Acorns Keep Falling On My Head

We've been camping here in the park since Saturday night and have a nice spacious spot under some huge old oak trees.  While they provide a lot of shade, they are also home to some of the largest acorns I have ever seen.  Fellow rvers know where this is going, so I will get right to the point.  The acorns hit the roof of the motorhome and sound like huge branches are falling.  It turned a lot cooler the last couple nights and with some heavy wind and rain, the acorns pounded us all day.  I'm afraid to get up on the roof and see what it looks like.  They are also falling on other rvs and the occupants don't seem too concerned.

We've been spending time with our children and their families since our  arrival.  While it is very interesting to us, there isn't much to blog about.  It is great seeing them but we have to compress 6 months of visiting into 12 days.  It does get intense at times.

We visited with our grandson Ryan and great grandson Griffin today and had lunch with them.  It was a nice time and we enjoyed chatting with Ryan and playing with Griffin.  Griffin is growing like a weed and is still a very happy baby.

Gerry & Griffin

Ryan & Griffin

From there we went to Larry, Jr's for more visiting time with him, Jane and Grant.  We enjoyed a delicious Mexican Bean Pie dinner, Key Lime Pie dessert and followed it up with some Hot Spiced Cider.  Gerry said she doesn't mind being spoiled while we are here and she doesn't have to cook.

Jane, Grant & Larry Jr.

Friday will bring some changes to the area with the beginning of the NASCAR race scheduled for Friday & Saturday nights.  We've been warned to avoid traveling in the area during the arrival and departure of the race fans.  The roads will be jam packed, along with people walking back to their parking spaces.  We have made our plans accordingly.

Barbara is trying to get some race tickets for her and Henry, and also for Darlene and Tom.  If they get the tickets, then they plan on tailgating at our motorhome the day of the race and then walk to the stands.  We are about 3 blocks from the racetrack and it should be interesting.  More to follow.

Our Verizon cell phone is acting up and it may be the time to replace it.  We have been studying smart phones and checking into the cost for them.  Our present phone that meets our needs is 5 years old and we removed texting from the plan.  It costs $46 a month.  To get a basic smartphone service looks like it will cost over $100 a month.  More phone than we need or will ever use, so we are still mulling which way to go.  Maybe getting a basic phone like the one we have is the best solution.  Decisions, decisions.

I have decided to go to bed, so will close for now.

Easy Day's Drive

We woke up this morning to see a thick fog covering the Walmart parking lot.  I turned on the tv for local news and found out the fog was blanketing the area, but would burn off quickly.  That was when I decided that getting an early start wasn't such a good idea and we took it easy getting ready to hit the road again.

Fog clearing up

The traffic on I-81 South was light and we made good time traveling down the road.  Once we got onto I-77 South, the traffic picked up a little, but not enough to slow us down.  The tractor trailer trucks with heavy loads were another story since we were beginning the ascent over the mountain on the VA/NC border.  One truck in particular had a load of steel, was barely moving 40mph and was holding up traffic.  I don't know how he did on the really steep grades just ahead of him.

The downhill run of 7.5 miles had numerous run away truck ramps spaced about a mile apart.  The lower we go, the more the ramps had been used.  I downshifted the transmission and let the exhaust retarder do it's job and maintained a safe 50 mph descent.  I love the exhaust brake and the job it does.

We arrived at the campground and were almost set up when Barbara & Henry showed up with some great sandwiches and cold beer.  We were happy to see them and started chatting non stop and it stayed like that for a couple hours.  Henry and I transferred the load in the back of the Saturn to Barb's Avalanche.  Part of the load even carried over to the front seat.  They went back home to do some chores and we finished up with setting up the motorhome.

Later we went to their house for more visiting and a small cookout on their patio.  We didn't take any pictures since we were beat and just wanted to relax.  More conversation followed and we wound up staying there until about 11pm.  By this time we were very tired and ready to call it a day.   

Now it is time for feather bed ball, so good night.

On The Road Again

We finally got on the road today after a few aborted attempts in the last couple weeks.  Our neighbor Bob came over yesterday and brought his handy dandy John Deere tractor and pushed some bushes, tree trunks and other junk away from the motorhome.  It gave me enough room to maneuver the motorhome around and then pull out of the parking space heading in the right direction.  The next problem was the entrance to our little enclave.  There are some trees very close to the lane and it is a tight fit.  I managed to drive out and not take off any mirrors today.

The mirror arrived by Fed Ex right on time as they promised; two days from Red Bay, AL to South Mountain, PA.  That is some service.

Our SIL Jack had a scheduled day off and came out to install the new mirror.  Boy, was it a tight fit for him to make the electrical connections and install the mirror.  It took about 3 hours to finish that job and then he fixed a couple more problems on the motorhome.  Now I have to wash it and get the road and tree grime off of it.

We had planned on stopping in Richmond and visiting with our friends Carolyn & Mann, but all the campgrounds were full.  They also ban overnight parking at most of the Walmarts in the area so we didn't have a choice of what to do.  We made it to Christiansburg, VA and are Wally Docking for the night.  There is a Virginia Tech college football game here on Saturday and the Walmart is a little crowded, also.  At least we didn't have to drive the complete 425 miles down to Concord tonight after the last couple busy days.

I am tired and going to bed early tonight.  Hope to be on the road early and get to Concord before 1pm.  We will see how that goes.

That was our day, how was yours? 

Ooops Kind of Day

Well, we were all loaded and ready to go this morning.  We have a very tight fit to get the motorhome back on a decent road.  First we have a narrow lane by the cabin with lots of trees, then a gravel forest road and finally a narrow asphalt road.  The road down the mountain is 11 miles long and full of curves and unlevel road.  It's like running a gauntlet.

We were about 8 inches away from getting the motorhome turned around and ready to hit the road.  Then I heard a sickening crunch and Gerry was yelling stop.  Too late, by this time the tree reached out and grabbed my driver's side mirror.  Not only that, it broke it off and now we are waiting for a replacement mirror to be shipped to us and hope to get it within two days.  Fat chance of that.  It looks like Saturday will be the earliest and Monday is more likely when it will arrive.

It is a simple task then to splice the wires and put the new mirror back on the motorhome.  Then it is back to the gauntlet and try to get out of here.  Not something I am looking forward to and they are calling for a tropical rain storm to arrive on Monday and dump a lot of rain on our parade.

We did move the motorhome back to the pad here at the cabin and will be ok.  At least the rent is cheap here.  One possible problem may be that we will be arriving in Charlotte, NC during race week and that means it will be hard to get a campsite.  We may just take our time and arrive after the race.  We don't have to be out west at any specific time, so that is a possibility.  Time will tell.

That was our exciting day, how was yours?

The Pirates and We Did It

We got up early today and began the final loading of the motorhome.  It's hard to believe how much work goes into bringing stuff from the cabin back to the motorhome and then finding storage areas for it.  As it turns out, we have two areas with space to spare.  Now we are wondering if we forgot something and that is why we have the space.  I guess we will find out sooner or later.

I filled the batteries with distilled water and then oiled the jack housing.  Some more lubricant on the slide rails and we should be good to go in the morning.

We aren't going to winterize the cabin since Cassie and Jack will use it one weekend and then close it for the winter.  Now that we have all our stuff out of it, the cabin looks really nice.  Plus, it is Indian Summer here and that makes it even more difficult to leave, but it will change quickly and we don't want to be here for that.

Our neighbor Bob stopped by to tell us goodbye and volunteered to take some trash to the dump on Saturday.  He was going anyway and didn't have a full load.  We only have two bags full and a few odds and ends, so it won't take much space.  He is a fantastic neighbor and volunteers to help all the time.  His efforts are greatly appreciated.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won tonight versus the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2.  It was their first playoff win in 19 years so it was especially nice to see them win.  They play the St. Louis Cardinals later this week in a 7 game series.  Go Pirates!

Since it's been so warm lately the Stink Bugs are out in force.  We've had more of them today than at any other time this summer.  I hope we can close the cabin in time to keep a lot of them out of there.  Do you have them in your area?

We will head Leaddog down the road in the morning heading for Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, VA.  We hope to see our good friends Carolyn & Mann while we are there.  Hopefully, we will be rcovered from all the work we've done the past few days.

That is it for us and now it's time for feather bed ball.   Good night.