Finally...Brendan!

7/20 - 7/21/19  Sevierville, TN  to Berea, KY, 156 miles (2 hours 37 minutes) 2 nights at OH! Kentucky Campground, $32/night
7/21 - 7/23/19 Berea, KY. to Jackson Center, OH, 226 miles (3 hours 24 minutes) 2 nights at Airstream TeraPort, $10/night
7/23 - 7/31/19 Jackson Center, OH to Monroe, MI, 123 miles (2 hours) 7 nights at Harbortown RV Resort, $350/week

Traveling, not Vacationing
We’re settling into the routine of fulltiming, now.  One thing that is difficult for me to get used to is the idea that we may not get to see or do everything we find in an area we visit.  For instance, we didn’t know we’d have to book weeks in advance to go on the factory tour at the Toyota plant in Ohio, so we were sure to book our spot immediately for the Airstream factory tour.  They have a small park for owners who are getting maintenance work done in  Jackson Center called the Teraport.  They allowed us to stay there if we arrived after 4:00 and there were spots still available.  We looked terribly out of place among all the aluminum trailers, and were the focus of some joking and conversation from other campers.  They had a parking lot where they were storing some of their older models, waiting for the museum space in the new facility that is being built down the road.  I was surprised to find that all of these RVs are airstreams.

Not that we want to replace our rig, but it was fun to see how another factory builds their product.  They rivet the walls onto the frame by hand, then the ceiling, then they set it on the chassis.  Everything else goes in through the front door.  Airstream is the classic, nostalgic spirit of RVing.  And they have a wonderful, high quality product.  It feels like you’re in a first class airplane. The designs are elegant.  Every inch of space is carefully thought out and used.  And because they still look very much the same from when they began making trailers in 1938, they are very sought after, and hold their value.

On our last night, we heard about the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, OH, Neil Armstrong’s home town.  Being the 50 anniversary of the first walk on the moon, that would have been cool to see.  Ugh!  Maybe next time.

Finally, we made it to Michigan!  We stayed south of Detroit in an RV RESORT - pool, concrete pads, fire rings and picnic tables, very nice.  This is a vacation destination in itself.  I loved seeing the families vacationing here.  Everyone had a wheeled vehicle- either a bike, scooter, 2-wheeled razor, battery powered mini car, or golf cart.  And the weekend was full of family activities.  This weekend was Princess and Pirate themed.  I just wanted to visit a Brendan.  We went to see his house and ate dinner at a local place.  Then he came to stay with us at the RV - a good test of whether he might come join us later when we get to a desirable spot.  He took us us to downtown Detroit to the GM headquarters on the waterfront and we ate lunch in Greektown. Mostly we hung out together, played games, ate outside and toasted s’mores over an open fire in the evenings.  Note to self - I love open fires; HATE the smoke.  Guess I won’t get too many s’mores.  I loved seeing the life he’s making for himself and hated to see him go home.  

Bluegrass and Moonshine and Bears, oh my!

Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains, TN

This area is beautiful, and has so much to do.  We met up with friends, Cindy and Robert, and went back out to GSMNP and this time we saw bears up close and as personal as we could get.  At the very last cabin in Cades Cove, there was such a commotion, we knew it must be a bear sighting.  We got out with the rest of the idiots and stood about 50 yards, behind the Park Ranger who is sworn to protect us, and watched a mama and two bear cubs climb down out of the tree and run away from the throng of scary humans. 

I was sorry to be leaving, but excited to get to Brendan in. Michigan.  We’ll be there in four days!

      

Let the vacation begin!

7/8/19 - 7/10/19 - Red Bay, AL to Woodville, AL (121 miles) Parnell Creek RV Park $57/night
7/10/19 - 7/12/19 - Woodville, AL to Cleveland, TN (110 miles) Chattanooga North KOA $47/night
7/12/19 - 7/20/19 - Cleveland, TN to Sevierville, TN (116 miles) Riverside RV Park $41/night

After two full weeks in Red Bay, we finally got Pearl (the name we gave our rig in honor of our 30th wedding anniversary) in good order.  Many Tiffin owners go back every year for maintenance, so I can’t say we won’t be back, but so long!  We met some great people and learned lots about fulltiming with a motor home.  But now I feel the real vacation begins. As you can see, we’re not going very far each time we move, because we don’t have to. The only deadline we’ve given ourselves is to be back in San Antonio at Thanksgiving.

Before we head north, we wanted to spend some time in the Great Smoky Mountains.  This area is actually several small towns close together - Sevierville, Pigeon Forge (where Dollywood is located) and Gatlinburg.  Last time we were here (18 years ago) it must have been off-season.  I remember being the only ones around.  Now, sadly for the pollution it’s causing, the whole area is high density, vacation Mecca.  Similar to Branson, the Wisconsin Dells, and  Niagra Falls, this place has water parks, rollercoasters, dinner shows, Ripley’s Believe it or not, wax museums, and on and on.  You have to look really hard to see the beauty and quaintness it used to be.  I wonder if Dolly envisioned this when she started Dollywood, and if the locals appreciate it.  

It is possible to not spend too much money, except on gas and food, and have fun. We went to the Bush factory and homestead to see a tour (on video) and learn about how Bush Beans came to be.  We visited Dolly’s statue in Sevierville.  We visited the Apple Barn and ate a fried apple pie a la mode (yum!). And we visited a huge knife store, way larger than Outdoor World, with all things gun and knife related, with lots of taxidermy.  

Yesterday we spent the day doing the driving tour through Cade’s Cove, a settlement established in 1827.  We saw mama and baby bears on the ground and in the trees, three felting deer and two turkeys.  Sorry, no photos.  The sightings were all very fleeting and difficult to see.  Oh yeah, and the story of the village was cool, too.

How did I not know about this before?

One of the best things about traveling is discovering regional food. I saw this in a restaurant after I’d ordered and vowed to find it again. I had it for breakfast at Sparks restaurant in Belmont, MS - sugar rush!  I had to find the recipe. I got this from Grandacreates.com.

Ingredients to make Grandma’s Chocolate Gravy:

• 2 Heaping Tbsp Cocoa Powder
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Flour
• 3 Cups Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 1 Tbsp Butter

How to make Grandma’s Chocolate Gravy:

Prepare the biscuits according to the package directions or you can make them from scratch and put them in the oven before starting your chocolate gravy.

While the biscuits are cooking, mix the cocoa powder, flour and the sugar in a skillet or pot with a whisk until well blended.

Add the milk and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

Continue cooking until the gravy is at the desired consistency. If it’s too thick, add more milk, 1/4 cup at a time.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Add the vanilla extract and the butter and stir until everything is melted into the chocolate gravy.

Serve over hot biscuits with lots of butter. Enjoy!

Warranty Work and Repairs, Tiffin Allegro Campground, Red Bay, AL ... still

 

We knew when we set out that we needed to get back to Tiffin before our one-year warranty was up.  Since we took delivery in September, Bill has been keeping a list of small and large things that needed to be addressed - like the dead bolt on our front door broke off, the door has to be slammed to get a good seal, there’s a huge thump under the driver’s seat when we go over a bump, there’s a scratch in the bathroom window.  Stuff like that.  So, we pulled into the campground last Friday, presented our list of over 50 items, and settled in to wait.  Thankfully we stay for free, because rigs are repaired on a first-come-first-serve basis.

When I say campground, I mean parking lot, and not even well-paved.  There are lots of potholes and the spots themselves are gravel and dirt.  You cannot imagine how many OCD men can work in vane, for long hot hours, to keep their coaches clean, especially after a rainstorm.  I thought Bill was bad.  Tiffin owners call this “the pilgrimage to the mothership,” but the only thing that’s really enjoyable about this trip is meeting the people, hearing their stories, and swapping advice about their rigs.  The first Sunday we were there, one owner took it upon himself to smoke three Boston butts and invited the whole park to “bring a chair and something to share.” I get that Tiffin doesn’t want folks to get too comfortable, but we met people who had been here for three weekend.  Eek!

Originally they told us it would take a week before we could get into a bay.  They called us late Tuesday to say, “Be in bay 34 at 7 am.”  Hurray!  Each weekday morning, we got up early (I hate alarm clocks), and joined the parade to get to the correct bay on time.  We were in bay 34 for two days, moved to bay 42 for chassis work (see photo above), and tomorrow, we go to bay 24 for paint work, which is supposed to take three days.

There’s not a lot to do while you wait. I stayed in the coach for as much time as I could bear, then wandered into the lounge, which is divide between “pets” and “no pets”.  I met a woman who gave me good info on crocheting, which I’m teaching myself.  My neighbor gave me yarn, so I could start practicing.  I petted the dogs, worked a puzzle, read, worked crosswords, colored, drew, and wandered some more.

Now that we’re so close to July 4, we don’t want to leave, because campsites will the FULL!  Hopefully, all work will be done and we’ll leave  Red Bay Monday, July 8.  Whew!