Brrrr

 October 30, 2020

Rutledge RV Park

Fletcher, NC

Our adventure was intended to take us north for some cooler temps...note I said cooler.  What we found were some COLD temps, at least Dad says 38 is COLD.  Momma had been watching the weather for Crossville, Tennessee and mentioned that the temps would be dipping into the 30's the week after we were to depart.  She failed to take a peak at the night time temps for Fletcher, North Carolina though.  Surprise!!  Breezy and cold.  At least we weren't towing on the windy day.  

Steve and Carol headed out to visit some friends who are now living nearby.  I got to go with Momma and Dad to explore the nearby Camping World.  I chatted with everyone I saw.  Momma kept telling me to 'hush'.  At least I wasn't barking.  I think I have an intersting voice and I try to make my sounds sound like what the 2 legged speak.  The people were very friendly.

Would you believe even though we had the fireplace glowing and the heat pump humming, Dad heated up his rice bag to take to bed with him?  I'll just bet I could have provided more warmth than that old rice bag.  I would make a good bed buddy.

I'm Chloe

Travel Day

 October 29, 2020

Travel Day

It's travel day which means emptying tanks and hitching up.  Dad said he didn't want to pack up in the rain so right after he got up, the rain had slowed to just a mist. He quickly took care of dumping the tanks and putting away the sewer hoses. One less thing to deal with. By the time we were buttoned up and ready to hitch up, we had a light mist once again so no one got drenched.  Yeah!!  Now that doesn't mean the feet stayed dry.  Puddles, puddles, everywhere. 

We drove in that light mist for about the first 30-40 miles and then...it looked like it hadn't even rained. Another Yeah!!   No more dealing with passing truckers raising the water off the road onto us.

And then we actually found some blue sky and sunshine!!

It was a pretty ride 

With lovely mountain views. 

I'm afraid taking pictures through the windshield cuts down on the full effect.  It was much more impressive up close and personal!!  Even though the leaf color is past its peak.

I really don't understand the big deal about mountains and color.  I can squat on leaves, grass or stones.  Makes no difference to me!!  All I care about is room to run and chase a ball...and that aspect has been lacking in this trip.  Maybe the next stop will be more promising.

I'm Chloe

You can still have fun in the rain

 October 28, 2020

Crossville, Tn

So what do you do on a rainy day?  You have two choices.  Choice 1:  Huddle down inside your rig or Choice 2:  Dash between the drops to the Ram and head out for an Apple House.  Well, I was stuck with choice  #1 while the two-leggeds took choice #2.  It was about an hour drive on some scenic roads to an Apple House in nearby Pikeville.  Momma said this apple house was as far on the other side of the spectrum that you could get from the square building housing bags of apples in Crossville.  Oren Wooden's Apple House has crafts,

a bakery counter,

a lunch cafe

and of course...apples. 

A real bonus was that the food purchased from the cafe was delishious, home cooked like anyone's Mom used to make (if they were a good cook) with items like squash casserole, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, Italian green beans, cider cooked ham slices, salsbury steak, corn bread, biscuits...you get the idea I'm sure. 

It was decided the trip wouldn't be complete without a sampling from the numerous choices from the bakery.....apple selections of course:

Apple caramel pie

Yummy😊😋😉

Apple pie pockets/hand held pies

And apple cake

Momma skipped right by the items that came from the oven and enjoyed a glass of cider slush.  Over the top delicious!!!

But the day's adventures didn't end there.  The next stop was Country Cupboard, an Amish shop with plenty of stock to choose from.

And we all purchased treasures to consume....cheeses, cider, flour, beets.....as well as gifts and housewares.  What a neat shop!!

And the day came to a grand finale with a scrumpious birthday meal.  Steve and Dad manned Steve's grill to turn out an excellent, done to perfection, tender pork tenderloin accompanied by sides of corn pudding, roasted seasoned potatoes, sweet potato casserole, fresh salads....am I making you hungry?

As it was Tina's birthday, Carol whipped up a delicious birthday cake that was presented complete with song and lit candles.

 

And if you know this group of friends, no night would be complete without a game or two.  Tonight it was Pegs and Jokers with 8 around the table.

Tomorrow we bid Tom and Nancy farewell as they will be staying in this park for two months.

And we bid Tina and Steve farewell as they will be heading on to their new Tennessee home.  

Dad is hoping the rain stops by morning so we won't be hitching up in rain.  On to Fletcher, NC for our next adventure.

I'm Chloe

From RV homes to trains

 

 October 27, 2020

Crossville, Tennessee

Momma was looking forward to checking out the Cheese House in Crossville but it certainly didn't live up to her expectations.  I suppose you are thinking that her expectations were just too high, but it was a total consensus of the group that the shop was a bust.  Maybe with less shopping traffic due to Covid, they weren't stocking much in the way of inventory???  Or producing as much product??

What kind of saved the stop from being a total disaster was the Antique shop right next door.

 

We didn't find any treasures to bring with us but it was interesting to step back in time.  

But the first stop of the day was enchanting.  Carol and Steve introduced us to the "Tail Gunners" on their Alaskan Fantasy tour, Mike and Suzanne. 

They were gracious hosts who invited all of us to their home in The Gardens, a development for RV owners.  Each home or duplex has a 16 foot high garage to house an RV plus a shorter double garage for other vehicles. 

Dad cringed when he thought about the electric bill that must arrive at the end of each month with 2300 sq feet of living space, 2300 sq feet of garage space and basement all climate controlled.  Of course he is used to the many months of AC required in Florida vs the lower temps that Tennessee offers.

Mike and Suzanne have made their house their home, settling in over the last four years.

But what made Momma's eyes sparkle the most was....

No, not the cat.  It's the appliance right under where the cat is sitting.

A crushed ice machine.  The appliance has a heater so the ice never gets old, it is recycled and fresh constantly.  Now how cool is that?  And it's crushed ice!!  Momma's favorite.  No half moons that slosh in the cup so you end up wearing half your drink.  

What a nice, friendly couple...but then isn't that true about most RVers?

After a quick bite at the Flying Pig...yep, BBQ on the menu,  the gang was treated to a special viewing.  Tom's brother-in-law is active with local train enthusiasts who have set up several working model train displays in the outlet mall. 

They typically don't open until the weekend but Vince was kind enough to open just for us.  WOW!!  Displays everywhere. 

Now what you may not realize and appreciate is the hours, days, months, years that it takes to set up the life like settings.  You may think the track is just lay down and the trains run.  Oh no!  The track needs to be secured so the train won't derail and that in itself is a feat. Nail down the track too tight and the rails dip and cause a derailing.  And the gravel looking bed for the track needs to be sealed so the dust doesn't compromise the cars. 

Then there is the time spent creating the minature mountains and tunnels

and we haven't even begun to discuss the wiring needed to make the train zip around the laid track.

Quite an impressive display. 

Thanks Tom for arranging that for us!

I think you'll agree, it was another great day in Tennessee....especially since Dad took me out the the grassy area behind our rig and tossed my ball for me to retrieve.  

I'm Chloe

The Project

 October 26, 2020

Crossville, Tennessee

Momma says it's all Steve's fault.  Hardly any sunshine in the past 3 days.....ever since Steve began "The Project".  You see, anyone who travels quite a bit in this day and age uses numerous 'gadgets' that seem to fill up the front of the vehicle, especially the windsheild area where the sun tends to shine in.

There is a gadget for navigation ...or maybe two...., a camera to record the trip and a tire minder to keep track of the tire pressure/temperature of those numerous tires under you and behind you.  It's hard to monitor those gadgets when the sun is interfering with the screen's view so.......

Steve went into production mode to produce the perfect shade for his tire minder.  It all began with a simple empty box made of cardboard and it wasn't finished until Carol added the rhinestone finishing touches.  A very professional looking prototype.  

Now the question still remains unanswered....'Does it keep the sun off?' ..... as we haven't had any sunshine to truly test out the finished product.   And why have we suffered from lack of bright sunshine.....possibly because Steve is really looking forward to testing out his model and that has put a hex on the sunshine????

The missing bright sun on the colorful foliage display hasn't really dampened our adventure. 

The weather has been VERY enjoyable with the lack of Florida heat that we were looking forward to escaping.  Mission accomplished for sure!!

Being a Monday when many businesses closed up, we wound up with a Walmart run and a day of games.  I'm happy to report the ladies didn't let up and the men suffered defeat several times today.  Now if my name was Claude instead of Chloe, I would be identifying with the males, but I'm proud to say we females ROCK!!  Well, we rock today anyway.   Momma always says, "It can change in a heartbeat!"

Too bad I'm not allowed 'people food'.  All I get to do is smell all those apple dishes baking.  Apple pie yesterday.  Apple scones this morning.  Apple crisp this evening.  It's almost time to make another run to the Apple House.  

At least the dog treats have been plentiful between coffee breaks with Dad and Auntie Carol's visits with full pockets.  Life is good....

I'm Chloe