Shadrack Campground, Bristol, Tennessee
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8
This was moving day, as we head a bit further South to Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville’s main claim to fame (in my humble opinion) is the Biltmore Mansion. We bit the bullet and paid the seemingly high admission fee a few years ago and discovered it was worth every penny. This year, we’ll be going through it again – decorated for Christmas. It promises to be an extraordinary experience!
In the meantime, back to today. We traveled 89 miles in just over two gorgeous scenic drive hours, getting only an average of 7.5mpg because of the mountains. They just kept getting bigger and bigger the further we went!
And once we crossed into North Carolina, twice we had to plummet down a 6% grade for 3 miles looking at the multiple runaway truck ramps and praying we’d have no need for one. And yet, on the first one, Blaine never used the brakes.
I’ll bet you’re wondering how that’s possible. Turns out, there’s a compression engine brake and all he has to do is push a button that causes a compression in the engine to help slow us. The official definition? A compression release engine brake, frequently called a Jacobs brake or Jake brake, is an engine braking mechanism installed on some diesel engines. When activated, it opens exhaust valves in the cylinders after the compression cycle, releasing the compressed gas trapped in the cylinders, and slowing the vehicle.
Gobbaldy goop to me, but some of you may understand it. 😊
Love the name of this town! ‘Forks of Ivy’. Would sure like to know the origin of that name! So unique!
Along the way, we passed a sign for ‘Jonesborough’, which led us to think of Jim Jones. Remember him? He’s the pastor (yes, he was ordained) who led the Peoples Temple group to South America and over 900 of them committed mass suicide following the visit by a Congressman who was murdered at the airstrip. At least this is what we remembered about it.
There’s so much more to the story. Besides some research online, we’ve had a 2-hour documentary recorded for a while, and we watched it last night since it was on our minds. What a sad, sad story!
I’ll try to briefly recap. Jim was a bit of a loner when he was growing up in Indiana. As an adult, he decided he wanted to become a pastor, and he did. He founded The Peoples Temple in 1955, and thus began his unique leadership and mission for the time – to cross the race barriers and integrate and show that we could and should all live together in peace. A great beginning. But then things changed and amidst challenges in Indiana and his fear of nuclear war, he moved the congregation to California (because he’d read an article that said it was one of the safest places if there should be a nuclear attack). The congregants lived and worked together, as Jim became more and more unstable. However, he became more and more powerful in the community, with people running for office even soliciting his endorsement.
In the summer of 1977, Jim and several hundred Temple members abruptly decided to move to the Temple’s compound to Guyana, South America (beside Venezuela) after they learned of the contents of an article about to be published, which included allegations by former Temple members that they were physically, emotionally, and sexually abused. Jim named the settlement Jonestown.
The massacre took place on November 18, 1978. Just over 300 of those who were murdered (yes, they were all murdered – he’d had them ‘practice’ drinking poison for years as a sign of loyalty. This time, the poison was real. In addition, there were armed guards there to ensure that if you refused, you were shot.) were children under the age of 17.
These were all good people who were slowly and methodically duped. They didn’t follow mindlessly. From all accounts, they were just sucked in and then couldn’t escape. So very, very sad!
The Jonestown Massacre killed the largest number of American civilians in a non-natural event preceding the September 11th attacks. ~ Rolling Stone.com
Enough sadness. Let’s move on to the rest of our day.
The driving went from fairly serene to stress-filled rather abruptly.
Better, but the road was pretty narrow for a bus.
Lake Powhatan National Forest, Asheville, North Carolina
We’ve settled into our site in the Forest, and even though we’re surrounded by trees, miraculously, the satellite dish is pointing right between leafless branches and we get channels! We have a low wifi signal, but with the booster, it’s manageable.
It was a beautiful afternoon, so we decided to take a short walk around.
Guess what? It ended up being another 3-4 mile excursion! 😊
The trail name? “Hard Times”. Ha!
At this point, I need to tell you that something’s up with Blaine’s phone. For some reason, it simply refuses to download/upload/whatever it’s called, his pictures from today. I can’t get them into the laptop, which means I can’t get them into the blog. Rats!
We’re considering setting a package of Oreos on the picnic table . . . . : )
Not as hard as yesterday, since the hills were much smaller, but still. . . The trail didn’t lead where Blaine thought it would, and we ended up further from the campground than we intended. Fortunately, a jogger happened by and we asked for general directions.
Eventually, we found our way back to the campground, taking the road we drove in on.
Back to the road
This looks familiar!
An azalea bush still in bloom!
I really wish my phone had focused on the foreground instead of the background . . .
But it’s at the campground check-in, so only a few hundred yards to go!