Seeing a few sites around Crossville - Travel across Tennessee

Sunday-Wednesday (Jun 28-Jul 1):

On Sunday we decided to take it easy as I continued my recovery from the infection I had come down with the prior Sunday. We did some grocery shopping and then took naps as the rain continued here in Tennessee.

Monday we decided to get out an visit a couple of the water falls located in two of the natural areas near Crossville. We first went to Ozone Falls which is located only a few miles from our campground just off of I-40. The upper part of the falls are located only a few hundred feet from the parking area located along Hwy 70. We took the short hike to the upper part of the falls and then I continued down a steep trail to an area close to the bottom of the falls. I talked to a girl who was coming up from the very bottom and she told me it was very muddy, so I only went about 2/3rds of the way down.

Trail to upper falls

Overlooking the upper falls (no guard rail)

Beginning of the trail down to lower part of falls

"Gambler's Den" located about half way down the trail

Thought it was interesting how this tree is growing right out the rock

Another cave along the trail

Ozone Falls which is 110 feet high

Pool that the falls empties into 

From there we took the road south to the Piney Falls which is located near the town of Grandview TN. We took the Fire Tower Road as indicated on the map, but could not find the trailhead. As we were headed back down the road, Connie say a small sign with "Piney Falls" on it. We stopped and decided to make what we thought would be a short trip down the trail to the falls. We kept walking and walking and walking. The trail split into two and then into another two (we ended up going to the bottom of the Upper Piney Falls). Connie had not dressed from a long hike and we ended up hiking about an hour in and another hour out. Some of the trail was so steep that Connie had to scoot along the rocks to get down. We almost gave up and turned around, but finally I went ahead a few hundred yards and found the falls and Connie joined me at the falls. It was beautiful.

"Large" sign indicating the trail head

The trail got rugged

This is how it started out

Upper Piney Falls which is about 80 feet high

View from underneath the falls

View of the "pool" that the falls empties into 

Connie posing with her walking poles.

Area on the trail where a rock slide had occurred

On Tuesday we decided to visit the Sergeant Alvin C. York Historic Park which is located nine miles north of Jamestown and pays tribute to Sgt. Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated soldiers of World War I. The park contains the farm and gristmill once owned by York who lived in the Pall Mall area for most of his life. Along with the millhouse and milldam, the park includes York’s two-story house, York’s general store and post office, the Wolf River Cemetery, the Wolf River Methodist Church, the York Bible Institute, an M247 Sergeant York tank and various picnic facilities.

Alvin York is one of the most celebrated soldiers in American history. He joined the pacifist Church of Christ in Christian Union in 1914, and when drafted for service in World War I in 1917, he applied for conscientious objector status, but was denied. On Oct. 8, 1918, while on patrol along the Meuse-Argonne Front in France, York and his platoon wandered behind enemy lines and were caught in an ambush that left over half the platoon dead. York then led the handful of survivors in a counterattack that resulted in the capture of 132 German soldiers.

York was awarded the Medal of Honor and became an instant celebrity, and upon his return to the United States he was barraged with offers for endorsements (both commercial and political), movies, and books, most of which he initially rejected, believing it was wrong to profit from an act of war. The Nashville Rotary Club raised the funds to buy York his Pall Mall farm, which it presented to York in 1922. After York’s death, his widow sold the farm to the state of Tennessee.

House given to Sgt. York by the Nashville Rotary Club

Kitchen in the house

While we were in the house a thunderstorm hit the area, so we took our time inside the house, had a nice visit with the ranger and let the storm pass. We decided to take the short drive over to his grave site.

Sgt York and wife grave site

View of the mountains from the cemetery

On Wednesday morning we finally left Crossville. We went by to see if the parts had come in for our refrigerator. Two of the parts had come in but they ended up not being the correct ones we needed. The owner of the shop, Bill, has become very frustrated with Norcold, the maker of our unit, since every time he calls he gets a different answer to his questions. So at this point we will continue on as we have been using both the regular refrigerator and our basement freezer to keep our food cold. Bill will ship the parts to us if they ever come in and we will try them to see if they make any difference. At this point in time we are thinking that the best option for us is to replace the current unit with a residential refrigerator.

We headed west along I-40, then southwest on TN 840 to I-65 South. Once we got on I-65 a thunderstorm hit the area and we had to slow down to 40 MPH because of the heavy downpour. When we took the exit for the campground, I missed the turn and ended up having to back the motor home up for about a 1/2 mile after disconnecting the Jeep. We finally got checked into the campground which is now owned by a couple who retired from College Station TX. We pulled into Site 33 at the Texas T Campground and got set up for the next two weeks.