I still call Tennessee my home state because it is where I was born and raised. Never a desire to move back, but it is home. And, I still mostly root for the Volunteers in college football, despite them being so lousy for most of this century.

Several places to visit on this trip. One national park (Ft. Donelson), one stadium (Neyland) and seven colleges (four of them in Nashville). My college roommate of two years has a home in this state but they are rarely there since he and his wife (I knew her in college too) spend most of the year on the road (they retired at ages 55 and 56). I also have a distant cousin living in this state, she helped me quite a bit with the family history research in the 1980's.

I did end up spending the night in Henderson TN. It is just a few miles south of Jackson where I grew up and a few miles east of Chickasaw State Park where my family spent much time at because we loved that park. We went camping there several times. My route unknowingly took me right past the entrance to the park. It looked quite familiar and I smiled because all the many good memories came flooding back. It did rain the entire time I was in Tennessee at this point (I left it on the east side the week before and returned to the west side to get to Henderson). In fact, it rained that afternoon, all night, and all the next day until I got to Jefferson City MO.

For the summer trip I had three stops. One was Tennessee Tech in Cookeville. I have passed through that town a number of times, including in the spring, but only recently learned of the school there. The second one was to revisit the Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Cemetery. I went there in the spring, expecting the park to be open, only to find the gates locking it closed. The third one was the University of Tennessee-Martin. When I was very young, my father "went" there for some classes, likely accounting, as he was early in his career.

Unless I finally decide that the Tennessee Volunteers football team is worth the $2,000 it would cost to attend a game (that cost includes flight, hotel, food and game tickets), or, that I need to do some more family history research in the state, this could be the last time I am in this state.