Sunday, May 26, 2013

All most "HOME"

OK the title is a bit miss leading because home is where we park it and in the past six years we have been bless enough to be able to call home in all of the lower 48 states. Back to the title "home" is where we were born and raised, Middlesboro Kentucky, and we will be moving the rig to a spot the CGNHP provides for us when we volunteer that is in Middlesboro.

 Now we are at the campground located a few miles into VA. CGNHP is spread out over three states, KY, TN, and VA. The campground is located in the most western part of VA, only a couple miles from where KY, TN and VA meet. When people ask where we are from we often say, "if you look on a map and put your finger where KY TN and VA meet you will cover our old house.

 Since we left KW we have spent a few nights at repair shops, and I hope that doesn't start to be a trend. First it was the awning and water pump, then the gen set had to be repaired and serviced, and last week we had a circuit board go bad. So I hope we are good to go until we do a service on the rig for annual maintenance.  Since we will be sitting for most of this year I'm thinking we may wait until we come out of the keys next year before we do the annual service.

 It is good to see the kids, grands, and family we are looking forward to spending the next two months with them. Volunteering for the park gives us a place to park while we visit and it keeps us busy enough that we enjoy being parked for that long. ( 6 months in KW is going to be different )

 Tomorrow we will move the rig to "our" spot in Middlesboro (if the current occupants are gone) before we go to our first official family function, a cookout at Corey and Jennifer's.

Life is good, and we are blessed..................

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Northward Bound

  Spending the winter in Key West can spoil someone. We arrived in KW Jan 6th and left the first of April, the coldest temps we had was 57 degrees. A little below my 70 mark, but not near as bad as the last couple nights in Columbia SC where it got down to 44 degrees. This is mid MAY and it shouldn't get that cold, or I shouldn't be that far north.

  As everyone knows we brought a jet ski from Orlando to deliver to our son in Cumberland gap. Pulling doubles doesn't bother me at all, it does make getting fuel a little tricky if you don't watch out.
Monday Marcia left me sitting in Columbia SC. She took the jeep and the jet ski and took off to Cumberland Gap and I was left with the rig.

 Now for all of you out there that is just waiting for me to kick the bucket so you can latch on to the best wife in the world, or for the ones wanting to hook up with me to get all my $$ (both dollars) Marcia wanted to see Miss Jaelynn graduate pre kindergarten, and I wanted to stay where it was warmer until the last cold front moved through, so we decided she could go a head with the jeep and the ski and I would wait until the cold front passed before I brought the RV to Sevierville, and we would meet at River Plantation RV Resort today.

 Last night being one of my "those nights" I was up before the sun, in fact I had ate breakfast and had the RV ready to roll before the sun came up. I still had to have my headlights on as I pulled out of the FamCamp at Ft Jackson SC. (one of the hidden gems of FamCamps) Leaving that early I avoided most of the traffic around Columbia, and was eating lunch in Sevierville.

 As I pulled into the RV Park I noticed Marcia pulling in right behind me. I spent a couple days alone all hunkered down waiting on the cold front to pass, and Marcia had spent the time with our son and his family. It was pretty good timing for her to pull in right behind me.

 We visited with Billie Ford, a lady we met in KW a few years ago. She is unable to spend the winters in KW because of health reasons, but she still stays in her RV here at River Plantation during the summer. Tomorrow we will tour part of the Smokie Mtn National Park, ( Marcia needs to get her stamp from there) and Friday we will move the rig into the park or we will move to one of the state parks between here and the CGNHP where we volunteer June and July.

 It has only taken us six weeks to go from KW to Sevierville TN, and we have two more weeks to make it on up to the CGNHP.......... that will be a lot of driving in just two weeks..................

Monday, May 6, 2013

Slow migration north

I knew we should have stayed longer in the Keys. I have been telling myself that ever since we left, and next year Marcia's camp hosting position will keep us down there long enough. We stopped along the coast of GA and got caught between two nasty lows.

 The weatherman explained it all on TV, how the low in the Atlantic was just hanging around, and another low in the Gulf was slowly moving our way. The problem was the low in the Atlantic wasn't moving so the low in the gulf couldn't move, and we were caught in the middle. That gave us several days full of rain, wind, and nasty weather. We did survive, and tomorrow we will move a few more miles north.

 We still have a couple weeks before our first doctor appointment in Knoxville TN, so we will ease into SC tomorrow where we will spend a few days, maybe a couple weeks, at the TT Park. The length of the stay will depend on how we like the park and the area. Our two weeks in the TT system would be about the right timing for us to wind up in Knoxville for the first appointment. (we can stay at one park for two weeks in the TT system)

 We do still want to spend a day or two at the casino in Cherokee NC, and a night or two at a CG in Gatlinburg TN to visit a friend we met in KW a few years ago. Billie is unable to make the trip to KW for the winter anymore so we will have to see her in TN.

 Maybe the blackberries will bloom out soon.............