On one of our recent days off, Tom and I traveled the hour to the Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee. We stopped by there last year, but went too late in the day to make it worth paying the admission, so we just looked around at the wonderful gift shop. When we returned we …
Going Without Television for the Summer
Tom and I are going without television for the summer. There are so many trees here at Wilderness Road Campground that we can’t get any kind of a satellite signal for our Dish TV system. We have been other places where it was difficult to get the signal, but here in Virginia it is impossible. …
Tri-State Outdoor Fest in Cumberland Gap
On July 15, Tom and I worked at the Tri-State Outdoor Fest in Cumberland Gap. I mentioned before that Cumberland Gap is a little town that is trying to be a tourist draw to the area. They host special events several times during the summer, including the Small Farmers Market that I wrote about last …
Millipedes, Apheloria Tigana and Virginiensis
Every morning when I take my walk, I come across one or two yellow and black flat-backed millipedes. I don’t remember ever encountering these arthropods before but I have enjoyed watching them wander across the road. Just in case you aren’t up on your nomenclature, arthropods possess an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. In order to …
Camp Nelson National Monument
In our continuing quest to visit all the National Park sites, Tom and I made a trip to visit Camp Nelson National Monument. Camp Nelson is located in Nicholasville, Kentucky, southwest of Lexington. It took us a couple of hours to drive up to it. The site is one of the newest in the National …
Campground Update
Tom and I moved from our full hook-up site on June 28 to an electric only site. I thought I would give you a campground update on how I feel about living at the Wilderness Road Campground. As I mentioned before, Tom and I usually get a full hook-up site when we work in the …
Main Duty at Cumberland Gap NHP
While we are at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, my main duty is living history. When we first got here, the rangers all seemed to assume that Tom and I would spend every day doing living history. Living history is fine and Tom has several talks that he can give. But my living history program …
Crockett Tavern in Morristown, Tennessee
Crockett Tavern in Morristown, Tennessee is a reproduction of the boyhood home of Davy Crockett. Tom and I visited there when we had to make a trip to the big box stores in Morristown. Because Fess Parker played both Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett in series on television, people often get the two historical figures …
Cumberland Gap Small Farmers Market
The town of Cumberland Gap has a Small Farmers Market every first Friday of the month. I’m not sure why they call it it small – does it describe the size of the market, the size of the farmers, or the size of the space in town? Tom and I found out about it the …
Fitness Trail at Cumberland Gap
Next to the Visitors Center at Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is a Fitness Trail. The trail is two miles long and meanders through the area behind the Visitors Center, through Bartlett Park, and around the parking lot. The second day Tom and I reported for work here at Cumberland Gap, we walked the Fitness …