The Westward Ho Adventure Day 1 .... or Is It Day 3?

Dorcas and Ginger left our home in Winston Salem after her cataract surgery post-op exam around 10:00 am on Tuesday. Thankfully all is well after her surgery. I left the Freightliner Factory Service Center in Gaffney SC about the same time, after spending 2 nights there, having motor home maintenance and repairs done all day yesterday.  Around noon we met at the I-40 Westbound Rest Area at MP 82 near Marion NC, where we attached the Pilot to the Dutch Star and began our journey in earnest.  The temperature is oppressive, topping 90 degrees.  Thankfully it was overcast and we endured some very light sprinkles, which made the heat more tolerable. 

Our drive was uneventful except for the harrowing episode when an 18-wheeler ran us off the road.  We were negotiating a very narrow and twisting portion of I-40 just east of the Tennessee state line.  This part of the interstate prohibits trucks in the left lane, but this asshole paid that no never mind.  I was in the right lane on the outside of a sharp left-hand curve, and nearly lost it as he swerved about 4 feet into our lane.  I dove well onto the shoulder and nearly went off the road.  Dorcas was so surprised she forgot to scream.  I think this was the most frightening event I have experienced in our 25 years of RVing.  Thankfully we recovered, and there was no harm except for some frayed nerves and some elevated blood pressure.  Ugly words were uttered, which I will not repeat here. We operate a dash cam, and we saved the video with the intentions of submitting the clip to the NCHP and the owner of the truck.  Unfortunately the clip was not actually saved.  My old Garmin DC-35 dash cam would save a 3 minute clip, but, unbeknownst to me, my new Garmin DC-57 only saves a 30 second clip. Consequently all we saw on the clip was the butt end of the offending semi as he hightailed it into the mountain mist.  So it goes.

In the late afternoon Dorcas began looking for a camp for the evening.   We discovered a US Army Corps of Engineers site very close to our route.  We quickly made an online reservation at Long Branch Campground, just below the Center Hill Dam on the Caney Fork River, near Lancaster TN.  It was an exceptionally nice site, with 50A electric and only cost $15 with our Federal "gezzer" pass.  So, after a 321 mile drive we made camp and enjoyed a cool adult beverage.

Site #38 at Long Branch CG, USACOE

Center Hill Dam

I-40 in east-central Tennessee crosses the Caney Fork about a half dozen times.  I have always thought it was an exceptionally scenic river and have always wanted to paddle on it.  Maybe sometime.

Caney Fork River

Eau Galle Lake WI

On Friday morning we departed Blackhawk Park, a COE park and headed north to Eau Galle Lake, another COE park.  The parks were very different;  Blackhawk Park has large open sites and is on a big river, while Eau Galle Lake has a much smaller number of tight wooded sites and is on a rather small lake.  The good news is we were able to secure reservations at the park for Friday and Saturday night, on fairly short notice.  The bad news is they were 2 different sites at the park, meaning we would have to move after our first night.  While still located in Wisconsin, the park is very close to the Twin Cities and seems to be very popular for those from Minnesota.  Using our federal Seniors Pass, sites are only $10 per night.

The obligatory location sign

When we arrived, we asked if there was any way we could park in one single site for both nights.  We pretty much knew the answer before we asked.  The park was full.  We were happy just to have a pleasant place to stay, one that was also very close to our next destination.

Camp 1 at Eau Galle Lake

We didn't really unpack on Friday afternoon; we knew we would be moving the next morning.  We did put the slides out and then relaxed.  We explored the campground and discovered that, while we could see the lake from the campground ridge, you couldn't get there from here.  There was no trail to the lake from the campground, and it was about a 15 mile drive to the lake, which we could see less than a mile below us.

About 11:00 on Saturday morning the folks on site #10, our reserved site for Saturday night, checked out. We moved about 75 yards up the hill and parked for our 2nd and final night at Highland Ridge CG.  It turns out this site was much nicer than our previous site.  It was larger, more open and more level.  Also it was at the top of the hill, and we were able to pick up about 40 TV stations from the Twin Cities transmitters, 45 miles away.  At site #4 we could receive no over-the-air stations.  We could not get satellite reception at either site, due to the heavy tree cover.  I carry a portable DirecTV dish, but decided it was not worth setting up for just a few hours of viewing.  On Friday night we did miss the network news, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.  Dang.

View of the top of the dam

After moving camp on Saturday, we drove to Spring Valley and explored the area around Eau Galle Lake and dam.  I had a hard time understanding why the US Army Corps of Engineers even built the Eau Galle dam.  It impounds the Eau Galle River, which had an extremely low flow on this day.  The information said the dam was built to prevent flooding in Spring Valley, immediately below the dam.  The dam towers 70 feet above the lake surface.  A local told me the lake had never risen more than 10 feet since the dam was built.  If the lake level rose to the height of the dam, it would flood hundreds of square miles of homes and farms upstream and likely result in a more serious flood than if the dam was not there.  I think the USA COE went a little overboard on this one.  They did, however, build a very nice and popular recreation destination.

A pretty lake

 I wondered where they got all the stone for the massive dam structure.  When we drove to the main recreation area we passed through this cut and the answer was revealed.

The "Cut"