Our Journey to Become Winter Texans

  After a 4 day trip from Tennessee, we have arrived south of Austin, Texas. The trip over was largely unimpressive with stops in Little Rock, Arkansas; Hot Springs, Arkansas; and Tyler, Texas. The one exceptional stay was our first stop in Natchez State Park, located in Wildersville, Tennessee. We had a beautiful site on the banks of Pin Oak Lake with a fantastic view of the Milky Way at night.  It was a short, but sweet stay. The morning of our departure rewarded us with a gorgeous sunrise and mist over the lake-so breathtaking!

Views from my roving yoga studio at Pin Oak Campground

  The most disappointing leg of our trip was Little Rock, Arkansas.  I have never thought much of Arkansas, but my new friends from Monroe, Louisiana assure me that it is a great destination. I took a few photos of the RV park downtown, it reminded me of a prison compound. The dismal neighborhood surrounding the park didn't add to its appeal. We decided against crossing the convenient pedestrian bridge to see Clinton's Presidential library and the downtown area.

Nice view of the city 

Pedestrian bridge to downtown

Riverfront spots at the park

  Okay, so these snapshots don't represent what I was describing, but believe me, you don't want to go there in the summer.  It was still quite hot in mid October and the park is nothing but a big dirt parking lot for camping rigs.  They locked us up behind a gate after 6pm and warned us if we forgot the code to get back in, we were just SOL.

  Hotsprings, Arkansas was equally as disappointing probably because I chose another awful RV park.  The people were very nice and the bathhouse was probably the nicest one we have seen since our tour began, but the sad looking gravel sites sitting closely next to each other just didn't do it for us. The tiny park had nice amenities but zero charm.
  Because we got in so late from Little Rock, there was not enough time to enjoy any of the spas.  We will have to save that for next time.  We did however, have time to eat.  The highlight of our stay was a Vietnamese restaurant that had excellent Pho!  I never would have thought that good Asian food was available in Arkansas.
  Our first glimpse of Texas was interesting. The area around Tyler, Texas doesn't look or feel like what I thought Texas should be.  There were small rolling hills and lots of oak trees. It reminded me a lot of Georgia or Alabama, except for the increasing numbers of ranches we passed.  There were cows, cows, and more cows.
 

Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Campground

  Tennessee has not disappointed us at all, but then again I have always wanted to live near the mountains.  Our current location is at an Airstream park near Crossville, a town located equidistant to Chattanooga and Knoxville.  It is a sizable neighborhood, with almost 135 sites situated on over 350 acres on the Cumberland Plateau.  There are numerous, short trails on the property, a seven acre manmade lake that is in need of repair because it has "sprung a leak," a community garden, a clubhouse with commercial kitchen, a library, a media room, and modern bathrooms with showers.

Snapshots of the shrinking lake

  Most of the sites have ports that cover the Airstream and a covered porch area that usually doubles the living area of the RV.  Randy and I first thought it odd that these huge structures were built to cover the Airstreams, but then we were told that the area gets frequent hail and ice storms. Many sites are landscaped and some even have charming spaces tucked behind the trailer that are "secret" gardens. The "campground" is laid out very much like a subdivision of patio homes, except that it is heavily wooded with many mature trees.  Overall, it is a very lovely setting that I could imagine us staying at often during the spring through late autumn.
  The town of Crossville, itself has an interesting history. During the Great Depression, the federal government created a project to provide farms for hundreds of impoverished families called Cumberland Homesteads. The homes that were built for the farms have a distinct architecture incorporating local stone that is quarried in the area.  Many of the homes still stand today and continue to add to the beauty and charm of the area.
  My Airstream neighbors here are extremely friendly and have taken me under their wing when Randy leaves for his assignments.  I was invited out to a normally "resident only" day trip because I was here alone and for some reason, there is an interest in keeping us happy here.  We ventured out to the Lodge Cast-iron Factory store and then had a pleasant, but not especially tasty lunch at a restaurant, The Cookie Jar Cafe.  There are hundreds of vintage cookie jars on ledges above the dining area and on shelves throughout the room.  It is a very popular dining destination that serves country style home cooking. They also sell cakes, pies, cookies and cupcakes.  You get the feeling that things prepared there are from scratch, but my taste buds told me that that was not the case :-( .

  Cumberland Mountain State Park is within a 15 minute drive. It has some great camping sites; numerous day hikes; a lake for fishing, canoeing and paddle boarding; and a restaurant overlooks the scenic lake serving decent buffet-style meals.

Byrd Lake at Cumberland Mountain State Park

This bridge was the largest project the CCC built during the Great Depression

A glimpse of the backside of the bridge during a hike at Cumberland Mountain State Park

The outdoor seating area of the restaurant overlooks Byrd Lake

  

We have joined a local mycology club to learn about foraging for edible mushrooms. The focus of the club forays emphasizes the science of mushrooms, but there is plenty of education about what is safe to eat.  There are several fellow Airstreamers that also have our passion for gathering edibles and last week we were given a sample of Chicken of the Woods. It is a shelf mushroom, more scientifically named laetiporus sulphureous. It is supposed to resemble chicken in taste, but to me really just has the texture of chicken and the ability to take on flavors of other foods it is cooked with- much like chicken.  The large plate of mushrooms I was given was a little more mature than I would have personally harvested, but I was able to salvage the outer edges that were still tender.  I sautéed them in olive oil and then briefly cooked them in chicken stock before adding them to a homemade chicken pot pie. The results were really delicious! 

A mushroom found on one of our club forays

The pics don't show it very well, but this mushroom has a baby blue cap and violet blue gills. Believe it or not, it is
completely edible!

Chicken of the Woods