We received a lot of positive feedback about last year's 2015 National Park Tour Blog. It was fun writing about the experiences in our RV "Conestoga Lite" and sharing Doug's paintings. We're glad you all enjoyed hearing about our journey. As we said at the end of last year's blog, traveling in our RV was not just a trip, it became a lifestyle and one that we thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, by the time we returned last year, we were already planning for this year. When we told people we were preparing for another trip, one of the first things asked was whether we would be writing another blog. So, by popular demand, we have created the 2016 Conestoga Lite RV Tour Blog.
This year's trip was planned around Doug's art activities. He will be teaching a few workshops in scenic locations, as well as attending a workshop himself and participating in a Plein Air Convention. This route takes us down and across the southwest, up to Monterrey, California and ends at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
At this writing, we've already been on the road for three weeks. We left home February, 20 to escape a possible snowstorm that thankfully turned out to be mostly rain. Our trailer was winterized with antifreeze and, being "fair weather" RV campers, we stayed in hotels as we headed south. Our ultimate destination was New Orleans, LA where we spent a week in a rented villa in the Garden District with Doug's sisters and their husbands. That stop is behind us now and a good time was had by all. We visited Bourbon St., ate beignets at Cafe' Du Monde in the French Quarter and listened to awesome jazz on Frenchman's Street.
Because we left Pennsylvania early to avoid the storm, we had some extra days before we were due in New Orleans. We planned to make spontaneous sightseeing stops, but unfortunately, the majority of the trip south involved rain and lots of it. Instead, we stopped for overnights in hotels and kept driving, hoping to eventually get past it. One rainy night we stopped in Franklin, a small town outside Nashville, TN. We turned on the Weather Channel and saw a meteorologist pointing excitedly to a large red circle covering several southern states, including Tennessee. He explained that the red area was where tornado warnings were currently in effect. We searched anxiously and found Nashville at the top edge of the red circle. It was then it became clear that we had been traveling in a bubble of protection with storms all around us and had stopped just in time. The next morning we learned that a tornado had, indeed gone through an RV trailer park in Louisiana, killing one person and injuring 29 others. Wow, that was a little too close to home!
The weather finally cleared the next day, so we decided to make Franklin our first scenic spot. As in turned out, we spent most of our time in Franklin rather than Nashville because we learned it was the sight of a major Civil War battle. It was here on November 30, 1864, General Hood's Army of the Tennessee tried to stop Union reinforcements from reaching Nashville. At Gettysburg, Hood had argued against the direct frontal assault of Pickett's Charge, but insisted on the same kind of direct assault against fortified Union troops in Franklin. The result was a horrific fight, including face-to-face bayonets, with 6,000 Confederate casualties, equal to those at Pickett's Charge. Six Confederate generals were also killed. Locals commented that the town carried the odor of death for five years after the battle. We visited a house that was heavily damaged by the battle and occupied by the Union as a hospital. We also toured a plantation outside town that served as a Confederate hospital. Both places were preserved with furniture and artifacts from the time period. Each had the original hardwood floors that still contained blood stains.
Since we are both Civil War buffs, the discovery of Franklin prompted us to plan our next scenic stop at Vicksburg, where a more famous Civil War battle took place. We toured Vicksburg National Park, which included the battlefield and a cemetery. Vicksburg was an important shipping port for the Confederacy, which made it an important target for occupation by Union forces. The surrounding hillsides provided the Confederates with perfect protection from invasion. While the Confederates had the natural cover of hillsides, Union Troops had to dig trenches, making this battle a precursor to the trench style warfare of World War I. The battle started on May 18, 1863 and Union troops soon realized that the only way to win was to surround the entire town, placing it under siege and subjecting it to a constant barrage of gunfire. Residents, unwilling to surrender, fled their homes and lived in man made caves carved in the hills. Ultimately, it was disease and starvation that led to the Confederate surrender on July 4, 1863. Locals never forgot their harsh experience and did not celebrate the 4th of July for 100 years after the war.
The weather finally cleared the next day, so we decided to make Franklin our first scenic spot. As in turned out, we spent most of our time in Franklin rather than Nashville because we learned it was the sight of a major Civil War battle. It was here on November 30, 1864, General Hood's Army of the Tennessee tried to stop Union reinforcements from reaching Nashville. At Gettysburg, Hood had argued against the direct frontal assault of Pickett's Charge, but insisted on the same kind of direct assault against fortified Union troops in Franklin. The result was a horrific fight, including face-to-face bayonets, with 6,000 Confederate casualties, equal to those at Pickett's Charge. Six Confederate generals were also killed. Locals commented that the town carried the odor of death for five years after the battle. We visited a house that was heavily damaged by the battle and occupied by the Union as a hospital. We also toured a plantation outside town that served as a Confederate hospital. Both places were preserved with furniture and artifacts from the time period. Each had the original hardwood floors that still contained blood stains.
Doug was inspired to do his first painting:
"Battlefield Wittness"
"Battlefield Wittness"
After the wonderful week in New Orleans, we took a short trip to Houston, where we visited relatives and went to the Houston Space Center.
Then, it was on to San Antonio to visit Doug's artist friends, where he was looking forward to doing some plein air painting. No sooner did we hit the road than the rain storms came back. It rained, then was misty and rained again - the entire time we were there - making it impossible to paint anything outside. All was not lost, though because, in addition to having a lovely home, our friend Mary has a studio that is an artist's dream. We enjoyed visiting local galleries and painting with Mary's friends "en studio".
Doug did manage to sneak outside between rain storms for one painting in Mary's front yard:
Our next major destination is Carlsbad, New Mexico. The forecast has finally changed and, as Annie says, "The sun will come out tomorrow....."
Doug did manage to sneak outside between rain storms for one painting in Mary's front yard:
"Fading Light"
Our next major destination is Carlsbad, New Mexico. The forecast has finally changed and, as Annie says, "The sun will come out tomorrow....."
