Sprinter?

This week I heard the transition from winter to spring referred to as "Sprinter" and that is what I have been experiencing for a couple of weeks now. It's been fun watching spring unfold and then reverse again as I began to travel north, with temperatures going from cozy warm sunshine back to shivering, chilly showers. It's too bad we can't send some of this water to California which is suffering from extreme drought!

On April 2, I arrived in Nashville and was happy to have my GPS as it is a much larger city than I expected, with large expressways and heavy traffic. My odometer passed the 100,000 km mark indicating that I had driven 21000 km since I bought my motorhome just over 6 mos ago!

The recording studio was in "Music City"and was easy to find. I not only got a place to park my motorhome but one of the co-owners, Barry, got me a guest ticket to a dinner and music show.

Spring blooms in Nashville

The show was great and I enjoyed listening to a few of the old country and western songs but I also felt some disappointment since those singers could never sound the same as the original ones. I knew times had changed and that many of  those classic C+W singers are gone and yet I had hung on to my teenage fantasy of what I thought Nashville would be like, not wanting anything to have changed. Then I thought of how wanting to hang on to a previous moment in time, is missing the precious moment of that day.

     Staying at the parking lot overnight                                

The theatre I went to

felt rather uncomfortable. Initially there was loud music from several bars nearby and then, after everyone left, I was the only one in that large parking lot besides one empty car.
I moved to a hotel lot the next day after getting permission and woke up to birds singing their hearts out in a blossoming tree nearby. 
Taking a shuttle bus downtown to Broadway St, I visited the" Grand Ole Opry", only to discover that the original building is no longer there and that the show has had several homes. This one is in a large old church that was converted in 1943 and is known as "The Ryman Auditorium". The tickets were expensive and I decided that since I would not be seeing those C+W singers I loved so much , I would buy CDs of Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves instead. It felt nice to be walking around that area of the city where so many of the old stars used to sing. The shuttle driver was fun and had a sign indicating "Anyone over 80 rides free if accompanied by parents."

Downtown Nashville, the old and new buildings

The Grand Ole Opry

Arriving back to where I was parked, I walked over to the "Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Centre". Covering 5.5 acres of land and with 2881 rooms/suites on 6 floors, this hotel is the largest I have ever seen and ranks as 29th on the list of the world's largest hotels.

There were several large areas of tropical trees, plants and forests as well as waterfalls, fountains, and even a river where you could go for a boat ride! Restaurants were scattered throughout this magical place and it felt wonderful to spend time there, particularly at night with thousands of twinkling lights , all inside.

Waterfall inside hotel

I was ready to leave the city after 2 days and it took me a while to decide whether to continue east or to go north toward Canada. When I got to the highway turn-off, I went north with no idea of where to stop that night. I knew I would find a place and shortly after that, I discovered another fascinating place to stay and an unexpected good experience.
That will make a good topic for my next blog!

A friend gave me this riddle: What is most difficult to open? (answer will follow at the end)
"Underneath even the most annoying behaviour, is a frustrated person who is crying out for compassion."
-Richard Carlson, author of "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff."
"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage
to lose sight of the shore."
-Andre Gide, French author
Answer to riddle:
A closed mind.