When I left Autumn Olive Camping, my GPS took my a route that I never knew existed. A one lane, dirt road, that curved around a few miles before bringing me to a highway. Over the past few days I have reached out to a number of people in the Nashville area to host me, but with no luck. I decided to go there anyway and see if anything came through. It was nice driving to my next destination and not have the car struggling uphill. Siri took me through some cute, small, country bumpkin looking towns, one of which was named Allardt: Home of the Giant Pumpkin. When I stopped for gas I FaceTimed some girlfriends and showed them the man dressed in overalls riding his tractor up to the gas station. Inside, everybody working there knew everybody coming in and there was a plethora of tobacco selections for sale.
I found an RV friendly Walmart in Nashville and parked the Drag Queen there for the night. There were a handful of other rigs there, which was a first for me. The parking lot wasn’t huge which caused many cars to keep parking near me and that, too, was a first. And annoying. I called a nearby restaurant to see if they were dog friendly, they said yes, so Neville and I headed over. This area of Nashville is not particularly pedestrian friendly and the roads are busy. We made it to the restaurant in the 200 degree heat, and it was another situation where they do not serve outside, just have outside seating. The place was packed with people sitting right in the sun and we promptly headed out. Next time I’ll hopefully remember to ask if they provide serve outside. The weather was downright gross, hot, and humid, but we lucked out because that night a storm rolled in and brought a nice breeze with it. That + wine made it easy to sleep through the night.
The following day I still hadn’t heard from any hosts, so we set off for a campground that is off the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway. Along the way there was a detour with few signs pointing out which direction to go, so I winged it and made it to the Meriweather Lewis Burial Site. There are no hookups aside from restrooms and the occasional water spigot, but it is surrounded by trees and not too busy. There are very few people set up there and as we walked around, I see that the campsite is beautiful. In one spot there were rows of benches set up and a type of make-shift wooden stage; good for watching the sunset or having a type of ceremony, I'm told. I like it because there is electricity there. Minutes after we are settled in I get an email from one of the Workaway hosts saying that yes, he can host me. Hooray! Better late than never! Workaway is similar to WWOOFing in the sense that you exchange services for boarding, but it isn’t limited to organic farming. People on the website advertise childcare, home renovation, campground assistance, farming, etc. My soon-to-be host, Lance, and I made plans to link up the next day. Things are coming together nicely! It’s still hot as hell outside and I had a hard time differentiating between sweat and mist from the mister thing I bought at Walmart the night before, but a slight (italics) breeze came through as the day faded. I’m thankful for the preparation begin a Floridian has given me for this Devil’s Den of heat, but I will still bitch about it. I gave myself a type of shower using the water spigot and a gallon jug while Ace of Base played on the radio, then my song came on- Good to be Alive. I was feeling pretty happy. Neville was in the shade enjoying his favorite snack of sticks, until a piece of one got stuck sideways on the roof of his mouth, between his teeth. I get it out, sit back, enjoy the view, enjoy the music, and realize that it’s my first time really being by myself in a new location on this trip, and I’m doing it! This is my life. My route, my plan, although ever-changing, is happening, and I’m doing it. It find it humorous to imagine a really girly girl, or high maintenance person in general, taking this kind of trip. No guarantee of electricity or running water, bugs galore, strangers all around.. it’s awesome, but certainly not for everyone. There was a time shortly before I left Tampa where I was feeling nervous about the adventure and second guessing what the hell I was doing, but I can’t stress enough how happy I am that I am where I am. The rest of the night wasn’t too hot thanks to the ice, fans, mister, breeze, and shade, and we were up early the next day to give our first Workaway experience a go.
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