Historical Adventures

May 1st – May 31st 2017

RV repairs

On May 2nd we went to RV’s For Less to replace the four shocks on the RV and the microwave/convection oven. I forgot to take pictures of the guys doing the work. We arrived around 10:00 am and left by 2:00 pm. All went well and the people at RV’s For Less are great to work with. The shock installation went well. The two drivers side shocks were easily removed and replaced since they were not damaged. The threaded shafts were bent on the other two and they had to be cut off before they could be replaced. The new convection oven is not a direct replacement for the old one since GE no longer makes our model. The new one is slightly smaller resulting in there being a 1/8” difference in the location for the mounting bolts for the wall bracket. Thanks GE, you wouldn’t make it easy for an upgrade would you?

Campgrounds and places we visited

Creekwood Farm RV Park, Maggie Valley, NC – We stayed here last year and loved it. This time we stayed for two nights because we were trying to get to Apex, NC by the 4th of May to visit my friend Carol Clokey.

I love driving through Maggie Valley!

Pull thru site #85 with FHU and the view from our site

Indian Springs Campground, Hickory, NC – An overnight stay at a private campground close to the highway. We thought this was a cute campground. They have 24 sites with 10 pull-through and 14 back-in and only accept cash. We played basketball, horseshoes and ping pong. I think I played ping pong better than Ed. ha

Pull-thru Site #20 FHU and Wifi

The view of the property, play area and barbecue lawn mower.

Poplar Point Recreation Area at Jordon Lake, Apex, NC – We stayed here for four nights at site #E160 with 30 amp and water. No picture of the site. 😦  I spent two days with my girlfriend Carol Clokey in Apex, NC. On Derby-Day Carol, Shauna Poach and I watch the Kentucky Derby while drinking wine and wearing our hats. Oh it was so much fun catching up with my girlfriends. I had a great time staying up late chatting and drinking wine with Carol. I sure miss our girl time. See you next time around the campfire.

Carol, Shauna and I                         Carol and I at Jordan Lake Beach

Charlottesville KOA, Charottesville, VA – We stayed at this campground for four nights

Site #22with 30 amp, water and cable

The Jefferson’s Monticello
We spent the whole day at Jefferson’s Monticello Plantation. The weather was gorgeous in the low 70’s. We took the tour of Monticello house and grounds. I was impressed with Jefferson’s design of the house and plantation. He sure was way ahead of his time. What a beautiful area! I love the flowers and vegetable gardens.

Jefferson’s Monticello Plantation.

Later in the afternoon we took a short walk on the Monticello Trail that was located at the bottom of the plantation. Lovely park and area.

We toured the city of Charlottesville and the downtown mall. What a quant place to visit. It was a rainy day so we didn’t spent to much time in the city. We will have to come back in the area again to explore more of the city.

Charlottesville City Mall

Greenville Farm Family Campground, Haymarket, VA – We chose this campground to be outside of the D.C. area and avoid a lot of traffic. We stayed for 10 days to give us plenty of time to visit the D.C. area. It is a convenient campground if you want to take the Metro to D.C. Our site was in the wooded area with 30 amp and water and no satellite reception.

Site #P30 with 30 amp and water

The roads and sites were like gravel except the material was ground up asphalt from nearby road resurfacing projects. They do have RV sites with FHU on grass that are not in the woods and capable for satellite reception but they were all booked way ahead. We like our site for privacy but didn’t care for the smell of ground up asphalt on our site and road. We would rather smell the woods than asphalt. It wasn’t to strong but it is not a place I would like to come back to. Maybe next time we will reserve ahead for the grass site.

Ed’s nephew Scott Long and his sons Angus and Bill came by our campground and visited for a couple of hours. We have not seen them for many years and they have certainly grown.

Scott Long and his boys, Angus and Billy

Angus is a senior and Bill is a sophomore in high school. They are both into multiple sports and very competitive, especially with each other. We got to visit with Joyce (Scott’s wife) at their home in Alexandria on one of our trips to D.C. We drove to their home and then Scott dropped us off at Arlington National Cemetery. He picked us up several hours later at the Jefferson Memorial and took us back to their home for dinner. Scott’s dad Bill also came over. It was really nice seeing everyone.

Washington D.C. trip
It took us about an hour to drive to the nearest Metro station, Fairfax-GMU, and then another 35 minute train ride. We did a lot of walking around the Mall and site seeing the area. Oh my feet hurt by the end of each day we went.

Washington D.C. Capital

We went four times to D.C. and Ed went once without me and we still didn’t visit all of the museums. Washington D.C. is a beautiful city to visit but I would not like to live there. Places we visited are United States Botanical Gardens, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Natural History, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington House (The Robert E. Lee Memorial), Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, World War II Memorial, U.S. Navy Memorial and Naval Heritage Center, National Museum of the American Indian, and National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, around the Washington Monument (it was closed for repairs). Whew, I’m exhausted just typing that part. lol

Below are some of the pictures of the places we visited.

United States Botanic Garden

Washington Monument

Ed standing next to The Lone Sailor Statue

Arlington National Cemetery

Robert L. Lee’s House

Tomb of the Unknowns

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall

Udvar Hazey Air and Space Museum

Gettysburg Campground, Gettysburg, PA – This campground is located just 3 miles West of the center of town and bordered Marsh Creek. It is only about a couple miles to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum which is one of the reasons we chose this campground. They offer 260 sites, accommodating everything from a tent to literally any size RV. Gettysburg Campground is also the only campground in Gettysburg with an on-site RV repair facility. They also have rustic cabins and full-facility cottages.  It is a nice family campground and close to town.

Site #161 30 amp, water and cable

Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center

We went to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and watch the movie and walked around the museum. It is a beautiful museum and visitor center.

We bought a CD for a self-guided tour and drove around town for three hours to see all of the monuments and sites where the battle took place. Pretty impressive how they preserved the area so quickly after the war. The audio tour is worth $30 and to avoid dealing with people on bus tour. lol We truly enjoyed listening to the history and stories of Gettysburg.

North Carolina  Cavalry

Tennessee Cavalry

General Robert E. Lee Memorial

Little Round Top and Devil’s Den

On another day we met up with Michael and Amanda Danzi at The Dobbin House for lunch.

After lunch they came to our camp site and hung out for a little while. I forgot to take a picture of them. It was so good to see them. We met Michael and Amanda last year at TN Hills Campground in Manchester, TN while they were working at Amazon with Ed. Such great people. We are hoping to be traveling with them on the road next year.

It was a short visit in Gettysburg and so much more to see. We will be back some day.

Village Scene RV and Mobile Home (55+ community), Hatfield, PA – We stay at a 55+ community park that had some RV sites available during the memorial weekend. We had site #121 located in the very back of the park. It was a nice site with a paved driveway and shaded tree. We spent four nights there. Most of the days we just chilled and spent one day in Philly.

Site #121 with FHU

The other RV sites were up front in the park and you had to parallel park the RV. Glad we didn’t have that option. lol

Independence National Historic Park
We took the metro from Lansdale to Philadelphia which was about an hour ride. We went to the Visitor Center, Independence Hall, Penn’s Landing, Christ Church burial Ground, Ben Franklin’s Grave, and the Museum of the American Revolution. It was a lot of walking but a great city to visit.

Independence Hall – The line of people in the picture are waiting to see the Liberty Bell. We didn’t go see the bell due to the long wait

Front entrance of the Independence Hall – We stood in line for about an hour to get a free timed ticket to visit the hall. It was worth the wait.

Independence Hall, Chestnut Street facade

Courtroom of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court – The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania sat in this room in the 1700’s

Assembly Room of Independence Hall – The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution were both signed in this room

Christ Church

City Tavern

Brook N Wood Campground, Elizaville, NY – We chose this campground to take a break from all of the touring that we have done this month. We stayed at Brook N Wood Campground for four nights on site #21 with 30 amp and water. It was a nice large campground with some seasonal campers that had FHU.

One day we drove down to Greenwich, Connecticut to visit my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Marianne Tierney for the afternoon. Aunt Marianne made us a fabulous lunch and Uncle Kevin toured us around town. My cousins Kim with her three children and Michael with his two girls came by and visited for a little bit. It was such a great day seeing everyone. Thank you guys for taking the time to see us. Love you guys!

Overall May was a very busy month of touring the history of our beautiful country. I have to say I am a little tired being a tourist and ready for some down time. lol Hopefully, next month will be more about relaxing and being out in nature. Until then we will see ya next month!

See ya later!

One year RVing full-time – April 2017

April 1st – 30th

We arrived at Barton Springs Campground, Normandy, TN on April 1st after 1:00 pm and pulled into site #55 with 50 amp and water. We don’t have the lake view site but we do have plenty of privacy and we like that. We stayed here for 19 days. I forgot to take a picture of our site. 😦

Ed had to use the blue boy to empty our gray and black tanks. Instead of pulling it by hand this is his new way of doing it now.

We have been full-timing for one year this month. Wow, the time sure has flown by. This year was a lot about learning the RV lifestyle. There is a lot to learn and we are still learning as we continue with our travels. RV life has some challenges but many rewards. The challenges are the things that break like our microwave/convection oven, bent oven door, landing gear coming down on route, patch a hole in the topper caused by a fallen tree branch, bending the shocks while driving off road, water coming in from the slide out during the rain, and dealing with crazy drivers on the road.

So what are the rewards of RV life? Exploring this beautiful country with my honey, meeting all kinds of people and living with less stuff. We both enjoy being out in nature more than being in the city. We walk, hike, ride bikes and sit outside a lot more than we did living in a house. We are enjoying reconnecting with old friends when we travel in their state. Overall, there is a sense of freedom traveling in our RV such as choosing a campground that fits our lifestyle, not being on a time table, staying at our site and do nothing, taking a nap in the lounge chair while listening to the birds sing or just sleeping in. It is difficult to express in writing what we experience living in a RV. It is a lot more than just a very long vacation. It is a RV lifestyle and we are enjoying it.

There is some up keep that is required on the RV just like taking care of a house; washing and waxing the rig, checking the roof for cracks in the seals, checking tire pressure and brakes, changing out the water filter, replacing o-rings on the water filter and water hose, resealing the seals on slide out, sweeping the rain off the toppers, etc. It does take some play time away but it is no different than taking care of a house. You’ve got to do the chores and up keep on the RV.

We are discovering that many campgrounds fill up quickly, especially during the weekends and holidays. So we are having to make reservations which we really don’t like to do because it doesn’t allow us the flexibility to stay or leave. We really like going with the flow with life! Well, Ed does more than me. lol I am getting better and can relax more about it. lol

Some people have asked if we miss our old house and jobs in Tullahoma, TN. Yes and no. We do miss our old house especially sitting on the back porch swing watching the birds or just enjoying the backyard. I miss having a second bathroom and my own sink. We do miss seeing Trevor and Zooey. We do not miss cleaning the 2600 square foot house and taking care of the yard. We love our new home and RV life besides all of its challenges. We are very thankful that we can do this lifestyle and explore this beautiful country.

Family

It’s good to be back in Tullahoma to see Trevor and Zooey. I watched Zooey for a couple of hours while Ed recovered from a cold and cough; yep, he got what I had. Later in the week, he went to the doctor and got some antibiotic and decongestant. It took him about a week and half to finally to start to feel better. Poor guy.

We spent the day with Trevor, Jessica (Trevor’s friend) and Zooey at Lucky Ladd Farms, Murfreesboro, TN.

We had so much fun watching Zooey hunting for Easter eggs and petting and feeding the rabbits, goats, sheep and pig.

Zooey had fun playing in the corn box. Oh she had lots of corn in her pants. lol

Overall it was a fabulous day spending time with our son and granddaughter. We sure will miss then while traveling on the road. I am glad that we can use Skype or FaceTime to stay in touch with them.

RV repairs

When we left Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA, Ed drove off the side of the road and bent the tip of the shocks that are part of the suspension. He was able to drive the rig all the way to Tullahoma with no issue. So we are getting all four of the shocks replaced at RV’s For Less in Knoxville, TN on May 2nd. I hope that will be an easy fix.

A couple of days before Easter my microwave/convection oven died while roasting garlic. I guess it didn’t like garlic. lol So we are getting a new one at RV’s For Less on May 2nd through our extended warranty. We did have to pay a little extra since our previous unit was no longer in manufacture. Hopefully I will like the new oven just as much I had liked the old one. We do have a gas oven and haven’t used it since we bought the DRV. So now I have to use it and so far I am not liking it. It makes the rig hotter and its heats up more than what I set the temp for and it’s to small for my larger sheet pan. It is a learning process but I still don’t care for it. I am missing my convection oven. 😦
Stay posted for an update on the repairs at RV For Less in May.

Campground and Parks

Long Branch Campground at Center Hill Dam (US Army Corps of Engineer), Lancaster, TN

The Long Branch Campground is located just below Center Hill Dam on the Caney Fork River Tailwater in Lancaster, TN. The campground offers 60 sites and is popular for cold water trout fishing.

Site #19 50 amp and water

We made a reservation online and reserved site #19 with 50 amp and water. Our site is about 70 long and 24 wide with picnic table, fire pit, grill and a side table. I think this is a very nice campground. It is very spacious, long, clean and quiet. We wished the sites by the river were available during our stay but we are please with the site we chose. We are keeping this one on our list if we come back to this area.

This campground does have one walking trail across the river from the campground. called Buffalo Hiking Trail.  We drove across the Center Hill Dam and turn left to the entrance of the Buffalo Hiking trail. You could walk from the campground over the dam and down to the hiking trail but the walk getting to the trail and back would be several times longer than the trail itself.

Entrance to Buffalo Hiking Trail

The trail is a loop trail that is only about .75 mile long. It was a nice short walk along the river.

The river was a little high due to the dam running to generate power and to maintain the lake level lower than normal due to some leakage through the limestone rock around the edges of the dam. The Corp of Engineers have been working on reinforcing the area around the dam since 2006. They have published this statement about the safety of the dam structure: “Although we believe there is no imminent danger to the structure, the repairs need to be completed now to ensure the long-term safety of the dam.”

Blue Heron on the Caney Fork River

 

Edgar Evins State Park, Silver Point, TN
This park is located on the shores of Center Hill Lake in the steep, hilly Eastern Highland Rim. It is about 1 mile from the Center Hill Dam campground. They offer camping (to small for our rig size), cabins, boating, butterfly garden and hiking. It is a nice large park in the mountains.

Observation tower at the visor center office has a spectacular view of Center Hill Lake

Vister Center and Observation Tower

We took a small steep hike down to the water but had to turn around due to a large tree that was down blocking the trail. We saw lots of wildflowers along the trails.

 

Bandy Creek Campground, Oneida, TN – Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

Bandy Creek Campground is located in the Tennessee portion of Big South Fork off of Highway 297, 15 miles west of Oneida and 24 miles east of Jamestown. The campground offers a total of 181 campsites: 96 trailer sites which offer water and electric hook-ups, 49 sites for tent camping, and two group camping loops with 19 sites in one loop and 16 sites in the other.

We arrived at the campground in the cold rain. Oh I don’t like breaking down or setting up in the rain. Another reason we don’t like making reservations because we could of waited another day for the rain to stop.

Site C-12 30 amp and water

Big South Park is a beautiful area especially for mountain biking and hiking.
Big South Park begins in Tennessee at the confluence of the Clear Fork and New rivers, flows north though a spectacular 600 foot deep gorge, enters Kentucky, and empties into the Cumberland River. The park offers hundreds of miles of trails for hiking, mountain bike riding and horse back riding. It was pretty wet from the rains but I managed to get in a couple afternoons of bike riding. I rode the Collier Ridge loop which is about 8 miles. It crossed several small streams (one that was a little deeper than I expected) and up and down a couple of ridges.

If you live in Tennessee I highly recommend checking out this park. There are so many things to do in this area and the view is beautiful. We enjoyed this large park!

Yahoo Falls and Yahoo Arch spur trail
This Yahoo Falls trail is a one mile loop that will take you behind the waterfall, through a rock shelter and back to the overlook of the falls. Kentucky’s highest waterfall, Yahoo Falls, drops 113 feet into a pool below.  Near the mid-point of the trail there is a spur trail that is 0.8 mile to Yahoo Arch which we also took.

Can you see Ed in the background of the Arch?

Some of the wildflowers on the trails

Salamander near the falls

To exit the falls you have two choices go back around the loop trail or take the steep stairs to finished the loop. Well, we took the stairs. I really don’t like stairs!

Overall it was a nice and beautiful hike and we ended up hiking 3.5 miles counting all our side trips and wandering around the open areas.

Twin Arches Loop Trail
The Twin Arches are the largest sandstone arch complex in the East. Oh my goodness! What a site to see! The trail was easy to moderate (my knees do not like stairs) and it is worth taking the stairs to see the Twin Arches.

I really enjoyed hiking and seeing the Twin Arches. We took the loop trail counter clockwise which allowed us to actually walk over the top of the Arches before we got to see them. If you didn’t know you were on top of the Arches you probably could not tell. The only clue was the height of the trees as you looked over the edge of the ridge(?) you were walking on. It appeared you were just on the edge of a sharp drop off or cliff.

South Arch

North Arch – Can you see Ed in this picture?

A narrow entrance to the cave under the North Arch

Inside the cave looking at the entrance

Looking at the exit of the cave

Walking through the cave was pretty cool. We saw spiders and bats in the cave.

The Blue Heron Mining Community, Stearns, Kentucky
The Blue Heron Mining Community, also called Mine 18, is an outdoor museum that tells the 25 year coal-mining story with exhibits, structures, and audio programs.

It once employed over 200 workers and was home for nearly two dozen families. It had a school, a church, a company store and one of the largest and most up-to-date tipples of that region and time. You can see the rails of the tipple and learn how it worked and get some notion of what mining coal was like. There is no written history of Blue Heron. What is known comes from the recollection of the people who lived, worked and visited there.

It was interesting and cool to see how the community lived together during the coal-mining days back in the early 1940’s.

Devils Jump Overlook
We drove to this overlook after we visited the Blue Heron Mining Community. It was a very short walk to the overlook. Wow, what a nice view.

Panoramic view of the Devils Jump

Cherokee Dam Campground, Jefferson City, TN
At this campground all of the sites are water and 30 or 50 amp. They are in the process of changing the larger sites from 30 amp to 50 amp. They did our site, # 35, the day we arrived. The site was a little scary to get into due to its steep entrance but once in the site is pretty level.

Site #35 50 amp with water

We had a very nice view of Cherokee Lake.

Our view from the back of the RV

We were warned that the water pressure was high. The host said it was about 120 psi. We think it was higher because it blew out the O-ring in our water softener which is rated to 150 psi. Sheesh. I think we need to get a second water regulator for some of the campgrounds that have high water pressure.

One day Ed lit the gas stove for me. While he was doing that he had bent the oven door. Now it will not shut all of the way. He came up with a genius idea to use the refrigerator bracket that holds the stuff in the refrigerator while in transit to hold the door shut.

It looks funny but it worked. Now I just need to learn how to do the limbo. lol

Well, that’s our adventure this month.

See ya later!