Long Weekend

Yesterday, while we were dodging falling walnuts, Paul had a brief chat with a workcamper who told him they were expecting 18 rigs to roll in before the day was over.

"Everybody wants to get a jump on the weekend," the yellow-shirt wearing worker said.

That's right. We had to remind ourselves that it was Thursday!

Through the course of the day our spacious park became a little tighter and a lot more populated. About an hour before sundown, two motorhomes and a fiver pulled into three sites next to us within a few minutes of each other. In the blink of an eye they had their rigs backed in, hooked up and everything set up under their patio awnings. It was obvious they were friends who were here to enjoy the weekend. But, they had something else in common. They were all dressed in business casual attire that told us they had all worked some today. As soon as they were able they got out of the office, hooked up their rolling weekend homes and headed for the hills. We heard our next door neighbor tell the others that he hadn't just had a long day, but a reaaaallly long day.

We looked at each other and smiled.

Oh, how we remember the freeing feeling of finding a free Friday on the calendar and managing things so we could leave the office early Thursday afternoon to get a head start. We'd spend Tuesday evening grocery shopping and Wednesday night getting everything packed. Then, we'd go to work and scramble to get everything done so we could make our early escape. We'd dash home, load the Jeep as fast as we could and head for the storage facility. Our goal was always the same: To beat rush hour traffic. Sometimes we did it. Other times we weren't so lucky. But, we always got away. To have the feeling of putting our feet up under our patio awning outside our moose on a Thursday night was worth all that trouble. Sure, we were always exhausted upon our arrival. But, the prospect of three, count 'em THREE, nights in a campground was sheer bliss.

That's exactly what these three couples were feeling last night. We could see it. And, we're so happy for them. We hope they have a great weekend. We'll tolerate smoke from their must-have campfire and the noise of the happy conversations they have sitting around it. These folks need this long weekend for their health, well-being and sanity. We know. We've been there.

We don't miss the hassle. Not one bit. But, we do miss the rush. Just a little. (Really, just a little!) That feeling you get when you meet friends in a campground after a crazy week at work is absolutely wonderful. Of course, when you have to pack it all up and say goodbye on Sunday knowing you have to go to work on Monday, that's one of the worst feelings in the world.

We're meeting up with a bunch of RVing friends next week. So, we'll get a taste of the best part of the long weekend rush. We're really looking forward to that.

We won't have to pack a thing or scramble anywhere. And, the best part is we won't have to go to back to work!

We can't wait.

Pitter, Splat, THUNK!

If you're anywhere along the eastern seaboard today, it's raining. Actually, that's putting it mildly. Remnants from Tropical Storm Nicole are forecasted to dump six to 10 inches of rain in some places. Thankfully, here in the hills of east Tennessee all we've had were overnight showers that should be out of here by noon today. It's quite a soaking, but nothing compared to the flooding threat east of here. Our thoughts are with family and friends along the coast. We hope everybody stays safe.

Generally, we love rain. Of course, too much of even a good thing can turn bad. But, most of the time, we're happy to hear the pitter patter of rain on our fiberglass roof. We never have to wonder if it's raining. If it is, we hear it. This "can't miss" sound is a wonderful sleep aid. A good pitter patter will put all four of us (cats included) to sleep in minutes and keep us asleep for the duration. It's one of the things we dreamed about when we were planning to become fulltime RVers: A lovely spot in the woods...on a cool autumn morning...with the pitter patter of rain on the roof.

That dream has been realized more than once. And, this morning is just such an occasion. It's cool and it's raining. And, while it is lovely, it's not exactly as we dreamed it to be.

You see, we are in the woods. That means we are parked under trees. Big, tall ones. These big, tall trees hold water in their leaves and drop them on our motorhome in splats. And, that turns Mother Nature's gentle pitter patter into a random collection of pitters and splats.

Pitter, pitter, splat, pitter, pitter, pitter, splat, splat, pitter.

We're really not complaining. After all, it's not annoying. It's just a different rhythm, that's all.

But, we're not in any ordinary woods. No, no. We are parked under a canopy of Black Walnut trees. And, it's the end of September. Just before the leaves start to change in these parts, the black walnuts fall. These tennis-ball-sized nuggets land on our fiberglass roof with a sharp thunk that gives us all a jolt.

Just when we're settling in to the pitter patter and adjusting to the sporatic splats we're greeted with a deafening thunk that sends the cats running for the exits. We'll adjust, I suppose. We always do. But, I'm wondering if hard hats are in order. By the the sound of things around here, stepping outside could be hazardous to our health!

Meanwhile, the cacophony continues.

Pitter, patter, pitter, splat, pitter, THUNK, THUNK, splat, pitter, pitter, patter, THUNK, splat.

Chassis School

We are definitely ready to get out of Gaffney!

After back-to-back days of service last week, and back-to-back days of chassis school, we are in serious need of a few back-to-back days of hiking. All of this sittin' around has worn us out!

I can hear you now. Did she say chassis school?

Sho 'nuff!

We spent the last two days at the Freightliner Custom Chassis Owner's Training, which is also known as "Camp Freightliner". It's designed for diesel motorhome owners to answer any and all questions they have about the "innards" of their rolling home, provided it's Freightliner o'course.

We joined folks from 14 other motorhomes for this two-day learnin' fest. And, learn we did. Every question we had was answered. We now know enough about our chassis, engine, transmission, batteries and tires to be, well, dangerous! Now, I will confess that late yesterday when the talk turned to suspensions, I was on information overload. So, I just let the rest of it flow over me and trust that any information we need will be there when and if we need it.

I can't speak for Paul, but I definitely feel more comfortable with this new-found knowledge. It's one thing to turn the key on this big ol' moose and cruise ignorantly down the highway. (Been there, done that.) With a much better understanding of how things are supposed to work and what to do to when or if they don't, I know I'll be a much more confident commander of this beast, and a much more worry-free passenger.

Besides learning how to run down the road with our moose, we got the low down on its care and feeding. We are definitely not DIY types. But, now we have a much better idea of what service we need and when, and how to ask for it. And, we have a couple of helpful hints that might get us out of a pinch somewhere down the road. Although it was a couple of long days that followed a couple of long days, it was definitely worth the time and money.

With the moose freshly serviced and our brains full of all kinds of new stuff, we are hitting the road this morning and headin' over them there hills to do some hikin'!

(You know it's time to go when you start blogging with a local accent!)

More soon from the Smokies.

Virtual Happy Hour

After a much needed day of rest here in Gaffney, we had one heck of a happy hour. The participants were nearly 3,000 miles apart!

It had been ages since we'd chatted with our dear friends Cindy and Rick in California. Cindy and I exchanged emails earlier this week and she made a novel suggestion: A Virtual Happy Hour.

We were all over it.

We set today as the date. Because we are three hours apart, the timing was a little tricky. But, our left coast friends opted for the early shift and proposed 7PM ET/4PM PT. Now, y'all already know we like to eat late, so this schedule worked just fine for us.

Minutes before the agreed upon time, Paul mixed a couple of Manhattans. That was the frequent drink of choice whenever we got together with these two. At a minute or two past the hour, we dialed them up and pressed the "speaker" button.

For the next 90 minutes it was as if the four of us were in the same room. They introduced us to their new puppy. We gave them the lowdown on getting motorhome service in Gaffney. Together we caught up on each other's lives since we last met in May. Lots has happened. We honored memories of lost loved ones and celebrated the birth of new family members. We laughed like we always did. And, interestingly enough, we took pictures on each end and shared them with the other. Totally unplanned, of course. But, absolutely in sync. That's how these friends are.

One Manhattan turned into two and before we knew it we were making plans to meet up next year in Texas, New Mexico or Utah. Or, perhaps all three! Whenever it happens, it'll be wonderful to see these dear friends.

After catching up and sharing lots of laughs, it was getting way past time dinner time for us and approaching that time for our friends in the west. We wrapped up the conversation and made plans to have another happy hour next month. We can't wait.

As much as we love life on the road, we do miss our friends. We're thrilled to have created the virtual happy hour to share with them over many miles and several time zones. We look forward to the next one.

Cheers!

Serviced

Tonight we're scratching our heads. We're amazed at how tired we are. And, what have we done the last few days? Not much! Mostly, we've sat around and waited.

After our successful but noisy day yesterday at Freightliner, we headed to Cummins not-so-bright-but-really-early this morning. Seems Freightliner isn't certified to do Cummins warranty work. So, when the Freightliner boys discovered a leak in our oil pan gasket, that meant we had a second date. We called Cummins yesterday and they were booked today. But, the service gods were with us and somehow they found room.

Yeah!

Upon our very early morning arrival, we exchanged pleasantries with the good folks at Cummins Atlantic in Spartanburg. With the moose checked in, we headed off to breakfast. Fortified for the day, we then went in search of a place to stay.

We're slated to start "Camp Freightliner", the two-day Freightliner Owner's Class, on Monday. So, when we registered for class we made our reservations for the duration at the Gaffney KOA. With plenty of time to kill yesterday, we decided to check out our future accommodations. And, upon inspection, we were not impressed. So, we decided to check out the alternatives for the weekend.

Our first after-breakfast stop this morning was a couple of miles off the road down a skinny little state highway. When a campground feels tight when we're driving the Jeep, that's really tight! After a quick cruise through we agreed we didn't want to bring our big ol' moose through here. So, that place was out. After that, we visited our second and final option of the day.

The former KOA is located just a couple of miles away from the Cummins facility. But, in many ways, it's light years from here. To say it was dumpy was kind. Really kind. As we cruised through I swore I heard a banjo or two plunking out the first few bars of the theme to "Deliverance."

Seriously!

So, it was clear that place wouldn't work. We went back to Cummins and waited. While the pleasantly appointed waiting room was nice and quiet, our wait was complicated by a series of phone calls to Prescott, AZ to recount the service we received back in April. (That was fun!) With that finally cleared up, the Cummins techs knew what to do. Around 2:30, our moose was ready to roll.

But, where were we going?

Desperate for a place to call home for the weekend, I dialed up the KOA in Gaffney and asked if they could change our reservation. The very cheery voice on the other end accommodated my request quickly. The stars and planets had aligned. We had a place to stay.

Moments after getting on the freeway, a passerby honked his horn and waved for us to pull over. So, we did. There on the narrow shoulder of the freeway in almost rush hour, we checked out the moose and squirrel. We were relieved to find that all was well with both.

So, what had attracted the attention of the passing motorist? It was the remains our damn engine hood flapping in the breeze. Yes, we could be in for one really long trip back to Forest City!

Pulling into the Gaffney KOA, I was shocked and amazed. Compared to our first two campground stops of the day this place was spacious. It was cleaner, greener and cheerier. It's amazing how perspective works. Suddenly, this was the best RV park of the day!

It would definitely work!

After two days of waiting around, we know three things for sure.

First, the service folks at Freightliner in Gaffney rock! We were treated well and the moose was treated better. We've already decided. We'll definitely be back!

Second, the good people of Cummins Atlantic in Spartansburg get big gold stars. They squeezed us in and took good care of our leaking moose. Thanks to them, Bullwinkle is no longer losing vital bodily fluids.

Finally, our cats are exhausted. Really. They are flat out blotto. And, for the first time ever, we are getting a clue. They're tired and so are we. Sure. All we did for the last couple of days was sit around. But, it was stressful. We were way out of our routine. One thing we're learning on the road is that sometimes these two furry little creatures reflect how we are, even when we don't know it.

Everybody at our house is glad we are serviced. We're ready to enjoy a very laid back weekend in our suddenly much improved campground.

TGIF!

Deafening

Today's post is written in desperate hope it creates a most welcome and needed distraction....for me!

Greetings from the waiting room at the Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney. The moose checked in for his checkup about four hours ago, and there he's likely to remain for a couple more. It's 90-something very humid degrees outside, so we're really appreciating this nice, cool waiting room. There's plenty of room to sit for us and the cats (in their crates, of course), free wifi, vending machines filled with refreshments and a TV that I so wish was on right now.

Instead, today's entertainment is being provided by two couples that are also here waiting for their motorhomes to be serviced. They're all really friendly folks who seem to have just met up here. They've talked non-stop (That's NON-STOP!) for the last three hours. (That's THREE HOURS!) And, did I mention, they're loud?

Well, they are.

They have discussed everything there is to talk about every part of a motorhome, every campground membership and sizes of televisions from 20-inches to 200-feet wide. They've bragged about fuel economy and ways to improve it. Now, they're talking about how to wash a motorhome. And, you see, these friendly folks are "experts". They know all there is to know about everything they're yacking about. And, oh, how they love to yack!

And, did I mention, they're loud?

I probably did, but it's so loud in here it's hard to think. Yes, it's that distracting. One of our to-dos as we've been waiting around is to find a Cummins service center that will take care of our moose tomorrow. (Freightliner has diagnosed an engine thing or two that Cummins needs to address.) When Paul called the facility in nearby Spartanburg, the Cummins guy on the other end noticed our noisy neighbors.

"My, it sounds like things are really loud there at Freightliner today!" he commented.

"Yes," Paul answered. "But, there really aren't that many people here."

True. It's just the six of us in this cozy room. At times it's down right deafening. Those four are testing our patience, and the cats, too. You should see 'em! Our boy kitty has pushed the little fur pad lining the bottom of his crate up against the door. He's tired of hearing it, too.

Don't get us wrong. These are truly good-natured folks. (After all, aren't all RVers?) They've found a way to pass the time while they wait. They've belly laughed a lot and are obviously having a great time. We're happy for them.

Well, this distraction has gone on long enough. Time for me to find something else to do. Sounds like the current topic across the room is FMCA. I think that's what they were talking about when we came in!

Our fingers are crossed that these folks won't be at the Cummins place tomorrow.

Perspective

We're enjoying our last night in Crossville. No football tonight. Instead, we've enjoyed a casual early dinner inside and have plans to get up and going early. After all, Gaffney awaits.

We're bringing this visit to one of our favorite spots to a close with a bit of perspective. During our stay we met a lovely couple a couple of sites down. They are older and obviously not in good health. They're from Sikeston, Missouri. (We just drove through there a couple of days ago!) They are staying here a week. And, for them it's a notable one.

This lovely couple is taking their last trip. They have a beautiful Holiday Rambler fifth wheel trailer that, they say, has sat idle for the last three years. They reported that their health has kept them off the road. Recently, they made the tough decision to sell the trailer and stay home. It's obvious that he is not entirely on board. She, on the other hand, is very clear. She needs to stay home.

During our brief conversations they made note of our Texas plates and Paul's Maui t-shirt and shared memories of their travels over the years to both states. They are, first and foremost, travelers. They've loved their time traveling the planet. And, here in the peaceful confines of Crossville, Tennesee, their travels are coming to an end.

After this trip, the fiver will be sold. They'll take care of themselves and each other in the comfortable confines of home. They've spent the last few days parting friends with the road.

They've been so interested and intrigued by our story. Here we are, newbie fulltimers in a pretty new motorhome. (Who cares if it's falling apart?) We have our whole lives ahead of us. We're where they were once upon a time. Each time we've come or gone from this lovely spot they've greeted us with a warm smile and a wave. We have definitely felt the love.

If it's possible to pass a virtual torch, these lovely folks have done it. As they return home and we head up and over the mountains, we get that our job right now is to explore. Our duty is to experience our country and soak it all up until our last trip. Then, one day, the time will come for us to pass the torch to another youngish couple in a pretty new rig.

Today, our pesky motorhome is a bit less irritating. It'll all work out. Right now, we have a job to do.

And, we're definitely up for it.