Heading South

Believe it or not, we finally got out of Nashville.  It was a cold morning to be disconnecting utilities and hitching up the car, but we were happy to be out there freezing our fingers off.  We got away from the campground about 9:15 and are now parked at a Walmart just north of Atlanta.

Peanut seemed to enjoy the ride today.

It was a bright, sunny day for a drive and traffic was moderate.  We left Nashville on I-24, then picked up I-75 in Chattanooga.  Both interstates were in good condition and we had a very nice ride.  The only construction we ran into was a bridge repair a few miles west of Chattanooga, but there was hardly even any slowdown in traffic.

The Tennessee River at the base of Lookout Mountain
 as it winds its way through Chattanooga.

So, we’re happy to be on the road again and will continue our way south tomorrow.

That’s it for today; gotta be watching my computer battery power.  Thanks for tagging along.

Another Move

We had a very peaceful night in the Camping World parking lot.  Even though it is located next to Briley Parkway, the outer loop around Nashville, traffic was very light and our sleep was not disturbed.  There were several rigs in the parking lot, so many in fact that it was almost full, but I think we may have been the only humans there overnight.  Apparently, all the others are waiting for service.

After worship service and an early lunch, we moved north a few miles to Nashville Country RV Park.  Music Country is located off I-65 just north of the very busy Rivergate area.  Shopping (grocery and the mall) is convenient, but the traffic is horrific, at least to us.  We’ve stayed here before and liked it, but it is a little far from family and other things we like to do while in Nashville, so it’s usually not our first choice.  Besides, the regular nightly rate is well over our budget and they don’t have a monthly rate.  If we were willing to sign on for a 3-month period, they have a good rate for that.  That’s a little long to commit for one place.  We usually get hitch itch in much less time.  Sunday through Wednesday they offer Passport America rate.  Now you’re talking.

The Office at Nashville Country RV Park

The park is small and old, but very well kept.  Even though there are some long term residents, it doesn’t have the feel of most other parks with rundown trailers with junk piled all around.  It is very neat and clean.

Our site in the 30 amp section

The park is small, as I said, and some of the turns are pretty tight, but adequate for big rigs.  There is a small pool, a small store and gift shop in the office, a laundry room, and LP gas on site.  We have a pull-thru site in the 30 AMP section with a wooden “patio” and a freshly painted picnic table.  The interior roads are paved and the sites are grass with gravel parking pads.

Most of the leaves are gone.  This tree still has a few hanging on.

We only had a few miles to travel, so we didn’t hitch up the car.  I drove the car and the Peanut road with Gene in the motor home.  Normally, on travel days, Peanut likes to ride in my lap.  When I’m not there I worry about him getting underneath Gene’s feet while barreling down the highway at 60 miles per hour.  He really is a good little traveler and today he was on his best behavior and didn’t cause any problems for the driver.

We got ourselves all settled in for a few days and then spent the rest of the afternoon in relaxed mode.  We had picked up a couple steaks for dinner and Gene was in charge of grilling.  He did a good job, but not without a couple glitches.  We’ve had some wind here today and lighting the grill was somewhat problematic.  Then, as luck would have it, the little 1-pound bottle of propane bottle ran out and he got to start all over again. Just another adventure in stoving for my stove obsessed involved husband.

We want to welcome our newest followers, Bill and Cap, of Views from the Open Road.  They are full-time RVers, as well. Plus, they enjoy tent camping and hiking.  I’m anxious to read some more of their blog posts and get to know them a little better.  Welcome, Bill and Cap.

I think that may be it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Tending Peanut

The Peanut was greatly improved this morning and seems to be feeling better as each hour passes.  He still has “sick eyes”, but he is eating, drinking, and beginning to act more like himself.  He is not well, yet, but is definitely on the road to recovery from whatever seemed to have been his problem.

About mid morning the phone rang and I was quite surprised to learn it was the vet who had attended Peanut yesterday.  She was just calling to see if he had made any improvement overnight.  How nice.  It did, however, confirm my impression that she thought he might not make it.  The call was thoughtful, never-the-less, and we really appreciated the gesture.  In all my years with pets, I have never had a vet make a follow-up call.  Kudos to Dr. Gordon at Blue Mountain Animal Clinic.

Not wanting to run off and leave the sick one alone, we opted to hang around the old home fires today.  Having done most of our chores yesterday, other than a load of laundry, we have had the day to relax.  Our friends, Tony and Diana, came over about mid morning to pick our brains about where to find what around town.  I guess in RVing circles, if you are parked some place for 10 days you become the “expert” on the area.  I’m not sure they got the information they were seeking, but we sure had a good time talking and laughing until early afternoon.

If the Peanut continues to improve, tomorrow we will be out and about again.

Cat Emergency

Peanut is fine, but we had us a real cat emergency yesterday.

Peanut thinks the whole world should be us at 5 AM.  Well, maybe not the whole world, but at least his mamma.  I have no illusions that it is because he wants to spend a few quiet moments with me.  I know all he wants is someone to feed him and I’m the only one sucker enough to bow to his wishes.  Yesterday, when 5 AM came, he didn’t get up.  Since he has me so programmed, my internal clock said “it’s coffee time”.  Even when Gene got up at 6:30, Peanut still opted for the bed.  That was when we noticed he really didn’t look too good.

He wouldn’t purr and seemed like he could barely hold his eyes open.  We let him rest and went about our business.  Our friends and fellow travelers, Tony and Diana, were due at our campground later in the day, so I put dinner in the crock pot and ran the vacuum.  Gene went to the grocery for a couple items.  All the while Peanut was content to sleep.  He got up once to make a trip to the litter box, but that was the extent of his movement.

After lunch, we decided he must be a sick kitty.  We searched the internet for symptoms of feline urinary tract infection, since that is a common ailment in male cats.  He didn’t seem to exhibit any of those symptoms.  I rubbed on his head a little and noticed his ears were very warm.  Another internet search turned up a vet and off we went.

Now, Peanut is not fond of vets and he has a very long memory when it comes to bad things that have happened to him at the hands of a vet.  The cat seemed at death’s door until we went into the examination room.  He immediately went into attack mode and no one, not even me, could get near him.  They finally had to catch him in some kind of net contraption and sedate him.  He made noises we’ve never heard him make.  It was awful to watch and I almost cried, but if I hadn’t been afraid he was going to die, I would have just brought him home.

After he was asleep, blood was drawn and x-rays were done.  No evidence of anything that would make him feel so ill and have a temperature of 106.  The only indication that something might be brewing was a slight elevation of his white blood count.  Since he hadn’t eaten or drank any water all day, the vet was concerned that he might not eat or drink, so she injected some fluid under his skin to help stave off dehydration.  She also gave him an antibiotic to combat the infection which might have caused he white blood count to be high.  After a couple hours, we headed home with a very groggy cat and a bottle of antibiotic.

The sedative finally wore off enough for him to wobble, literally, to his food bowl in late evening.   About 11 PM, he decided he’d had enough sleep for one day and got up.  Gene and I, on the other hand, just had to crash.  We both got up several times in the night to check on him.  As far as I know, what time he didn’t spend turning over his water bowl, he just sat in the corner of the kitchen.

He’s not well, but he is greatly improved from yesterday.  He moves around on his own and he’s back to purring when you pet him.

As for our friends, we had a great reunion.  We haven’t seen them since Albuquerque, and it was great to spend the evening catching up.  They did the honors of putting Washington on our map.  They will be here a week, so we are looking forward to lots of laughs and together time.

Peanut Has Settled In

This has been a stay at home day.  I did loads of laundry this morning, including the small throw rugs.  With the rugs clean, I couldn’t put them back on the floor without running the vacuum.  Being the beginning of a new month, Gene got busy with that banking and financial stuff he does.  It was a good day for these kinds of chores since it rained off and on most of the late morning and afternoon.  After the chores, we just lazed around reading, internet surfing, and watching a little Travel Channel.

I find the shower a great place for a bath

Thinking about my next move

Peanut was happy to have his mommy and daddy home with him all day.  He played with his old green mouse most of the morning until he just couldn’t stay awake any longer.

Waiting for someone to feed me

When I get tired, I sleep

When we first moved into the Everest, he seemed nervous and disoriented.  He has definitely gotten used to his new home and is much more comfortable in his surrounding.  He loves the large window at the rear of our home.   There is a world of birds out there.

Wonder what's out there

The forecast is for rain again tomorrow, but we are planning for a short hike anyway.  We’ll see how it looks in the morning.

About Naps

Today we got some much needed rain in Middle Tennessee.  It was a good day to stay inside and get a few chores done.  Laundry and ironing were the big things on my list, as well as baking a few cookies. This afternoon I reorganized a cabinet to make room for all the literature we have collected for our 2009 trip.

With all that activity I ran out of steam about mid-afternoon.  The raindrops on the roof just seemed to be lolling me to sleep.  Webster defines “nap” as a brief, light sleep.  Somehow, that just doesn’t bring with it the true essence of a “nap”.  I asked Peanut if he wanted to take a nap with me.  He seems to be the expert on naps in this household.  He takes 4 a day—2 in the morning, 1 in the early afternoon, and the last between dinner and bedtime.  They are neither brief nor light.  In fact, he sleeps so soundly that if you didn’t see his little tummy rise and fall, you might think he was dead.

My grandfather was another great nap taker.  His favorite napping spot was the sofa.  By the time I was aware of that special piece of furniture it was past its prime.  It was manufactured, I guess, in the decade just before Naugahyde became popular.  It was like a cheap imitation of Naugahyde like Naugahyde was a cheap imitation of leather. Maybe it was just everyday, ordinary vinyl.   The color is a little hard to describe.  Blue was probably the basic color, but there was also a lot of gray and a little green thrown in for good measure.  Maybe it was just faded from the sun or the real color had been worn off with use.  The living room floor wasn’t exactly level so the end of the sofa at the corner of the living room was slightly higher thereby making the sofa a kind of recliner.  My grandfather apparently felt that was its highest and best use and he spent what seemed to me to be most of my childhood in the reclined position on that sofa.

My mother swears she never takes a nap.  She also swears she doesn’t go to bed early.  Well, I guess technically, she doesn’t “go to bed” early.  After partaking of the evening meal and cleaning up the kitchen, she can often be found in her recliner in the den.  You notice because the snoring is so loud.

I don’t take many naps.  Several years ago I’d indulge in a nap on Sunday afternoon.  That was sweet.  Since I have become of “a certain age” I have difficulty sleeping at night.  I try to avoid a nap at all costs, even on those days when I have slept poorly the night before.  But today, I just couldn’t help myself.  I went up to the bedroom, closed the door, kicked off my shoes, and snuggled down under the blanky.  Peanut thought this activity a bit odd and came to check it out, but didn’t stay long.  Ah, pure bliss for a brief few moments.  I’ll be really pissed if I can’t sleep tonight.

Counting Blessings

Thursday is Thanksgiving so I thought I’d start counting all that I have to be thankful for early.  I figure it will take me a couple days to name everything.  We are thankful everyday for our blessings, but often we get in a rut and name over and over those things which are foremost in our minds—food, clothing, shelter, and family.  I often find myself spending more time asking for more things than I spend being thankful for what I have already been given.  How selfish is that?

My greatest blessing is a Lord that watches over me every day, and it’s no easy task.  In fact, I don’t know how He has time for anybody else.  Just this morning, I had to stop and say “thank you, Lord” that a display of glass jars of homemade pumpkin didn’t all fall in the floor when I ran into it with my grocery cart.  I certainly don’t want to forget that He kept me safe amongst the Nashville drivers as I made my way to and from the grocery.

Not only does He help me out, He is constantly providing opportunities for me to help others.  Isn’t that a great blessing—the ability to help others?  Today, while at the grocery, I had two opportunities to help fellow shoppers.  One was a very pleasant woman who was in one of those electric wheelchair carts.  She needed a bottle of safflower oil from the top shelf.  That was easy to do.  Not only was she appreciative and thanked me several times, but she also told me what she was going to do the safflower oil.  She rubs it all over her body to help prevent dry skin.  Now there’s a tip.  I’m afraid I’d slip off the sofa if I did that and I hate to think of all that oil being washed down the shower drain into my gray tank.  Does safflower oil have an odor?  Would it attract mice?  I’ve had a mouse in the house.  That’s no fun.  I think I’ll just stick with my Vaseline Intensive Care lotion.  The other shopper I had the privilege of helping was a younger lady who was searching through jelly and jam when I turned the corner into that aisle.  She asked if I saw any cranberry jelly.  As I sent her down a few rows to the canned fruit I decided jellied cranberry sauce wouldn’t be all that bad on toast.  I’d hold the peanut butter, though.

As I went through the checkout, I was grateful to have the shopping done for the Thanksgiving festivities coming up this week.  If you know me at all, you know I’m not fond of shopping and that includes groceries.  But I was in store for one more blessing from this single shopping experience—Gene’s quiet “thank you, Lord” as I handed him the receipt which came in almost $10 under the budget.

The gratitude I felt as each of these incidents occurred, paled in comparison to the “Hallelujah, praise Jehovah” that passed my lips when Peanut didn’t fall in the toilet.  God is good all the time!

Cat Tricks

Today has been a lazy day around our house. It has rained off and on all day so it was a good day to read and do just about nothing. I really need to defrost the freezer and clean the oven, but the freezer is too full and I’ll have to think of some excuse for the oven.

This afternoon Gene and I walked to the Little Supermarket for bread and milk. Wilmington is a very small town—only about a mile from one side to the other in any direction. There is really only one major intersection and it doesn’t even have a traffic light. We needed to stretch our legs so in between rain showers we went to the store. On our way back we stopped in at the Home Made Adirondack Chocolate Store. It was hard, but we finally selected about 8 small pieces to try plus a 3 x 3 square of almond bark. That little, bitty bag of chocolate came to over $7. We took our milk, bread, and little sack of chocolate and made a mad dash for the campground with thunder rumbling in the background.

Back at the Montana I put the little dab of chocolate into a small bowl. Gene and I each selected a piece and I put the bowl on the table. At some point, Peanut woke up from his nap. I didn’t realize he had found the bowl of chocolate until I heard it hit the floor. All I could see was dollar signs as I crawled along the floor to gather up my precious chocolates. Peanut found one I had missed under the sofa, but I rescued it before he had eaten too much. Just a couple teeth marks on one side. I put it back in the bowl. It was too expensive to throw away.

RVing With Peanut

Peanut came to live with us when he was just a kitten, so for most of his life he has lived in our Montana. When we are traveling from place to place, he is very content to ride in his carrier in the back seat of the truck. Only on very long days does he get restless and start to cry. 

Climbing the Walls

On the stove

He has learned when we are ready to move. We take him to the truck just before we put the slides in. I certainly don’t want him running loose for that. We were in a campground once when a dog got caught between a slide and whatever it was moving against. It broke a bone or two. Anyway, I am very careful that Peanut is completely out of the Montana before I put the slides in or out. When we stop at rest areas for lunch or a potty break, he also gets to come inside to his litter box and food and water bowls. Again, I am careful that the open spaces which allow access under the bedroom slide are sealed off so he can’t get under there. It looks like a great hiding place for a cat to me.

In the Christmas tree

In the pantry

When we are parked, the Montana is his domain. Peanut is deaf, but it doesn’t seem to have slowed him down any. He knows every nook and cranny. And he knows how to follow the path of a bird, dog, rabbit, or squirrel by racing from one window to the next in a great long circuit around the trailer. He can spend endless hours on the back of the sofa watching for any movement outside. For naps, his favorite place is the recliner. Since we have a rear kitchen, we only have one recliner and he apparently thinks it is “his chair”. He eats his dinner at 5 PM while it is usually 6 or 6:30 before we have ours. In that hour to hour and a half, he has eaten, groomed, run and played, and before we can get up from the table after our meal, he is sacked out in the recliner for his evening nap.

Play hard; sleep hard

I must say that Peanut was on his best behavior this week when we had company. He isn’t shy in the least and is very friendly with strangers. In his earlier, kittenhood days, he seemed to want to show out for guests. He was much better behaved this week. I remember one occasion when we had guests for dinner. Peanut was the perfect cat all during the preparations. He napped, dreaming little cat dreams, as far away from the kitchen as you can get in a trailer. He woke up about 30 minutes before the honored guests were due to arrive. It was his dinner time so he was quite content to eat and groom himself afterward. It wasn’t until after the guests arrived, when Gene was giving them the grand tour of our home, that the sugar or whatever kicked in and Peanut took off. He raced from one end of the trailer to the other using every handy piece of furniture as a springboard for the next. As far as I know, Peanut only stepped in the middle of one plate. I quickly whisked it away and replaced it with a clean one. Clean is a relative term now that the cat dander had been stirred up. Peanut had to spend the rest of the evening in the truck. That was like the terrible twos and I’m glad we’re past that stage in his life.

He is far from a sedentary cat but not as energetic as he was, so I guess he is now in his adolescent/young adult years. He has become a cuddly little lap cat. He is as sweet as he can be and quite adapted to the RVing lifestyle.

Chore Day

Friday is chore day around our RV. It took a long time to get some of our friends to understand that we have chores. Many thought we were just on vacation and, therefore, didn’t have dirty clothes and an empty pantry.

Anyway, Friday is chore day. There are two main things which must be done—grocery shopping and laundry. I also put ironing on the list, but somehow it never seems to get done on Friday. Generally, I try to avoid ironing, but inevitably a couple things sneak in. Some chores are only done once a month and I usually put them off until the last Friday. That was the case today.

I actually thought this day would be kind of easy. I guess I was dreaming. The biggest, baddest chore of all is defrosting the freezer. There are very few things I miss living the RV lifestyle. A frost-free freezer is on top of the list. I remember helping defrost the freezer when I was a child, but I don’t ever remember having to defrost thousands of metal slats on the inside of the refrigerator. Are those things only in RV refrigerators? And they are razor sharp. I can’t do this chore without cutting myself. Freezer defrosting has been a discussion on RV discussion boards and I read one time about how defrosting is easy. Just turn the refrigerator off and go to bed. The next morning you’re good to go. There is no way I could go to sleep knowing water was dripping in the refrigerator. Just think of all the disasters that could happen! So every minute I am there with a cloth to wipe up every drip.

Grocery shopping is always an adventure and takes up a good chunk of the day. I hardly ever shop in the same store more than a few times. Even if we are camped at the same place for an extended period of time, I like to try out the different grocers in town. I can easily walk a couple miles around in a circle trying to gather up the things I need.

One Friday as I was putting away the grub I had purchased, I took a few cokes out of the carton and placed them on the counter to go in the refrigerator. I got distracted with something else and in a couple minutes I heard a loud thump immediately followed by a spraying sound. As I turned around, I saw Peanut standing proudly on the counter admiring his work. For some reason this cat likes to help me keep the counter and tabletops free of clutter. The warm coke he had pushed off the counter had exploded like a grenade. Coke was everywhere and on everything as far away as the front door. The only thing that had saved most of the carpet was the numerous plastic groceries bags that I had not yet picked up.

Life is an adventure even if you don’t go out of the house.

Found A Peanut

This is the story of how we found our cat, Peanut, in Gettysburg, PA.

Tuesday evening while walking around the campground (as is our custom), we came across what appeared to be a stray kitten. He came right up to us without coaxing purring to the high heavens. He was an adorable little thing the color of a peanut. Of course, he followed us home. We opened the camper door and he marched himself up the steps and into the living room. He roamed all around and I guess he liked what he saw because, even though we left the door open for a couple hours, he never left. He stayed all night, that little peanut did.

By Wednesday morning, he had stolen our hearts. We first took him to the campground office to be sure he was a stray then off to the vet we go. We knew he was not completely well because he had a snotty nose and seemed to be having difficulty breathing. He also seemed to hold his head to one side. Other than these things, he seemed in pretty good condition for a stray. But we wanted him checked out and get his shots started. He weighed in at 3.3 lb, about half of what he should be for his age. He quickly won over the vet staff because of his loving disposition, but once Dr. Jones started ramming thermometers up his butt this little peanut lost patience quickly. Dr. Jones thought it prudent to clip his nails right away. She seemed to be loosing patience herself. Then came time to test for feline leukemia. Poor little peanut. Dr. Jones was holding a needle in one hand and a back leg in another. The assistant had the kitten by the nap of his neck and 3.3 pounds was hard to manage. Even though Dr. and assistant said not to, Gene thought he could help by holding something. Peanut bit Gene on the hand just barely enough to break the skin. But break the skin he did, so we spent the next 10 days waiting out the rabies quarantine seeing the sights and sounds of southern Pennsylvania.

After our visit to the vet, Gene went about the task of changing the reservations we had made for the next few days in southern New Hampshire. We don’t get very good cell phone reception at the campground so he was using the pay phone at the campground office. Since he had several calls to make, he chose to sit in one of those plastic patio chairs which are so popular these days. He did not break a bone as he fell over the edge of the sidewalk when the chair leg broke; he didn’t even hit the ground. This was due to the strength and durability of the telephone cord which he was gripping in both hands as the chair fell out from under him.

Peanut, while in isolation, was being treated for his upper respiratory infection and would get his first round of shots as soon as the fever was gone. He was released on the morning of May 20, 2006 and has brought us endless hours of pleasure since that time.