October 13, 2006

October 13, 2006

It was very cold last night. We should have slept on the sofa bed closer to the furnace. We were getting low on propane anyway and the cold last night almost sucked us dry of fuel. We decide to leave shortly after sunup. When I go to unhook the RV, I find frost on the ground and ice in my water hose connection. I think we stayed one day too long on our east coast journey.

After an hour and a half we are on the outskirts of Nashville and we spy a sign for the Hermitage. Needing a short break from driving we decide to stop. Before we get there we also spot a Panera Bread restaurant. Panera is known for their free wireless so we stop for coffee and croissant, emails, and a blog upload. This is our first time making use of Panera.

A few miles farther off the exit, we arrive at the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson, our seventh president. We start off with the requisite film, which is surprisingly good with details of Jackson’s life we were unaware. Jackson was orphaned at an early age and traveled to the new territory of Tennessee to practice law. He gained national fame after defeating the British in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812. After a quick tour of the Jackson museum we head towards his house and take a guided tour. The house has been very well restored to the 1840 period and is nicely decorated. A large group of local middle school students are spread out over the museum and grounds acting as guest docents for the day. Each one is dressed in period costume and has a short speech memorized for us. They are cute. Aimee and I are both happy we stopped.

From Nashville, we get on I24 and drive through Tennessee and into Kentucky and finally across the Ohio River into Illinois. Right over the border I spot the exit for Metropolis and make Aimee pull off. (Yes, Aimee is driving the RV). We have to take our picture in front of Superman. Back on the road, we continue towards the St. Louis area. Finally at 7pm after a long day of driving we get to my parents house in Alton, IL and the end of Chapter 3 of our Big Adventure.