Panther Creek State Park, Morristown, TN: October 18 - 23, 2020

 It is getting chilly here, so we decided that our last trailer trip for a while will be to somewhere nearby, where we can hike and see fall colors.  We were delighted with Panther Creek State Park.  It is very close by, near Morristown, TN, on Cherokee Lake, a beautiful TVA lake.  The park has excellent trails and facilities and is one of the cleanest and best maintained parks we have been to.  The campground is average, but still adequate.

We did several really nice hikes in the park; most went through lovely forests to beautiful views of the lake.

There were some beautiful trees in our campground.

One day we went into Morristown to see the Crockett Tavern Museum and the elevated sidewalks in the downtown area.  We also had a delicious lunch outside on the sidewalk at the Redbud Deli.  We enjoyed all of them.  Unfortunately, the museum was closed due to the virus, but the outside was really interesting, and they had a nice display sign telling about Crockett's life as it related to the tavern.

Crockett had a very sad youth associated with this tavern.  His family owned the tavern, but it was not successful. They were so poor that when Crockett was only 15, his father forced him to be an indentured servant to a person who was traveling through driving cattle up into Virginia.  When he was finally able to get back home several years later, his sister was the only one who recognized him.

Shelby adapted to life in the trailer well, as usual.  One funny thing was her reaction to a small blanket I folded and put on the bottom of the bed as an extra.  She decided that it was HER blanket, and got extremely upset with me when I tried to open it up and put it on the bed one night.  I didn't do that again!

We will need to winterize the trailer to keep the water pipes from freezing soon.  It is easy for Alan to do.  He uses an air compressor to blow the water out of the pipes.  It works much better than the pink trailer antifreeze that makes such a mess.  It also makes it easier to decide to go somewhere on the spur of the moment when the weather is nice, which we may do from time to time this winter.

We are planning to get in line to do early voting tomorrow.  I don't know how long the wait will be, but we will stay as long as it takes to cast our vote.  This is probably the most important election I have personally participated in.  It is worth the effort.  It is scary, though, because Covid is soaring in our county, at its highest peak yet.

Stay safe!  We love you!