Oxford and Ole Miss

Greetings,

We are in Oxford, Mississippi visiting our friends, Jerry and Charlie. We met them at a Monaco International Rally a few years ago ( Monaco is the brand of our motorhome) and have seen them at subsequent rallies. Jerry has really mentored dad and taught him quite a bit about the maintenance of our coach.

Oxford is a beautiful small town in northern Mississippi and the home to both University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and William Faulkner. So we visited both.

The campus of Ole Miss is both huge and beautiful. You can tell sports are #1 at this school by the number of stadiums and I am betting that partying is equal to sports. I was amazed at the number of fraternity and sorority houses, each one as big as a southern mansion. We stopped at the old part of the university.

The Lyceum is the oldest building opening for the first class in 1848. During the Civil War, the building served as a hospital for Union and Confederate soldiers. Jerry told us that Company A, a regiment comprised of Ole Miss students, lost 100% of their men at Gettysburg.

 In 1962, the Lyceum was the scene of a major event in the Civil Rights Movement. After a night-long riot, the University's first African-America student, James Meredith, was enrolled.
Our friend, Charlie was attending the university at that time and Jerry (who had not yet met Charlie) was one of the National Guard called in to patrol the school during the riots that ensued.

Later that day we visited Rowan Oak,  the home of William Faulkner

The  Faulkners must have shopped at the same furniture store as mom's grandparents. The bedroom, dining room and living room furniture all looked the same, even the same desk that mom got from her grandma.

Jerry is a retired commercial airline captain. We stopped at the local airport to check out some of the planes that he flies.

Jerry and Charlie have a beautiful home on 35 acres of land, that they built to house their motorhome.

Check out the size of that garage.

Not only that, but  they have room to store their friend's RV in their carport  and a place for us to park our RV with electricity, water and sewer ( known in RV lingo as a full-hook up).

Jerry is always busy building or fixing something, he even has his own bulldozer!

One night his friend, Tim, hosted a party for mom and dad at his house along with other friends of Jerry and Charlie.
Look at  the size of Tim's barbecue. 

Tim made ribs and chicken and mom brought me some of the leftovers. Tim has a huge hanger for his toys in one end

and a huge kitchen and prep area

We ate by the lake. Can you spot Jerry  doing the two things he likes best, talking on the phone and eating!

Getting the firepit ready. You can see Tim's house at the top of the hill.

We had a wonderful visit with Jerry and Charlie and their friends and  fell in love with the beauty of Mississippi.

The is my last log for this trip as we are heading home. Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures.
Adios for now,
Yuki

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Pardon me boy,

Is that the Chattanooga Choo-choo? Track 29, boy you can give me a shine! (for those of you who remember the song)

It was in 1880 that the first passenger train leaving Cincinnati for Chattanooga was nicknamed "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo. This was the first major link in public transportation from the north to the south. The old train station is now a historic hotel.

Mom and dad stopped for lunch at the brewery across the street

before taking off to walk across the Tennessee river on the original Walnut Street  bridge, which is now a pedestrian bridge.

Looking back they 
could see the Hunter Museum of American Art  on the banks of the river.

And here I am

Just sitting up here enjoying the view of Chattanooga.

This is a city steeped in Civil War history. Mom decided to give me a history lesson so I could share it with you. We started the day at Lookout Mountain Battlefield and Point Park high above Chattanooga. 

This large monument at the center of the park is the New York Peace Memorial. Atop its shaft a Union and a Confederate soldier shake hands under one flag, signifying peace and brotherly love.

It was hard to imagine a battle being fought on this mountain.
From here we drove to Chickamauga Battlefield in Georgia. 

The Wilder Brigade Monument, honors Col. John Wilder and his brigade of mounted infantry. Armed with seven-shot Spencer repeating rifles, they poured a deadly fire into Confederate troops.

This cabin served as a field hospital after the battle.

On these hills and fields in the fall of 1863 the Union and Confederate armies clashed in some of the Civil War's hardest fighting.

The prize was Chattanooga, a key rail center and gateway to the heart of the Confederacy. The Confederates won the battle of Chickamauga, forcing Union troops to retreat into Chattanooga. This battle was the most significant Union defeat in the war. 

The Confederates pursued, occupying Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain. Placing artillery on heights overlooking the river, they blocked the roads and railroads preventing most Union supplies from entering the city. The Union army would either starve and surrender or abandon Chattanooga. 

However, Union troops found a shorter supply route and aided by heavy fog partially shrouding Lookout Mountain, they pushed the Confederates out in what was to be called the "Battle Above the Clouds". 

Now the Confederate army was concentrated on Missionary Ridge. The Union assault went quickly, scaling the heights of the Ridge in one of the war's greatest charge's. The Confederate line collapsed and began their retreat to Georgia. Although the war continued until May of 1865, this was considered to be the turning point.

We drove along the small road along Missionary Ridge. The road was full of steep curves and along the way were plaques and monuments.

Even several homes with the original cannons in their front yards.

So sad to think of all the lives lost here in these three battles. Union casualties were 21, 998 and Confederates
25, 621. 

What I found interesting is that these two National Military Parks were the model for most national and military parks to come. They were authorized by Congress in 1890 and most of the battlefields'  monuments and markers were placed by veterans of the battles. This is just a brief overview of these three battles, sure hope I got my facts straight.

Adios,
Yuki

On Top of Old Smoky

Hi,

I was excited to visit the Great Smoky Mountains and was anxious to get to the top!

Only to find out that
dogs were not allowed on the 1/2 mile uphill trail to the top to Clingman's Dome. Maybe I'm glad I wasn't allowed to go as I heard it was a very steep uphill trail. But mom and dad hiked up and at the top was a big lookout tower.

Mom and dad had some great views from the top.

Later I was allowed to get out and stretch my feet a bit. I was looking all over for dad, who was somewhere below.

Then mom found me and pointed him out.

Oh yeah, I see him now.

But then I looked in the other direction and what did I see

No dogs allowed on the Appalachian Trail. Guess mom and dad will have to miss that one. 

We drove through the park from the North Carolina side to the Tennessee side. I spotted some deer on the way.

We were sure glad we hadn't come in the summer, or when the leaves change color in the fall. There is only one main road through the park and it would be bumper to bumper traffic. When we reached the Tennessee side we went to Cades Cove. In the middle of the 19th century over 100 families lived here. We stopped to look at what remained of their homesteads.

Old churches

barns

 and even a working grist mill

The one way road through Cades Cove was narrow, with lots of curves. 

Dad saw this sign and thought of his biking buddies.

We had a great time. Next stop, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Adios, 
Yuk