Trying To Stay Warm

It’s winter in Tennessee.  The cold temperatures, wind, and snow blew in just as predicted yesterday afternoon.  Let me just say right up front that this particular Class C was not built for winter weather.

Something just ain't right about having snow on your RV.

I’ve posted a lot about the advantages of our small motor home, but this is one case in which the 5th wheels were much superior.  On both of our 5th wheels, we had the cold weather package thus they were far better insulated.  We’ve also noticed in the Class C that we have a lot more condensation during cold weather.  My theory is that it is because there is so much less space and thus less air to absorb the moisture.  Our habits of cooking, showering, and breathing have not changed, but we have an incredible amount of condensation.  That condensation has all frozen on the inside of our windows.

Part of our problem is propane.  We figured we had enough to get to Saturday, our day of departure, but when the weather turned cold, we revised our plan.  We are now planning to leave this campground today and move over to one of the campgrounds on Music Valley Drive.  That’s where we have to go for propane anyway.  Now, however, the roads are somewhat hazardous to travel.  We’re still planning to make the move today, but will have to wait until afternoon when the temperature gets above freezing.  So, we’re being kinda conservative with our propane and don’t have the furnace cranked up to hot.  Not having portable propane tanks is another one of those disadvantages of motor homes.

My folks are still doing well so we’re still planning to head south.  However, we’re now thinking we may wait until Sunday morning to leave Nashville.  We had wanted to get to Perry, GA to have dinner with my nephews.  We’ve learned that Sunday is not convenient for them, so now we don’t need to rush for that deadline.

So, we’re preparing to move over to Music Valley Drive and on a more positive note--the sun is peeking through a few holes in the clouds.

Thanks for tagging along.

Catching Up And Formulating a Plan

As you might suspect, I haven’t much wanted to leave my home over the past couple days.  We’ve been hanging around with Peanut and trying to catch up on routine stuff.  I’ve only been out once and that was to the grocery.  Gene has been out a couple times--he went with me to the grocery and yesterday afternoon he went for a short hike at Beaman Park.  We haven’t even opened our door today.

So far, everything is going well with my folks.  My dad continues to improve slowly and apparently my mom has everything under control at the house.  While I was there, I did a lot of cooking and my aunt brought in six casseroles and a huge pot of soup.  All that food went into the freezer so all my mom has to do is heat and eat.  She can still do her own cooking, but she gets tired very easily.  With the extra work of caring for my Dad, she’ll enjoy not having to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

With things going as well as they are, we are looking for a departure day of Saturday.  A memorial service for my uncle who passed away a couple weeks ago is scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  After that is over, we’re thinking we may drive a hundred miles just so our distance won’t be so far the following day to Perry, Georgia.  If that works out, we can actually see ourselves in Bushnell, Florida on Monday afternoon.  We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve spent considerable time catching up with the blogs I follow.  Seems like everybody is getting a very good start to the new year.  As I read one of Judy’s posts at Travels with Emma, I was reminded of a few King Cake parties I’ve been to.  Once upon a time, in a life which seems far, far away, my teaching friends and I had a little book club.  Like most book clubs, we’d select a book to read and then get together to discuss what we’d read, drink wine, and eat junk food.  Eventually, we gave up the reading and just got together to drink and eat.  Someone in our group had heard about King Cakes, but we were really too far away from southern Louisiana to hardly notice Mardi Gras.

One year our little group decided to order a King Cake and that got us started on an annual King Cake Party event.  We ordered our first King Cake and it came complete with the Baby Jesus (henceforth known as the BJ).  We didn’t like the taste of the cake so much and decided from then on to make our own.  The person getting the BJ in their piece of cake got to host the party the following year and make the cake.  We also decided there were several “kings” to be honored--Elvis, for example, King Tut, BB King, King Kong, the Lion King.  The host announced the “king” and everybody dressed accordingly.  It was a hoot.  Thanks, Judy, for setting in motion all those fantastic memories.

Rick and Paulette have been out hiking and his post the other day about a short section on the PCT brought back a host of memories of some good hikes we’ve done on that trail in the Lake Tahoe area as well as near Mt Rainier.  It reminded me also that I haven’t selected the Appalachian Trail thru-hikers to follow this year.  Many thru-hikers post their journals on Trail Journals and each year I like to select six or eight to follow.  I usually pick out some older hikers.  Their journals are more interesting to me than the younger set.  We’re also getting very anxious to get back on the trail ourselves.  We’re looking forward to doing some hiking on the Florida Trail this winter.

Peanut seems to have enjoyed us being close at hand for the past couple days.  Gene taught him a new trick while I was away.  Peanut has discovered the heating pad.  Gene put it on the bed one morning and turned it on.  It’s hard to get that cat up from there now.  Would you say he’s is SPOILED?

That’s enough rambling for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Whew, what a week, but, finally, we are able to see, as they say, the light at the end of the tunnel.

On Friday, after four days of antibiotic treatment while in Special Care, there was enough improvement in my dad’s condition that he was moved to a regular room.  By Saturday morning, he was like a whole new person and the doctor began talking about sending him home.  We were all shocked at that and you could not have convinced me on Friday that he would have been well enough to go home on Saturday, but late Saturday afternoon he was finally ready to be discharged.

Pneumonia is a pretty serious condition, especially in the elderly.  In addition, my dad has the relatively rare disease myasthenia gravis and even though the MG is under control, its existence effected the treatment of the pneumonia.  And, if that’s not enough, when he and my mom were leaving for the hospital on Tuesday, he fell in the basement and sustained a severe sprain to his left ankle.  That injury prevented him from being able to be as mobile as they like pneumonia patients to be.  Nevertheless, as his neurologist says, “he’s a tough old bird”, and was well enough on Saturday to go home.

I returned home myself on Saturday evening and was very glad of it.  I think Gene was pretty happy, too, and the Peanut was..., well the Peanut crying for his supper.  Although, I’ve been sleeping at home since Saturday, I have been back over to my partents’ home for the better part of Sunday and today.

My mom came through like a trooper even though she was worn to a frazzle.  My staying at the house, doing all the cooking, keeping the household chores done, and driving her back and forth to the hospital was the best decision we could have made.  But, I think she has gotten tired of me being under foot and today she informed me that she could very well take care of her own home and that I didn’t need to come over there everyday.  I heard that--I’m staying home tomorrow.

It is my understanding that pneumonia is not all that easy to get over and that a relapse is a major concern.  My dad will have to take it easy for several weeks as he slowly rebuilds his strength.

Our plans at the moment are to stay in town until the weekend.  We’ll see how things go and will, of course, stay as long as we’re needed.  However, if all goes well, we hope to be on the road headed south by Sunday.

Several of you, our dear friends, have expressed your concern, prayers, and support through comments or in personal e-mails.  We are grateful for each and every one of you and truly appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and support.  Thank you so much.

I was without my computer for several days and, even if I’d had it, I’m not sure when I would have found time to read my daily blogs.  I am looking forward to catching up with what everyone is up to.

So, that’s where we are on this Tuesday.  Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to spending a whole day in my own home.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

Thanks for tagging along.

Just to Let You Know

We are in the midst of a family emergency.  My Dad went to the hospital on Tuesday evening with a diagnosis of pneumonia.  This morning he was moved from special care to a regular room and is improving slowly.  We are spending many hours at the hospital.

My mother is unable to stay alone, so I've moved in with her to take care of her needs, drive her back and forth to the hospital, and be with her at night.

Just wanted to let you know what's up with us.  My blog posting is likely to be hit or miss for the next few days.

Hopefully, this won't last long.

Weird World 2011

Before 2011 gets too far away, I want to share a few shots we got during our travels last year.  Naturally, we all try to catch that perfect “kodak moment”.  We are always on the look out for that one special thing that represents the essence of our day, or trip, or adventure.  Occasionally, we find things that make us laugh out loud or drop our jaws in astonishment.  These things we’ve dubbed “weird world”.  Here are our Weird World photos from 2011.

Cat recipes?  Really?

J.O. Cafe, Savannah, GA

At an Oklahoma Rest Area

Enjoy and thanks for tagging along.

Springfield Greenway

Hope everyone is having a great start to 2012.

Saturday, we had planned to help my folks take down their Christmas decorations.  They got out there and got it done on Friday.  When I called on Saturday morning, everything was already taken down and in the basement waiting to be put back in boxes.  I was happy to take it down and carry it to the basement, but I draw the line when it comes to putting it in a box.  I lived in my parents’ home for way too many years and learned that I could never master the box puzzle.  I’m just not going there.

Information panels provided the history of the area.

So, suddenly, we had a free day and a beautiful day it was with sunshine all round and beautiful blue skies.  I guess the weatherman got the clouds and wind thing confused with another day.  Naturally, a hike popped up as we were thinking of things to do with our free day.  But, we were still weary with driving so we wanted something close.  Gene got on the internet and discovered Springfield has a greenway and Springfield is only 9 miles away.

The old water plant

Greenways are not usually our first choice.  We’d much rather be on a dirt trail in the woods, but they are often convenient and sometimes that’s just what we need.  Plus, they have the added advantage of usually being paved which means a faster walk--a longer distance in less time.

Sulfur Fork Creek

The Springfield Greenway is 3 miles in length with Price Park on one end and the Courthouse on the other.  Parking might be a problem at the Courthouse, but there is plenty of parking at Price Park.  Additionally, there are three other parking areas along this 3-mile stretch.  There are two parks--Garner Street Park which is 0.8 miles from the Courthouse and the American Legion Park which is 1.25 miles from the courthouse.  Both of these parks have plenty of parking as well as restrooms.  There is also a small parking lot just off E. Main Street at the bridge over Sulfur Creek.  It will only accommodate about 6 cars and there’s no restroom, but it is only about a tenth of a mile from the American Legion Park.  This small parking lot is the one we used.

We started our walk by heading out of town toward Price Park, 1.5 miles away.  The greenway follows Sulfur Fork Creek past the old Woolen Mill and the old water plant.  Past the water plant we had a corn field on one side and Sulfur Fork Creek on the other.  It was a pleasant walk because it hasn’t rained in several days.  However, after a heavy rain, this trail floods in the low lying areas.  We saw several places that were still covered in dirt and leaves from the creek following the last heavy rains.

At Price Park, there is a small lake which was host to lots of geese, ducks, and a few gulls.  There was also a playground and several picnic tables.  A great place for a family outing.  Moved to this location was one of the oldest structures in Robertson County.  The outside of this log home was decorated for the holiday, but it was not open so we couldn’t go inside.

We backtracked from Price Park to the car then continued toward town another 0.6 miles to Garner Street Park.  There we turned around and went back to the car without going the other 0.8 miles to the courthouse.

One of the oldest structures in Robertson County, built about 1796.

We enjoyed our walk and I’ll bet we have plenty more opportunities to visit the Springfield Greenway in the future.

Several of our readers have expressed their condolences over the passing of my uncle.  We really appreciate your concern, thoughts, and prayers.  John was elderly and had spent his last few months in a Hospice Center in Spartanburg, SC.  He lived a full, rich life and I have many, many fond memories of times spent with him and his wife, who passed last year.  He is in a better place now and we are grateful for that.  Thank you for your concern.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

New Years Day Hike

We anticipate doing a lot of hiking during 2012 so, in that regard, we got off to a very good start today with a 6.5 mile hike at Montgomery Bell State Park with the Clarksville chapter of Tennessee Trails Association.  We last hiked with the Clarksville group at Meriwether Lewis on Nov 19.  Several of the hikers who were on that hike were with us today and it was nice to see them again.  The hike we did today was the same hike we had done with our hiking buddy, Herb, on Nov 7th.

Suva, our leader for this hike.

We met the Clarksville group at the Visitor Center at 10 am.  All together there were 21 hikers in our group.  It took several minutes for everyone to get their gear ready, visit the restroom, sign in for the hike, and stow the pot luck lunch in any pack that had extra room.  Of course, there was the customary group photo to be taken.  After about 20 minutes we were finally ready to hit the trial.

Our lunch spot for the day.

Since this was the same hike we had done on Nov 7th, I won’t repeat the description of the trail, but if you missed it then or want to reread that hike, click here.  I’ll cut right to the chase of today’s hike.  It was New Year’s Day, after all, and for several years TTA has had a “pot luck lunch on the trail” hike.  Needless to say, the packs were full.  Some hikers were even carrying backpacks, not the customary day packs for a hike of this length.

We made our way around to the lake which was to be our lunch spot.  There was a little nip in the air and there was a brisk breeze blowing so it was a bit chilly out.  We found a place at the end of the lake which was somewhat sheltered from the wind and in the sun.  Our leader, Suva, spread the “table cloth” and we laid out the feast.  And a feast it was including the shrimp cocktail.

Being New Years Day we naturally had to have black-eyed peas.  This may be a southern tradition; I don’t really know, but all my life we’ve had black-eyed peas on New Years Day.  They’re supposed to bring good luck during the year.  There have been a few years in my life when I didn’t considered myself very lucky even though I ate those peas so I tried doing without them for a few years.  I’m back to eating them now, but only because I like them.  I can’t actually say they bring good luck.  Anyway, we had several pots of peas on the trail today.

The stoves came out to heat those peas.  There were 6 stoves all together and Gene was in his element.  You know how he just loves backpacking stoves.  He made the comment later that he noticed how all the people with alcohol stoves were in a hurry to get to the lunch spot so they could get their stoves lit.  For those of you not backpackers, alcohol is notoriously slow as a heating fuel.

J R Tate, aka Model T

We had a great hike, a fantastic lunch, and a wonderful day.  We really enjoy hiking with the Clarksville group.  They are so much fun to be with.  Among the group, there are several long-distance hikers.  The long-distance hiker is a different character from the day hiker and we enjoy talking to them about trails and gear.  Suva, our leader for today’s hike, has for several years taken a group to do a section of the Appalachian Trail.  That group is within four hundred miles of completing that trail.  Also on our hike today and a member of the Clarksville Chapter was J R Tate, better known in Appalachian Trail circles by his trail name, Model T.  J R has completed 4 thru-hikes and has written a couple books about his experiences on the trail.  It’s always fun to catch up with him and his stories.  And let me just say we proudly carry an alcohol stove made by his hands.

So, I think we got this year off to a very good start--good friends, good food, and a good hike.  That’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.