Surpriiiiiisssseee!!!

Chris Clemens showed up last night at around 6pm - Tennesseean currently residing in Tullahoma and Amy’s boyfriend. He is officially the first to join the fun in Act II. We hung out in the lounge drinking beers and eating pistachios until the sun began to set around 8pm and then ventured out to walk the baseball diamonds of the community park we called home for the night before coming back and calling it a night around 9pm.

Chris had the double bed and brought a pillow and blanket. I woke up around 2am and needed to go to the bathroom but stayed in bed because I didn’t want to wake up Chris and Chris as well as it was really cold. When I arose at 4:30am for good, I came out and visiting Chris was under his pillow and tightly wound up in his blanket asked if we always sleep in a meat locker. Partner Chris opened his privacy curtain and told us he was too cold to get out of bed to turn off the AC that was cranking at high blast when it was 55 degrees outside and with no insulation in the RV, the temp was probably as cold as a meat locker inside!

We found an alternate route to Google Maps which was take a 4 lane highway for 25 miles to a wonderful back country road called the Old Nashville Highway that wound its way over hills, green pastures, silos, goats, cattle and simple but meticulously cared for homes with manicured gardens.

I ran into an elderly woman named Carol who was working in the driveway weeding. I introduced myself, Lucky and Chris then asked about the area and her place. She pointed out her beautiful house that sat in front of the East Fork Stones River in a valley that used to be the river but had receded over the years and left her land with 6 feet of fertile soil where as other farms struggle to find such good soil. With a huge smile she wished us safe travels.

A few miles later we ran into David & Jordan who were working on tractors to clean up the road - cutting grass and edging and then a chain gang followed picking up trash of which there was very little. David & Jordan waved to me and I talked to them on film. David is a real character and when I asked him what he did for fun he mentioned he likes to drink “spring water” down at the local bar….code word for moonshine. He taught me how to assess the quality of moonshine if I ever get served - I highly recommend watching his recommendation.

I am always amazed at the tombstones of a family that are just off the road - preserved by respectful neighbors and town planners that weave the new roads around them. One such plot was right next to a wonderfully care for house where we met a gentlemen who came out to watch me take a picture of the plot. I asked him if it was his families and he told me no - he did not know who was buried there. He built his home 30 years ago right next his wife of 56 years parents home which was almost 100 years old. And they didn’t know who was buried right next to their house….

Arriving in Murfreesboro we passed Middle TN State University where Lucky plopped down right in front of the main gate to take a breather - it was super hot, humid and his paws were getting burned from the hot pavement.

Down the road we found Evergreen Cemetery where we walked into:

The Confederate Circle, a mass grave site, was established in 1890. In 1891, remains of Confederate soldiers were gathered from burial locations across the area, including the "Old Confederate Cemetery" located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Murfreesboro and reinterred here. Some 2,000 – about 90% unnamed – soldiers, are buried in the Circle. The perimeter of the Circle is marked by stone posts bearing the names of each of the Confederate States. Individual burial markers for some of the known dead are located near the corresponding state posts.

Chris and I felt the weight of this circle surrounded by head stones of US Representatives, Governers and sadly the 2,000 soldier, most unnamed who died. Of the 145 known soldiers, one story:

Among those buried here is Robert James Campbell Gailbraith (1829-1863), a Jackson County nitive, attorney, and state representative, (1855-1857). Gailbreath enlisted in 1861 as a private in Co. K, 8th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. He wrote his family on July 27, 1861, "I cannot say now, my Dear Family, when I will see you again, if ever, but should it be the will of God to cut me off from you, rest assured that you shall never be disgraced by any Conduct on my part in the War, for you and my Country." He was elected second lietenant in December, but resigned in May 1862, returned to Jackson County, organized Co. E, Murray's 4th Tennessee Cavalry, and was elected its captian.

Gailreath and his unit, part of Gen. A. Wharton's cavalry brigade, camped near Nolensville late in 1862, Gailbreath wrote on Decmeber 18, "I have no idea when the big fight will come, but we look for it soon, which will decide the fate of Tennessee this winter." The "big fight" was the Battle of Stones River, where on December 31 Gailbreath was wounded and captured. Surgeons amputated Galbreath's right arm in Thomas Hord's house on the Nashville Turnpike. He died there on January 12, 1863, and Hord buried him on the farm. After the war, his remains were removed first to a Confederate cemetery on Shelbyville Turnpike and then to the Confederate Circle here.

Our day ended on a with a fine meal at Dema’s in Murfreesboro around 2:30pm. After driving Chris back to his car in Woodbury, we decided to just boondock again at the fields because of the water, wifi and we are wiped. We will head out tomorrow around 5:30am to get back to our starting point which will lead us toward the famous Nashville.

Big thank you to Chris for going the distance today - much slower than he is accustomed to. In addition, he was my translator for much of the day in trying to understand the Tennesseean dialect!

And, thank you all for your continued support!

Cheers,

David.