N.E. Cape Fear River - 2

05/22/13 Wednesday After lunch we packed some food and a few yard tools, loaded the golf cart on the trailer and returned to the river lot for a few days. We moved the MH onto the parking pads that Robby and I made last week. They are going to work okay it looks like. I positioned the MH on the pads and they are level so I lowered the jacks in place and we finished setting up the MH. I had some dirt left over from making the pads so I scattered it out in some low spots in the yard, then Lena and I planted some iris tubers that she had dug up at the house. Then we relaxed and read for awhile before supper.

05/23/13 Thursday After Lena did her morning walk and we had breakfast we drove to town to get some groceries and then we went over to McDonalds and I got a Latte and we both got a dessert before driving back to the river lot. We temporarily installed a drop down screen onto our awning to check for fit and size. We took it down so Lena can adjust the size. The remainder of the day was just relaxing on the river bank and reading.

05/24/13 Friday Robby, Levi, our 4 year old grandson and Gregory Halso, Robby’s friend came with their boats to do some fishing early this morning. After breakfast I got my fishing gear and set on the dock and fished for awhile but did not have any bites. Later in the day Amber, our daughter-in-law arrived for the weekend with Jackson, our 7 year old grandson.

05/25/13 Saturday We awoke to a cool 49 degrees this morning after a cool front came through. Robby cooked sausage on the grill and then we cooked scrambled eggs in a skillet over the camp fire while Amber cooked biscuits in their camper. Later we fished off the dock but still no luck. For lunch Lena and Amber did the prep work for Hobo Hot Dogs and I cooked them over the campfire on a grate. This was the first time I had tried this and they were very good. You prepare the hotdog like you are ready to eat it, then you wrap each hotdog in aluminum foil and cook it over the campfire. Then we had brownies and ice cream. After lunch Gregory returned from a church trip and he and Robby set some catfish lines and fished for perch for a few hours before returning to camp to cook Gregory’s famous fish stew for supper. We all, except Jackson and Levi filled up on it and then set by the fire for awhile before bedtime.

05/26/13 Sunday After breakfast we all loaded up in Robby and Amber’s van and drove to our church (Muddy Creek Primitive Baptist Church). After church and communion, the congregation had dinner in the fellowship hall. Then we returned to the river lot for a relaxing afternoon while setting by the campfire. After a supper of leftovers I got the TV out of the basement and set it up near the campfire so we could watch the NASCAR race at Charlotte.

05/27/13 Monday Robby cooked hash browns and onions over the campfire while Lena cooked eggs in the MH for breakfast. Afterwards we relaxed by the river until a lunch of more leftovers. Then Robby and Gregory dressed 5 catfish they had caught earlier. One was over 32” long. The afternoon of sitting by the river and watching a few boats come by was very relaxing but all good things much come to an end so we gathered up our things while Robby and Gregory got their boats out of the water and departed for home. Lena and I decided to leave the MH and go home. We are hoping to get some centipede sod in a day to two to put down on the lot to improve the grass. We all had a great relaxing weekend.

N.E. Cape Fear River - 1

05/12/2013 Sunday After church and going out to eat for Mother's Day with Lena's mother and family and our son and his family, we departed about 4:45PM for our river lot to stay a few days and build 4 wood/concrete pads for the wheels and jacks to sit on. We were having trouble with the jacks sinking into the dirt when we set up, so I decided to make parking pads to stop that and make setting up just a little easier. I had built the forms at home in the shop so we have to dig the holes for them, get them level and then mix and pour the concrete. Lena followed me in the truck with all the tools, etc. We arrived and were set up by 6PM.

05/13/2013 Monday   Our son Robby arrived just as we were having breakfast. After I ate Robby and I started to work on the pads about 8:30AM. By 4PM we had finished the pads. We mixed 51 40lb bags of Sakrite in a wheelbarrow using a garden hoe. Lots of work but we didn’t have access to a concrete mixer. After Robby left for home I spread out some of the excess dirt from the holes and burnt the bags the concrete came in.

05/14/2013 Tuesday    After breakfast I finished spreading the excess dirt and cleaned up around the new pads and then used the weed eater to trim where I couldn’t mow last week. The remainder of the day was reading and relaxing.

05/15/2013 Wednesday    After breakfast we packed everything, closed the slides and departed for home but left the MH on site as we are returning next Tuesday or Wednesday for the Memorial Day weekend. The concrete should be cured by then so we will move the MH onto the pads and see if they work as planned. Our son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons will be coming also with their travel trailer for the weekend.

Multi-State Trip Last Leg

04/28/2013 Sunday  After leaving Nashville, TN we drove to Tom Johnson’s CG in Marion, NC arriving about 3:45PM. We were in site 27. We drove almost the entire way in rain, some hail, fog and with lots of 18 wheelers on the road. There was a 16 mile stretch of road before we got to the North Carolina state line that was very winding and the speed limit for trucks was 50 MPH and they had to stay in the right lane. I also stayed in the right line and drove between 50-55MPH due to the rain, fog and curves. The speed limit for cars was 55MPH. Near the end of this stretch we pulled into a rest stop to take a short nature break. I had the CB radio on and there was a trucker that was cussing me up a blue streak because (according to him) I didn’t let him pass and was trying to race him. I thought it was kind if funny since I was driving the speed limit and he was not supposed to even be passing in that stretch. Oh, well he will just have to deal with it.

04/29/2013 Monday We walked across the CG to TJ’s Grill at Tom Johnson’s Service Center and had breakfast. Afterwards we returned to the MH and dumped the tanks and departed for home, arriving about 3:30PM. We had a great trip and were thankful for a safe trip without too many problems.

We drove a total of 3,432 miles and stayed 33 nights on the road. The Motor Home performed flawlessly. We did get a rock chip in the windshield that will be repaired on May 3rd.

Multi-State Trip Leg 7

04/23/2013 Tuesday We arrived at the Two Rivers Campground in Nashville, TN at noon and set up on site 110. The streets and sites are gravel and the sites have a small concrete patio pad with a picnic table. After getting setup we went back to the office and had them get reservations for us for Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry. Then we walked next door to the Camping World Store to get a few items.

04/24/2013 Wednesday We got up to wind and rain, had breakfast and Lena washed clothes as we waited for the weather to clear. By the time we had lunch the weather had cleared so we drove into Nashville and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame. We had to pay $10 for parking and $40 for the Hall of Fame but it was very interesting and much more to see than when we came many years ago when it was in a much smaller facility. We returned to the CG and had supper while another load of clothes washed.

04/25/2013 Thursday After breakfast we drove about 45 miles to Marci Jo’s Mealhouse in Pottsville, TN about 20 miles from Franklin, TN. We had planned to eat lunch there but they were closed for renovation. This is owned by Joey and Rory’s sister Marci. Joey and Rory are country singers that we have seen on TV. The building is just a small old country general store that has been converted to a county eating place. Since they were closed we drove to Franklin and had lunch at H.R.H Dumplins on Maint St. We just stumbled on it beside the parking lot were we parked. I had Poppy See Chicken Casserole with garden salad and Lena had Chicken and Dumplins with a garden salad. They give you some of the largest yeast rolls I have ever seen and man were they good as was the other food and the servings were generous and the price was reasonable. $23 with tip and ice tea for me. We departed Franklin and headed back to Nashville, stopping at Opry Mills Mall and walked through it and got some batteries for the tire monitors and Lena got a Ninja Juicer. Then we returned to the campground for the remainder of the day.

04/25/2013 Friday After breakfast we drove into Nashville to the fair grounds to check out their flea market. It was huge. We walked over most of it for 3 hours and still did not see it all. We bought one item. We departed and stopped at McDonalds to get a Swiss Mushroom Burger. This is about the only thing we buy at McDonalds except an occasional Latte. When we sat down the local news was on the TV and they announced that the country music singer George Jones had died about 9:30AM. We returned to the CG and relaxed and read for the remainder of the day.

04/26/2013 Saturday We woke up to rain, which messed up our plans to go back to Franklin (also where George Jones lives) to their Spring Street Festival. We had breakfast and watched the news and watched it rain. We drove up the street to Caney Fork Restaurant for lunch. It has a rustic type of interior with a waterfall and fishpond inside and lots of stuffed animals, hunting/fishing type of décor and very good food and service. They brought us two trays of what they called fritters with powered sugar over them. They looked like southern hushpuppies but tasted more like a doughnut - either way they were very tasty. We finished lunch and went over to the Ernest Tubb Record Shop to check it out and get some CDs that are hard to find in most record shops at home.The tour bus that Ernest Tubb used from 1971 to 1977 was on display inside and was open to go inside. They put 3 million miles on it during the 6 years they drove it. It sure looked kind of rustic compared to todays tour buses. We returned to the CG and I packed up some of our stuff in the rain to get a head start on our departure on Sunday. Later met the bus at the CG office at 5:30PM that was to take us to the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry house was not but about 3 miles away but for $10 for both of us, they picked us up, dropped us off at the door and picked us up after the show an dropped us off at the CG and we did not have to fight the Opry traffic. The Opry was good as usual.

04/28/2013 Sunday  We ate breakfast and finished packing up and let the CG at 7:45AM.