The Test Trip of 2004 - Flashback Friday

No, Hurley Travels isn't closed down just yet.  Not ready to let this old friend be silent - just took a short break. But, let's kick it back on by a Flashback Friday.
I've been filtering out photo files on the computer and I'm coming across some I've almost forgotten about. Of course, then it's mandatory to stop to dwell on a memory or two. And some of those recollections take me a while.

Anyway, I was hanging around in 2004 and realized I actually have a couple of photos of the first day of our RV Fulltiming Test Trip - Jan 12, 2004. That would be when we closed up our condo in Indy and went out to make our decision whether we could and would live for whatever time frame in our new Sunnybrook fifth wheel. 
Thankfully there wasn't snow and ice on the roads as we traveled south on I-65 that January.   Jerry and I planned that we'd stop overnight in Haskell, Tennessee, at an Escapees RV Park.  A nice distance to travel and still be in daylight, so that we could clean out the antifreeze that we had in the lines from winterizing the trailer.  We pulled into the park in time to get one of the two last spots available.  Everything was cool!  Electric hooked up, water lines cleaned out, before it got dark. In fact we were watching TV when a park employee knocked on the door.  It was nice of him to walk around the campground alerting us all that the forecast was in the teens that night and we shouldn't leave our water lines connected.  Wouldn't want to have frozen lines!  No problem.  Jerry took care of adding water in our holding tank and disconnected the line.  We were cozy for the night.
But…..actually, we laughed the next morning when we both realized how silly it was that we didn't roll up our hose and store it away so that it didn't freeze in the extended position. LOL!  We had to wait a while in the morning for the sun to heat it up so that we could bend it enough to store it. No harm done. And it was good for a smile as we shared the story down the road at happy hour with RV friends. 
Oh yeah, the test trip proved positive.  Those four months resulted in the decision to sell our condo and live on the road. And the rest was an adventure that took us to unbeatable places, people and events for ten years.
Thanks for visiting Hurley Travels. Stay safe.

copyright © Nancy Hurley

Inside Stones River

It's almost history! We are winding down our two-month volunteering stint here at Stones River National Battlefield. Looking back, we didn't know exactly what we'd encounter when we said yes to assisting with the "photo digitizing project." We agreed to give 24 hours per week each and we knew that we would have electrical, water and sewer hookups. Beyond that, there was some mystery. But mystery isn't all bad. And, we could always steal away in the night if we were totally disappointed, right?

No worry! It's been a very good time. We've enjoyed having a peek inside a national battlefield. It's interesting to learn not only about the historical events behind this location, but a little of what happens day-to-day, what the people operating the park are about.

I've mentioned in past posts some of the people we've enjoyed getting to know. There are two more guys who added a special flavor to our experience. John George and Brian Dempsey are the museum curators we worked with daily. They are seasonal employees, both working towards their PhDs in public history. Under their supervision we enjoyed scanning thousands of photos, slides and negatives.
John and Jerry humored me by posing for this photo as we took a break in the visitor center lobby. John made sure we had variety when the work may have been a little tedious. And we all had some laughs, too.

This historical photo collection introduced us to many facets of the park. The subjects run the gamut: living history, visitors, historical monuments, storm damage, ceremonies and construction, to mention a few. I've posted just two of these photos that I chose randomly.The overall goal is to make the photo collection available to the public online at the national parks service site. Equally as important is to protect the originals. By saving them online and on backup DVDs, the originals can be stored away in a freezer for posterity.

As a break in our photo-digitizing project, we were recently invited to assist with the Stones River museum inventory. "Sure!" we said. Here was a chance to get another look inside the park's artifacts. Along side Brian, we learned how museum pieces are archived by documenting the exact location and condition of everything from a Civil War era thimble to cannons positioned on the battlefield. There are drawers and cabinets filled with items recovered from the scene of the battle, the town of Murfreesboro, the state of Tennessee and the Civil War era in general.


Here Brian finds one of the inventory items from the 1860s in the museum drawers. He took us, with a smile and a helping hand, on an interesting trip inside the museum archiving process.

Preserving these items continues without end in sight. Just the other day one of the rangers found on eBay a Civil War era brooch engraved with the battlefield's name, the date of the battle and the name of a widow of one of the fallen soldiers. Archeological digs turn up battlefield artifacts all the time as well. Who knows what will be donated or discovered next. The museum work was one of those mysteries we didn't realize we would have the opportunity to experience before we arrived.

It's been a unique look at a piece of America. The place and the people are both compelling. Should you pass this way on your travels, you might want to stop and let these folks share the history with you.

Living History: What's It All About?

We've seen some excellent living history programs here at Stones River National Battlefield. Groups come often to the park to hear about the events of 147 years ago. Here's Ranger Jim Lewis giving one of his frequent presentations. This group is from the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Last Saturday evening we took a reverent walk through the national cemetery with 20 other visitors for the Hallowed Ground program. We met soldiers and civilians who told us their stories as we made our way along our path among the soldiers' headstones. They related how the battle and other events surrounding it affected them personally. Their emotional and history-based accounts gave a view of the terrible cost of the Civil War.

This weekend we are witnessing the annual battery demonstrations that involve firing of six cannons at once. A ranger sets the scene of the fighting and the artillery's impact on this battle. He explains the firing technique, step-by-step, as the thunderous booms begin.

Obviously, a lot of time and effort goes into these living history programs. This weekend people traveled to Murfreesboro from battlefields in other parts of Tennessee and in Georgia. They even brought cannons with them. The goal is for us all to contemplate the lessons of the Civil War, to realize the lasting impact and, perhaps, to learn from it. Another side of this living history is to teach about the tremendous pain and sacrifices of all those involved.

These scenarios are taking place at many national parks. After watching several it followed that we started talking about --- why? Why is this a wide-spread custom? Perhaps it's tradition to some degree. Why does it draw people in? Maybe it's curiosity, still a wonderment of how brother could fight brother or the intrigue of the stories of heroism. Could it be the connection for so many people to an ancestor, or two or more? Why do the people want to sleep in these encampments on weekends and wear the scratchy wool soldiers clothing? Maybe it's exciting to fire these historic weapons. Maybe some of them believe it's important to teach the lessons of the war. What do you imagine are their motivations?

Well, the two soldiers here, Elena and Elizabeth, are seasonal recruits working on their masters degrees in public history at Middle Tennessee State University. Historic preservation is a part of their psyche, studying about it, writing about it and living it. They provide interpretive programs five days a week at Stones River. Here they are demonstrating musket loading and firing with Jim.







Judging from the attention of the many visitors we've seen this summer at national park living history presentations, the program is a success. People ask questions or you hear various discussions as the crowd breaks up. It made us think about the issues, effects and results of the War of the Rebellion or the Civil War, or whatever title you have for it. What do you think? Why would these men (and women) leave their loved ones to endure such a nightmare? Why did this war happen? Was it justified? What did it accomplish? And the big one: Was the cause states' rights or slavery? Just a few questions for your next bar-b-q or campfire discussion. It was the living history that made me ask.

A Special Independence Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating independence in whatever way you chose. Ours was both traditional and unique. We were lucky to have time with Krissy (my daughter) and Ben (Jerry's grandson), two of our favorite people.

On Friday, the 3rd, Krissy, Jerry and I went on a short trip, about 40 miles south of Murfreesboro, to the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. Krissy is known to sip a little JD, so she was enthusiastic about the idea. Taking I-24 and US82 south through Tennessee walking horse country is a very enjoyable drive. We chose to go on Friday thinking that we would beat the holiday weekend crowds. No such luck! Lots of people had the same idea. But, actually, we caught someone leaving their parking spot and the JD folks are prepared for onslaughts with tours every 15 minutes. We had a friendly and informative tour guide lead us through the entire process – the bubbling vats of mash with yeast smells floating through our nostrils, the whiffs of whiskey dripping through the special JD charcoal and the three-story barrel houses with the brew just waiting to be approved by the panels of tasters.

Did you know that their oak barrels are made onsite and burned inside to give the unique charcoal flavor? Or that it takes about seven days for a drop of the 140-proof-stage liquor to filter through the charcoal in the final processing? Also, we learned that there is no set time frame for aging the world famous Jack Daniel's Tennessee sipping whiskey. It's not three, or five or seven years. It's strictly determined by taste. When the panel of tasters says it's ready, it's ready.

In case you don't know, Lynchburg is a dry county. The owner of the distillery succeeded in getting the legislature to allow them to sell the collectible decanters with Jack Daniels inside. No one wants to open them, right? We also learned that the reason it is a dry county is that in Tennessee there must be over 2500 registered voters in the county before liquor sales is allowed. And this is a very small county that will probably never reach that point. In fact, our tour guide lived outside the county. We enjoyed hearing stories about Jack Daniels, a 5' 2” determined entrepreneur, and many local history tidbits.

After our tour, of course we had to take the short walk over the crystal-clear flowing stream at the distillery to the town of Lynchburg. This is a tiny town that thrives on tourists. So we contributed to the economy by purchasing a few Jack Daniels items at the local hardware store, but no alcohol. Touring the distillery and the quaint town of Lynchburg was a fun way to start our weekend.

Fortunately, on July 4 the volunteers working here at Stones River National Battlefield were learning musket and cannon firing. Our photo here is (L to R) Jim Lewis, the ranger providing his expertise in artillery; and three soldiers for the day, Scott, Edmond - aka Elena, and Ricky- aka Rebekah. The historical displays were just in time for Ben to come visit with us. The four of us enjoyed watching the booming demonstrations together. And also learned more from the excellent exhibits in the museum inside the visitors center. We also had a chance to show Krissy and Ben where and what we are doing for these two months of volunteering here.

When it was time to take a break, we had some nice sweet watermelon that we found at a roadside stand on our way back from Lynchburg. Later, everyone agreed that the 4th wouldn't be complete without a burger. So we dodged the downpour and made our way to the Red Robin Gourmet Burger restaurant. Our first time to try this place. I have to say that's the best burger I've had in a long time. I splurged with bacon, guacamole. Jerry went for all the traditional fixins. Ben, just catsup. Krissy had a red-hot, deep-fried jalapeno concoction. Everyone was pleased.
Then we chose to just relax and visit for the rest of the evening. We even found a vantage point in the cemetery near our parking spot to watch a little fireworks with our 6,000 soldier friends. It seemed appropriate to celebrate with them.

Our Tennessee Home – Stones River National Battlefield

The “Magical History Tour of 2009” brought us north another 200 miles to our Tennessee volunteering destination, the Stones River National Battlefield, about 30 miles southeast of Nashville. We arrived about ten days ago and are settled into our home for the next two months. Our parking spot is in the driveway of one of the houses next to the national cemetery, with 6,000 very quiet neighbors. Actually it is a superb spot! We are near the Visitors Center where we “work,” and we have a shady location. Our volunteer job is digitizing the photo collection for the museum. With 1200 photos under our belt, we are well into the project already. We'll keep you posted on developments as we learn more.

What else has been going on? The first weekend here in the battlefield we heard multiple viewpoints from soldiers and civilians as they described the Battle of Stones River and other Civil War events in Murfreesboro. They shared vivid descriptions of life for the local residents as the war approached and during occupation by the troops. We heard from the boys in blue and in gray who were in the horrendous battle at Stones River. They related their own regiments' experiences on Dec. 31, 1862, January 1 and 2, 1863. I can't say enough about all of these actors. They were all so great at activating our imaginations. They painted a clear picture of the emotions felt by an elderly southern widow trying to survive, a young black woman fleeing slavery, the town merchant dealing with new laws for selling goods, a Yankee doctor running the army hospital setup at the local college and a loyal young woman resentful of Union soldiers.
As well, the soldiers made us see the details of the battle as it hit them, their friends falling next to them as they were bombarded by ear-shattering cannon fire and dodging bullets running through an open field. Then we witnessed cannons firing with our own ears, although only one shot at a time, rather than 50 or 60 at once.

And to finish the day, we journeyed into 1895, visiting with families in the cemetery as they shared letters from their fallen friends and sons. All of us in the group walking through the Stones River National Cemetery had adopted our own soldier to memorialize. We all were given a dossier . Our soldier was Elijah Waller, private, 29^th Indiana Infantry, from Angola, Indiana, who was killed on July 10, 1863, in Tullahoma, TN, after surviving the Stones River Battle. We found his grave and paused for a few moments to thank him for his sacrifice.