Friday, December 29, 2017, On the road again - move to Decatur, AL

Christmas was over, mom had mostly recovered from her second hip surgery and the weather forecast promised some brutal cold headed our way this weekend - everything said: "time to hit the road".

I had started and moved the coach every 30 days while it was in storage, but I had never tried to start the engine cold soaked in the '20s with no block heater. Luckily, it was no problem. There was the matter of stowing an awful lot of stuff that had made its way over to mom's condo over the past few months so we couldn't get a really early start.

We hit the road by noon and only had a 143.5 mile (84,352.8 total) trip planned to our first stop on our flight south. Point Mallard City Park in Decatur, AL (near Huntsville, AL) was just a short couple of hours away. We both almost immediately noticed an unfamiliar noise and spent most of the drive trying to figure out what it might be. Something was rattling in the wind or at just the right road speed, but we could not see anything when we pulled over to check. Something else to add to the "to-do" list.

Everywhere the highway cut through rock, weeping groundwater would form icicles reminding us just how cold it was outside.

You have to love the Alabama welcome center adorned with a Saturn I rocket. Quite the attention getter and much more noticeable than some old billboard or highway signage.

All-in-all our first day back on the road went well after a three-month break. What did not go well was the water situation. I learned the hard way you do not want to mount your water pump at the low point in your plumbing array. I was able to fill the freshwater tank, but we could not use city water pressure or the pump (too long of a story for the blog), so we had to use gallon jugs for water inside the coach. It was amazing just how much the lack of running water affects your quality of life in an RV. The brutal cold (teens and twenties) kept me from even considering any repairs.

Joani planned three nights in Decatur with the intent of day tripping to a museum in Birmingham to pick up a new ASTC pass. Unfortunately, the museum was closed due to holiday hours for several days spoiling that plan. Instead, we did a little shopping and just tried to stay warm! 

Saturday, October 7 through Thursday, December 28, 2017

With the coach tucked away again at All Things Storage in Lebanon, we were settled in for rehab support for mom's second hip replacement. Since this is a travel blog and we were not traveling, I thought I would just summarize a few of the highlights of our stay.

We returned to Tennessee just in time to visit Octoberfest.  My brother, Doug, and I headed to Germantown, a neighborhood in downtown Nashville. It was Saturday, October 7th and the final day of the celebration, but the crowds were out in force.

There was plenty of music with Oom-pah bands around every corner, dancing in the streets, brats and, of course, beer lines everywhere.

On the 16th mom had her surgery. Unfortunately, there were complications with the procedure which meant she was looking at 12 weeks of recovery and rehab instead of her expected 5-6 weeks. Needless to say, she was very disappointed, but she followed her doctor's orders and things progressed well. There were a few extra days in the hospital followed by almost two weeks at the Lebanon rehab center before she came home.

The Lebanon Octoberfest followed the Nashville festivities by a couple of weeks (October 22nd). It was quite different in that the focus was on a huge antique and classic car show and much less on beer and brats. 

I think the classic '56-'57 Thunderbird is my favorite - who knows, maybe I'll have one someday.

The car below had some of the most impressive bodywork and paint. I loved the openings in the hood surrounded by the 3-D paint - what a piece of art!

Mom's rehab was progressing nicely and we were able to get out to see the Lebanon Christmas Parade at the beginning of December. I was surprised at the extent of this parade. It rolled by us for over an hour.

Santa and Mrs. Claus were riding in style in the LFD bucket ladder truck near the end of the parade.

We received some tragic news from Iowa early in December. My cousin, Keith, died in a horrible accident on his farm. We drove up to attend his memorial service on the 7th of December. Keith was well known and loved in the community as evidenced by the number of people who attended. He will certainly be missed.

I have a lot of fond memories of my cousins - especially Keith since he and I were the oldest in each of our families. I always loved visiting the farm as I was growing up.

Story City, IA decorated their Christmas tree in the middle of Main Street.

After we returned to Tennessee, Doug and I headed downtown again. We took in several sites including the new Top Golf facility. The place was hoppin'! Who knew there was such a demand for this kind of place. Virtually every tee was in use. We had a beer and watched for a while as golfers ran the gamut from duffers to pros

Outside of Cumberland Machine, where Doug works, they set up a sleigh perfect for photo ops. Rudolph and the others would have a difficult time pulling this beast fabricated of half-inch plate steel.

Next, we visited the Marathon Automobiles Museum. How did I never know Nashville was home to one of the earliest automobile manufacturing sites? The company was poorly managed and only operated for a few years before World War I, but still?

It was estimated only five of the original cars still exist and three of them were in this museum.

Probably 50 of the machines used on the original manufacturing line were on display in the halls of the old factory.

I guess sometimes you have to leave to discover something new about your old hometown!

On Christmas Eve my nephew, Matthew and his wife Lindsey, brought their brand new baby, Sanders, over for a visit with his Great Grandma, Marjean.

Sanders is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen and who doesn't love that new baby smell?

My niece, Adley, brought her cute little Teacup poodle, Lincoln, dressed in his holiday outfit - as Joani says "how adorable!"

There was a little tension over just whose dog food this was, but ultimately, everything was good.

What? There was no tension! Sam is always willing to share.

Christmas Day was special as everyone gathered at mom's house and enjoyed an endless buffet of great snacking and eventual overeating! Merry Christmas everyone - Life is good!

Friday, October 6, 2017, Move to Lebanon, TN

I awoke early, as I usually do when it's moving day, and walked Sam to the main overlook one last time. This morning we saw a hint of the valley fog that gave this park its name. It was brisk but well worth the hike.

When we returned to the coach Joani was up and having her coffee. With a short drive planned we took our time with breakfast and stowing everything for travel. I spent a little extra time flushing the tanks since we were about to put it back in storage for a while.

The trip from Cloudland Canyon State Park to Lebanon, TN was another easy drive of 137.8 miles (84,209.3 total). I took the Monteagle climb in 4th gear and had no overheating issues. No traffic - just smooth sailing.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017, Ruby Falls

Cloudland Canyon State Park was just a short drive away from one of Chattanooga's most famous attractions - Ruby Falls. I saw it once with my family long ago when I was a young teenager. That was long enough ago it was all new to me again (I think it probably changed a little in the last 50 years as well).  

Fans of the movie Big will recognize the troublemaker below. We didn't want to ask for anything that could be misunderstood and since we already have everything we could possibly want - we moved on.

I thought we were going to be part of a very small crowd, but as our departure time approached, the crowd grew including a herd of loud kids hopped up on sugar and freshly released from a three-hour car ride. I guess you could say they just added another dimension to our underground adventure or you could say "you're just an old grouch".

The cave included all of the standard features we have seen in most of the famous caves across the country including stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, cave bacon and reflecting pools.

This was the one and only spot where touching was allowed and encouraged.  It illustrated what the oils from your hands did to the deposits, turning them to a nasty charcoal gray.

The highlight of the cave tour was, of course, the falls. The multi-color lighting was a bit much, but WOW! We only had a few minutes to take it all in and get our pictures before our guide turned out the lights indicating it was time to leave.

Back topside, we climbed to the overlook on top of the entrance building for a nice panoramic view of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River before heading home to our lonesome doggie.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017, Cloudland Canyon Waterfalls

From the canyon overlooks you can hear several waterfalls in the canyon below. The waterfalls trail was clearly posted as strenuous telling us the short trails (about 2 miles total round trip) included 600 steps (450 vertical feet).

We waited for sunrise, but the canyon was not positioned well for a dramatic scene.

It was almost 9am before the sun was high enough to illuminate the treetops of the canyon rim.

Even though it had been a while since we had done any serious hiking we decided to give the waterfalls trail a shot. Pet-friendly trails meant Sam could join us. The first quarter of the hike was simple with only a few stairs. 

The trail split after a quarter mile with another 0.3 miles to Cherokee falls which dropped 60 feet into a pool that was really very picturesque.

Cherokee Falls

We were inspired to push on to the lower falls. That was when we were introduced to the majority of the steps and the bulk of the vertical drop. Unfortunately, the stairs were open steel and Sam had to be carried.

Water took a 90-foot plunge over Hemlock falls for another stunning photo opportunity.

Hemlock falls

As you might imagine, we sat and enjoyed the view for a while, not relishing the idea of our return trip up the 600 steps. That was a workout - expecting some sore legs in the morning! 

Saturday, September 30, 2017, Move to Cloudland Canyon SP

After mom's first hip replacement in July went so well, she scheduled replacement of the other hip in October.  We wanted to help her through rehab again and since we were able to extend our storage contract we planned on just repeating what we had done the last time.  On our way back up to Lebanon, we had a few extra days and decided to do a little sightseeing.

As long we lived in Georgia (more than 30 years) we never visited Cloudland Canyon State Park. It seemed like the perfect place to stop and break up the trip back to mom's. It was only 123.2 miles (84,071.5 total), but we were a bit concerned about the roads. Joani read a lot of reviews that said we should have no problem. They were correct - we left Interstate 75 at exit 320 and took Highway 136 all the way to the park - we took it slow and everything went well.

The park was pretty full. A lot of families were getting in one last camping outing of the season. The campground road was just a bit tight and Joani was concerned that I got very close to one tree, but 5 years of full timing has seasoned this bus driver to have no fear.

We took Sam out for his first walk in the new digs and found the views to be very nice. I might be just a little jaded since it was not all that long ago we were at Grand Canyon National Park, but this is a beautiful park and a couple of thousand miles closer for anyone who lives in Georgia.

We always like to take note of the innovative, some might say, quirky campers we encounter. This one appeared to sleep four and certainly would be better than tent camping on the ground. I think, however, it would be limited to fair weather camping since you would probably want to spend a lot of time outside. Joani found this was a pretty pricey alternative to tent camping at $10,000!

SylvanSport Go Camper