Today was a day of driving.

The morning was the usual. Orange juice, followed by coffee, followed by pineapple, followed by…Oh that’s right, that awful cinnamin flavoured granola we bought. Neither of us thought we could stomach it this morning, so Mike got out the cooker and made bacon and eggs.

We stopped at a visitor centre to ask about walks. He said we needed to watch out for ticks, they are everywhere. They carry disease and will drop out of the trees on you, he said. Make sure you spray poison all over your clothes, he said. Yikes. As if I wasn’t already scared of ticks!

We drove for most of the day, even though it was only 233 kms. We left Kentucky and are now in Tennessee, not too far from Chattanooga. You know the song. We saw a campground on the way called Skull Island, and that’s where we are!

It’s a weird name for an island but there’s some interesting history behind it. In the 1800s there was a town in the valley. Chattanooga was prone to flooding so in the 1930s, they decided to build dams to stop the flooding. The people living in the valley were told they had to move as their town would be flooded. They also had the option to move their dead from the graveyards which some of them did. But a lot of graves remained and when they built the dam and flooded the valley, the bones all rose to the surface and landed on Skull Island. Hence the name.

We chose a pleasant camping spot overlooking the lake and had a pleasant nights stay.

Not much else to report today. We did do a Walmart stop as I needed a few more things.

We had a nice sleep in the carpark on the side of the road. In the morning, a man commented that we were a long way from home. How did he know we were from New Zealand? Then he commented on our number plates. “Are you from Michigan?” I told him we were from NZ and he was even more impressed.

Today we visited Mike’s sister again, and caught up with his nephew, Tony.

Just after lunch we headed to Cumberland Falls which was a 2 hour drive. It’s like a mini-Niagra falls and quite a few people were there.

We found a lovely camp ground about ten minutes away from the falls, surrounded by tall trees and forest. We were surprised it wasn’t full.

I was sitting in the van offloading the last few days of photos when a subaru towing a teardrop campervan sped through the campground. Shortly after, a banging crashing sound. Did they just crash? 

Mike and another couple ran over to check and the car and caravan had got over a ledge. Apparently they had driven ten hours to get to this campground and must have been quite tired. They’d gotten out of their car and forgotten to put on the handbrake and the car and caravan rolled over the edge. They were lucky a picnic table was in their way and stopped them going over the edge of a cliff. Even more lucky was that nobody was camping there. They poor cat was in the car when it went over.

That was our excitement for the day. Oh, and we were robbed. The washing mashine took our $1.50 and didn’t wash our clothes.

It would have been nice to stay for a couple of days, but there weren’t many hikes around the area.

We woke up to heavy rain, and a leak drizzling down our side door. We duck-taped a towel to try and stop it, but it just drenched the towel. It might need new rubbers or something on the window.

Mike disconnected the power and water from our van in the pouring rain. We need an umbrella.

Today it was just a short drive to catch up with Mike’s family in Kentucky. First stop was Campbellsville to meet up with nieces Kayla, Sissy and great nephew, Greyson who is four.

Next stop Walmart, to buy umbrellas. It hasn’t rained since buying them.

Next stop, Greensburg, to catch up with Sister Ro, and nieces Mel and Rose, and great nephews, Killian (four) and Aspen (12).

Killian kept us entertained with his constant chatter and shenanigans. He was hilarious, like a mini Eddie really.

It was nice catching up with the family and a we stayed for Pizza. Tomorrow we’re catching up with nephew Tony.

We’re camping in an RV park on the side of the road, which seems a little weird. But there are five other Rvs here and I think they possibly live here. But there is power, water, and sewer on our site which we can connect to. Most of the campgrounds have this where you can hook-up on your site. Means you can stay for long periods and not have to worry about topping up water or emptying your black tank as it’s connected during your stay.

We are absolutely loving camping in Rodger. Even though the layout is a bit weird, it actually works and the bed is really comfy. The toilet right next to the kitchen is still a bit creepy, but Mike might be able to put a barrier around it or something.

Today we left Red River Gorge and headed towards Greensburg Kentucky where Mike’s sister lives. We drove for about 2 hours, then stopped at a Walmart to get even more stuff! We needed an axe to make kindling, and we also needed more food. While we were there I also saw an airhorn I needed to scare bears, two more towels, some pyrethrum to spray on our hiking gear as everyone recommends it to repel ticks.

Yesterday we were at red river gorge, today we are at Green river State Park camping. It’s really expensive at $45 per night, and really busy. It’s a Friday night and all the weekenders are here. As we drove in, we saw all the heads turn to look at our van. This is becoming quite common and Rodger certainly attracts interest.

We had a nice view of the lake until a big caravan came and parked right in front of us. We cooked bacon and eggs for dinner (the bacon here is soooooo delicious) and did our laundry.

That’s all folks.

Today was an exciting day. It started with a narrow and dark tunnel. We stopped just outside of it, and Mike got his tape measure out to make sure we would fit. While he was doing that, a similar sized campervan drove on through, so we felt a bit happier about that.

Our first stop today was the Gladie visitor centre to get some info on walks in the area. As we were talking to the lady, a guy came in and asked if that was our van out front. Wondering what we’d done wrong, we said yes is was.

‘Cool van,’ he said. ‘We’ve got one similar.’ He pointed to their 1987 Doge Ram, which they’d renovated. We’ve had so many people compliment our van. I thought there would be lots of them about, but it’s quite unique.

The first walk we did was up to a tower rock. It was just a short walk, but the rock was impressive.

After that, we stopped at the next major walk. A group of walkers had just completed it and I asked one of the ladies if it was worth doing. ‘Nah, it’s a bit boring,’ she said. ‘But there is a really nice walk to a waterfall just over there. Just follow the creek for a couple of miles.’

The waterfall walk wasn’t marked on any of the tourist maps, on all trails, or even sign posted. But we followed her instructions and it was the most beautiful walk we’ve done yet. Perhaps that’s why the locals like to keep it to themselves.

After that, we stopped at Whistlers Arch. The arch was nice enough, but it’s not what impressed us. Mike called me over to look at a red lizard and that was when we saw it, sunning itself on a rock. A venomous copper head snake. I cursed myself for not having bought my zoom camera to get a decent photo!

Our next stop was down a rutted potholed gravel road. I do worry about breaking Rodger, but Mike too it slowly. And it was well worth the drive. A short walk from the carpark took us to a lookout over a mini grand canyon but with lots of trees. It was stunning.

People are so friendly here. A man we met at the campground has invited us to stay at his place in Washington DC if we go there.

To finish the day, we headed back to the same campground and cooked tofu noodles for dinner. 

We are now in Red River Gorge and it’s a gorgeous day. We set off for a couple of hikes from the campground, trying not to worry too much about the bears and ticks which we’d been warned about at the campground. It seems like snakes might be a worry too, with four venonous types here. Mike reckons it’s too cold for them. Mike has no idea.

Today we did five walks.

The first walk was just over an hour and took us alongside a stream to a trickling waterfall. The second walk from the camp took us to a mini arch. On the way Mike pointed our some fresh bear prints. That was a little concerning, then Mike said it was probably dog prints. But dogs aren’t allowed up here….

After our walk, a man came over to our van and asked if we were The New Zealanders. Seems word has gotten around the town that New Zealanders are about. But he just wanted to compliment us on our van. He said he loves the character and retro style, as do we.

We drove into the gorge today looking for hikes to do. We stopped at a local shop and asked for directions, and while they were showing us on the map, one of the girls showed us a photo of a copperhead snake that she’d found in her bathroom that morning. EEK. Now I am really worried about the big gap in our van coming from the engine. I think I’ll get Mike to fix it asap. 

We bought a 3-day pass for $7 which allows us access to the gorge and we can also camp in there for free at designated spots. Inside the gorge, we turned off down a potholed dirt road. Rodger’s soft suspension made it a very uncomfortable ride. Rodge did not dodge the potholes too well. We parked up and hiked about 40 minutes to Grays Arch, which was basically a big arch. 

After that walk we did a smaller walk which took us to two mini arches with neat rock formations.

Our fifth walk for the day was the skyridge walk and my favourite walk. This time we were above the trees overlooking rocky outcrops, similar to the Blue mountains in NSW. We walked across a large arch, then followed the trail through the woods until we were under the arch. Lot’s of neat rock formations along this walk.

It was 5pm by the time we’d finished, so we headed back 30 minutes to the same campground as the previous night.

We tried to light a fire but we had no kindling, so that was a massive fail We need to get an axe. So we cooked bacon and eggs on our grill, and a baked potato in the microwave. When we learn how to light fires properly, we’d like to do some cooking over the fire.

We had a great night sleep in Kincaid state park. Mikes fix seems to have worked and the tank is no longer leaking but we found another problem.

As we left camp this morning it started to rain. No big deal, we thought. We’re in a campervan, we’ll stay dry. But then Mike turned on his wipers and nothing happened. Well this can’t be good.

He popped the bonnet to have look but couldn’t see anything obvious. But when he closed the bonnet, they started working! Weird.

So we’re driving down the road and it starts raining heavier, and the wipers decided to stop again. We arrived in a small town not too far away and we found a garage on the outskirts.

We opened the door to the garage and a thick haze of smoke enveloped us. Three people sat there staring at us like we’d just parked our spaceship out the front.

I said hello and explained our wiper problem to them. They continued to stare blankly. Then Mike spoke and they seemed to understand him but no one made a move to help us. I guess it was chucking it down with rain and we’d clearly crashed their smoko.

After a while, one of the guys got up, put his coat on, and went outside to take a look. He fiddled with a few things and voila, the wipers were working again! He didn’t want payment, so we thanked him and were on our way.

We drove for a good hour with the wipers working, then one of them stopped. Thankfully it was on my side and Mike’s was still working. Just as well too as it began to chuck it down, fork lightning cracking in front of us.

Then my phone started making a scary noise. I looked down and saw it was a tornado warning in the area and to find shelter asap. But we were in the middle of nowhere!

After about 15 minutes we arrived at the red river gorge visitor centre and waited there with a few other people also seeking shelter. We also got the information we wanted on the hikes in the area.

We are camping at whittleton campground and plan to do some hikes over the next few days in the gorge.

The previous evening I had noticed a damp spot on the floor. There was a leak coming from our water tank. We’d put a cup under where we thought it was coming from and turned off the water pump.

This morning when we woke up, it was even wetter and the cup had overflowed. It looked like it was leaking at the filter, so the first job of the day was to find a hardware store.

Thankfully there was one not too far away. Mike bought some plumbing tape and started on repairs in the Main Street. He had to empty the tank, take off the filter, wrap some tape around it, and wait until we could fill up again to test it.

The USA doesn’t have free dump and water stations around the place like in nz, so we’d have to wait until we found a camp.

It was a long day of driving today with not much to see. We stopped at Walmart again and bought an inflatable canoe ( ironically the wordle for that day).

We were heading for a campground just outside red river gorge when Mike saw a sign to Kincaid lake state park. Do we diverted off onto a windy narrow road for about 20minutes. There was nobody on the booth so we just went in and chose a spot.

There were lots of RVs huddled together in one spot, but we went around the corner and there was nobody. The spaces were too small for RVs so we had the place to ourselves.

Our campsite was surrounded by trees and very beautiful. We also had electric and water hookup. We filled our tank and so far no leaks! Let’s hope mike’s fixed it.

We had chicken fajitas for dinner (cooked in our microwave) and it was satisfactory. We were too tired to light a fire so we just went to bed.

After having camped at Yankee Springs campground for 3 nights we finally decided it was time to leave. I could probably have stayed another week, but we need to get to Texas by early June. 

After a short bush walk, we continued on our way. The garmin headed us on the freeway and we really didn’t like that, so we conveniently turned off and found a Walmart. It seems we never have all the stuff we need. Mike needed some rubber gloves for emptying our waste tank and we needed gas for our cooker. Thankfully this walmart had both of those things.

We changed our Garmin and Google settings to avoid freeways, highways and tolls and that took us on the back roads, which was much nicer.

The scenery was pretty flat today. We crossed from Michigan State into Indianna today. Our campground is next to Mississinewa Lake, but we’re not camping right beside it. 

We were both exhaused that we passed out as soon as we arrived. After dinner, Mike decided to make a plunger coffee and it perked me right up. Only problem was, I couldn’t sleep and read my book until well after midnight!

Tomorrow we are heading towards Red River Gorge.

We’ve named our van Rodger. We crawled out of bed this morning, feeling refreshed after a good nights sleep.

The lake was calm this morning and I could see some things swimming backwards and forwards across it, but couldn’t tell what they were. Just a little head poking above the water. I thought I’d seen a beaver the previous day, but these were too small for that.

We managed to get Rodger’s water working today, after another jetlag distaster yesterday. There was another switch we didn’t know about. Even though Rodger is a 1992 model, he is very advanced for his age and this is what caught us out. Our van can use water directly from a hose rather than the tank. To do this, you turn the switch one way. If using from the tank, the switch goes the other way. So that was our problem yesterday, the switch was for town water. Problem solved.

We spent another day at the lake in Yankee Springs as we’re still trying to get our van sorted and we needed another dreaded trip to Walmart. As we were shopping, the staff who’d seen us on previous visits, greeted us like long lost friends. It was at this point we realised we’d become regulars.

Mike needed tools for some odd jobs so he picked up a tool box. The louvred blinds at the back of the van had a gap in them, so we picked up some cheap curtains. Mike picked up an extension lead, and I also picked one up and we didn’t notice until we got back to camp. So now we have a spare. We could probably take it back but we daren’t show our faces there again.

Back at camp we sat, sipping on a zero beer, mesmorised by the lake. Then I saw another one of those things, swimming across the lake towards me. Having seen them in Australia for many years, it looked like a snake. Sure enough, as it got closer, it was a little water snake swimming towards me. At this stage I didn’t know if they were poisonous or not, so I took a step away from the bank. Thankfully It didn’t come onto the land. We found out later that they aren’t poisonous, so that’s a relief.

People are so friendly here, stopping to chat with you. Random people in the supermarket even say hello to you.

We’ve spent three days at this wonderful campground, and we still haven’t done any of the walks around the place. Perhaps we’ll get time tomorrow before we leave.

Internet here is really bad, so blogs have been a bit slow.