Wednesday at the GAP

It is really nice to wake up and realize it is after 9 AM already. With all the trees surrounding us the sunshine is a couple hours late, so it was still a little dark in the rig when I did get up.









We left the park to go visiting family and friends and as we drove into Middlesboro our son Corey calls and asks if we want to watch the grand baby while he mows. Naturally Marcia said yes, so she dropped me off at dads and drove over to Cumberland Gap TN to pick up Jaelynn.

I mowed dads yard, (and I thought I was done mowing) because he isn't able and my brother is recovering from the motorcycle crash. After the grass cutting party, (I was the only one partying at dads) we went back to the rig to wait on our son. Marcia was having a great time with Jaelynn.



Corey finished his mowing and came over to the rig and found me and Jaelynn napping. He and Marcia spent some time reminiscing before we awoke from our nap. And then it was off to eat at out favorite Mexican joint.






After eating we went visiting...

A day in the SHOP

This morning we took the rig into the shop for maintenance, new shocks, parking brake fixed, and new belts. The mechanic is a good friend and has done us right in the past. Well today when I picked it up I ask "how much do I owe you" and got a shocking answer.

0- ZERO, as in nothing is what he told me. Now don't get too excited, because he couldn't get the shoes for the parking brake, and his parts supplier brought out 5 sets of shocks, and none of them fit. He finally pulled one of my shocks off and sent it with the supplier to try and match it up. No luck, so the rig came out just like it went in.

We had talked about doing the belts another day, he said he wanted to do the belts the first thing one morning so he would be clean when he started. I thought that was very thoughtful of him, he didn't want to be going inside the rig dirty.

After leaving the shop I drove the rig over to the Cumberland Gap National Park where we will spend a couple days. The 90+ degrees Yahooo weather predicts is too warm to be boondocking when there is a nice park just 5 miles away and is only $8.50 a night for 50 amp.

Tomorrow I will "try" to get some pictures on here....

A day in the old home town

Today was interesting riding around town looking at the things that were there when we left, the things that have disappeared,and the the things that are here now that wasn't here when we left.

Changes are made almost everyday in almost every small town, we don't notice them as much when we watch them happening, but leave for several months and you can really tell what changes are going on.

We see vacant lots where houses once provided shelter to families, new stores where old dilapidated stores used to be, and then there are the parts that will never change. Like the 1972 corvette that sat on the corner at Bingham 4 way stop. When we moved here in 1974 it sat in the same spot until last year when it was replaced with a Cadillac.

I stopped to talk to the lady that lived where the vet sat for so long once, she explained that it was her son's car and he had given it to his son, and he came around a couple times a year to clean it up. My thoughts were the guy got killed in Vietnam, or was in prison, but I will never know.

Dad is doing OK, Scott is moving around after his third major motorcycle crash, but the meds he is taking is keeping him in LA LA land. I hope he gets them worked out to where they control the pain but leaves him functioning.

Corey took Marcia to the lake today to ride the wave runners, and I ran errands all day. I did manage to get a short nap in while everyone was at the lake, I got it set up to put the rig in the shop tomorrow for new shocks, and repairs on the parking brake. It will be nice to have the parking brake stop the rig for once.

The weather in really nice here, although a little on the warm side to be boondocking with out the AC going. They cut the trees here on the city parking lot so my shade is gone and the sun warms things up really well. We will move over to the Cumberland Gap National Park tomorrow after the rig gets out of the shop.

We plan on riding on over to Raccoon Valley sometime this weekend. Marcia starts hosting Tuesday so our site will be free starting Friday.....

Back to our Birth Place

Marcia and I were born here in the small town of Middlesboro, we were born on the same day, in the same hospital, and in the same room. (a few years apart) and today we rolled the rig back to where we started breathing air.

Our plans to spend a couple days around Lexington changed where we got there, I thought we were so close and it had been so long since we had seen family that I didn't want to wait a few more days.

Where we got off I-75 in Corbin we started calling, by the time we got to Middlesboro it was all planned to have home made biscuits and gravy at dad's. Jenelle drover over from Knoxville, Corey, Jennifer, and Jaelynn came from Cumberland Gap, and dad Scott and Cindy were there. Little Scott and his wife were there also.

After hugs Marcia and I started cooking, (Corey had to be at work by 7) I made three big pans of home made buttermilk biscuits, and Marcia made a big pan of gravy, eggs, and sausage. When I see people eating biscuits and gravy in restaurants I just think about what they are missing by not having the real home made stuff we make.

After filling up, and cleaning up we sat around enjoying the grand daughter, and all the other family until the mosquitoes took over, then it was time to say :we'll see you later".

Homeward Bound

Well at least where home used to be.

We drove across IL and IN today, I made a mental note that I want to spend some time in Southern IN one day. (during the summer) Hoosier National Forest looked like an interesting place.

We are in a Wal-Mart parking lot eating B L T's without the L. I never have been big on rabbit food.

It was an interesting day with plenty of stops, we stopped in Nashville IL at the first Kroger Store Charlene showed us. Now that we are in KY we don't have to buy every case a store has.

Tomorrow we see some special friends in Georgetown KY before heading on to Middlesboro to see family.....

Departing Sedalia

We watched the tow trucks this morning pulling rigs out right and left. Around 9:30 several of us met at McDonnalds for a going away breakfast. We met two other couples that went FT in 07 also.

We watched Jay get their rig stuck, Greg pulled out without any problems a couple hours later. About 1:30 we had everything packed up and a crowd had gathered to cheer us on as we attempted to deprive the tow trucks of yet another pull.

We pulled out with out any problems, someone said I did spin the right rear wheels some, but I didn't stop to look back. We hooked the tracker up on the other side of the fairgrounds, and headed east.

Now we are about 20 miles from St Louis at a Cracker Barrel. We will spend the night here and decide which route to take tomorrow morning before we head out....

Marcia took a lot of pictures so "maybe" she will post them on her blog.....

Escapade Ends

Today we had the closing ceremony here at the Escapade. Speeches were made, thank yous were passed out, and prizes were given away. We didn't know any of the prize winners, but they were SKPS.

I spent some of the day watching the tow trucks rack up by towing these big rigs out of the soft ground. It is starting to dry out some, and the predicted sunshine will help tomorrow. I just hope the sun dries the ground around our rig before we try to pull out sometime after noon.

This is just a sample of what everyone at Escapade has had to deal with since the rain that started Tuesday.



Her is a picture of two rigs waiting for the wrecker. They tried but didn't get too far before they sunk up in the soft ground. The wrecker had already pulled several out already, and was pulling another one as I took this picture.



Later 24 of us gathered at Kings Chef Buffet for one last meal together. I think we all ate way too much, but it was pretty good, and they gave us all a 10% discount because we were leaving town and wouldn't be able to use the coupons we would get after we paid for our meals.

Marcia and I drove through the CG before we headed over to play cards with the "gang" and saw a guy in a medium duty truck stuck in the mud. I offered to pull him out with the tracker. We borrowed a tow strap and hooked up to the MDT, the 4 wheel drive didn't lock in at first so I put it in 4 wheel high and pulled him out.

It was priceless hearing the guy say he never dreamed the tracker would pull the 12,500 lb truck out of the mud holes he was in. I was just worried about the strap breaking. The little tracker really does do a good job pulling.

We left the CG and went to the main building where they had music playing and people dancing. We took up several tables and started playing hand and foot with the skip-bo cards. We had three games going, Jay and myself beat Jean and Fay, Greg and Bob beat Molly and Marcia, and Paul and John was beating Connie and Mary-Nan when we left for the night.

Tomorrow we want to get out of here and start back to KY, but it will depend a lot on how much the ground dries tomorrow morning. I really don't want to call our roadside service, but I will if I can't make it out by 2 PM. Maybe I will have to pull the rig out again with the tracker. Time will tell.....