The Body Farm

Heiskell, Tennessee

Weather: low 67 degrees, high 86 degrees, partly to mostly cloudy skies, showers in the late afternoon

Last week when we were driving over to Oak Ridge to check out the area, we caught a glimpse of a sign and facility that caused us to do a double check with each other. Carolyn asked me if I saw what she did. I said if you saw the same thing as me, I think we just passed The Body Farm.

Kay Scarpetta, a best-selling author of mystery novels, wrote a best selling book titled The Body Farm, featuring the Forensics Anthropology Research Facility of the University of Tennessee. The Farm is a facility that performs research on human remains and their manner of death. This science is usually used by law enforcement to determine time and manner of death. In broad terms, a bunch of human bodies are placed in the woods and the results of their decomposition are studied. Criminals may be brought to justice based on the results, but innocence may also be proven. I like to tour museums and other facilities to see how things work, but I think I'll pass on a tour of this place.

When we buy a car or truck, we usually expect to keep it for several years after it's paid for. In 1976, we bought a car that we kept for 13 years. The next one was kept for three years until computer problems made it unreasonable to trust it on the road. Our next vehicle was a truck that I kept for 15 years, and finally sold it to my friend Tim. The last I heard, he was still driving it. When we decided to start our RVing life, we bought our current truck in June of 2002. That means we've had the truck now for more than seven years, and it runs like a champ. It uses no oil between changes, gets over 20 miles per gallon without the RV and 11-14 miles per gallon with the RV.

So, how are we able to keep vehicles that long? We have always made sure our cars and trucks are maintained as the owners' manuals recommend. The oil is changed at the intervals suggested with a quality product, the fluid levels are checked frequently, and we keep the inside and outside of the vehicles cleaned and waxed to protect the upholstery and paint. Another reason we're able to keep vehicles as long as we do is because we don't abuse them by driving them too hard. We never drive with jack rabbit starts, excessive speeds, and abrupt braking and jerking.

We were getting close to the mileage recommended for the transmission to be serviced. I called around the area and found a shop that had an opening on their schedule for today, and they were only about 12 miles away. I took the truck in, and about an hour later, drove out with a freshly serviced transmission. The manager of the shop told me that their examination of the transmission did not find any problems, and to continue doing whatever we were to extend it's life. At this time, the truck has a little over 119,000 miles.

Oh, by the way. We came up here to find cooler weather. As of today, the warmest temperature we have seen is 86 degrees, and that was today. The next week is forecast to be several degrees cooler. Yes!!

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Nashville, Tennessee: Nash Vegas

Not all who wander are lost.