Racoon Mountain

Great day here in Chattanooga.  Whole family went to the TN Aquarium today.  Quite a place.  All the usual specimens you would expect to see alligators, turtles, sharks .. etc but, the way it is laid out is very nice.  Two separate buildings rivers & oceans.  They also had water flowing through a man-made creek which ran through the property.  On such a hot day as this the younger kids loved it and the old ones cooled their tired feet in it.  The kids loved petting the sting rays and the sturgeon.  The stugeon came with a warning to use 2 fingers only and not to try and grab the fish.  They apparently don't like this and have very sharp teeth. 

  Arriving back @ camp on such a hot day everyone was pretty well spent Tristen(4) was already napping in the backseat of the minivan.   Bobby & Karen headed off to the pool and Dalton & I followed after a while.  After about an hour we all headed back to camp to get dinner going. Powerful storms all night really lighting up the night. Wow, it's tomorrow already. Heading out this morning for Sevierville TN. See you down the road, Don & Karen

Last day @ "home base"

  Sunday, Karen's off @ the laundromat getting the laundry done.  This is a somewhat new experience which, she says on Facebook, has some advantages.  She can get it all done @ once and not have it be an all day chore.  Just one of those changes we'll have to get used to. 
  The garage sale is over which went well.  Can't say it was a great success but we did ok.  Hard to have a gsrage sale on the weekend that set or equalled the record high temps for the day, every day.  Karen was worn out after two days and left it for Lescelle & Sami (duaghter-in-law & granddaughter) to finish up on Friday.   All that is left is to take the leftovers to Goodwill.
  For those interested in visiting this area Montgomery Bell State Park is a nice place to stay.  Campground is wooded or open, there are ball fields and playgrounds and is well looked after by park rangers and the camp hosts and there are adequate & clean restrooms & showers.  For those non-campers there is a wonderful inn to stay at.  The park has a swimming beach, boat rentals, including canoes & paddle boats and of course, fishing.  We have enjoyed staying here for several years.  Bobby is a little upset because they won't let him ride his "pocket rocket".  It is a small electric motorcycle but they feel it is too small and people in vehicles won't be abe to see him.
  Tomorrow, off to Chattanooga!

See you down the road,
Don & Karen

Today's the day!

  It has really happened!  Today we had the hitch & brakes installed and are back @ Montgomery Bell St Pk until Monday.  It was a little nerve wracking driving 30. Miles bwith just a regular hitch and no trialer brakes but, we made it there fine. It took almost 3 hours to have it done.  We had no choice, but to wait there since they needed both the trailer & the car. 
  Well, with our first pull under our belts we are ready for Chattanooga and Mont Eagle Mountain(they have runaway truck ramps on that decline). 

See you down the road,
Don & Karen

Less than a week to go

   It is less than a week now until we are finally ready to get on the road.  Next Wed we have the hitch and brakes put on and then a couple of days @ Montgomery Bell St. Pk. and the off to Chattanooga. 
   Things are progressing well, the house is empty, the new tenants will be moving things in tomorrow, garage sale stuff is being sorted and I can't count the number of trips to the dump.  Still things to do yet but mostly just finding places for everything now.
   Karen's son Chris arrived last night, or should I say early this morning with granson Bobby in tow.  Chris will be with us for three days but Bobby will travel with us almost all summer. 

See you down the road,
Don & Karen

Finally

iGoogle:
  Well, it has finally happened.  We have sold the motor home and rented the house all in the same day.  After putting some oil in the engine and some transmission fluid it started right up and ran well.  The man that bought it didn't seem to care if anything else worked in it.  He drove it off and hopefully made it back to Murfreesboro, about a 60 mile trip, safely.
  The family that came today to see the house fell in love with it and are ready to move in.  Their five children have fallen in love with the property, and all the reptiles that seem to live here.  We feel that they are a good match for the house and the neighborhood.  The husband has already made contact with the neighbor across the street since they are both into motorcycles and four wheelers.  I hope that they find as much happiness in this home as I have.
  Needless to say Karen and I are both excited about this turn of events.  The things that we needed to accomplish have finally come to pass.  We have been waiting for over a year for this to happen.  It's been such a good day we even bought a Powerball ticket.
  Our next goal is to have the equalizer hitch and electric brake assembly installed on the Denali.  This is on the calendar for May 23rd but we may just push that up a bit so we can get away for another weekend before traveling to Chattanooga with Donnie, Leschelle and family.  We have been living in the trailer for three weeks now but have yet to actually tow it anywhere.  We will need to have the trailer towed to Camping World in Nashville to have the hitch and brakes installed and just haven't been able to do that yet, until now.

Our new home.

  Our biggest obstacle now is getting rid of all the things that we have accumulated over the years dividing them up amongst family and having a huge garage sale in two weeks and finding where we want to put everything in the new RV.  It seems that we will have enough room ... hopefully.  

  We are looking forward to beginning this journey and taking you along with us.  We would love to hear from everyone and answer any questions, or listen to any suggestions, that you might have.  As we travel from area to area, if there is something you think we just have to see please let us know.

Until later

Love to all, 

Don & Karen

'via Blog this'