South Shore, KY to Camp Creek, WV

South Shore, KY to Camp Creek, WV

October 18 - 29, 2019

On Friday, October 18, Bill and Donna took us to the flood wall in Portsmouth, OH, just across the river from South Shore, KY.

In 1937 the Ohio River overflowed it's banks and flooded almost two-thirds of Portsmouth.  In the 1940s they built the flood wall and raised the levies.  In the 1990s Robert Dafford was hired to paint a history of the area on the flood wall.  He worked on it every summer for 10 years, beginning with Indian settlements to present day.  He did an excellent job and we enjoyed seeing it.  Here are a few shots of some of the paintings (I was shooting into the sun so they aren't as good as I would have liked).

After we looked at the wall we drove to the site of the Ohio & Erie Canal lock.

It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be.  Once the railroad came through the locks were no longer needed.

On Saturday, October 19 we drove to Kendall Campground (CoE) south of Jamestown, KY.

When we got there the campground was full but Sunday afternoon it pretty much emptied out and was really quiet.  The leaves were starting to change and it was pretty.

On Tuesday, October 22 we drove to Oliver Springs, TN and stayed at Windrock Park Campground.  We didn't get any pictures of the campground.  It was designed for people who are using the ATV/motorcycle trails and was quite noisy, but it was the closest campground to Oak Ridge, TN.

On Wednesday, October 23 we went to the American Museum of Science & Energy (AMSE) museum and also on the bus tour they offer.  The museum and bus tour was $5 (senior rate) and was the best deal in town. 

We looked around the museum and watched three videos to got a background on Oak Ridge and what happened there during WWII.  It was called the Secret City because it wasn't on any maps until after WWII.  It was built for the Manhattan Project, where the atomic bomb was developed.  The different plants (X-10, Y-12, & K-25) were built between ridges.

The Calutron Girls were a group of young women, mostly high school graduates who joined the World War II efforts in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1945.  Although they were not allowed to know at the time, they were monitoring dials and watching meters for a calutron, a mass spectrometer that separates uranium isotopes. The enriched uranium was used to make the first atomic bomb.

Calutron Girls were trained and employed at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Wartime labor shortages forced the Tennessee Eastman Corporation to hire women to work at the Y-12 plant.  According to Gladys Owens, one of the few Calutron Girls, a manager at the facility once told them: "We can train you how to do what is needed, but cannot tell you what you are doing. I can only tell you that if our enemies beat us to it, God have mercy on us!"

This was a Calutron machine.  The girls only knew to keep all the dials between certain parameters and adjust if needed.

This jeep was made from a 3-D printer.  If there wasn't a sign on it saying so you would never know it.  Amazing!

We boarded the bus and our first stop was the Y-12 plant.

This is what the plant looks like today.

Then we went to the Graphite Reactor.

This is a model of the reactor.

We then went back to the museum and saw the rest of the museum.  There was a lot more to see than I included pictures for.  I would highly recommend going if you are in the area.  You can get more history on the project at https://www.atomicheritage.org/location/oak-ridge-tn.  We've been to Hanford and Oak Ridge and only have Los Alamos left.  That's for another trip.

On Thursday, October 24 we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN and stayed at King's Holly Haven RV Park.

I guess a lot of people came for the fall colors because I had a hard time finding a place to stay.  As you can see, the sites are pretty well packed in (like most of the parks in the area) but the Lord provided a short but spacious site for us in the back of the park where it was quiet.

On Thursday afternoon we went to Dollywood.  They are having their Great Pumpkin LumiNights and there were pumpkins everywhere.  It was really nice.

Thursday night we stayed until after dark so we could see everything lit up.

All the month of October they also have the Southern Gospel Jubilee, which I didn't know until we got there.  We went to hear several of the groups and really enjoyed it (this one is the Triumphant Quartet).

If you like gospel singing then this is the time of year to go.  Also on Thursday and Friday there were virtually no lines.

We went back on Friday and Saturday (Saturday around 11:00 am it was getting pretty crowded).  John rode all the roller coasters and I held his wallet and keys (they would have to carry me off on a stretcher if I went on them).

I thought this was cute.

We bought season tickets that are good until January 4, 2021 so we'll be back.  I got the Gold Pass which gives us free parking and 20% off food and purchases.  We saved at least $60 with it (parking is $15 a day).

On Sunday, October 27 we drove to Mash Fork Campground in Camp Creek State Park, WV.  We've been here before and really like it (full hookups).  The colors are really changing between here and Wytheville, VA.

We are staying here until Friday, November 1 when we will head home.  The storage lot has a site for the 5th wheel starting then but we had to wait until it was available.

It's been an awesome trip and we are so thankful that we got to take it and see and do the things we did.  It's a little bittersweet in that the trip is ending but we will get to see our family and friends again (and have more than one bathroom!).  It's been fun!  Next year we'll be

Roving on...

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Psalm 19:1