Weather: low 41 degrees, high 68 degrees, clear skies
We were late getting up this morning, with me getting up at 0715 hours, and Carolyn about 20 minutes later. This cool weather is great for sleeping.
After a late breakfast/early lunch, we decided to go north in search of more fall colors. Our trek north led us up to the Clinton turnoff, where we turned east and followed US 441 to the old TVA town of Norris, built to house workers working on the TVA Norris Dam. It was a TVA model planned community, and had several innovations not seen in this country at that time, such as all-electric homes. The town has a calming influence, with common green areas. The entire town has been placed on the National Registry of Historic Places, and has a population of about 1500 people. This little town is an oasis of calm in a busy world.
We left Norris, continuing to head north, eventually coming to Norris Dam. The dam was built on the Clinch River for flood control and hydro-electric power, and the lake covers portions of Anderson and Campbell counties. Here's a picture of the dam and part of the lake impounded behind it.
After seeing the dam, we moved north, eventually turning to the northeast at Jacksboro. We were here last year, and thought that this little town, as well as La Follette, a few miles further to the east, were great little towns. Since we had already been this far north and east, we decided to continue on up the road to the Cumberland Gap, located at the point where Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky meet, in the northeast corner of Tennessee.
We took Tennessee 63, which skirted the Cumberland Mountains just to the north, and the Clinch River, just to the south. What a beautiful valley that was! Small farms, cozy little houses, sleepy little crossroads, churches, and every thing we like to see when out for a drive.
When we got to Harrogate, we stopped for a short rest. Carolyn spied a gingko tree, which I took a picture of. The tree was actually more yellow than what shows in the picture.
Driving on through Harrogate, Carolyn said stop again. She saw a little farmer's market that she wanted to check out. When we left there, we had fresh sweet potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, pole beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Good eats are on the way!
As we were leaving Harrogate, we saw the sign for the state line between Tennessee and Virgina. We decided to drive into Virgina about a mile to check out a park service campground in case we might want to stay there someday. We found that the park is nice, but won't work for us because the spaces are not long enough.
Heading back in to Tennessee, we turned in to the little town of Cumberland Gap, a town of about 200 people. We couldn't do much exploring there, since the streets were closed off to cars because of a fall festival that was being held.
We headed on toward the Cumberland Gap, but Carolyn stopped our progress, as we saw that we would have to go through a tunnel to get where we wanted. She doesn't like tunnels, and there's no need for me to add to her anxiety. So, we turned around and headed back home. However, we did see the Cumberland Gap, so important to the westward expansion of our country in it's early years. This picture came from Wikipedia.
By this time, it was getting late enough that we decided to head back home. We had a great trip, but little did we know that we would end up in Virginia before the day was ended.
More later, be safe.
Today's Town - Cumberland Gap, Tennessee: Gateway To The West
Not all who wander are lost.
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