty word!  No matter how hard we try to keep up, it just never seems to go away.  Since it is such a recurring item, we have added it to our monthly budget.  This has become a little bit of a challenge with all the various rates that are charged.  We have found everything from $1.25/wash to our current rate of $2.00/wash.  Dryers have been ranging anywhere from .25 for 5 minutes to $1.75 for 45 minutes.

The washing cycle is what it is.  Not sure why there is such a difference in the price from area to area.  May be that there utility rates vary that much. Or, they just want us to pay for the convenience.  I certainly haven't seen that much of a difference in the facilities or the equipment.

My biggest issue is with the charges for the dryers.  The previous stop at the Oklahoma City KOA had the most expensive/least efficient dryers at $1.75.  They did run 45-50 minutes, but I almost always had to run them twice!  We are currently paying the same rate here at the Indianapolis KOA, but after 45 minutes, everything was completely dry.  (Sure they were also super washed with the $2.00 wash cycle!)

Would like to hear how others take care of dirty laundry.  What are some of your experiences?  Do you use the campground facilities?

Please share your comments.

See ya down the road....

Here in Springfield, MO

When we stayed overnight at the Amarillo Elks Lodge going from Albuquerque to Oklahoma City, we said the next time we did this, we should unhook and stay two nights, leaving the day in between as a drive around the area day.

Because I can't count days making our upcoming reservations (for some reason thought it would take us 3 nights instead of two to go from OKC KOA to Indianapolis KOA), that turned out to be the case today as we unhooked last night at the Springfield MO Elks Lodge, and drove today down to Branson, MO.

Having been to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg Tennessee before that was kind of what I was expecting.  About what we got, although the theaters are everywhere.  Very spread out.

Table Rock Lake was a nice bonus, we also enjoyed driving around the State Park.

Man has it been hot

About to wrap up our time here in Oklahoma City.  Just looked at wunderground for the almanac since we've been here.  Whew, it was a scorcher.

Average high was 99 degrees, average low was 73.  Maximum high of 106.  Almost like winter we were in the rig so much.  Pool helped, rafting on Lake Thunderbird helped, but it all seemed so temporary.   Very few nights sitting outside.

Liked the park, liked the people here, but I'm ready to see some lower highs.