Neales on Wheels: Rain, rain and more rain

It rained all of last night and was still raining this morning when we got up. We've had about 1½ inches of rain since last night and the water in Jonathan Creek has risen so much that the Mallards are sitting on the creek bank. It was 60° and still raining when we broke camp and hitched up the car. We left Pride RV Resort at 10:00 and drove 1½ miles north to I-40 and then west.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

We crossed into Tennessee at 10:45 and decided to stop for lunch at 11:15 at a rest area south of Douglas Lake near Oak Grove.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

After lunch we continued west on I-40 to Knoxville where we took I-640 around the north side of Knoxville and then north on I-75. We crossed over the Clinch River just south of Lake City, TN and took a photo of the silt from Coal Creek emptying into the river.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

The mountains around Lake City were covered
by clouds

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

and then we saw this warning sign about possible fog ahead in the mountains on I-75.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

A few miles north of Lake City we saw this giant Green Dragon statue at Caryville. I checked the internet tonight and found out that the dragon belonged to a fireworks store there, but the store had burned down last year leaving just the Green Dragon.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

Shortly after leaving Caryville we ran into more rain and then we drove through rain and fog about 15 miles south of the Kentucky state line.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

We crossed into Kentucky at 1:20. I didn't time it right to get all of the Welcome to Kentucky sign in my photo.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

We stopped at the Kentucky Welcome Station and while Mike walked Tinker, I went over to the Welcome Station to pick up a state map and some travel brochures. The staff had just gotten in new travel brochures and were restocking the brochure racks. No sooner did we get back on I-75 than we ran into more rain.

No sooner had we left the Kentucky Welcome Station that Mike noticed that speedometer and tachometer weren't working. The speedometer was registering 0, but the cruise control was working correctly (I checked our speed on our Garmin GPS). I started checking our Next Exit book to find the next rest area or exit. The next exit was 10 miles from us at Williamsburg with a Wal-Mart Supercenter, so we decided to stop there.

We got to the Supercenter a little before 2:00 and while Mike checked out the problem with the speedometer and tachometer, I went in to the Supercenter and bought a few things and used my debit card to get some cash.

When I got back to the RV Mike said he had checked all of the fuses and circuit breakers and couldn't find anything wrong. Well, it must have been gremlins because when Mike started up the motor home the speedometer and tachometer were working! Just as we got back on the interstate we were driving in rain again.

We continued north on I-75 to London, KY and then west on KY-80.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

Mike decided to get gas when we got to Somerset and I checked GasBuddy on my phone to find out the gas prices and locations of stations in Somerset. I located a Kroger gas station in Somerset. We decided to stop there even though I was sure I didn't have enough gas points on my Kroger rewards card to get a $.10 a gallon discount on gas.

By the time we got to Somerset it had quit raining. We stopped at Kroger at 3:45 and paid $3.729 a gallon after the $.03 a gallon discount because we used my Kroger rewards card. After leaving Kroger we drove west on KY-80 Branch.

From Waynesville, NC to Somerset, KY

We drove 4 miles west to Hwy 1248

From Fishing Creek Campground

and then 2 miles west to Fishing Creek Corps of Engineers Campground.

From Fishing Creek Campground

We arrived at the ranger station at 4:00, checked in with the camp hosts there and got a campground map and a camping pass for the rear view mirror of the car.

We stayed here at Fishing Creek in August 2006 and were in site 7. This time we are in site 11. It is a back-in and we have electric (50 amp) and water hookups. We will be here for 4 days and with our Senior Pass discount we're paying $10 a day.

From Fishing Creek Campground

The sun came out a little before 6:00 and we took Tinker for a walk around the campground. The only other occupants here are the camp hosts and their RV, and 4 other RVs.