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!

Trip from Florida to Tennessee

March 1st – March 31st

Family

Last month, I mentioned that my mother, Ginger, bought a new home in Riverview, Florida. I (and sometimes Ed) went over to her place every weekend to help her pack and clean out her apartment. Ginger used to live in a mother in-law apartment at my brother’s, Scott, house for about 10 years. So, we thought she didn’t have that much stuff to pack or move. Well, my mother is an awesome storage organizer and used every spot in that apartment. She had a lot more stuff than we had thought. lol

Ginger’s new home in Kingswood subdivision at Riverview, FL

Ginger closed on her house on 15th of March and Scott, Ed and I helped her move for two days. We used Scott’s 10 foot trailer, Ed’s truck and Ginger’s car for most of her stuff. Ginger’s new home is only about 7 miles away from the apartment and we made several trips each day. We were very tired and achy when we were done with the move. I helped my mom unpack, arrange, rearrange, and organize her place. We also hung up most of her pictures on the wall. She was pretty much all settle in within a couple of days. I was very impressed how quick she got everything put away. Now, as for trying to remember where she put it all is the adventure that she will be taking for awhile. lol

I had a wonderful time being with my family. Thank you Scott for all that you have done for mom. I didn’t get a chance to see my sister, Holly, while we were in Bowling Green, Florida due to being busy helping my mom. I will see her the next time we are down in Florida. I was able to have some one on one time with my mom during all the packing and unpacking. We had a great time together as we always do. I will miss her while we are on the road but I know I can always fly down to see her anytime. It was a tear jerking moment saying goodbye to her but I know we are only a phone call away. Love you Mom!

My mom and I at her new home

Ed’s 29″ mountain bike

Last month I wrote about getting a new mountain bike and I had not had a chance to try it off road yet. Well I went to Alifia State Park where they have miles of trails all around an old rock quarry that has allowed to be reclaimed by the trees, underbrush and water. Some of these trails are a little tight around trees and on narrow ledges between rock walls and drop offs into ponds. There are several bridges and banked turns made of wood planks to add to the experience. The trail markers are color coded and shaped like ski slope markings; round and green are easy, square and blue are intermediate, and black diamonds (or double black diamonds) are difficult or expert. I rode all the green trails and two of the blue trails my first day out totaling about 12 miles. My legs were pretty rubbery after the last trail but it was fun; especially a blue trail called roller coaster. You can view some of these trail from the perspective of the rider on U-tube, just search mountain biking at Alifia State Park.

RV repair and maintenance

In February and part of March Ed did some maintenance and repair work on our rig.

1. Repair the water line to the refrigerator – Our water line that goes to the refrigerator is exposed under the slide out and I knew it would be a problem in the winter. When we stayed in TN in the winter it froze a couple of times but would thaw out during the day. I put foam pipe insulation around it to try to prevent it from freezing during overnight low temperatures. It worked for most of the time but late January we encountered three straight days where the high temp never got above 32 degrees and the lows were 9 degrees. Well, it froze. When the temperature warmed up it started to leak after it thawed out. I shut off the water to the refrigerator until I had time to fix it. When we arrived in Bowling Green, Florida, I cut out the part of the tubing that was split and put a union on the tubing and now we can have filtered water from the refrigerator.
2. Remove and reapply sealant on slideouts – They say you are suppose to remove and reseal the rig every two years which is part of maintaining the rig and prevent leaks. I think the previous owner didn’t do that. It took a lot of patience and practice for Ed to remove and reseal the joints on the slide outs but I think he did a great job.
3. Repair the screws on the bottom of the front cap where the pin box is located – Four adjacent screws in the lap seal for the front cap had worked their way loose with two of them completely falling out. The sealant was starting to separate from the trim. I removed the trim, cleaned up the old sealant, replaced the trim with the next larger size screws and reapplied new sealant.
4. Patched a hole on the topper – While we were staying at TN Hills Campground a tree branch poked a hole in our topper over the living room slide out during a storm. So Ed put a piece of clear tape that is meant to be used on toppers over the hole so it won’t get any bigger.

Parks
Payne Creek Historic State Park, Bowling Green, FL

We took the Peace River Trail that goes down the Payne Creek until it flows into the Peace River. Then the trail follows the Peace River upstream for a couple hundred yards before looping back to the start of the trail. We saw egrets on the water and heard lots of birds singing away. Ed spotted a juvenile Florida panther on the trail. I didn’t see it in time. He reported it to the park ranger and they said they would check their game cameras to see if it captured the panther.

Mosaic Peace River Park, Fort Meade, FL

This park is located in Polk County, FL. It is all boardwalk in the little swamp area. We didn’t see any wildlife but did hear a pair of owls hooting away. We couldn’t see them but

Campgrounds

Avion Palms, Bowling Green, Florida

We stayed here from February 1st to March 22nd. We enjoyed being there and met some great people along the way. When a renter stays at an owner’s lot for more than a month or so the owner may asked the renter to take care of the lawn during their stay. So, Ed used the park’s lawn mower and edger to mow about 60×10 feet of grass and also pulled some weeds. Oh poor guy he thought he was done mowing and pulling weeds since we sold our home. lol

Ed mowing on lot #75

They had a St. Patrick’s Day parade, dinner and dance at their park on the 17th of March. They did an awesome job decorating their golf carts, motorcycles and scooters. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. They were very creative and festive. We had a blast!

We left Avion Palms on the 22nd to head back to Tennessee for a couple of weeks. We drove about 4 hours to Lake City for an overnight stay at Casey Jones RV Park.

Casey Jones RV Park, Lake City, Florida

We stayed in a pull thru site #58B full hook-up for one night. They are located right off I-75 and have 120 sites with cable, laundry, restrooms with showers and free Wi-Fi. It was an easy drive with no traffic delays to Lake City. Casey Jones RV Park is not one of my favorite places to stay but for an overnight stay it worked great for us especially when Ed didn’t have to unhitch. We usually don’t like making an overnight stay but we wanted to stay in Georgia an extra night to get a free night stay with our Friends of Georgia State Parks pass.http://gastateparks.org/ParkPass We left early in the morning and headed to Pine Mountain, Georgia for another 4 hour drive.

F.D.R. State Park, Pine Mountain, Georgia

We camped here on our way down to Florida and decided to come back here for three nights. Here is the link about our previous stay at this park. The park was almost full but we found a back in site with 30 amp electric and water. We did fine with 30 amp because we didn’t need to use both of our air conditioners.

Site #310

The pollen was extremely high here! I had a sinus headache for a couple of days but felt okay. I stayed inside most of the time and didn’t want to be outside much due to the allergies.

We drove around F.D.R. State Park and stop at Dowdell’s Knob which was Roosevelt’s favorite spot to visit during the summer. It is a beautiful view and nice place to chill.

I decided to ride my bike from the campground to the Gardens Overlook parking area so I could get on the Overlook Loop trail for a 3.5 mile hike. It was a 3.5 mile bike ride with a 400 foot verticle climb. I actually walked the bike for about 50 yards two different times. Needless to say a few places were fairly steep. I chained my bike to a tree just off of the parking area in the woods. Out of site, out of mind; I didn’t want anyone to make off with my ride. I walked the Overlook Loop trail down to an area with several foot bridges over small streams that were constructed as an Eagle project by on of the local Boy Scouts. That section was named Little Bridges. It was an easy walk down about 340 feet and then a long steady climb back up. The trail takes you to the western terminus of the Pine Mountain Trail at the entrance to FDR State Park. From there I walked about 1.3 miles of the Pine Mountain Trail to complete the loop hike.

Our son, Trevor, had given me a CamelBack hydration pack for Christmas a year and a half ago but I had not used it until this hike. It worked great, especially when combining the bike and hike, as I did not have to carry a couple bottles of GatorAde in my fanny pack. I retrieved my bike and rode about 1.7 miles to the park office where I had an ice cream bar as a treat. After that the ride back to the campground was all down hill. I was flying and had to use my brakes several times, all the while hoping a deer doesn’t decide to run out in front of me. It was a good afternoon; biked 7 miles and hiked 3.8 miles. My Garmin VivoActive said I set a personal record for bike climbing and for bike speed.

Chattahoochee Bend State Park, Newnan, GA

This park is in the national forest and the park occupies 2,910 acres and is Georgia’s 5th largest state park. The park is located on the northwest end of Coweta County and runs along the banks of the Chattahoochee River for 7 miles. The have two loops with a total of 49 campsites with a mix of RV and tent sites. We chose a very long (100 ft) back in campsite #110 with 50 amp electric and water for three nights. We chose this site due to the nice view of the woods.

At night we heard owls hooting away in the woods. It sounded like dogs barking to me but it was a pair of Short Ear Owls. Sorry no pictures they were to far away.

The pollen here was worse than at F.D.R. State Park. I started to cough more but still felt just okay. I used a lot of my Young Living Essential Oils (Distributor # 544344) and vitamins to combat the sinus pressure and cough caused by the allergies. They were helping but I still wasn’t up to par. I guess my system doesn’t like pollen. lol I did walk a little bit to the river but didn’t do any hiking around the area but Ed did.

I rode my bike around the roads in the park and back to the visitors center. There were a lot of hills and my ride was 6 miles with over 500 feet of elevation gain. This state park has 3.5 miles of mountain bike trails and they have plans to increase this up to 20 miles. There is access to the bike trail directly across the road from the entrance to the campground loop 1. I rode the bike trails and they were mostly through the pine forest, on pine needles. This is a little different than on dirt, pine needles are slippery if you cut too fast or brake too hard. The trails were easy but I still got a pretty good workout.

The next day I decided to hike the Riverside Trail. I wanted to go all the way to the end to an area for platform camping but there was a tree harvest taking place and the trail was closed around the 4 mile mark.

Since I could not hear any equipment running I decided to continue beyond the closure. Well, the tree harvest took out all the trees around the trail and there were no marking to follow.

I continued on until I reached the bath house for the platform camping area and was running out of daylight so I had to turn back. I got back to our camp well before sunset and my VivoActive said I did 9.1 miles.

Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA

This park straddles a deep gorge cut into the mountain by Daniel Creek and elevation varies from 800 to 1,980 feet. The view of the gorge is beautiful and can be seen from the picnic area or on the trails.

View from the east rim near the interpretive center

This park offers 72 tent and trailer sites each with water and electrical hook-ups, table and grill. There is an east rim campground and a west rim campground.  We chose a pull-thru site in the west rim campground and Ed stayed hitched again.

Site #14

After we settled in our RV, I started to feel worse and felt achy all over. The next morning Ed took me to a walk-in clinic in Look Out Mountain about 20 miles from the park. I received a steroid shot and prescriptions for a decongestant and an antibiotic. I do not like being sick and can be such a big baby about it. lol. I think the oils kept the allergies at bay for as long it could. I guess being outside in the pollen that my immune system needed some help. After of couple of days on the meds, I started to feel better and had no problem driving to our next destination.

Cloudland Canyon State Park has 23.3 miles of trails for hiking, biking and Horseback riding. I didn’t do any of them but Ed did some hiking.

Cloudland Canyon has over 20 miles of mountain bike trails of various difficulty. I did not ride any of the trails. I did hike a little though. The West Rim Trail can be accessed from the west campground via a short connector.

I came across a couple of critters; the snake was longer than my hiking stick which is over 4 feet and the goat is kind of a celebrity around the park.  The view of the canyon is outstanding from several overlooks along the West Rim Trail.

View from the West Rim Trail

The distance from the west campground around the loop and back to the west campground is 3.9 miles according to my VivoActive with over 500 feet of elevation change. The second trail I did was the Waterfalls Trail but I had to use the West Rim Trail to access it from the campground. There are two waterfalls to view; Cherokee Falls and Hemlock Falls.

Cherokee Falls

Hemlock Falls

The Waterfalls trail connects to Sitton’s Gulch Trail which also passes an unnamed waterfall. It is unnamed because it only flows if there has been sufficient rainfall. I walked down Sitton’s Gulch for about a half mile before turning around and returning to the campground. The distance of this walk was 3.6 miles with an elevation change of over 800 feet.

On April 1st we left around 11:00 am and drove for two hours to Tullahoma, TN.

Well that is it for March.

See ya’ll later.

 

Winter in Bowling Green, FL

February 1 – 28th, 2017

We found a place to stay for the month of February and part of March at Avion Palms RV Park in Bowling Green, Florida. Avion Palms is about 60 miles from Tampa, 80 miles from Orlando/Disney World and 30 miles south of Lakeland. It is located in the quiet and laid back heart of citrus and farming country.

Site #75 1113 Manila Lane

According to Avion Palms’ website they are the most beautiful park in all of Florida.  We agree with them. It is very well maintained and a beautiful park with the most friendliest people in town. Avion Palms is an “age 55 and older” community with 233 lots that are owned and operated by its members. They have full time residents, as well as owners and renters who only spend the winter months here. Presently, they have RVs and park model homes on lots, as well as vacant lots for sale and for rent. Most of the members volunteer their time to maintain the beautiful park and to provide great meals and activities.

Avion Palms has the largest club house I have ever seen. They have a very large dance floor, kitchen, library, craft room, pool room with two tables and lots of tables and chairs. They have daily and weekly activities such as exercises classes, water aerobics, crafts, line dancing, bible study, golf, shuffleboard, game nights, Music Jam, scrapbooking, crochet, choir, pot luck, bingo and more. We had a hard time keeping up with these folks. lol

Kitchen and restrooms on the left, dance floor in the center and pool tables, craft room, meeting room and library on the right side of the building.

The clubhouse

They have a pool and spa and a large laundry room with 8 coin washers and dryers, iron with ironing board and a large clothes folding table in the center of the room. It only cost $1.00 for the washing machine and 75 cents for the dryer. We use their machines instead of using ours to save on the electric bill and wear and tear on our machines.

We have attended many of the their events such as the auction, Pickin’ & Grinnin’, bingo, a variety show, and the Valentine’s dinner and dance. I went to their ladies luncheon and fashion show which was a lot of fun. Ed likes having chili cheese dogs on Tuesday and having ice cream during bingo and on Sunday night.

Valentine’s dinner and dance

Billie Marie and Carole at the Ladies Luncheon and Fashion Show

We would come back to this beautiful park next time we are in the area. Such nice people and great community.

During our stay here we drove up to Riverview many times in the month of February to visit my brother Scott and mother Ginger. One day we spent the day with Ginger looking at modular homes in Riverview area and later celebrated her birthday at Circles restaurant in Apollo Beach.

Ginger, Ed, Scott, Michelle, Dee, and me

One of those visits Scott took us out on his boat to Tampa Bay. We saw dolphins playing in the water, two cruise ships, Beer Can Island, and a beautiful sunset. It was a very nice day to be out on the water.

My mother bought a modular home in Riverview, Florida and we decided to stay in the area to help her move in March. Being flexible is one of the many benefits of full-timing in a RV and of course being retired. lol

State Parks

Below is all of the State Parks we visited.

Little Manatee State Park, Wimauma, FL

Ed and I went for a little hike on the Oxbow and the Florida Hiking trail. All we saw on the trail was an armadillo. It was a nice little hike though. Actually we only walked half of the Florida Hiking Trail because we were running out of daylight. We took a cut through that divided the trail in half. Just as we were starting the trail Tracey’s mom called and wanted us to see a home she was checking out. Luckily it was only 20 minutes from where we were so we stopped exploring and drove about 12 miles down the road. After looking over the home we went back to the state park to finish our hike. Just another example of being flexible with our time…retirement is great!

Highlands Hammock State Park, Sebring, FL

It was 76 degrees and beautiful day to be out in the woods. We used to camp at this park when we lived in Jupiter and always loved this park. Surprising, Highlands Hammock has not changed much since the last time we were there. Some of the oranges trees have died off but the swamp and woods is just as beautiful as it was when we were there 25 years ago. I’ve always enjoyed Highlands Hammock SP and I am glad that area was preserved as a great example of the diversity Florida’s landscape. You change from flat, sandy pine woods to a luscious hard wood hammock to swampy cypress and cabbage palms all within an hours walk.
Here are some pictures.

The Cypress Swamp boardwalk trail is one of our favorite places to explore. It is very peaceful and serene.

My favorite scene of the swamp area

Interesting how the tree grew over the boardwalk instead of pushing the boardwalk away

On the Ancient Hammock trail Ed found a wild orange tree and decided he wanted an orange to eat. Good job Ed! It was very bitter and juicy.

The second to the last trail we took was the Fern Garden trail. It was mostly all boardwalk and a short walk.

 The last trail we took in Highlands Hammock SP was The Alexander Run Big Oak trail. The only thing we saw was a very old large oak tree and it was huge. Sadly it is no longer alive.

Paynes Creek Historic State Park, Bowling Green, FL
This is a small historic park with a couple of trials. First we saw the reenactment of the murders at Kennedy-Darling Trading Post. That was a little interesting.

Those murders were one of the events that led to the third Seminole Indian War in 1853. 

After the reenactment we walked a short trail to view Paynes Creek. It had started getting hot so Tracey did not want to walk the other trail. I took her back home and returned to the park to walk the other three trails. There is a nice suspension bridge that crosses Payne Creek where you can see a monument erected in the memory of those murdered there. I also walked down Payne Creek to point where it flowed into the Peace River.

Alafia River State Park. Lithia, FL
We wanted to camp here but they were booked and now we know why. It is a beautiful and very well maintained park. They have 30 campsites with water and electric hook-up. The 6,312 acre park is a former phosphate mine in southeastern Hillsborough County. The reclaimed mine altered the landscape and created new landforms such as several small lakes, and steep grades popular with off-road bicyclists who enjoy challenging trails.
The park offers 20 miles of equestrian and hiking trails through the hardwood forest, pine flat woods and rolling hills. We saw deer, turtles, hawks, white cranes and egrets along the trails.

Mulit-use trail is for bicyclist and hikers share the trail at your own risk. The bicyclist ride fast! 

Can you see the turtle?

The park offers 20 miles of challenging off-road mountain bicycling trails, ranging from beginner to highly advance. The bicycle trails at Alafia River have the International Mountain Bicycling Association Epic designation. This park was very busy with bicyclist and the trails look very challenging. I would be scared to try out those bike trails. lol But I think Ed and Trevor would enjoy the challenge. I have been looking into replacing my road bicycle with a mountain bike for a while so after we got back from the state park I ordered a bike. After it gets here I will go back and ride a few of those trails. Stay tuned to next month’s blog to see how I do.

Ducks sitting on a dead tree

RV stuff
On other days Ed resealed most of the exterior joints on our rig, we got it washed and waxed, and bought a new water softener (Florida water is hard and I don’t like spots on my glasses. lol) I washed the screens and windows and Ed pulled weeds and mowed the lawn at our site which is one of the requirements of renting a site for a couple of months at Avion Palms. Ed thought he was done with lawn work. lol

Avion Palms offer lawn mowers and other equipment for owners and renters to use.

Well, that’s it for now. I am not sure where the time goes and but it is sure flying by fast.

See ya’ll later!

Winter Trip to Florida

January 1st – 19th

We celebrated New Years with the campground host and several campers. We had a blast celebrating with them. Such nice people at Barton Springs Campground in Normandy, TN.

Ladies at Barton Springs Campground

While Ed finished up finalizing his mom’s estate, I spent some quality time with our granddaughter, Zooey. I alway have so much fun being with her. She has a way of reminding me that life is simple if you allow it to just be and to enjoy each precious moment. Zooey is such a lovable, talkative, and joyful being. I will miss that little munchkin when we start traveling south.

Zooey and I having fun

January 15th was Ed’s birthday. He got a wonderful gift from mother nature that day. He saw a pair of bald eagles on Normandy Lake. What a beautiful site to see. Later, we went out to dinner with Trevor to celebrate Ed’s birthday. It is always so nice to spend some quality time with our son. He has been very busy with work and playing disc golf and taking care of Zooey. We will miss him while we are gone traveling around the country.

Ed, Trevor and I celebrated Ed’s birthday

We did have a little snow while we were in Normandy. The snow was pretty to see but dang it’s cold!  It was 9º F three mornings in a row.

Site #65 at Barton Springs Campground

January 20th – 22nd

We left Barton Springs Campground and headed south to Lake Guntersville State Park, AL. It was an easy drive and only took us about two and a half hours to get there. We had been to this park in 2015 with the 30ft travel trailer and loved it. We picked a site by the lake with full-hookups.

Site #E-35

Lake Guntersville State Park has over 300 campsites. They only had about 15 rigs staying there not including the long terms. It is nice to be able to pick your own site.

I like the view of the lake from the inside of our rig. It is so beautiful here.

I met up with my life time childhood friend at Lake Guntersville State Park lodge for lunch. I love how we can catch up from where we left off. After lunch we went out on the balcony and enjoyed the beautiful view of Lake Guntersville.

Shelly and I on the balcony at the Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge

The lodge is located on top of the hill 600 feet above the campground. They have schedules for bringing in birds that live in their area. We saw a Red Tail Hawk and Shadow Owl.

Later, I showed Shelly our rig and hung out until Ed came home from his hike. Then we went to Shelly’s home to see all of the wonderful remodeling work she had to done to her house. It was a nice spending the day with Shelly.

On our last night staying at the park a strong storm came through from the southwest and headed up to Georgia. (The same storm that hit Adel, GA with tornadoes and killed 7 people.) We had heavy winds and rain all afternoon and evening. I did not like hearing our toppers flopping up and down and feeling the strong winds against our rig. I was so ready to leave the next morning and move on to our next destination. That was not fun. It was still windy in the morning when we hitched up but it wasn’t as bad as it was the night before.

January 23rd – 25th

We drove south east for four and a half hours to F.D. Roosevelt State Park, Pine Mountain, GA. That was a long drive for me. lol We chose site #301 by the creek. This site felt very serene to us. I guess we were ready to just relax and chill after a long night of rain and winds. It was so quiet and peaceful here. We slept good that night.

FDR State Park offers wooded 140 campsites, 21 cabins, pool, 7 hiking trails, and horse stables. The park is located near Callaway Gardens and the town of Warm Springs. President F.D. Roosevelt frequently visited the Warm Springs for treatment after he was stricken with polio in 1921.

The next morning we went for a short walk on the Delano Trail. It was an easy trail but not much wildlife to see though. Later in the afternoon we toured FDR’s vacation home, the Little White House, the guest house and servants quarters, and the Secret Service Sentry posts and saw the famous “unfinished portrait” and the therapeutic pools which drew him to the area, and his hand-controlled 1938 Ford convertible.

We enjoyed the museum and the white house.

The next day we went for a 2 mile hike on the Swimming Pool trail.

Again, not much wildlife. It was a nice walk though. Ed went for a longer hike while I stayed home and did laundry and relaxed.

I picked out a combination of three trails that formed a 6.9 mile loop; Mountain Creek Nature Trail, Pool Trail and the Pine Mountain Trail. This combination is used so much that they list the loop as the Long Leaf Loop Trail on the trail map for the Pine Mountain Trail. The Pine Mountain Trail runs the entire length of the F D Roosevelt State Park from the west to east covering 23 miles. The park is not quite that long as the bird flies but the trail meanders around enough to add several extra miles. F D Roosevelt State Park is the largest state park in Georgia. With all my stops to look at scenery it took just under 3 ½  hours.

January 26th – January 27th

We got up early, packed up, hitched up and got on the road by 9am. We headed south to Reed Bingham State Park, Adel, GA. We had to reserve a campsite online the day before because they were filling up fast. We got their last pull-thru premium site #38. We have been here before with our 5th wheel. For more information about this park check out our 2016 July blog post. We like this park because of the wide spaces between campsites and lots of oak trees.

We went for a hike on the board walk trail. We didn’t see any wildlife due to the rise of the lake from the storm this past weekend. Here is a picture of the comparison from last summer to this winter.

2016 July                                                         2017 January

January 28th – 31st

We left Reed Bingham State Park by 10am and drove south to Ocala, Florida. We parked at Ocala Sun RV Resort in one of their overnight pull-thru sites. Their pull-thru sites are at least 60 feet long on grass. We had full-hook ups and free Wifi.

Site #114

We stayed there for four nights to give us time to find a place to stay in central Florida for a month. I know, we should of reserved a spot months ago especially during the winter season in Florida. lol This campground has very nice bathrooms, pool area and clubhouse. We would keep this campground in mind for an overnight stay next time we come down to Florida.

It took us a couple of days of driving around and luckily we found a place to stay for a month of in Bowling Green. Stay tuned for the next months blog.

See ya later!

Full Circle

September 20th – 25th

After we bought our DRV this past summer, I found a website that is geared toward DRV owners called Suites Owners International Travel Club (SOITC). The Club is self-sponsored and self-supporting and is open to any owner of a DRV Luxury Suites recreational vehicle. They offer regional rallies around the country. We signed up to attend the Eastern Rally in Crossville, TN on Sept. 20th – 24th at Spring Lake RV Resort.

There were about 28 DRVs at the campground. It was so cool to see all of the rigs in one campground.We thought attending the rally would be a great way to meet people who owned a DRV and to learn all we can about the fifth wheel. Boy, we are glad we attended the rally. The people at the rally were so helpful answering our questions about the rig and very informative on a variety of subjects. They organized daily activities, craft, meals, and evening events.

We went to the Homestead House Museum and Homestead Tower with the SOITC group. Later we had dinner at the Cumberland Mountain State Park restaurant.

It was very well organized and a FUN rally! We got to meet some wonderful people and we are looking forward to seeing them out on the road very soon.

Ed and I took one day during the rally to hike a trail at the Cumberland Mountain State Park.

Cumberland Mountain State Park Bridge

We had a fabulous time with SOITC people and can’t wait to see them again at next years national rally.

September 26th – October 2nd

We left Crossville and headed east to Maggie Valley, NC. We stayed at Creekwood Farm RV Park for about a week.  We chose this campground to hang out with Frances and Wayne who was at the SOITC eastern rally and it was close to the Blue Ridge Parkway and many of the hiking trails we like.

Creekwood Farm RV Park bathrooms are the BEST! Very clean, nice and roomy. The sites are a little narrow but doable. They do have about nine 60 feet pull thru sites for an overnight stay which is a nice feature to have if you do not want to unhitch. We will definitely be back to this campground.

Campsite #31

The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of our favorite places to visit. Oh how we love the NC mountains! I love the view and some of the easy hiking trails such as the Graveyard Fields. We left the campground early enough so we could stop at Pisgah Inn for breakfast prior to heading out to Graveyard Fields.

After we hike Graveyard Fields, we went to the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On another day driving on the parkway we saw a bear. Oh my! That was so cool!

We walked a short trail called Soco Falls which was off US19. The trailhead was not marked well and was a little challenge to find. Ed hiked down to the bottom while I took pictures of the falls from a balcony.

One late afternoon, we went to see some Elk at Cataloochee Valley, part of the Great Smoky National Park. Wow, what a beautiful site and to see them up close.

Couple of days, I stayed in the RV to do laundry and relax while Ed hiked in the woods. I took a couple of afternoons to solo hike two trails that were probably too strenuous and too long for Tracey to enjoy. One trail started in Cataloochee Valley and climbed up the ridge and back down to the same trailhead. There were a couple of large tulip poplar trees that were hollowed out at the base. They were large enough inside that several people could fit and use it as a shelter from the rain (as long as there isn’t any lightning.) My hiking stick is 51” long so you can see in the picture the tree diameter is well more than six feet. There were several log bridges to cross the creeks and there were a couple places where you had to ford the creek (or rock hop which is my preference.)

The second trail was a loop that started at Smokemont campground and also went up the ridge and then back down to the campground. This one was easier and Tracey probably could have done it although it was about 7 miles. I came across two places where a skunk had dug up a yellow jackets buried nest. I like to look for the salamanders and crawfish when I am crossing the smaller creeks. I found a few but did not get any pictures clear enough to show. It was nice to walk in the Smokys again.

On our last day at the campground we hung out with Frances, Wayne, Bill and Billy Marie. We had a ball with these people.

It was a nice trip in the mountains but it was time to head back to Coffee County for Ed to begin work at Amazon.

October 3rd – December 25th

We left Maggie Valley and drove about two and half hours back to Crossville, TN. We stayed at Bean Pot Campground for one night. The next morning we left Bean Pot Campground and drove for about two and half hours to Tennessee Hills Campground, Manchester, TN.

Tennessee Hills Campground Site #J3

Rear site

Ed’s fire pit at our site on J3

We camped at this campground as part of the Amazon camper-force program. Check out this link about their program.  Ed started work at Amazon on October 14th and finished on December 22nd.

While Ed worked at Amazon, I had rotor cuff surgery on my left shoulder and had physical therapy three times a week. I kept myself busy during the day with physical therapy, trying out new recipes, spending time with our granddaughter Zooey, lunch dates with friends, getting massages and acupuncture work and just chilling.

December 26th – December 31st

Ed is finished with Amazon and we can move on to the next destination. Well, not to far away though. Ed will finish up with his mom’s estate sometime in January and then we can move on down south. So we drove back to Barton Springs Campground in Normandy for a month. This is the first year that Barton Springs stayed open for the winter and we are glad they are trying it out. We are at campsite #65 (camp host site) with full-hook ups with a nice view of the lake.

Campsite #65 (camp-host site)

Our view of the Normandy lake

So we have come full circle from where we started full timing in our RV. We started and ended this year camping at Barton Springs. Looking forward to what the new year will bring for us.

We had a very busy and blessed year. We thank all our friends and family for their support and love during this year of change. Big hugs to you all!

Happy New Year!

See ya’ll later,
Tracey and Ed

Cleaning, Playing and Celebrating

August 1st – 31st

It’s been awhile since I last wrote. The reason I haven’t written is because we didn’t travel or visit any new places. We stayed in Tullahoma from early July until mid September. We have been busy cleaning out Ed’s mom’s house and settling the estate. It took longer than planned. Long summer of decluttering but at least it is done. Below are some of the activities we did while we were in Tullahoma.

We celebrated Zooey’s 2nd birthday on the 14th in Winchester, TN. Trevor and Tina (Zooey’s mom) invited their family, friends and kids to the Minnie and Mikey mouse party. We had a great time.

We wore the Mickey Mouse hat but Zooey didn’t want to wear her Minnie Mouse headband. So her mom wore it. So cute.

Trevor, Tina and Zooey

The following week we had a play date with Zooey at the Barton Springs Campground in Normandy. We played hide and seek and walked around the lake. It is was sunny and a nice day to be outside.

Zooey said “Gamma I’m hiding!”

Most of August Ed and I cleaned and packed stuff at his mom’s old house to get it ready for Trevor to move into the house in late August. The house is a two bedroom and one bath with a laundry/mud room. It is a small house but just the right size for Trevor and Zooey. It does have a large backyard and plenty of room for Zooey to run around. The house is painted lavender because that is what Ed’s mom wanted and that’s what she did. To me, it looks like a little doll house.

Ed’s mom lavender house

Trevor will be staying there for awhile to take care of the house and yard. Big project but he will take good care of it. Trevor moved most of his stuff into the house by the end of August. He had more stuff than he thought. He has a lot to reorganized of his and Zooey’s stuff. Life is different when you have a child to take care of.

At the end of August, I babysat Zooey at Trevor’s house. We played dress up, walked around the yard and visited a horse across the street. That was a fun and exhausting day for me. Whew! Zooey is a full of bundle of energy and I could use some of it to catch up with her. lol

September 1st – 17th

On September 1st, we had to move from site #54 to site #40 due to someone having already reserved site #54 for the Labor Day weekend. We didn’t mind moving. It kind of gave us a change of view.

Site #40

We like the view of the lake sitting by the tree listening to the wind chimes. It is very relaxing and quiet at this site.

Our favorite place to sit

There are plenty of hummingbirds flying around here. Here is a picture of what I could capture that wasn’t blurry. Geez they move fast. lol

Ed counted at least 7 hummingbirds at one time

We didn’t do much for Labor Day except for relaxing, drinking and eating. It was beautiful weather in the low 80’s all weekend. It was real nice.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

After Labor Day weekend, Ed cleaned and waxed the roof on our RV.

When we bought our Mobile Suites one of the service technicians at the dealership gave us a few tips on maintenance of the roof. He said he used to run his own business cleaning, sealing, and waxing RVs. He said we could clean the roof (toppers and awning) with Totally Awesome. After you rinse it off he said to use Murphy’s Oil Soap and apply it to the rubber roof, toppers and awning. According to him the oil soap coats the surfaces and provides a little UV light protection. It does make the dew and rain water bead up as if the surfaces had a wax coating. After I finished with the roof, toppers and awning I proceeded to wash the sides of the RV. It took me about 7 hours to complete the whole project. I would not want to do that for a living. After all that work I have to admit the DRV looks great.

We celebrated Trevor’s birthday on the 10th with Oreos Cookie and Cream. Sorry no picture. Happy Birthday Trevor! It is hard to believe that he is 26 years old now. Where did the time go?

Happy Birthday Trevor!

Lastly, I took Zooey to the Tullahoma Library for story time. The last time I took her was in March. Zooey remembered the Library and was excited to see all of the books and kids again. Most of the parents recognized her and was glad to see her. Zooey hugged everyone there. It was so cute. Here is a picture of her playing the Scarf game.

Zooey at the Tullahoma Library

Well, that’s it for now. We will be heading on the road very soon. Stay posted for our next adventure.

See ya’ll later!

Old and New ideas (Tullahoma, TN)

July 13th – July 31st

Well this month sure went by fast. I haven’t written in awhile because there really isn’t much going on with traveling and visiting places. Ed has been busy cleaning out his mom’s old house. Ed’s mom, Mary, lived to be 102 years old and had collected many things over the years. She grew up during the depression era and as many of you know those generations did not like to throw anything away. She had old ragged purses, colored pencils, yarns, books, glasses, dishes, silverware, tin cans, jugs, mason jars, and outdated clothes, broken jewelry and kitchen appliances. She did have a habit of keeping old tea bags, juices, and out dated food and medicine in the refrigerator over the years. Oh I bet that wasn’t fun cleaning out her refrigerator. lol

It is going to take a couple of months for Ed and his sisters, June and Cricket, to sort through all of Mary’s stuff and decide what to keep, sell, give away to family and friends or just throw away items that are no longer useful. Ed and I decided it would be best to not travel and stay in Tullahoma area for a couple months to finish up settling the estate. Hopefully it all will be done by September.

We stayed at Fairview Devil Step campground Friday the 15th. We drove about 30 miles to Barton Springs Campground in Normandy. It is the same campground we stayed in after we sold our house. We will be staying at this campground until September. We are at site #54 right across from where we were the last time we stayed here in April. We paid a monthly rate of $395 plus tax for water and electric.

Site #54

Our view from the back of the rig (Normandy Lake)

We parked our rig to face the lake instead of facing toward the picnic table.

Back of the rig facing the picnic table

The reason we parked it backward was our non-door side of the rig only has one window that would be exposed to the southwest afternoon sun. We only have one tree that provides late afternoon shade on the back of the rig but we still have to keep our blinds down all day on the non-door side. Parking it this way our air conditioner won’t run continuously.

On the door side of the rig where we have the most windows we get exposed to the morning sun. Due to the extreme heat in the morning we keep the blinds down until around noontime. I like having our blinds up to watch for wildlife and people boating or swimming in the lake.

Our view of the lake

In the meantime, what am I doing while Ed is busy with his mom’s house? I have been getting massages, acupuncture, and adjustments for about a month. I was overdue taking care of my body. It feels good to be taken care of for a change. lol I did go out to lunch with some of my girlfriends in Tullahoma area and that was fun.

I have been shopping and reorganizing inside the RV. There are a couple of creative things I have done in the RV that I would like to share.

First thing we did was to take care of the summer heat that shines through our windows.

When we were in Florida, we had morning and afternoon sun shining on our windows and our air conditioner was running constantly. We had to do something to reduce the amount of radiate heat that was coming through our blinds. Then I remember my brother’s girlfriend Michelle King, told me what she did with her windows in their RV. She had bought a couple of sun shades that was used for cars. So we bought a couple of sun shades at Wal-Mart and tried them out.

They work beautifully. It keeps the radiate heat from the sun coming through our blinds. Thank you Michell King for your suggestions! The funny thing is that apparently this is not a new idea. As I walk around the RV park I see many people have put sun shades in their RV windows. Geez, I guess I am a little behind the time. Anyway, it works great and I highly recommend it just in case it is a new idea for you. lol

The next thing I tackled was the wine rack. The wine rack came with the refrigerator and we were not using it. It was using up space that I could use for something else.

Ed took the wine rack out and put it in the closet. One day I was thinking how can I prevent our glasses from tipping over during the move. It needed a box or some kind of holder to keep them in place. Bang! What about the wine rack? Now, that is probably a new idea! lol

With the rubber mat and wine rack it holds the glasses in place. We didn’t have to nail down the rack either. Yay!

Next thing I tackled was the issue I was having with the tall pedestal toilet in our RV. When I sit on the toilet I am on my tippy toes and not able to relax the pelvic muscles. One day I saw a commercial about the Squatty Potty  you put around the pedestal of the toilet and it raises your legs up. Well, I can’t use that because we flush our toilets with the foot pedal. So I had another great idea! I put a yoga block under my feet and wal-aah, it works.

I can put the yoga block on the side of the toilet when not in use. Who knew that a yoga block can be use for multiple things. lol

Here are some pictures of other things I did in the RV.

I put napkins, coasters, and phone and laptop chargers in the baskets. That way it is less clutter on our dinning room shelf.

I laid down all of the herbs and spices face up so I could read them when I open the draw.  

I put the dishes on the rubber mat so they don’t move during transit. 

I used plastic tubs to prevent the cleaning supplies tipping over during transit. 

Well, that is all the trouble I have done so far. lol If you or someone you know has done some modifications to their rig please let me know. I would love to hear what they have done.

It will be rather quiet for the month of August and I will not be writing every week. In the meantime, you all stay cool this summer and stay in touch.

See ya’ll later!

Back in Tullahoma

July 4th – July 12th

Monday
We left Harvest Moon RV Park, Adairsville, GA at noon eastern time and headed west to Tullahoma. We arrived at Tim’s Ford/Fairview Devils Step State Park Campground in Tullahoma around 2:30pm central time.
We chose site #19 because it is one of their longest sites 60 feet long. The site is gravel and little up hill.

We paid about $21 a night for electric and water using the senior discount. They do have full up-hook on some sites but they were not available. We are staying here for four nights. They do not have free wifi or cable. Fairview  is a newly renovated campground that opened in October 2015. The campground is located on the south side of Tim’s Ford Reservoir about 6 miles from the Tim’s Ford State Park visitor center and main campground. The Fairview campground has paved driveways with gravel site pads and most of the sites can handle a larger rig up to 50ft. They are nicely spaced with some shade and some sites backed up to the lakeshore. The main campground has smaller sites and can handle up to 35 ft rigs and does not back up to the lake.

Fairview is a nice campground but their bathroom could use some improvement. The ladies bathroom needs to be cleaned daily not just every other day. The shower heads are so close to the wall that it is difficult to wash your hair and body. I don’t like touching my face or body to a public shower wall. Yuck!

So, thumbs down for the bathrooms but thumbs up for the large sites and view. I have been going to June’s (Ed’s sister) house to take showers and to do some laundry. Thank you June!

In the evening we watched a movie and stayed inside while the fireworks were going off in the campground. We didn’t feel like going out watching the show. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend!

Tuesday
Today we went to Ed’s mom’s old house to do some laundry, paper work, shower, and wifi stuff. Then we went to our storage unit and got some stuff for the RV. I had packed stuff in boxes and labeled them to be used in the new RV. Well, I discovered I don’t need half of the stuff that I thought I would need. So, I am in the process of reorganizing the RV and storage. I am pretty sure I will be reorganizing the RV again and again as we rearrange stuff.

Later in the afternoon Ed went fishing on the lakeshore. He fished for about an hour. He came back with a story. He said he caught a bass that was about eighteen inches long. He tried to take a picture of it but he slipped and dropped the fish in the water. He made me smell his hands to prove that he really caught a fish. I said nice story honey. lol I told him to go fishing again and this time don’t drop the fish and take a picture of it. He has been trying ever since and no fish yet.

Thursday
We watch Zooey all day while Trevor went to work. I took her shopping for clothes then to  lunch at Chick Filet in Tullahoma. I sure missed her simplicity and joy of life. She is full of energy but with such grace and calmness of it all. We had a great time together.

Zooey laughing at me while I was making faces at her while she was eating Cheerios.

Lunch with Zooey at Chick Filet in Tullahoma

While I was out with Zooey, Ed moved the DRV to the new site all by himself. He did a fabulous job. We extended our stay here until July 15th but had to move to a different site because site #19 was already reserved. The only site available for the dates we wanted was a handicap site #27 and they said that it was okay for us to use. Most of the campgrounds we have seen have handicap sites that are paved and very close to the restrooms. At this campground they have two handicap sites with gravel and close to the restrooms but site #27 was gravel and far away from the restrooms. I am not sure handicap people would want a gravel site and bumpy road to get to the restrooms. Maybe that is the reason it was available. Anyway we are glad it was available for us to enjoy the view of the lake.

Ahhh lake views are the best.

Later Trevor came over for dinner and picked Zooey up. It was nice catching up with him and hanging out with my favorite people!

Friday and Saturday
We drove around town and checked out some other campgrounds. We checked out Henry Horton State Park in Chapel Hill. The campground was a little tight and small for our rig to fit. It is a nice park but we will pass staying there. We drove to Barton Springs Campground in Normandy and checked for dates and sites available for us to stay there after the 15th. We made reservations to stay there for a couple of weeks.

Ed went fishing again. He is still trying to catch the bass so he could get a picture of it. lol

Sunday
Today was a nice relaxing day. June came over to see our new rig. She was surprised how big it was. She said the pictures I posted on the blog does not do it justice. It is big, beautiful and feels like home. We hung out by the lake, ate dinner and played Sequence. It was a nice evening together.

Monday
Today Ed went over to June’s house to clean out the shed and go through his mothers things. She had a lot of boxes that he and June will need to go through before they settle the estate. Good thing Ed had practice with our old house. lol I went out to lunch with my friend Phillis friend at Ruby Tuesday in Tullahoma. I forgot to take a picture of us. Later we just hung at our site and enjoyed the lake view and lovely weather.

Tuesday
I didn’t want to go anywhere today. So I hung out at our site all day. I did some writing and relaxing by the lake. I sure enjoy being by the lake.

Ed went to the dentist, took a nap and went to June’s house to do more decluttering in the shed.

Well that’s it for now.

Thank you for reading and responding to the blog. Big hugs to you all!

See ya’ll later!

We made it out of Florida!

June 26th – July 3rd

Sunday
Today we drove two hours away from Ocala to visit my family in Riverview near Tampa. We hung out all day with my mom, Ginger, with her bird tweetie and my brother, Scott, with his girlfriend Michelle.

Scott, Michelle, Ed, Ginger and me

It was a very nice and relaxing visit. Scott barbecued some pork chops and Michelle cooked some potatoes and green beans. It was a delicious meal with some fun company.

My goofy brother, Scott

Monday
At 8:00 am the service tech, Jeremy came by our rig to diagnose the problem with the hydraulic landing gear. He checked for fluid leaks in the line and there were not any. He suspected the valve is the issue and needed to be replaced.

The extended warranty that we purchased when we bought the rig covered the cost of fixing the valve for the landing gear. Jeremy came back by around 1:00 pm. They had a replacement valve in stock and installed it in about 15 minutes. They were happy I left the truck hitched up otherwise they would have had to use jacks to support the front of the RV. After replacing the valve the landing gear was still deploying without being commanded. Jeremy found a bleed valve that was not fully closed so he tightened it up and it fixed the problem. Next we had to cycle the landing gear a few times to work the air out of the hydraulic system. Around 5:00 I started to unhitch the truck but the hydraulics were making a loud squealing noise. I suspected the pump was cavitating. Jeremy was just leaving to go home and he drove by and heard the pump. He stopped and checked a couple of other things and asked if I could leave the truck hitched up until tomorrow morning. He wanted to talk with Lippert controls in the morning. We hung out at the campground all day so Ed could watch what Jeremy did.

Tuesday
Jeremy did a couple more things with the landing gear and retested it again. Lippert confirmed it was air in the system and only needed to be exercised to purge the lines. Now it is working great with no issues and we can get on the road to our next destination.

We left around 10:50am at 90 degrees and headed north to Adel, GA. We took I-75 most of the way. We made it out of Florida!! YAY!

We made two stops for a bathroom break and a lunch break. We arrived at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia by 2:10 at 95 degrees and high humidity.

We checked in and picked a pull through site #33 with the view of the woods. Ed’s truck stayed hitch up to the RV since we were pretty level and just in case we decided to leave in the morning.

Originally we made reservation to be at this park for Friday the 24th for two nights. Since we had mechanical issues with our rig and had to go back to Ocala to get the landing gear fixed, we had to cancel our reservation. Most Georgia State Parks do not refund you for a cancelled reservation. The manager of Reed Bingham State Park, Rose, was nice to not charge us for cancelling and offered to move our reservation to Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We accepted her offer even though we didn’t know if our rig would be fixed by Tuesday. Well, it worked out great and saved us a little money as well. Thank you Rose!

With our Friends of Georgia discount we got 20% off $38 a night with full-hookup and cable. They have 46 RV and tent sites. Not all are full-up hookup.Reed Bingham State Park is less than six miles from 1-75 and surrounds a 375-acre lake. The lake is popular with boaters and skiers, and fishing for bass, crappie, catfish and bream.

They have a mini golf course, playground, volleyball, beachside pavilion, picnic shelters and group shelters and offer canoes and kayaks rentals.

Minuture Golf

They said there is plenty of wildlife here to see such as gopher tortoises, American alligators, yellow bellied sliders and indigo snakes. During the winter there are some bald eagles and black and turkey vultures overhead. Below is a picture of a Gopher Tortoise  that Ed took near our site. We saw at least 10 dens in the middle of the campground and they can run fast. lol

While we were setting up our rig, I notice a lot of gnats! Urgh! So we just hung out inside most of the night. It was nice to just relax and have the view of the woods from our window with no gnats buzzing in my ear, nose and face. lol

Wednesday
This morning we searched for places to stay for the 4th of July holiday weekend. We knew many state parks and RV parks would be full. It would take about 6- 8 hours to get to Tullahoma from Adel. We were planning to park at Ed’s sister’s house for the 4th of July weekend in case we didn’t find a place to stay along the way. We bought a gas generator yesterday to use at June’s place. It is a Champion generator set rated at 3650 watts continuous that we bought at Tractor Supply in Tipton, GA. It is sufficient to power our lights, refer, and one air conditioner. We could also use it to charge our batteries. We don’t know how much we will need it but thought this would be a good way to test our needs for future boondocking (also known as dry camping). The plan is this small generator set will be a backup for the solar system we are hoping to have installed in the near future.

To me, 6 to 8 hours drive is way to far for the cat and pulling the rig. We found a place in Adairsville which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Adel for Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. We decided to stay at Reed Bingham State Park for one more night and check out Friday morning and head up to Harvest Moon RV Park in Adairsville, Georgia. Now we are set for the weekend and will be in Tullahoma on the 4th. Whew!

It is not easy to make reservation months ahead if we don’t know where we will be during the busy holidays. I am getting used to not knowing where we will be staying for a couple days at a time. It sure teaches me to be in the present and not to worry about tomorrow or the next day. lol It’s like the saying goes, life is about the journey not the destination. 🙂

Later in the morning we went on a 3.75 mile bike ride around the park. It was hot and humid but nice to get out in nature today. Then we stopped at the office and got some ice cream sandwiches to cool off before we headed back to the RV.

Later, Ed went for hike on a couple of trails. They have several hiking tails, the Coastal Plain Nature Trail and Gopher Tortoise Nature Trail wind through a cypress swamp, sandhill area and other habitats representative of southern Georgia.

You could walk as little as a third of a mile or you could string several trails together to walk as far as 7 miles. I walked the Little River trail over a boardwalk built over the swampy area along the edge of Little River. It was very peaceful and I saw a few deer watching me, chipmunks, squirrels, and many birds. The trail connects with the Birdwalk trail to form a 3.2 mile loop. At the point where they connect another trail, the Yearling trail, heads north through the pine woods until it connects to a 0.6 mile loop. You have to return back down the Yearling trail to get back to the Birdwalk trail. The Birdwalk trail takes you back toward the parking lot. I enjoyed my little walk in the woods but the part through the Georgia pine woods was hot. There was at least 8 degrees difference between the swamp and the pine woods.

Thursday
Today was a beautiful day with a light breeze and temperature in the low 80s. Ed and I went for a walk on part of the trail that Ed hiked yesterday. We walked on the boardwalk trail that was about a mile long.

We only saw one couple walking on the boardwalk before us. It was a very nice and peaceful walk in the swamp area. Ed wanted to surprise me with some of the critters he saw yesterday. Here is a couple of them.

Wow, wait a treat to see this hummingbird sitting in her nest

I have no clue what kind of spider this is. Do you?

We didn’t see any alligators or snakes. Good thing cause Ed wanted to play with them. lol We did see and hear cardinals, brown thrashers, and pileated woodpeckers.

After the walk we went back to the RV and had lunch. Later we went for a nice long bike ride around the campground. Then later in the evening we walked around the campground and sat outside for a couple hours until the gnats found us. We truly enjoyed our day being out side in this beautiful weather.

Friday
We left Reed Bingham State Park campground around 8:35 am. We headed north on I-75 for about an hour and stopped for diesel/gas in Vienna, GA at a Pilot gas station. Wow, Pilot gas stations are busy! Ed got diesel in the truck section and I got gas in the car section. We met up on the road and headed back on I-75 north toward Atlanta. Oh my goodness, I really hate driving through and around Atlanta! We did take I-285 around Atlanta and then back on to I-75 to Adairsville. It doesn’t matter what time of the day you drive around Atlanta it still sucks! I told Ed I don’t want to do that again. I’d rather Ed drive and I’d sit in the passenger seat and sleep through Atlanta! lol I learned many drivers do not respect trucks or RV drivers in giving them time to stop and space to change lanes. I did not like seeing drivers getting off the ramp and driving real fast to cut Ed off in front of him instead of waiting to pass behind him. They don’t understand that it is hard to stop quickly when pulling a heavy rig behind you. Geez, idiot drivers! I will say Ed did a fabulous job driving through Atlanta without changing lanes a lot. I am glad I was not in the truck with him because he would of been seeing me tense up and hearing me cussing at the idiots drivers! lol Ok I’m done talking about it now.

We arrived at Harvest Moon RV Park in Adairsville around 2:30pm with temperature of 95 and HOT! They gave us a a long pull through site #11. Harvest Moon is owned by a couple of veterans. They have a circle of flag poles at the entrance each one for a branch of service; Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. Through out the camp ground you can spot many other veterans staying there by the flags they display, license plates or bumper stickers/window stickers declaring their branch of service.

Site #11

The site is gravel and a little up hill. Our site had two hook-ups for people that wanted to share one site. They gave us this site because it was the last one available for the 4th of July weekend and Ed mentioned to them that he wanted to stay hitched up if possible. So they gave us their longest site in their campground. Well, Ed couldn’t stay hitched due to the site being up hill. In order to level the rig he had to un-hitch. We used all of our blocks to level the rig with and still could use a couple of more. Ed had to use at least four blocks for each landing gear because he needed to make sure he would be able to hitch back up.

Without the blocks the landing gear would not be able to go up high enough for Ed to hitch up to his truck. So parking up hill is not our best friend. lol We like to find a site that are a little more level than this one but we do what we can with what is given to us. Really it is not too bad but I would not want to park on a higher hill than this next time.

We ate dinner, walked around the campground and cleaned the front cap of the RV and truck so the bugs would not stick to the paint. It has been a long day of driving and all I wanted was to drink my full glass of Baileys on the rocks, watch TV and chill for the rest of the evening. So that is what I did and lets toast to that. lol

Saturday
Today was a lazy day of not doing much of anything. We went shopping at an outlet mall in Calhoun for a couple of hours. Then we went out to lunch and grocery shopping. Around 4:00 pm we went to the campground’s annual 4th of July barbecue in the chapel located on the campground.

Harvest Moon Chapel

They had shredded pork, ribs, fried bologna, and lots of side dishes and desserts. Everything was delicious! I think most of the campers were there because it was a full house. We met a nice couple that were RVing full-time for about 18 months. They just bought a house in Rome, GA to be near their daughter and will continue RVing part-time. They told us about their love for stones and fossils and their rock hunting out west. They invited us to their rig to look at their stones later. After the barbecue we went back to the RV. I wrote on my blog and Ed took a nice long nap due to eating way to much. lol

Sunday
Today we went to North West Georgia Science Museum in Cartersville about 15 miles south from the campground. It was a nice small museum. They had dinosaurs, transportation, aerospace, rock, minerals and kids zone.

It is a great place to take kids because it it not to big and they had lots of experiments to play with in the kids zone.

For the rest of the hot day we hung around the DRV, watched TV and chilled.

So far we are loving our RV life.

See ya later!