Many Miles Later (Branson, MO)

Branson, MO

We have been doing a lot of traveling since our last post.  We are in Branson, MO and we are planning to stay a couple of weeks.  We are a little tired of the faster pace we have been moving.  We are staying in an Escapees’ campground called Turkey Creek.  We have full hook-ups and cable TV.  A real plus is the campground’s  location.  We are within a 10 minute drive from Branson that is across the river and yet, we don’t feel like we are that close to the hustle and bustle of the downtown Branson.

Historic Downtown Paducah

Mural on flood gate in Paducah

So, to get you caught up with where we were and what we were doing….Leaving Knoxville to Paducah, KY turned into a very long travel day.   We found a nice little campground through RV Reviews that has only been in business for about 5 years.  They have suffered through floods, ice storms, and renovations already.   Can you imagine spending a winter there? Our site faced a small pond that had one Great Blue Heron fishing in it a few times a day.

Sandy has wanted to visit the National Quilt Museum for many years.  We picked one of the hottest days to visit the historic downtown Paducah.  We got downtown early, but it was so hot and humid, we could barely breathe.  We walked along the city’s flood gate while checking out the gate’s mural and Ohio River.  The downtown area had some very unusual buildings and yes, Sandy took photos of a few of them.  We did not last long walking before we decided it was time to spend some time inside with air conditioner!  We were soaked! Ugh!  We had lunch and Sandy went off to the museum.  No photos were allowed.  Sandy did not get enough of quilts, so she walked over to Eleanor Burn’s Quilt in a Day shop.  The employees greeted her with an invite to take photos which surprised Sandy since most quilt shops discourage it.

New kitchen faucet

While Sandy did her quilt thing, Dan headed off to Home Depot for sink parts.  He had installed a new kitchen faucet, but found the new faucet connections have changed.  Of course, they did not fit right and there was some minor leaking.  The next day, he worked on the sink and now it is perfect!

Jay & Sandy in front of Kindly Geppeto

We left Paducah two days later and headed north to see Sandy’s brother Jay in Illinois.   The trip turned into another long travel day with too much traffic.  We were happy to settle at Scott AFB FamCamp despite only having 30 amp electrical and no sewer drop at the site.  We had a wonderful time visiting with Jay’s son Ryan, his wife Kim, and their two boys, Hunter and Caiden.  The following day, Jay played tour guide and took us into the downtown St. Louis area.  We wandered around the City Gardens and under the Arch.  Sandy could have spent more time taking photos, but again it was just too hot and humid to spend too much time outdoors. So we went shopping instead!

1 Fish-eye lens and 2 Arcs x 4

Thanks to Jay for showing us around St. Louis, cooking delicious vegetarian meals, and for letting us talk him into adopting a cat!  What a guy!  It all started when we went to Pet Smart and saw two very cute cats.  They were both quiet and wanted a lot of loving.  I guess we talked about the cats a little too much.  By the end of the evening, Jay was heading home with a 3 year old cat and a trunk full of supplies.  He changed her name from Paine to Charmin as in “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin. You have to admit she does look soft enough to squeeze and she has a very mellow attitude that we can see someone wanting to hug her a lot.

Charmin making herself
comfortable in her new home.

That night Jay sent this text message:

Litter box set up, cat tested and approved: CHECK!
Flea prevention applied while cat purrs: CHECK!
Water & food bowls cat tested and approved: CHECK!
House & owner (servant): Still under inspection, approval pending.

Post note: Jay sent an update today.  Charmin has Jay on a schedule and it sounds like the beginning of a beautiful friendship! 

Great Smokey Mountains (Knoxville, TN)

Cable's Grist Mill

We spent an afternoon at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.  It was beautiful, but not very relaxing.  We made the mistake of going on a Saturday afternoon and it was very…..very…very busy! Since we were starting late, we had to decide which of the loops we wanted to see.  We picked Cades Cove because we would be able to see an original community from the 1800’s.  The best part was the freedom to walk around and explore the nooks and crannies of the homesteads.  

Some of the barns looked almost top heavy with small first floors and wide second floors.  We were able to explore through the old cabins which seemed dark and very sparse.  

LeQuire Cantilever Barn

We found one of the first Spring Houses in the area to be very interesting.  The family stored butter and other items that needed to stay cool.

Spring House

Sandy had wanted to visit Gatlinburg’s 8 miles of Arts and Crafts.  You guessed right.  There’s a quilt shop there.  We started getting into heavy traffic in Sevierville.  Crawled through Pigeon Forge, and came to a complete stop on Gatlinburg’s main street.  We stopped for a quick lunch and decided we better visit the national park first.  By the time we finished, it was after 6 pm.  By that time we were tired of the traffic jams and the heat had worn us out.

Our Webshots Album: Great Smokey Mountains

Three Halves Make a Whole?

After a long travel day and not much food left in the RV, we decided to stop at a fast BBQ place for a take-out chicken dinner.  We order a whole chicken thinking this could last us for a couple of meals.  One of the workers came up and said they did not have any whole chickens.  “Would we mind three-halves of a chicken to make up for the whole?”  A little surprised, we said sure.  While waiting on our order, our discussion of course was how does 3/2 make a whole?  Most halves are one of each breast, wing, thigh, and a leg, right?  So, how were they cutting up their chicken?  We had to wait until we got home to find out.  Well, it turns out we ended up with one and a half chickens.  All we can figure out is either this one person needs to go back to school or this BBQ place does it by weight. 

All in all the meal was good and the price was even better!