Day #170 – Andrew Johnson NHS

VA to Gatlinburg TN

Today, we visited the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (http://www.nps.gov/anjo/index.htm) in Greeneville Tennessee.  Andrew Johnson was someone who, until today, was not exactly on my radar screen.  Today I learned a lot about him – he was a pretty interesting guy.  Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and Mr. Johnson was a Democrat.  Mr. Lincoln wanted Mr. Johnson on his ticket when he ran for his second term in the hopes that Mr. Johnson would pull in votes from the South.  Mr. Johnson became president after Mr. Lincoln was assassinated.

Andrew Johnson started as a tailor’s apprentice when he was three years old.  His father had died and his mother could not support the family on her own.  She basically sold her son into the apprenticeship program.  He ran away before his stint was complete and eventually started a tailor business in Greeneville Tennessee.  He was not educated – nearly illiterate – but, his wife taught him how to read and write.  He took some classes at the local school and became active in the debating club.  From there, he began to run for public office.  He started as an alderman (justice of the peace) and worked his way up to the Senate, and beyond.

Andrew Johnson dedicated his life to the Constitution.  He urged Tennessee to stay in the Union even though he had very strong beliefs about the boundaries between federal and states’ rights.  He kept his Senate seat when Tennessee seceded from the Union.  Mr. Lincoln appointed him military governor of Tennessee during the Civil War.  Mr. Johnson owned slaves.  The first slave he bought was a 14-year-old girl who approached him and asked him to buy her.  After purchasing her, he also purchased her family.  Mr. Johnson never sold a slave and there are records to show he paid his slaves long before Emancipation.  He freed his slaves on August 8, 1863, over a year before slavery was made illegal in Tennessee.  The freed family stayed with the Johnsons.  To this day, August 8 is celebrated by the African-American community in Tennessee and her neighboring states.

Andrew Johnson did not agree with Congress on the best way to handle reconstruction after the Civil War.  To make a very long story short, they tried, and failed, to impeach him.  He did not get along with Congress and was pretty pushy about his ideas.  When he was not re-elected president, he returned to Greeneville.  He ran for Senate again, and was elected on his second try.  He was the first former president to ever return to Congress.

After touring the visitor center, we walked to his home, where we were met by a NPS Interpreter.  This was the first time we’d taken a ranger-led tour of any type.  It was great!  She knew so much about the history and culture of his era and was able to answer every question we asked.  For example, every bed in his home was covered by a quilt made by Mrs. Johnson.  When I noticed a mistake on the first quilt we saw, the Interpreter was able to tell me all about it.  (Quilters often put an intentional mistake into a quilt because they believe only God is perfect and they don’t want to tempt fate by making a perfect quilt.  I’ve always thought that was a bit pride-ful – nobody’s quilt is ever perfect, but whatever.  My thoughts on this particular one was about “hiding in plain sight”.  During the Civil War era, many quilters – usually slaves – worked maps and directions for the Underground Railroad into their quilts.  Since the Johnson family was so sympathetic, I thought this “mistake” might have a hidden meaning.  Turned out, it was a mistake and not a map.)  The Interpreter then helped me find the intentional mistake on every other quilt in the house.  We had a long discussion about how the town of Greeneville had been affected by the Civil War.  Many of the homes and store buildings were left intact because the town had been taken so many times – there was so much back-and-forth that neither army burned buildings as they left town.  We talked about the graffiti the Confederate soldiers had left behind in Mr. Johnson’s home – they thought he was a traitor because he voted against succession.  We also discussed Tuberculosis.  Most of the Johnson family died from this disease.  She told us it was very common during his era and the various family member’s illnesses and deaths were not unusual.

Next, we drove to the local cemetery, the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.  It is located at the top of a high hill and overlooks the foothills of the Smokies.  It was one of the most peaceful and beautiful cemetaries I’d ever seen.  If one wanted to be planted, rather than scattered, one would be hard pressed to find a better place.  Mr. Johnson had left instructions with only one person, his former slave Sam – his coffin was draped with the United States flag and a copy of the Constitution was placed under his head.

After a long day of history lessons, we went to a restaurant recommended by the Interpreter.  We were expecting Italian, as it was called the Brick Oven.  We were confusingly surprised to find three menus – Italian, Thai, and Greek.  I’ve never had garlic bread with marinara sauce followed by curry chicken.

I never got to my curry chicken.  I broke a molar!  Actually, it broke all by itself and not as a result of what I was eating.  The waitress was kind and gave us the Yellow Pages.  I called over 20 dentists before I found one willing to see me.  Elite Dental (http://www.elitedentalsmiles.com), in Dandridge, treated me very well.  They waited the 45 minutes it took us to drive there, not closing until after I left.  They put a temporary filling in the tooth.  On Wednesday, I get a temporary crown and in three weeks, a permanent crown.  Their photo in the Yellow Pages, and their web site, made me a bit nervous – too fancy for me!   But, they were awesome dentists.  Dr. Johnson worked on my mouth, assisted by Dr. Chaney.  Dr. Chaney was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, which actually helped put me at ease.  They have a very high-end, high-tech office, but I liked the way they treated me.  I’m terrified of dentists, but I think I’ll let these guys work on my mouth some more.

Driving from Dandridge to Gatlinburg was interesting.  As soon as we crested the last hill and saw the Smokies rolling away in front of us, I felt like I was coming home.  I found that I love these mountains.  As much as I’m eager to get back on the road and find new places, I’m excited to be here longer.  I want to meet more people from Tennessee and learn more about their history, art, and culture.

We signed up for another month at the Arrow Creek Campground in Gatlinburg.  Good thing we like the Smokies.

Day #169 – Farewell, Pittsburgh

Boggsville PA to VA

We left the ‘Burgh today, eager to return to our home on wheels.  We love our friends, but we’re ready to return to the road.  We talked about how strange it will be to go from a 3-bedroom farm house to a 30x8 trailer.  We talked about how strange it was to miss our trailer and be eager to get back to it.  We talked about what “home” means.  It appears that “home” has become wherever we are, as long as we’re in our trailer.

We also shopped our feet off.  We started with Ikea, where we found, what we hope will be, the perfect dish rack.  We also found a picture frame we liked and some dish towels.  We then moved on to the new REI out at Robinson Center.  I didn’t like it as much as the one on the South Side.  There was no climbing wall and it just seemed less homey.  The staff was quite helpful.  The space was bigger, but they didn’t seem to have as much good stuff.  Oh, well, we still managed to find things we absolutely needed.  More socks, a book from NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) on wilderness skills, a camping game I’d been drooling over for several months (think Trivial Pursuit for the outdoor-set), and the latest issue of Sea Kayaker.  We oogled some cook sets (http://www.rei.com/product/783287) and decided we weren’t doing enough wilderness camping to justify their cost, but they were really cool!

We finally got going in the late afternoon.  We hit some very bad thunder, lightning, and rain in West Virginia, but it cleared up in Virginia.  We missed our exit to Wytheville and ended up at a motel about 40 miles down the road, in a town whose name we cannot remember.  We were both pretty tired and cranky by the time we pulled in.

Day #168 – Kelly’s Neck II

Boggsville PA
 

Today, Kelly made an appointment to see our regular chiropractor, Dr. George Ondish.  He’s an avid kayaker and has taught many of the classes we’ve taken through Exkursion Outfitters (http://www.exkursion.com).  

Do any of you remember when my plantar fasciitis was so bad I could barely walk?  I had tried custom orthotics, prescribed by the podiatrists at West Penn Hospital, had more than exhausted my physical therapy benefits, and was still hobbling.  I had cut back on activities to the point of depression.  I saw kayaking as a way to be active and use parts of my body that still worked.  After getting to know me a bit, George suggested I try chiropractic.  I had to get his business card from Exkursion – he was that concerned about conflict of interest.  It took a long time, but he got me walking again.  Every time I get tired and sore on a hike, I think about the months when I could barely walk at all – it always puts a spring back in my step.  He also helped me rehab through a nasty shoulder injury.  I went without paddling for over a year and a half, doing my exercises and waiting for it to heal.  I’m paddling a couple miles without pain now – it’s so good to be back on the water.  George helped me get my life back.  He’s got some odd ideas about how our bodies work, and how to fix them, but his techniques have worked.

So, Kelly went to see George.  She told him that she felt she’d cheated on him with the other chiropractor.  He suggested that perhaps she’d cheated on herself.  He worked on her for a long time, decided that the problem was really with her hip, and got things back in balance.  She returned to Boggsville a new woman.  George rocks.

Day #167 – Kelly’s Neck

Boggsville PA

The last several days have been a blur.  I’ve been slowly getting over my plague.  Kelly came down with it.  Linda has been in denial about catching it.  Beth has lost her voice and has been sleeping in a recliner because of her stuffy head.  Lori has been feeling icky, too.  Debbie has sailed through it all, taking care of us and feeling just fine.  I have been consumed by guilt.  If I’d known I was getting sick, I’d have sent Kelly along without me.  I thought the sore throat, which Kelly had first, was just a little thing that we’d both gotten over.

We met Tammy one morning for breakfast.  She uses neither Internet nor cell phone, so we decided to meet up to tell her some road stories.  We brought along a laptop so she could see some photos.  She has been so supportive of us.  And, she has been a real role model for us.  Hers was the first RV we ever saw up close and personal.  When we all camped at the River’s Edge (http://www.campriversedge.com) a couple summers ago, and we saw her roll in with her RV, we knew we were destined for the road.

We also met up with Rosie and Joanne for lunch one day.  We met about half-way – at the Aspinwall Grille (http://www.awallgrille.com).  We had missed seeing them on our last trip to the ‘Burgh and did not want to miss them again.  It was good to catch up.  If we hadn’t been so sick, we would have gone to Wednesday Night Supper, but we didn’t want to spread germs any more than we already had.  And, if I’d known I was going to be in Pittsburgh for two (TWO) Tuesdays, I’d have brought my knitting.  Life is currently filled with “next trip” promises to each other and our friends.

Kelly woke up this morning with a very stiff neck.  She couldn’t move without horrible pain.  She thought it was from sleeping on multiple pillows.  Debbie drove her over to their local chiropractor who specializes in trigger-point work.  Kelly came home with better mobility, but quite a bit of bruising.

We had hoped to kayak up here – Buffalo Creek or the Kiski or the Yough. But, nooo – we’re all too sick.  Did I mention hell fire and damnation???

Our card playing has taken an interesting turn.  Kelly and Debbie have begun to win – consistently.  Linda and I have not taken this very well.  Considering all the months that we whooped them, time and again, you’d think we could be better sports about it.  But, winners have trouble becoming losers.  In an effort to salve our wounds, Kelly suggested a tournament.  We’d play in rotation, with all permutations of partners, for several games.  She refused to tally scores until all the rounds were finished.  I was curious to see how this would turn out.

I discovered that I play more aggressively when I play with Kelly as my partner.  She’s quite a risk taker at cards and I try to match her style when I’m partnered with her.  Generally, I play more conservatively and take a “wait-one-more-turn-to-see-what-happens” attitude.  That style has been leading to losses when I’m team mates with Linda.  We both use the same strategy, resulting in more aggressive players jumping at chances we’ve passed up.  Debbie seems to play even more conservatively than I.  So, when we were paired together, we lost quite often.  Kelly and Debbie analyzed the results of our tournament seven ways to Sunday, but in the end, it really seemed to have more to do with the luck of the draw than any particular strategy.