Did you get a good look at that setup?

 June 29, 2022

Spring Creek CG site 22A

Clarksville, Tn

You can certainly spot some interesting things as you travel.  Take this set up.

It wasn't so much the trailer towing a trailer that got our attention, it was the fact that he was using a hitch that wasn't welded to the truck frame, just mounted to a light piece of metal AND he was towing all that weight with a half ton/1500 truck.  He is either a gambler or ignorant.  Definitely an accident waiting to happen.

Momma and Dad ran off to the Customs House Museum today in downtown Clarksville.  The old post office and customs house has a unique style.

The gal at the welcome desk stated that this museum is the second largest museum in Tennessee.  Momma decided it may be the largest in square footage for the building, but not in quantity of exhibits.  As it turned out, it happened to be one of the days that a volunteer was operating the model trains.  

One area was devoted to fire equipment from the past.

A couple of finely crafted items took up one section.

A pair of Acme Cowboy boots that depicted all the symbols of Tennessee were on display.

 Some history plaques shared information dating back to earlier times.

The museum had a feel of 'donate it and we will display it'.  But there really weren't all that many donations so they filled the other rooms with paintings and drawings by two artists as well as ceramic pieces by another artist.  

Momma's recommendation....don't put this museum anywhere near the top of your bucket list.

Dad was impressed with the $5.33 diesel price at the Walmart gas station while Momma was impressed with the large, well stocked, recently built Neighborhood Walmart store.  It was super clean and the produce was plentiful and fresh.  They even had a bakery.

So we have been living with increased prices on our fuel, food (yes, even my dog food has increased in price) and now, Momma just received an email stating that her cell phone plan's bill would have an additional charge of $12 added to her next statement.  I guess the phone companies want to get on the 'let's raise the price' band wagon.  

Dad hinted that maybe I should be looking for a job.  I told him we should go on the road as a traveling act.  I'll make some dynamic catches as he makes some impressive tosses of my ball or frisbee.  Momma can sell the tickets. They say you should love your work...and I certainly love ball and frisbee fetch.   Maybe we will be on tour in your area?

I'm Chloe

New location

 June 28, 2022

Spring Creek Campground site 22A

Clarksville, Tn  

Travel day again today from Bowling Green, Ky to Clarksville, Tn.  We noticed a slight drop in the fuel price.  Not quite sure if it is the national drop trend or just the change in states.  Momma has been keeping track of the diesel $$ and OUR average for diesel so far is $5.39 but Dad's high school buddy who resides in upstate NY told him to expect to pay over $6 while in his area. Ugh!!

We are currently at a Passport America Campground that appears to have many seasonal/long term residents. Check out their cute pool.

I wonder if they would let me take a dip?

Our site is L O N G and a pull thru with no cement

but we are also paying a low-frills price of $22...so no complaints.  

Have you noticed that certain events stick in your mind with an association to that location?  Well, a bit out of the norm occurrence took place earlier today when a text arrived with a welcome and an apology for not being on site later today for our arrival and excellent directions to our site location. Later in the day, the owner delivered our paperwork to our site.  Impressive!! 

But I think Dad will associate this campground arrival with the repair he had to perform upon setup.  He has been monitoring an upper slide cable that has been showing signs of wear, but when he went to deploy the slide, it was a lower cable that snapped right by the connector.  At least it was a lower cable so no need to carry the ladder back and forth between inside and outside of the rig.  It's a good thing he is a pro at cable change out.  You wouldn't want to own a rig with cable slides if you weren't capable of changing out the cables.  

Our Visible cell signal has been hit and miss as we have been traveling making our internet connection hit and miss.  This area should have been a miss if we continued to follow our pattern, but it is pretty strong here.  Looks like we'll be streaming without buffing here!

Momma is rather disappointed with our timing.  As we approached our campground at the last stop, she noticed a Sonny's and her mouth began to water in anticipation of Sonny's bbq beans.  They are the best according to Momma. (I'm sure I'll have to go into stealth mode if I ever want first hand knowledge.)  She noticed that they had a string of signs indicating that they were hiring cashiers, cooks, waitstaff and then.....the crushing sign that said, 'Opening Soon'.  It's all in the timing...and our timing was off by a week.  No Sonny's beans for us. 😒  Don't worry Momma, that just means you still have something to look forward to in the future.

I'm Chloe

Lost River Cave

 June 27, 2022

Bowling  Green KOA

Bowling Green, Ky

Another half full campground...even over the weekend.  That's okay by me though because I get to play on the ramps and hoops at the dog park by myself.  

We have yet to camp at a park that has been at full capacity.  Maybe when the fourth of July rolls around that story will change???

Momma and Dad have been in this area before I was even born so they had already toured the Corvette factory/museum and Mammoth Cave.  Today's experience was a new one.

Momma said their tour guide did a marvelous job.

He's a college student studying geology so this job is an excellent match for him...making money while pursuing his field of interest and sharing his knowledge.  

The tour began by crossing a bridge

and following the path to the blue grotto

The old mill powered by the flowing river water is no longer in service.

We boarded the boat and began our cave tour by passing under wishing rock.  It got it's name because if the passengers don't duck when passing under it, they will wish they had of.

Then the cave opens up into a huge room about 40 feet high with interesting rock formations.

Hard to believe that the cave is under the highway with cars passing overhead, according to the tour guide.  

Another delightful adventure on our summer excursion.

I'm Chloe

Pull thru is not simple

 June 25, 2022

Bowling Green KOA

Bowling Green, Ky

When you think pull thru site, you usually think 'simple' parking.  Pull right in, stop, and hook up your electric, water and sewer.  Well, this campground is a tad 'tired'.  The gravel base is rather worn and thus not level.  The approach to the site has a grade to it, so you have to pull well onto the site to get up on the 'level' section. By pulling so far forward, the permanent fire ring built onto the good sized concrete  patio is now under the awning.  What???  Oh well, it's too warm for a fire anyway.  Dad said it was a good thing we didn't have a long pull today so that we had plenty of fuel left to get settled on this site.  We tried to find a side to side level spot by repositioning but finally gave up and put a block under the tire so we were just a bit off level which our leveling system can easily compensate for.  I guess pull thru sites don't always mean no backing necessary.  It's a good thing we had plenty of time and patience for all this back and forth repositioning.

Momma and Dad said they were heading to a flea market today. 

Now, I haven't experienced fleas first hand, but I've seen those TV commercials.  'Don't bother to bring home any fleas for me!"  What they did bring home was some fresh produce...watermelon, canaloupe, tomatoes, corn on the cob...from the outside stand.  

The inside stands had a unique collection of offerings, as well as unique individuals.  Just check out this clothes washer.

All kinds of articles both old and new for sale

Is this getup a sales gimmick or is this his everyday look?

It was nice that the building had AC, as it is another day in the 90's here.  

I'm pleased to report that I went to bed with a very full stomach.  Dad was saying something about leftovers and I might have imagined it, but I thought I detected a slight sadness....so....I took care of the leftovers.  I've got you covered Dad.  I'll make the ultimate sacrific and deal with that large hunk of left over beef.  I can be quick when I need to and very stealth.  Yep, backs turned...snatch it!!  Hey, maybe that sadness in his voice was because he couldn't finish off this delicious, juicy, tasty piece of meat and he had to leave it for tomorrow.  

I'm Chloe

Moving on to Kentucky

 June 24, 2022

Bowling Green KOA

Bowling Green, Ky

The rally in Lebanon ended and we have relocated to Bowling Green, Kentucky.  I was snoozing in the back seat of the Ram and all of a sudden I heard this excited, gleeful, "There's a Culver's" coming out of Momma's mouth followed by "I feel like a ruben!" coming out of Dad's mouth as we entered Bowling Green, heading for our campsite for the next 4 nights. 

But I was excited to finally have workable/usable Internet once again.  With just shy of 500 rigs showing up at the fairgrounds and Verizon owning the cell towers in that area, the bandwith sure became conjested.  Momma and Dad attended a couple of seminars on how to stay connected while rving. 

The bottom line is, there is no ONE plan that will keep you connected at EVERY location.  These presenters are working while traveling and need/have to be able to connect wherever they locate.  Their recommendation was...have a back up.  Three different presenters stated that they have data plans for Verizon, AT&T and T-mobile.  They just connect to the one that works in the area that they are in (and of course they have sophisticated routers that handle that automatically) or they just don't go to a location if they are unable to find a signal near that area.  Brian said he uses the Open Signal App to check out what is available in the area to determine if they can go there.  Now me, I just don't blog until we relocate. 

There is also an up and coming/growing satellite service, Starlink, that uses low orbiting satellites that are in constant motion orbiting the earth.  They are putting additional satellites in orbit every month trying to keep ahead of the demand.  The initial setup cost for the dish and router is now around $600+, then $135 monthly for the RV roaming plan, but the RV plan has the lowest priority when congestion occurs which is another way of saying you get slowed down.  

When I'm not blogging, I am either in full play mode or rest mode.  I can easily nap outside if it's not too hot or inside enjoying the cool AC temps.  Now cats on the other hand are rarely outside enjoying the fresh air unless they have one of these Cat Condominiums.  

It has it's own cat door/window and sometimes I saw 2 cats enjoying some fresh air.  

All in all, it was a good rally with vendors, seminars, entertainment and very well organized.

I especially liked our site, being parked next to Mona who fell in love with me!  

I'm Chloe

Playtime at the rally

 June 20, 2022

Escapade Rally 

Wilson Cty Fairgrounds

Lebanon, Tn

You just never know who is going to park next to you when you arrive at a rally held at a fairgrounds.  Typically, your neighbors are rather close.  On one side we have a huge 5th wheel toyhauler from Ohio and on the other side we have a pair of Airstreams traveling together.  The Airstreams are on the non door side of us and my lead/rope that I am tethered to lets me reach just to that side of the rig by going under ours ....so....I took my jug and asked them if they wanted to play....and the answer was.....I certainly do!!  Mona tossed my jug under my rig and I quickly retreived it so she could toss it a few more times.  I didn't tell her that I had just returned from a game of ball down the aisle under the shade tree.  Everyone here seems super friendly so I think I'll be able to take a nap rather than standing guard while Momma and Dad are attending seminars and visiting the vendors at the 'market place'.  I need to rest up so I'm ready for the next session of retreive the jug with Mona.

I'm Chloe

Rally Time

 June 19, 2022

Escapade at Wilson Cty Fairgrounds

Lebanon, Tn

Momma and Dad both agreed.  What a fantastic way to begin a day.  Warm biscuits with Raspberry Flavored Honey drizzled into the crevices.  Yep, I said Raspberry Flavored.  That's honey with raspberry extract to give it that added burst of flavor. Now they could have selected blueberry flavored honey or pecan flavored honey.  Or how about chocolate flavored honey.  No, they didn't purchase all of those flavors.  Keep in mind that our traveling pantry isn't huge and they already purchased Wildflower Honey, Creamed Honey as well as some Pepper Jam.  But it isn't difficult to obtain from Monica Hackett at Big "B" Farm in Grassy Cove, Tennessee.

And she will gladly ship so we will never be without!!  Check it out on Faceboook.

Would you believe we had the slides of the fifth wheel pulled in and we had the wheels rolling by 6:30 this morning?  We had about 85 miles on our route today and the rally gates opened at 8am.  We arrived right on schedule and got into the short line....only one rig in front of us

The greeter must have overdosed on coffee this morning....or she is  just naturally hyper and bubbly.  Our escort lead us quickly to our spot for the next 5 nights.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled for this afternoon for the 61st Escapade.  I guess that means I'll be on guard duty again.

I'm Chloe

Did Halloween arrive early?

 June 17, 2022

Spring Lake Resort site 60

Crossville, Tn

Wait one minute.  Isn't Halloween in October?  Isn't that when you don the costumes?  What ARE you doing Dad?

Are those bee hives?  Now how in the world did you get involved in bees?

Oh, I get it now.  Your camping friends Bruce and Kathy introduced you to this bee keeper who sells honey.  Fanscinating.  No wonder you were so excited when you came home.  I wish I could have seen Bruce.  I know he would have tossed my jug for me!

So first you collect the racks from the hives and then you get honey.

This kitchen sure doesn't look like Momma's kitchen.  I guess that's because it has all the equipment used to collect the honey.  Step 1 is  to clean off the caps on the rack to expose the honey.  The long chains on this machine does a swift job.

Just drop the rack into the machine and then it's ready for the next step.

The racks are spun and the honey is slung out around the inner edge and falls to the bottom where it is drained into a collection bucket.

And is double strained.

If you keep the honey warm, it can easily be transferred into jars/bears.

Of course you can't have bees collecting honey and filling your racks without fields of buckwheat, clover, or other such blossoms and the acreage here is plentyful for just that.  Just check out the long driveway...or maybe you would call it a lane seeing it is so long.

  A gorgeous setting for sure.

Nothing goes to waste.  The wax is turned into lip balm

or candles or even wood polish.

But this talented bee keeper doesn't stop there.  She also produces some awesome pepper jelly in a wide range of heat levels.

I sure hope you purchased some to share with me after all that sampling you did!

I'm Chloe