Black Bear Cove in Benton TN

I know it's been a while since I have posted but a lot has been going on. Let's start with Memorial Day weekend. Jonathan's grandmother passed. Gladys Wilson was a good mother-in-law and a very good grandmother to Jonathan in spite of the split between his father and I when he was three. She was in her 90's and lived a very good life until the last six months when her mind began to fail her.
So in order to spend time with Jonathan and Taylor during this time I called the Black Bear Cove RV Resort to see if they had any sites available on short notice. They had one. It was meant for me to be there

Behind the cg is the Hiwassee River. It was about 10 degrees cooler sitting down by the river and was just a nice place to get away. You can tell Roy thinks the water is cold.




My great nephew, Jacob, put my never used grill together.







My immediate family is from around that area so we were able to spend time together and be there for Jonathan & Taylor at the same time. Being in the area gave us all support. At one point there were 27 people at the campsite, visiting and enjoying each other's company and stoking the fire for dinner and later, smores.








Nephews Roy and Jerry and Great Nephew Jacob furnished the fire wood and built the fire and kept it stoked.

It was good for me too. His brother Josh put my new 22" flat screen LCD up with a wall mount. I took the big TV out of the cavernous hole that can now be used for terrific storage. I just had all kinds of help.


The resort has a lodge and a very nice restaurant that the local go to for special occasions. It's a little pricey for the area but apparently very good. The owners came up from Atlanta where he was a contractor. They have three phases of the resort. They began with the lodge and restaurant; then came the RV park which is well done. It has a few narrow roads approaching it and all the roads are gravel inside the park but it didn't cause a problem. If you get on the single digit sites there is a line of trees that offer great shade in the evening.

The sewer taps are too high, since when does sewer run uphill when emptying??? I will definitely stay at this cg again. One thing to note during high season or holidays, visitors must pay $5 per vehicle to come in and believe me, there is a little drill sergeant who makes sure everyone is following all the rules. I liked it so much, I decided to stay another day. It was worth it.

Later...

Blue Ox Tow Bar

I finally did it! I got my tow bar for Somewhere so I can pull the Grey Goose everywhere I go. After I had a crash course in hooking it up, I headed into Nashville to load Somewhere up for a long weekend in East TN. This was a little dejvu because when I first got Somewhere my first trip was to East TN over Monteagle Mtn, towing was the same route. Nothing like breaking your teeth in on a 6% grade mountain towing something you aren't used to. The way I look at it is, I'm gonna have to conquer that mountain sooner or later, it or Rockwood Mtn are the ways to get to my hometown from Nashville. I made it and successfully. I felt like pulling over and jumping up and down and shouting "I did it!" but I didn't. I thought it though.

Coming back I was able to hook up and get on the road by myself. I suppose the crash course did the job.

One step closer to a full timing lifestyle.

Later...

Nuvi Garmin 265W Arrived

I have been having the most fun. I ordered the Garmin 265W from Amazon about five days ago and it arrived yesterday. I'm like a kid in the candy store. It's interesting to see which way Stella, the so named Garmin, is going to take me to places where I already know I'm going. I wished it had an RV setting on it but it doesn't. I'm still happy with it. I got the navigator because I don't think Sedona can look at the road atlas and tell me which way to go. She's a good co-pilot but not a navigator. Stella will just be handy for keeping me on the right track.

Bad news this morning. Jonathan's fraternal grandmother passed away today. So a change in plans for my long holiday. I'm going to head east and stay at the Bear Cove RV Resort in Benton, TN. That will be close enough to Athens and Etowah to go to the service and take a break and enjoy the holiday weekend at the same time. I know generally where Bear Cove is because it's close to where my BIL has the lake cabin. It's right on the Hiwassee river so it should be nice and cool.

This trip will be my maiden voyage towing the Grey Goose behind Somewhere. Nothing like a challenging trip over Monteagle Mountain towing a vehicle. From what I have read and heard, I'll never know she's back there. I also got a recall on Somewhere from Winnebago. Something about the bracket holding the propane tank. OMG, what if it had turned that 27lb propane tank loose? Guess it would be adios to ole Carolyn and Sedona.

This past weekend I dewinterized Somewhere by myself and didn't have any problems. Yippee! I also, aired the tires up, almost by myself. I had them all aired except one on the driver's side front. The valve is too close to the wheel cover and it doesn't budge. A nice man pulled into the Flying J and I asked if he could help me out. He was glad to assist and he thought the wheel cover just needed to be moved and I told him it was attached to the actual wheel. Being the man that he was he needed to find out for himself. When he had the hub off the wheel and saw that sure enough the wheel was attached to the cover, he went to plan B. So it actually took both of us to air up that tire. He said, "mam, there would have been no way you could have done that yourself." Confirmation for me.

I had to puff out my chest a little bit. I am woman, here me roar. I did it! It's just the little things that builds up the confidence to do one more thing.

I thought I had a leak because my water pump kept running and that is supposed to be a very good sign that there is a leak. So as I was taking Somewhere to be looked at today, I thought, you know, I bet that the water pump is running because it is filling up the hot water heater. Yep, that was confirmed and that's what it was. See I told you, little things, big confidence.

Anyway, that's my report before the holiday. I hope to get some good pictures this weekend even though it's a sad occasion, it should still be good to see family.

Later...

Bolles Swim Meet, Jacksonville FL

While I was at Jonathan's and did my taxi service for my wonderful granddaughter to swim practice, I actually got to go to one of her swim meets. I have only got to see her swim in the GA state meets when she qualifies for State.

It was quite warm and if you know anything about swim meets, there is a lot of down time between heats. It was interesting to see the warm ups. All the kids in her age category hit the pool at the same time and it looked like a school of pirhanas that one sees in the movies.

It's amazing to me that Taylor can swim the 200 or 400 and get out of the pool and not be winded. I wouldn't be able to swim a 25 w/out breathing hard. I'm really proud of her and what she is able to do.

Of course, I need to introduce my grand furbabies. Sassy is the cat and she runs the place even though she was last to come into the family. She feeds Barbie, the dog, who is part Jack Russell and that is how she got control over her. They are a lot of company to the family.

I was able to celebrate Mother's Day in South GA with my family and they treated me to a beautiful rose and took me to Bonzi to eat. Well, actually I should give Taylor the credit for everything, Jonathan was a little out of service. Thank you, Taylor, you made it a great Mother's Day '09.

Later...

Fernandina Beach FL

While I stayed with Jonathan as he was recuperating from surgery and he began to get better, I decided I was getting stir crazy and needed to take a little drive. I'm sure it was good for him too.

Self-portrait!!

Where did I go? Back to the beach of course. This would be the first time I would be going to the beach by myself so I wanted to try it out. I LOVED it. I took Jonathan's boogie board because I like to ride the waves and play in the surf. I took a beach chair to sit in the surf and read my book, Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy. I took a sheet in case I wanted to lie back and soak up the sun. I highly recommend it, what a good way to release all stress. It's only about 15 miles to the beach and I was getting to drive his Prius which was way too cool.

I pulled into Peter's Pointe at Fernandina Beach and took my time looking around.

When we were at the beach earlier, I noticed a sign about being able to stay at the park for 24 hours. I thought that was a good idea for me to do as I worked my way down the coast.

Then the next sign read that was only for Nassau County, FL residents. Oh, well, that's the breaks. It's still a good beach with plenty of good parking.

This particular area is not commercial and is very close to Amelia Island.

The beach is a little shelly and it was tough to walk barefooted. When I arrived the tide was going out so it wasn't long before there was plenty of good walking sand. Just getting back to the chair and sheet was a little tough for a tenderfoot.

Three hours in the sun and I felt my 30 SPF was not working so well and time to go back and check on the patient. Man, what a terrific day it was. This was one of the reasons I really hated to come back to the real world and back to work.

Later...

Back In the Real World

I'm gonna post very quickly to say that I am back to work and NOT loving it. It was difficult for me to come back and get back into my routine. I would have preferred to have stayed on the road. I'm thinking I will love it.


I will have some new pictures about the area and swim meet but just wanted to stick my head in and say hi.


Oh, I received my order for the Trailer Life Directory, RV Atlas and TL CD's. I began playing with the CD last night and can't wait to see how it interacts with my new GPS that should arrive in a few days.


I placed my order for my Blue Ox tow bar, base plate, etc to tow my HHR and made the appointment for sometime next week. I'm getting ready for my adventure. I had a recall on Somewhere and have to take it in to have a bracket checked that holds my propane tank. I'm gonna get all that done so I can go out some one weekends. I am going to wait until a little closer to leaving to get my new tires. They will last me 6 years and then I can reevaluate whether I want to continue travelling or have found a place to settle down.


Oh, one other thing. Jonathan and I have been talking about what to do this Christmas to top our trip to Stone Mountain last year. He has been wanting to take Taylor and go to Crystal River to snorkle with the Manatees. He received his diving certification there many years ago and loved it. So I decided we would go there after Christmas. I'll stay for 14 nights at Manatee Springs State Park and they will stay however long they can. It should be a fun time. As if you can't tell, I love to plan ahead.


Later...

Historic Fernadina Beach FL

Jonathan got a little stir crazy today (only day three??) and wanted to go for a drive. Well, I wanted to go to so he went for the ride.

We drove down to the beach they go to on a regular basis, it's at Historic Fernadina Beach FL. It's only about 15-20 miles from where they live and it is a beautiful beach. It's close to Amelia Island. On Peter Point I found out that one can stay overnight for 24 hours as long as they are in a self contained vehicle. Guess I know where I can go for an overnighter.

We drove on down to America Beach but there was not very much parking so we just drove through and made a u turn to get us back on the road.

The weather down her is very hot and humid but when we get to the beach the temps drop and the breeze picks up. This is a beautiful area but without the wind, ugh, not sure I could brave those hot, humid temps.

Later.

Cumberland Island National Seashore

Yesterday was Taylor's big day and I do mean big day at Cumberland Island and by the time I picked her up she was dragging. All day in the sand and surf, in addition to the hikes they took from one end to the other. They also took some nets, cast them into the surf to catch nurse sharks and then release them. Remember this was a science trip.

I picked her up in St Mary's GA waterfront area. It is a quaint historic area. I got there early to look around and take some pictures. It was so nice to sit on the benches and feel the breeze. I could get used to that.

St Mary's has a submarine museum, I suppose because it is so close to Kings Bay Submarine base and it was pretty cool to walk around in there a little while.

Taylor's ferry was about a 40 minute ride from CI back to St Mary's. This is her ferry coming in now. I know she was relieved to see me standing there because she was afraid I would forget her or get lost. LOL I really don't think she was crazy about me standing there taking her picture though.

Later...

Kingsland, GA

Yesterday, Jonathan, Taylor and I went looking at RV parks around the Kingsland, GA area. I found one for the month of January. It's A Big Wheel RV Resort. It's small, close to Jonathan's house, close to the state park, and other neat places to visit. The price is reasonable for the month. It will be a good opportunity for me to visit with Taylor and attend her swim practices and swim meets. I'll get in the Gran mode.

Jonathan's Lap Band surgery was today. He came through it quite well. He is drugged right now and quite sore. I'll be here all week to help out.

Went to Taylor's swim practice today. She can swim 25 yards underwater. Whew! They swim for 2 hours straight, back & forth, back & forth. She doesn't even get winded. Whew! I'm so proud of her.

Tomorrow they go on a reward trip to Cumberland Island National Park for a science field trip. She was the one chosen for her class because of test scores, project grades, class performance and behavior. She was the only one chosen for her 7th grade class. Yes, I'm a proud Gran.

Daytona Beach was fun.

Here are the pictures from my relaxing trip to Daytona Beach. The beach, North & South, nice waves and not too many crowds. Also, thought I would throw in a self portrait so it could prove I was there. LOL

Cindy and I went to the Deck Down Under for a delicious shrimp platter. Yummy.

The birds were on the dock where we ate dinner. Not sure what kind they were but they were quite entertaining.

Just thought I would give you a different of our Ocean Walk Hotel. It's a Wyndham Resort where Cindy and I own a timeshare.

It was a great week, too short but very relaxing.