September 13, 2008

Kingston, Tennessee to Home

Our adventure today was to explore the area of Kentucky where Betsy’s Frye family lived. Instead of roaring up I-75 like we normally do we got off at London, went west to Somerset and then north on KY 127 headed to Liberty. Just north of Liberty in a nice little pull off park there is a Kentucky State Historical Society roadside marker dedicated to John Frye, Betsy’s patriot ancestor. John Frye had a short but amazing life. John was born in 1754 in Frederick Co, VA but eventually moved into Kan-tuck. He fought in the Battle of Point Pleasant (Oct 10th, 1774) in what is now West Virginia. Most historians consider the Battle of Point Pleasant to be the opening battle of the American Revolution.

After the battle John returned to his home and in 1780 he petitioned for a land grant on Carpenters Creek in what is now Casey Co, KY. The Indian threat persisted now with the full knowledge and support of the British. Small frontier settlements were being attacked on a regular basis. In one instance Bryant's Station, near Lexington was attacked and the militia was called out to follow and engage the Indians. One hundred and eighty two men responded. Included was John Frye, Daniel Boone, and Daniels son, Israel. When the militiamen caught up with the Indians Daniel Boone saw that the Indian’s were not following their usual methods of concealment or covering their tracks, and he suspected that he and the others were being lead into a trap. Unfortunately he could never convince the leaders of the militia, and as Daniel suspected, the militia walked squarely into an ambush on August 19, 1782. What was unknown to the militiamen was that in addition to the three hundred Indians there were also fifty British Rangers waiting for them. Of the 182 militiamen only a few survived. Among the dead were Israel Boone, and John Frye at age 28.

All of the casualties were buried at the battlefield. Years later a monument was erected listing the names of all who fought and to honor those who died.


The ambush came to be known as The Battle of Blue Licks and it occurred ten months after the British surrender at Yorktown. It is considered to be the last battle of the American Revolution. John Frye may be the only individual that fought in both the first and last battle of the American Revolution.

After taking a few pictures of the historical marker we continued north on 127 in an attempt to find Carpenters Creek. We thought we had found it and took a road west which seemed to follow the creek. After about a mile we ran into a sign saying,
Frey’s Creek Baptist Church. We then saw on some mailboxes that the little road we were on was Frey’s Creek Road. We left the paved road, and went down to the church. At the church there was a small bridge that spanned the creek and beyond the road turned into gravel single lane. We continued to follow it, with Frey’s Creek right next to us. We rounded a curve, and low and behold the creek bed and the road became one in the same for about 200 feet. Even though we were in the Nissan
we elected to go forward and we made it. About a quarter of a mile further the road ended at a couple of houses. We retraced our steps back to the main highway and headed north again, looking for Carpenters Creek. Just before the Lincoln Co line Betsy saw a road sign for Carpenters Creek Road. It was basically a grass path.
We drove down to the creek and maybe 100 yards further. I figured we had done enough off roading for the day, and we backed out. I feel sure that we saw some land that John Frye would have seen in his short life.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Sept 12—Kingston to Kingston

Sandy rearranged his Friday schedule (I think he just told his staff to “handle it” for the day) and drove us to the Tennessee side of the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I can’t tell you what a treat it is for me to have someone else behind the wheel. Heck, I’m happy to go to the dentist if someone else is driving.

Sandy got the day started by mentioning that the Alabama National Guard had been mobilized recently. My first thought was that Hurricane Ike had taken a huge right turn and was threatening the Alabama coast. But no, according to Sandy the Alabamians had heard that the Russians had invaded Georgia, and they were makin’ sure the damn Commie bastards weren’t a gonna come into Alabama.

Sandy took us to the Cades Cove area of the GSMNP. Cades Cove was a community located between mountain ridges and therefore very isolated. At first, when the national park was laid out back in the early 1930’s Cades Cove was not included and that was just fine with the residents. A few years later the government changed its mind (imagine that) and wanted to include the area. They forced many of the people to move, but allowed some of the older residents to live out the remainder of their lives in their cabins. I found out later that Cades Cove is the single most visited section of the park—over 2 million visitors annually. Some of the old cabins and churches are still standing . It was interesting to see the differences between one cabin and the next. I have always thought it would be wonderful to have a little log cabin tucked off somewhere in the woods. Elsewhere in the area there was a later homestead and an operating mill that ground the corn for the cornmeal they sold in the gift shop. What a wonderful, scenic place.

From the idyllic, rural, Cades Cove we next headed to Gatlinburg and Pidgon Forge area. Sandy learned that neither Betsy nor I had ever been and we had to go just to see it. If you like Myrtle Beach, Coney Island, or Nashville (IN) you would love Gatlinburg. Same junk, just another location. But now we can say we’ve been there.

Kingston, Tennessee

Sept 10 & 11—E’town to Kingston, TN
We’ve been on the move again, but this time without Starship Avion. Boy I felt like we were flying without hauling a 25 ft long aluminum tube!
Several months ago Jane, Betsy’s sister had invited me to speak at the September Daughters of the American Revolution meeting. I spoke at ‘em regarding the dress and clothing of the American Rifleman of the Revolutionary War. After the meeting was over, Betsy and I went to Southwest Point where an old fort has been constructed. I was all dressed up, so we may as well take some pictures at the fort.
As with most fort’s , it was always location, location, location. This particular location was chosen for it’s commanding position overlooking the Clinch River.

Speaking of location—Jane and Sandy moved from their beautiful historic home in town to a beautiful home just on the outskirts of town. But look at their view!!
I could sit up here all day and watch the river traffic.

Normally when we travel to Kingston we go through Knoxville, but this time we elected to go the “back way” which was through Oak Ridge, TN. Oak Ridge was where the U.S. government first started working on the Manhatten Project which resulted in the development of the atomic bomb. Oak Ridge was chosen because of it’s isolation and that there were several linear ridges nearby. The planners wanted to keep the lab’s and plants separated so that if one exploded it wouldn’t take out all the others like a string of firecrackers. I think I heard somewhere that Oak Ridge (population 27,000) had more PhD’s per capita that any other city in the U.S.
I have also read that it is sometimes called “The City Behind A Fence” due to the continuing “sensitive” nature of some of the research being conducted there.

And finally, (to emulate “His-self”), Oak Ridge is where The Oak Ridge Boy’s singing group started in the mid 1940’s In their original form they were a gospel group until the late sixties. The Oak Ridge Boys that we remember as the country group are probably the third or fourth generation of the group.

Aug 20--Des Moines, Iowa to Home

I got a little ahead of myself and included our stop at the Amana Colonies on the 19th when we actually stopped there on the 20th. I guess we've been on the road long enough. It was a long day of driving but we made it home all in one piece. Gosh, did we see some sights!! The Jeep trip over the passes to Telluride and Marble/Crystal are something we'll never forget. Thanks to John and Elaine for hauling us to places that we would have never seen had it just been us two. Thanks to Karen for being so funny and to Jeff for the great kayak trip. I wish Larry would have been able to make the trip with us to Ridgway. I'm sure he would have added to the general craziness of the trip. According to our calculations our recent trip was just over 4000 miles. The month long trip earlier this year was about 3000 miles. Our little Starship Avion has performed like a champ. We are always the oldest unit in the park and usually the smallest, but we could care less. Our little old trailer is perfect for us. We'll unpack and clean up the trailer and truck, and then park them for a few weeks before we head to Arizona. Can't wait to hit the road again. We would be remiss if we didn't mention Tipper, our little travel companion. He had Katie, Rocket, and Woodrow as playmates on part of the trip. Here's a picture of the little guy in the sage brush. Also here's a picture of a little bull that watched us set up at our campsite in Oakley, KS. And finally, a repeat of the picture of the aspen tree's. We used this picture before but it's so magical that I couldn't resist posting it again.

August 19, 2008 -Mitchel, South Dakota to Des Moines, Iowa

We found ourselves in Mitchell, South Dakota home of the world famous Corn Palace. We just had to cruise by and take a picture and see for ourselves what all the fuss was about. You'll see it above. The 2009 murals, which they are now working on, depict everyday heroes. We took a special picture or two of the teachers in honor of all the teachers we know. Note how the mural is made in the close up of the teacher. The cobs are cut in half and stapled on. The sides are made with carefully bunched straw or seed heads. It truly is a work or art. After viewing South Dakota's idea of art we hit the road and were surprised by the landscape of Iowa. Rolling hills of corn and soybeans as far as the eye could see. The farms were very large and seemed to look quite prosperous. We are both glad we came home through another new state to us. Betsy

We also stopped in the Amana colonies which is a group of small communities with heavy German influences. Shops offered quilts, candies, meats, leather goods, etc. It reminded us of Nashville, IN but without all the junk for sale. As Betsy mentioned I too was surprized at the rolling hills of Iowa.

Aug 18--Custer, SD to Mitchell, SD

We departed from the beautiful Black Hills and less than 125 miles away we entered The Badlands. What a dramatic change of scenery! I can't think of a more appropriate name for a region. Shortly after The Badlands National Park we met the interstate and headed east. We are once again in the high plains with gently rolling hills and fields that go from horizon to horizon. It's so odd to look out the window and see one lone tree in all that space. At Chamberlain we stopped and visited the Atka Lakota Sioux museum. It was small but had first class exhibits. They had one exhibit showing several different moccasins, all with unique beading patterns, and colors. The infant moccasins have beaded soles since they are not walking yet. The only other time moccasins have beads on the soles are the funeral moccasins. While in Chamberlain we looked at a campground but were not impressed so we headed for Mitchell, SD. Our campground is small but we have wifi, and cable TV. Since it's still in the high 80's outside we have the A/C going. This outdoor living is great. Jamie
The Lakota Museum had some of the most exquisite sculpture, painting and collage I have seen on this trip. We also saw many blooming fields of sunflowers, always a joy. Betsy
Picture #1 - Starship Avion with Capt'n Jamie at the helm.
Picture #2 - The stark profile of the Badlands National Park

Aug 17--Black Hills Scenic Drive Part 2

There sure is a lot to see around here! Yesterday we spent most of the day on the road looking at the sights and we're doing same thing today. We first saw the Crazy Horse Memorial and the fantastic museum. If you're not familiar with the history of the memorial just Google Crazy Horse Memorial. It's really an amazing story. Next we headed for Custer State Park to drive the Wildlife Loop but unfortunately timed it incorrectly and saw only antelope, wild burro, and one single solitary buffalo taking a nap.
On our way out of the park we followed a dirt road up and up and around switchback after switchback to the Mt. Coolidge Overlook. What a spectacular view! After we returned to Custer we looked in a couple of shops that specialized in animal pelts, feathers, teeth, claws, and skulls. Just the kind of shop that Betsy loves. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the Black Hills. Next stop are The Badlands.
Left photo - From Mt. Coolidge over the Black Hills
Right photo - Crazy Horse Memorial
Top photo - Lazy buffalo