August 4

We are getting down to our last two stops.    First one is Fayetteville West Virginia.  There we found the New River Gorge and Bridge.  This bridge was built in 1977, solving many travel issues in the area turning 40-minute drive into less than a minute.  It removed the need to navigate down narrow mountain roads across an ancient river.  When it comes to road construction, mountains pose a challenge.  At New River Gorge, the challenge transformed into a work of structural art.  The New River Gorge Bridge is the longest steel span in the western hemisphere, it is also the third highest bridge in the United States.  It was impressive to see so we snapped a few pictures. 

Did some internet surfing to see what else the area had to offer and found the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. We were totally on board checking it out but not before I had a question for google... what state mines the most coal?  Just assumed it was West Virginia but we were way off, it is Wyoming.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine complex offers a in depth look at the legacy of the coal industry in West Virginia.  We were taken on a underground tour led by a experienced coal miner.  1500 feet into the mountainside to experience the history of low seam coal mining from the hand-loading days into the modern era.  Besides the mine and the mine museum there were out building from the early days when the mine company’s built housing for the miners, company store, church and more.  Glad we found this place we definitely learned a lot about coal mining and the many heart ships that came with it during the early days.

August 6

We are headed for where we started our world wind trip, Concord NC to see daughter number 2 and family before we make our final leg to Mt Pleasant SC.  It was nice just to relax and spend time with family and share some of our adventures.

August 9

It was very surreal driving our final 227 miles back to where it all began. We made it home to the yellow house that keeps us safe and happy. 

Recap

75 days on the road

18 states

10,850 total miles

7051 of the miles towing the trailer

600 gallons of diesel

15 National Parks (many state parks and museums)

7 bourbon distilleries

4 trips to Camping World

1 hospital

Since being home, we have been asked what the best part of our trip was, so hard to say.  We did so much, met all sorts of people and experienced numerous new things. What we do know, is that we would love to do it again.  Who knows, maybe we can visit the other 32 states.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 July 27

We did a few overnight stays just so we could keep moving ourselves East.  One night in Odessa MO, one night in Mt Vernon IL, then we made our way to Nashville TN. 

July 29

Nashville home of the Grand Ole Opry.  We set up at the Two Rivers RV Park that just so happened to be located right next to a Camping World.  Now isn’t that a kick in the pants, just so happens we needed a new cap for our sewer hose.  Don’t tell anyone but the last one Walter accidentally dropped down the sewer drain in Nebraska.  I haven’t counted how many times we have had to find a Camping World but will when our adventure comes to a end.

Nashville, where of all places we found a German restaurant that looked and sounded so authentic we just had to try it.  Well it rocked.  From the Brotchen to the yagerschnitzel to the sausages and spätzle.  We rolled out of the restaurant so full we thought we would never eat again (not true we did).    

First tourist stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  This placed was filled with exhibits featuring artifacts, musical instruments, stage wear, rare musical recordings, film and more to tell the story of country music and its legendary artists.  We spent 3 hours soaking it all in.

On to the Ryman Auditorium.  Over the course of 130 years Ryman Auditorium has transformed itself from a religious entity to one of the most revered music venues in the world.  Although performances had been held here for presidents as far back as 1892. Through much of its history it also became the home of the Grand Ole Opry for 11 of those years, which put Ryman on the map as the  “Mother Church of Country Music"  The Grand Ole Opry had its final show in 1974 where it moved to a new building built just for the Opry.  The Ryman sat largely empty for almost 20 years and there were rumors of it being demolished.  When the owner, community members and law makers worked to designate the Ryman as a National Historic Landmark.  In 1989 the Ryman had a new owner who began renovations and restoring it to its original glory.  Ryman reopened in 1994 as a premier performance hall and museum.

After the Ryman Auditorium we decided that we needed to tour the Grand Ole Opry.  There was no show that night so we opted for a backstage tour.  Pretty interesting, we got a history lesson of the opry and its culture. They showed us the performers entrance, dressing rooms and back stage where the infamous HEE Haw show was filmed. We even got to stand on the golden circle on the stage (the Valhalla for country music performers).

Guess who had a museum in Nashville, Johnny Cash that’s right the man in Black.  Have to be honest it was a very interesting museum, learned a lot about his life in the music industry as well as private that we never knew. 

We took a walk down Nashville’s famous Broadway Street.  It is filled with open air bars as far as you can see with a live bands playing in all the open window fronts hoping to be discovered.  This walk took us to Hattie B’s for a hot chicken sandwich, OMG!  This is the best fried chicken sandwich you have ever had.  The “hot” just depends on how spicy you order it.  There are other places that serve hot chicken sandwiches, but I think Hattie's is the best!

One more stop before we leave Nashville, the Goo Goo Cluster Candy shop where we booked the taste of Goo Goo experience.  This was a blast, we did hands-on candy making.   With the history of the Goo Goo Cluster shared with us, we were provided with an apron, gloves and all the ingredients to make our own unique flavored cluster.

Aug 1

Back to Frankfurt KY!!  Still making our way East we thought we would hit the bourbon trail one more time, in case we missed anything.  Did a run out to Castle and Key, not for a tour but just because it is a beautiful property where you can enjoy a drink.  Next morning we went to the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Most mornings they will put out allocated or special bottles for sale until they are gone,  you want to be one of the early birds to see what is available.  If you know us we did not walk away empty-handed.

Then we found a diamond in the rough, The Whiskey Thief Distilling Company.  They were right here in Franklin County 20 minutes from the RV park, they have a single barrel bourbon crafted by single batch distillation.  Their 10-year-old distillery combines a unique thieving experience with Bluegrass hospitality.

In bourbon distilling “thieving” refers to the process of extracting a sample of bourbon directly from a barrel, typically using a tool called a “whiskey thief” for tasting and evaluation.  It also allows distillers to assess the whiskey flavor profile and maturity as it ages in the barrel. 

We did a brief tour of their distilling process and then moved on to the tastings.  They have 5 different bourbons from wheated to rye.  While enjoying your tasting there was bluegrass music playing and a food truck to enjoy some lunch.  FYI, they only sell their products at the distillery and no retail distribution.

We decided on getting two bottles of their bourbon.  The fun part of that was Walter was able to fill his own bottles using the whiskey thief. 

 

 July 24

We had a great time in South Dakota (except for Walter’s eye surgery) and saw many things. It was now time to head out for a one-night stay in Nebraska so we could keep moving East.  The only thing we saw in Nebraska was a huge DING in the front windshield from what seemed like a boulder that hit it. Arrgh!

Nothing else much to say about Nebraska so Walter (aka one eyed Willie) and I pushed on to Wilson, KS.  This was a interesting stop, we planned on two days  in an attempt to locate the larges ball of twine but instead we found the largest Czech Egg in the US.  Just so happens that this week-end was Wilsons “After Harvest Czech Festival” the largest festival in Ellsworth and Russell County Kansas.  Hosted by the small rural community of Wilson, with a total population of 900.  The festival is known to bring in thousands from all over Kansas, neighboring states and us.  So why does this event happen in Wilson? Well, during the 1870’s a large migration of Bohemian and Moravian immigrants from Czechoslovakia settled in and around Wilson, Kansas.  Many Czech families still live in the area and carry-on Czech traditions.  The city of Wilson acknowledged its immense pride of its Czech heritage back in 1967, when the state of Kansas declared Wilson the Czech Capital of Kansas.  The egg in Wilson is the worlds largest Czech egg.

A Czech egg is a painted or embellished egg exchanged at holidays and celebrations between friends.  The painting of the egg is known as the art of kraslice in the Czech culture.  Although we found the largest egg there were many smaller ones in different parts of town.

During the festival we were also able to enjoy local children perform in traditional costumes.  Fun day.

Next day we drove to one of the neighboring towns to see about getting the windshield fixed out of fear the crack would spread, we still had a lot of miles to cover before getting home.  Lucky for us, we found a Safelight Auto glass repair shop that was able to get us in (same day).  They were pros, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes.  Although the cracks were so deep that you can still see them but it will not spider, we can replace the windshield when we get back to Charleston.

We had time for one more adventure in Kansas.  We went on a tour of Atlas Ad Astra Missile Silo.  We descended stairs into one of the most fortified underground structures ever built and marveled at the 176 foot deep silo that once housed a intercontinental Ballistic Missile. 

During the late 1950’s, the US Government spent billions of dollars on strengthening our military in defense against Soviet Communism.  Over 70 Atlas F Missile Silos were built in the United States, many of which were in the great plains.  This site was built in 1959 and was active until 1965.  Most of these facilities are now in private hands and closed to the public that’s what makes this one so unique.

Foot Note: On our way to the missile silo we drove on the John Herman Kuck memorial road.  Walter got so excited, he said that anyone with the last name spelled Kuck or Kueck are most likely related, so we researched the name. John H. Kuck was a olympic champion and set over 100 records in shotput, javeline and discus during his life time and won a gold in the 1928 olympics that took place in Amsterdam for shotput. 

 

 July 21,

You can’t keep adventurers down, even though Walter (aka one-eyed Willie "hey you guys") was wearing a eye patch and could only see out of one eye we still pushed on.  We found Jewel Cave National Monument.  The cave’s name was inspired by the crystals that line the cave walls.  It is the third longest cave in the world, with 220 miles of mapped and surveyed passages.  This cave is different than the Shoshone Ice Cave we explored in Idaho.  Jewel cave was primarily formed by slow dissolution of limestone by acidic groundwater. A process influenced by the geologic history of the Black Hills.  We took the scenic tour it, taking about an hour on pathways to include climbing or descending 734 stairs.

Next off and running we had three stops on our bucket list.  The Minuteman Missile National Historic site, Badlands National Park and the Wall Drug store.  With water bottles filled we headed out to the Missile site first where we landed in the middle of nowhere.  We landed in the middle of nowhere South Dakota, of course that was the whole idea that the missiles were stored in underground bunkers where there the population was very small. During the Cold War a large number of nuclear missiles were placed in the Great Plains.  Hidden in plain sight for 30 years, 1000 were kept on constant alert, only hundreds remain today.  The museum is co-located where a missile was stored but it has long been removed except for the chain link fence that surrounded the property.  The museum took you through the Cold War years how we got there and when it ended.  Does anyone remember Bert the turtle who had a short, animated film “Duck and Cover” some of us practiced this drill in elementary school. 

Just down the road was the Badlands National Park.  It would have been a great place to do some hiking but we figured it was best to take the Badland Loop Road and drive through the park, but we made sure that we pulled off for some awesome views and picture opportunities.  Another one of nature’s wonderful geological sites.  The Badlands National Park is a vast wilderness of jagged buttes, spires and pinnacles, mixed grass prairie and the world’s richest trove of fossils from the Oligocene epoch, estimated at 25-35 million years old. 

Hwy 240 aka the Badland Loop Road also took us to the town of Wall this is the home of the famous Wall Drug Store.  The store is a 76,000 square foot drug store , gift shop, restaurant and so much mor.  Wall Drug has grown from its humble beginnings in 1931 to a thriving oasis.  The story of Wall Drug was a success because one simple idea took root, offering road weary travelers free ice water. Soon travelers would make a point to stop (like we did) at Wall Drug to enjoy a refreshing break and they haven’t stopped since.  Just like in the stores early years you can also get a cup of coffee for 5 cents, just put your nickel in the money jar on the counter.  The place was hopping, we had a grand time soaking it all in.  Of course we bought Wall T-shirts too.