Day Tripping Photos: Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Daniel Boone National Forest

I'm experimenting here. Trying to post a "clickie" to allow looking at lots of photos without having to load them individually. Here goes...

The Windshield Shade Idea!

Since our first trip in Mona, I've been looking for a windshield shade to reduce the intense sun that blasts into the front of the coach. At some point in every campsite, the heat is unbearable. I'm looking for a shade that will allow privacy while letting us see out. We can order one through Cullum-Maxey, but it would run into the $1,000 range and would require drilling holes into the coach. I've looked at custom shades from Levilor but they're going to be over $300 and would also require special installation. I looked for rolls of shade screening, but can't find anything over 4' in height -- Mona's windshield is 5' at least.

The answer to the problem came during our day trip to visit one of the campgrounds in the National Forest. We stopped and asked a fellow about the shade on his Newmar Kountry Star. He and his wife are Joe and Marcia Jones. After some discussion and taking a few photos of their shade, Joe went to his storage compartment and returned with a roll of shade material. We bought 15' of it from him for $15 and I will attempt to make a custom shade like his.

More Cumberland Falls Photos

Day Trip to Daniel Boone National Forest and Cumberland Falls

Because we chose not to wrestle with cold foods on departure Wednesday, our food supply is quite limited. Oatmeal and one English Muffin each for breakfast and we must go for groceries. Wayne unloaded the brand new Schwinn bicycles I got for us at WalMart yesterday afternoon and we took rode around the campground a little before leaving. The bikes will need a little adjusting, but overall, they seem to be okay. Matching blue "Links" without frills.. fenders or baskets.

On the road going out of Fishing Creek, we saw a very large snake coiled in the middle of the road and stopped to get a close look. Wayne thinks he is a "good" snake. It think he would only be good if he were dead, but Wayne will not kill him. Horrors.

I'm in the mood for fried catfish and we drove south on Highway 27 trying to find a lunch place along the river. We finally came upon VIP Cafe where I ate a bowl of pinto beans, onions and a corncake and Wayne picked in a chicken sandwich. He ate a helping of homemade banana pudding too. It was good.

We took a scenic highway and stopped in to check out Burnside State Park Campground. The sites would not hold us. We drove on into Daniel Boone National Forest and Cumberland Falls which I found to be very pleasant. It is known as "The Niagara of the South"... I took pictures and a few movies. We don't know any of the people (except Wayne) who managed to get in front of the lens.

COE Fishing Creek Campground on Wolf Creek - Somerset, Kentucky

We arrived at the Corp of Engineers Fishing Creek Campground on Wolf Creek near Somerset, Kentucky, Wednesday evening just before sunset. No one was in the registration hut so we proceeded to unhook the car and drive around. Just 27 sites and there were only 4 campers when we arrived. It was errily quiet. Site #22 was not as the photo reservation described it but it was ours and Wayne was dissappointed overall, with the campground. We were greeted by Betty, Camp Attendant, who must have seen us and drove up on a golf cart. Betty said we could move into any of the 5-7 "walk-in" sites if we didn't like #22, but we went on and setteled in. It's not too bad, pretty quiet on the curb side -- even though the space to our road side is immediately adjoining. Here are a few pictures:

2010 Memorial Day Weekend

We're extending this year's Memorial Day weekend, adding part of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday onto the front end of the holiday. Site #22 at Fishing Creek Campground at Wolf Creek Dam is the destination. It's a small US Army Corp of Engineers location of just 27 sites in a mostly wooded setting overlooking a creek that's part of Lake Cumberland, near Somerset, KY. I'm taking along some permanent RV items from the house as we're just 5 weeks from retirement. We're not going to take so much in the way of cold foods, opting instead to stop at a grocery store along the way.

Another Step Closer

We accepted an offer on the house last night. A single woman whose Belleview home was lost in the flood last month is buying it. Closing date is expected by July 9th. The sale of the house is among the final steps toward our becoming full fledged gypsies! We hope now to be full-timers by Saturday, July 10, 2010. Oh joy!

Wayne Gives His Notice to Retire

This is a big day. Wayne has tendered his resignation and announced his retirement effective Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

Then Comes Sunday

As sure as Sunday follows Saturday, this weekend must end. Sunday morning brings another beautiful sunny crisp day - blue sky and about 48 degrees. Breakfast of bacon, eggs and croissants was cooked outside -- eaten inside.We didn't want to go home and drove to the office to pay for a late departure, but the camp shack was closed. Two inquires came this morning about the house. A realtor is showing it and there is an interested FSBO buyer. Additionally, a possible buyer for the old computer. We decided to pack it in and go on home in case we needed to show the house to the FSBO buyer. Early supper was eaten at a roadside BP station and we filled Mona with fuel as we drove the 50 miles from Montgomery Bell (Dickson-White Bluff) back to Franklin. We were home by 5:30 and there was no further activity. Sure wish the house would sell. Here are a few more photos...
Yes, Wayne has a chain saw...

Oh What A Beautiful Day!

The expected rain last night never materialized but the cool front came through and the morning is spectacular! I took a few pictures early. One is of "Nosey" watching from behind the windshield to see who was doing what. He pointed out that several people were dressed in hoodies like it was really cool. It was really cool. I took pictures of the campground area and of Wayne doing a few campsite chores. Even with the new "high tech" satellite on Mona, he just had to bring along the spare DirecTV dish in case he ever has to use it. Take special note of the photo of that wrench in his hand. That's a rare thing -- Wayne with a wrench in his hand.

Spring Trip to Montgomery Bell State Park

Excited to have Mona back, we just "have" to take a weekender! Wayne left work early Friday and we headed out to Montgomery Bell State Park near Burns, Tennessee. We were there 1-1/2 years ago in the fall and enjoyed. The flooding last weekend damaged the campground but the state workers have managed to make major repairs and we look forward to it. The temperature Friday was in the high 80's and humid, making it feel like summer. Rain is predicted for tonight, but is expected to be finished by Saturday morning.

Loading the groceries, the Norcold gave me a CALL ER 13 message. As I looked it up in the Norcold paperwork, I see that the previous owners have a checkmark by that particular error message so there is probably a history of this problem. I talked with Tom Cartwright at C-M two times. First he thought our battery might be low, then he suggested a possible remedy, but we can't get it going. We loaded all our refrigerator goods into ice chests and left the refrigerator on anyway. Rather it break completely if it's sick.

We arrived at Montgomery Bell campground around 4:30 and selected site #103 across from the stream. These sites had all been washed out by the storms last weekend and debris is strewn far and wide. New gravel and site barriers have been installed though and it looks good. The campground hosts, Mr. and Mrs Cooper were helpful and longwinded.

Surprisingly, the campground is only about 1/2 full. Maybe the damage of the storms, along with Mother's Day Sunday, is keeping campers away this weekend. We unhitched Blackie from Mona before making our way down into the campground and we narrowly missed having a close encounter with a tree, but we recovered.

The night was warm, we ate our Publix deli sandwiches inside and put away some more things we'd brought aboard. Both air conditioners ran quite a bit and the 10 o'clock weather indicated 85 degrees in Nashville. Pretty hot for so late at night.

Finally! Bringing Mona Home

Last weekend's flooding subsided and on Thursday, we were able to get through Briley Parkway to get the motorhome. Because of the floods at Gibson Guitars (near Mill Creek), Cam is out of work this week so he came over for a mid-day visit and went with us to Cullum-Maxey. We enjoyed a good lunch at the Chinese buffet before leaving Franklin.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the nearly $2,000 repair bill was assumed fully by Cullum-Maxey. Our part was $0. We saw Bud Maxey and thanked him for taking responsibility (which he should have done anyway, but we were being gracious).

We spent the $50 gift certificate to buy two water filters and we picked up a bottle of the pink washing liquid that was recommended by Anthony. Speaking of Anthony, he did not was the bugs off the windshield as we thought he'd done so we retrieved the $20 we had left with Tonya for him.

It was nice riding home in Mona, pulling Blackie behind us. I pulled a dining chair to the front, between Wayne and Cam and we had a good ride. The weather is already hot -- in the mid 80's.

After supper, Wayne continued his project of going through the boxes of papers stored in the garage. I'm proud of him. He's filling the trash can quickly...

An Elusive "Showing"

After weeks of quiet, finally a second Realtor showing of the house yesterday evening. A mid-day call came requesting an early evening showing, which we, of course, were happy to accommodate even though it was at the dinner hour. We went to Steak and Shake for supper while the buyers looked. The original price of the house has been reduced by $14,500 -- so far.

Mona's Ready; But Then The Flood Came...

Late Friday afternoon, Tonya Chambliss called to say Mona's ready to be picked up. Our plan to pick her up Saturday was foiled when the torrential rains began. With an early start, we decided to stop in at Bass Pro Shop to look around and by the time we were ready to leave, we'd changed our minds about trying to drive in the pouring rain. At that time, there was no flooding, but the highways were beginning to "pool" with the enormous amounts of water coming down. We came on home and planned to get Mona on Monday. That idea washed away pretty quickly as the "Great Nashville Flood" would quickly flood roads throughout the area, leaving motorists stranded and killing more than 15 people. Today is Tuesday and Briley Parkway is still under water. I've called Cullum Maxey and they tell me there's no flooding on their property, but Opryland Hotel is still under several feet of water.