Settling in and discovering

My first full week in Tennessee was relatively uneventful, which is both good and bad.  The weather was pretty extreme, they broke all kinds of heat records for the majority of the week.  I was at Marion County Park, the first place I set up from Saturday to Wednesday, and pretty much stayed in the camper, tried to keep it cool enough to tolerate, and worked my day job.  I doubt if my step counter ever broke 1000 per day for the majority of my stay there.

I moved to Chattanooga midday Wednesday for an appointment with the rig on Thursday.  The dash air wasn’t working, and there was a loud squeal when it was on.  My first mistake was taking it to Camping World, I should have known better.  The tech said that one of the parts he needed in the compressor was obsolete, so sorry, good bye.  I checked in with my guy in CA and he said there was no such part (diode), to find another Truck/RV place.  I found one and made an appointment for the next week.  The weather had finally broken by Saturday, and I wasn’t planning on driving far for quite some time so it can wait.  So I spent 3 nights in the CW campground, still in hiding from the 95+ heat.

I finally unloaded the scooter while at Camping World, and ventured out to Walmart about 5:30 Thursday night.  That was an adventure as my cordless headphones wouldn’t stay connected to my phone, which of course I was using to navigate.  It took 3 times as long as it should have to go less than 4 miles, but I made it.  By the time I finished shopping it was dark, and I was having the same navigation issues.  I literally drove around for 30 minutes, in what seemed like a circle.  Finally, I put the phone in my helmet, and hoped it wouldn’t fall out, so that I could hear the navigation better.  Lesson learned, use the corded headset when on the scooter!

When I started to load the scooter back up Saturday morning, I discovered that I had left the key in the ignition and on, and had a dead battery.  So, I pushed it up on the ramp manually, a very challenging moment, but I did it.  YIKES!

Once I got everything loaded and packed up I moved over to the Holiday Travel Park, only a few miles away.  It was very nice.  The property is located on the site of a Civil War battlefield.  There are a couple monuments, one is the 84^th Indiana Volunteer Regiment.  It was peaceful, clean and close to town so quite a pleasant stay.  I was able to do laundry, have cable TV (woohoo!).

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The weather cooled down considerably over the weekend, so Sunday was finally a relatively normal temperature.  I got a little walking in around the park, gave the scooter and RV windshield a bath, made a Costco run on the scooter, and setup proper camp, then watched a bit of TV.

So, as I said, not very eventful, but that’s ok.  Until next time…ttfn.

We're going east, way way east!

It’s really tough to know where to start this blog, as there have been so many amazing life changes lately, but I’ve decided on Tuesday, September 24, 2019. This was a day that I had dreamed of and planned for more than 15 years.  It turned out to be the official go day, time to travel and explore and live with more freedom than I ever have before.  With a happy heart after the lovely wedding weekend, and an excited hum in all the tasks at hand, the day was finally here.

Day one of the drive didn't go off without a hitch, but there were things I learned that that I probably needed to, and all in all it was awesome.  Last minute preparations were somewhat hectic but I did my best to stay on task and excited that my travel adventure was finally beginning.  Goal one, safely get to Tennessee and explore the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and surrounding area.

My brother Lee (#4 of the Mar10 clan) and his wife Pat had come to attend Larry & Renee’s wedding, and they were also driving east, so it was the perfect time to start my travels.  We left about noon, they were heading to Riverside National Cemetery to pay their respects to our brother Don (#1), and I was headed for gas and then to meet them there.

We had a bit of difficulty loading the scooter on the rig (aka Saly), but with Larry’s help we finally got it.  I pulled out right about noon, and somehow didn’t get a photo of the big event.  Oh well!  I did get a great shot once I got to the cemetery.  We found Don’s space and spent a few minutes there in the nearly 90+ degree afternoon.

The afternoon went really well, except for the time I pulled away from a stop with one of the bin doors still open.  YIKES!…thank you Pat for letting me know.  

We got to the CA/AZ line (I-10) after dark where we stopped for gas and dinner.  I pulled the rig into what looked like an empty parking lot near the restaurant (there was a huge truck parked there), but it turned out to be mostly sand.  I noticed the sand when I stepped out, and worried about it all through our delicious dinner.  And then, yep, you guessed it, I got stuck!  I called my insurance company on day one for a tow truck!  YIKES #2!!

We had to unload the scooter and rack for safety, so it took about an hour in all.  Lee & Pat then went onto Phoenix, but I stopped at a truck stop and called it a day, about 11 pm.

I'm so grateful for their participation in that 1st day out, it was a relief to know that there was someone nearby to help if necessary and their help on the YIKES issues was invaluable. 

Day 2, Wednesday, Sept. 25^th

I got started early and drove through Arizona, into New Mexico, to a rest stop just west of Las Cruces, TX.  It was just after dark, the rest stop looked over the city, it was a really pretty spot, and I pulled into the last open space, right behind an AirStream trailer.  Kismet!

 

Day 3, Thursday, Sept. 26^th (Happy birthday to brother Terry, #8)

Note to self, El Paso morning traffic is awful!!!  Between the traffic and the construction, the first couple hours were a bit challenging.  Somewhere after El Paso I should have taken a northeast route on I-20 but instead I stayed on the southeast route of I-10.  I discovered this about 3 or 4 pm after stopping for a DQ break in Ozona, TX. 

So, I headed north to get back on the intended path.  It took me through 2 and 4 lane country roads, which were really pretty, but once it got dark it wasn’t as much fun.  200 miles later, I finally got back to the right route.  By then it was about 10 pm and called it a night in yet another truck stop in Cisco, TX.  The difference in the routes was only 51 miles, but in the dark, 2 lane, 70 mph road they felt like 500 miles.  YIKES #3.

Day 4, Friday, Sept. 27^th

This day was from Cisco, TX to somewhere west of Memphis, TN.  I think it was a rest stop just west of Hope, AR, but   I wouldn’t swear to it.  I had breakfast and then gassed up in Hope where I saw a sign for ‘birthplace of William Clinton’.  So I did a drive by on that.  Tiny little town, really cute.

Day 5, Saturday, Sept. 28^th

I remember waking up way before dawn and was rolling out about 5am.  I watched the sunrise while driving through Memphis.  WOW, what a sunrise that was!  East of Memphis the road changed to a 4-lane highway, a really picturesque and easy going.  

It was nice not to have huge trucks bearing down on you every five minutes.  It was rolling hills though, and Saly didn’t like that part very much.  The dash air conditioning wasn’t blowing cool air, and when I stopped for lunch I noticed a pretty loud squealing coming from the engine.  The noise stopped when I turned the air conditioner off, so I did than and drove on.  I made it to Huntsville, Alabama just in time for lunch with my nephew Marty and his two kids.  I hadn’t seen Marty in many years, and had never met Carter and Evelyn.  They’re so cute, and Carter is the spitting image of him.  We had lunch, took a trip to Walmart, tried to find someone to look at the rig with no luck, and then we parted ways.  

I drove north, in 95+ degrees for a couple hours and pulled off at a rest stop to find a campground.  Lo and behold, I found one less than 2 miles away from the rest area, Marion County Campground in Jasper, TN and I took their last spot at 5:45 pm.  It was about 20 miles west of Chattanooga, so I was really good with that.  DRIVE DONE, and hookups in my future!!! I checked in, plugged the rig into water and power and then proceeded to get cool.  OMG it was so flippin hot!

So, that is the long and short of my drive east to Tennessee.  Some of it is already a blur, thank goodness for photos and charge statements for reference.  I’m so thankful that things went as smoothly as they did, and I’m chalking up those few issues as ‘learning experiences’.  Thanks for all the encouragement along the way, y’all know who you are. 

Not sure how this blog thing is going to look, it's my first attempt at this.  But, it is what it is for now.  Till the next one...tata for now!