On Sunday we wrapped up Great Smoky National Park and drove towards Knoxville to get another oil change. Monday was mostly a driving day with a stop for a great hike at the Twin Arches. We also wanted to make sure we ended the day somewhere we could catch the Ducks take on UConn in the evening. We tried an Applebees but they didn't have ESPN, so we ended up at a sports bar called Sidelines. We met a bar tender from Seattle who spent time living in Portland. We wanted to talk with her about how she ended up in Kentucky but didn't get a chance. It was a great game, with the Ducks making a statement win, handing UConn its worst loss in their current arena.
In trying to keep up with our schedule of being up to date with blogs before we go into the next national park we spent all of Tuesday at the library, before going into Mammoth Cave National Park for Wednesday and Thursday.
On Friday we woke up to a snow! It can get cold in the RV when the weather is bad because our heater doesn't work, but luckily we have lots of warm blankets and the RV warms up quickly if we start cooking or driving. We've had several freezing nights, but this was the first time we saw snow since early October. And the only time we've woken up to it.
On Friday we drove back to Nashville to catch back up with Natchez Trace because we wanted to see the Lewis Memorial, which was further north than we got on the trace the first time. Both times we stayed on the trace we found great free campgrounds. They had flush toilets, nice spots with grills and picnic tables, and nice hikes.
From this second campground we could hike down to the Memorial to the explorer Meriwether Lewis. After he returned from exploring the west with William Clark in 1806, President Jefferson appointed him governor of the Louisiana Territory in 1807. He was traveling up the Natchez trace to Washington to check in with President Jefferson about disputed payments when he is believed to have shot himself on October 19th 1909. Although there are still people who question whether his death was in fact murder.
The official position of the NPS is that it was likely suicide, which is reflected in the monument design. The monument is a column with a broken top, depicting a life cut short.
The weather that day was nice, in contrast to the snow of the day before, so it was a perfect day for a hike around the park. It stayed sunny for our whole drive down to Memphis where we ended the week.
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