We left
Tupelo, Mississippi on April 17th via the Natchez Parkway, followed
it for a few miles across Alabama and we stopped in Lawrenceburg, TN for a
couple of nights.
Then we moved
on to Nashville, TN.
We picked up the water
filter system order and our mail at Lisa’s sister house in Nashville. We also spent some time with her and her
husband before we moved on.
After we left
Nashville we traveled on I-40 through Knoxville, TN and eventually to
Sevierville, TN and checked into River
Plantation RV Resort
on April 25th. It is a very
nice, large, well maintained RV resort located on US 441. The sites are spacious with good hook-ups and
we would definitely stay at this RV resort again.
We were at the resort
to attend the 2014 RV-Dreams Spring Rally to be held here. Howard
and Linda Payne own the full-timers RV website RV-Dreams and put on two or three rallies per year. We have been following them on their full-timers blog for several years.
They are from Louisville, KY and
Howard and I have exchanged emails throughout the years and I wanted to meet
them and attend one of their rallies. We attended from April 29th – May 2nd.
The rally had
many seminars with good information on various topics. Each night there were dinners, fun games,
etc.
A local RV dealer, RV’s
For Less, brought
three RVs to the rally for display and while we were there we walked through
them to a look at anything new being installed.
We also wanted to go through them just because we love RVs.
In 2012 we
bought our Heartland Landmark Grand Canyon from RV’s
For Less which is located
in Knoxville. We actually bought our RV
at a show in Louisville, KY and we picked it up in Knoxville.
Butch and
Karen Burson are the owners of RV’s For Less and Butch was on hand to answer
questions. While I was talking to him he
told me about a new electric furnace they were starting to install in their RVs
as an after-market item. It is reportedly
super efficient and saves money, versus LP gas furnaces, on heating in the cold
winter months. We are considering
upgrading our furnace because the current LP gas furnace in our RV is not very
efficient. At times during the past winter
I estimate that we were spending $10 per day for LP gas.
Howard and
Linda Payne had their inflatable boats on hand during the rally for display
during one evening.
I’ve been trying to
talk to Lisa to purchasing one so we could do
some canoeing at
times. The Payne’s demonstrated the
inflation and setup of their boats and it looked quick and easy. They deflate and pack into bags that are
about four feet by two feet so they are small enough for RVs.
They are
partners with InflatableBoatsForLess and have at least three of their
boats.
On Friday,
May 2nd we left Sevierville, TN and headed West on I-40 to
Center Hill Lake, TN and checked into Long Branch Corps of Engineers (COE)
Campground. Lisa’s sister Pam, and her
husband Rob, who live in Nashville, TN, had bought a new Jayco Seneca class-C
RV and wanted to get together for some camping.
Long Branch
Campground is one of the nicest COE campgrounds in which we’ve camped. Nice, large sites with very good
hookups. There is a boat ramp to the river
there also. The only possible negative
is the fact that it is located at the base of Center Hill Lake dam and cell
phone service is very spotty; although that aspect may be an incentive for some
folks. I’ll let you be the judge.
We had a good
time with them, grilling and just hanging out.
It was over too soon and we headed out on May 4th and drove
to Bowling Green, KY and stayed at for a couple of nights. We hung out with our son and his girlfriend
and had a good time.
On May 6th
we packed up and headed to Diamond Lake RV Resort in Owensboro, KY. We stayed there for
a few days and prepared for a trip to visit our niece in Prairie View,
Wisconsin.
On May 9th
we drove to Pleasant ,Prairie Wisconsin to our niece’s house. She is married to a
Marine who is stationed in California.
He will be transferring to Great Lakes Naval Station in Great Lakes,
Illinois toward the end of this year.
She moved back to the northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin area to
accept a position at a pharmaceutical company and buy a house in anticipation
of his transfer.
Initially we
planned to pull the RV to Wisconsin and stay at a campground. We had researched several campgrounds within
a decent driving distance of her house but they were all closed until May 1st. We narrowed the short list down to one
possibility. We called in April to try
to make a reservation but the call went to an answering machine that said their
office was closed until May 1st and to leave a voice mail. Their voice mailbox was full and we
couldn’t leave a message. So in the end
our niece invited us to stay in one of her extra bedrooms.
We went up
there to visit with her and help with several projects that they wanted to
complete. Our brother-in-law, who lives
in Nashville, TN, also went there at the same time. Some of the projects we completed were:
-
Clean
out and clean up a sunroom.
- Remove
old backsplash and install new in the kitchen.
- Install
a light/switch over the kitchen sink.
- Install
an exhaust vent over the kitchen stove.
- Install
wiring/switch for a garbage disposal.
- Install
screen/storm doors at the front door and kitchen door.
-
Work
on the Koi pond and stream.
-
Install
wainscoting in the master bedroom.
While we were there we
toured the Jelly Belly candy factory in Wisconsin. It was a free, interesting tour of the
history of the company and of their products.
We couldn’t take any pictures inside the facilities.
We left May 19th
and headed back to Diamond Lakes RV Resort in Owensboro, KY. We stayed there for a few days until May 22nd
then moved to Rough River State Resort Park, Falls of Rough, KY.