Rain, sun and laundry.......

Our Location: Big Buck Resort

(205 Sparks Road, Hornsby, TN)

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. The weather predicted sunny skies and warm temperatures but they were mistaken. The day started off cool, wet and uninspiring. We were up and out the door before 10 am heading out with a Dogsled full of dirty laundry. We headed up the road to Oakland, TN, about 45 minutes or so away. It’s the cleanest laundromat we’ve found in the area. The prices are good, the place is clean and easy to get to as well. We chatted with several people while there and by the time we left around 12:45 pm the sun was shining and the skies were clearing. The temperature warmed up considerably too, not warm but warmer than the morning. 

 

Things are green here near Memphis, TN.

We stopped at Walmart to purchase a few forgotten items on the grocery list before we headed home to put away laundry. I googled my no tail light on the Igloo issue last night and decided to ask Dave next door about the possibility of it being a fuse issue. He came out and we checked things again, but with power at the plug both in the truck and all the way to the box in the pin, plus the wires leaving the pin, he assured me it wasn’t a fuse. We checked the back lights and there is no power there but all lights work back there except the tail lights. Turn signals, four way flasher, and brake lights all work. He didn’t seem surprised by that but I find it difficult to understand how those lights can work when the wires coming to the socket have no power. We spent some time chatting about life in general and finally called it off when a lady came by looking for some assistance. Thanks again Dave for all the hard work and time spent trying to help me out. I appreciate it very much. 

 

We found one cheaper station with gas at $2.65 and diesel at $3.06 per gallon.

 

After that it was inside to have some chili and toast for lunch which was more like dinner as the clock was reading close to 5 pm and to watch a movie. Then it was time to settle down to more research on this issue and to find a place Dave recommended, a repair shop near Corinth, MS. So tomorrow I’ll call them and see if they can offer me any ideas. I may also ask the rv technician that is staying here in the park. I noticed his sign today. 

 

Where we do our laundry.

 

So there you have it, nothing exciting, just laundry and a movie. We are trying to figure out just what we should do about our problems and how best to approach them. The batteries still aren’t charging on shore power but they will charge on solar. No blown fuses that I can find, nor could Dave find any either. Oh well, a problem to think about tomorrow, I’m finished worrying about it today.
 

The start of some colour in the trees.

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Today’s pictures were taken on our way to and from Oakland, TN where we did our laundry. It is Hwy 64 between Hornsby and Oakland. A nice drive for certain. 

 

This empty field has a tinge of green to it, but I think it's weeds not anything else.

 

Until next time… take care, be safe, 

The local Bolivar, TN Walmart.

 

Deb

Great travel day......

Our Location: Singing Hills Campground, Cave City, Kentucky

(4110 Mammoth Cave Road, 42127)

(270-773-3789)

A cold night with the temperature this morning clocking in at 36F/2C but with sunshine warming things up. We were up at 7 am, loaded, and on the road by 8:20 am leaving Big Buck Resort in Hornsby, Tennessee behind. For my own personal information I should have turned right at the town square in Bolivar to reach I-40 instead of going further out to Whitesville, next time I'll remember that. This route would have been faster than the route we took. 

View from the Dogsled on some of our travels....

The drive was interesting, we traveled some back roads for a bit, TN 18 East, and TN 100 East as well come to mind. We remembered the town of Jackson, TN as we'd been there in the fall working with Verizon to get a new jet pack. They have an odd corner which I remembered as we were heading through town. Funny how certain things come to mind. We've noticed spring has slipped a bit with the leaves not quite out as much as further south, and the blossoms are still just coming into full stride instead of having passed their prime. We also noted the overall area is just a bit behind in the spring like look as we motored north. Maybe it'll catch us when we stop for a few days.

As you can see, spring isn't quite the same in these areas....getting close but not quite...

From Jackson, TN we jumped onto I-40 East for the remainder of the day. The travel was pretty good, not a lot of backups on our side but the other side had numerous LONG backups. We had one slow down due to an accident in the town of Jackson as we were approaching the split to head for the interstate. The first rest area on the interstate was closed and we headed on to the second one which I noted had lots of signs NO OVERNIGHT PARKING, 2 HOUR LIMIT and isn't very big to begin with and I think it would be extremely noisy as the spots are pretty narrow with very little room to spare. 

Some blossoms along the way, and some Wisteria as well....

This is the first time I've come to Nashville from the west, or  at least the first time I remember. Nashville seemed much bigger than normal as we came west then turned north, instead of just a straight dash through the city. Lots of construction signs and a few back ups on the other side but none on our side. 

I forget where this was exactly but it's interesting.

We passed into the state of Kentucky at 11:50 am and just rolled right along. At this point the other side was backed up to a standstill that continued for over 7 miles on the Kentucky side of the state line but it was already backed up in Tennessee for at least a couple of miles. I truly didn't see anything that would have caused the back up but I'm certain construction was the culprit. We noted 4 different spots were the traffic back ups were quite substantial with the shortest being probably a mile. I do believe construction season is in full bloom!!

 

I believe he was at a Garage Sale.....and bought the garage....

We followed the gentleman's instructions with regards to NOT FOLLOWING THE GPS, and instead followed written instructions to the campground location. Sure enough the GPS would have had us turning the wrong way at the exit for the interstate. This is a Passport America park and so we followed those instructions to the letter and found the place with no issues. 

Try saying that 5 times fast....

  

We're quite high up the side of the mountain, and we have iffy AT&T service here. We had to restart both phones in order to get any signal at all. Even with the booster it's not great. I haven't checked our Verizon as they have excellent free wifi in the park. Two different feeds and with all of the folks here I'm sure they need it. 

 

Not sure of the river's name but it sure is big....

We checked in with a nice lady whose name I think is Laura (but I could be wrong), who was extremely helpful and chatty. A very nice setup here very close to the little village of Cave City. We are close to the caverns, the dino museum and a number of other things as well. Too bad we're only going to be here for 2 nights, it would be a nice place to explore I think. We aren't far from Bowling Green, KY where the Corvette Museum is located and if time permitted I would definitely go there. 

 

Houses and buildings along the way....

The day time highs reached 55F/12 C this afternoon. No breeze but some on and off sunshine which is nice when it's out and cool when it isn't. No sewer here in our spot but some folks have sewer hookups. We turned at the dump station to get to our spot we at least know where it is if we need it on the way out. 

Can you see the backups on the other side? The last picture you can see them still stopped over the top of the hill.....

It was a tight fit and I had to give it a couple of tries before I managed to get us in on the skinny little gravel path. Some folks standing around watching weren't very helpful in that they stood very close to the road with dogs and kids and it made it difficult to pull up as far as I would have liked. However, we managed and everything is fine. I'm glad we could be their entertainment for the afternoon. We are in spot 18 with a little foot bridge behind and our picnic table is across a small ditch which I believe is an overflow for some kind of little pond. 

Just kept going and going.........

We were set up by 3:00 pm and of course I called my dad to tell him we'd made it safe and sound. The first couple of calls he couldn't hear me and then I realized the signal was extremely weak, so we rebooted, turned on the booster and managed to get a connection. He said it is right around the freezing mark of 32F/0C and in the sun things are melting, in the shade they aren't. They have about a 1ft/30 cm of snow which they received over the last couple of days/nights. Schools were closed and people were told to stay off the roads. A number of accidents have claimed lives in the greater Sudbury and surrounding area over the past few days. Some folks just don't know when to slow down and unfortunately they don't always do the 'stupid' thing alone and end up causing tons of grief for many others as well. 

Welcome to Jackson, Tennessee.....

So after a chat with dad I started to edit pictures and write this post. The sun is kind of shining and  the temperature is still hovering at the 55F/12C mark. We have the big door open but I think I'll be closing it soon as it's a bit cool on the toes. 

Of course Nashville also welcomes you....

So there you have it, the roads were good, the traffic heavier and heavier as we continue on our homeward journey but not too bad at all. The construction seems to be concentrated on the south and/or west bound lanes right now and I'm hopeful it will continue to be so for the rest of the journey. We will be here only 2 nights before moving on for a weeks stay in Quincy, OH.

 

Then  again so did Kentucky....

While outside to set things up for the heater we chatted with a couple from Colorado who said it's warmer back there than it is here. They've had snow here and a tornado warning as well. According the lady there is snow in the forecast but I didn't see any a few days ago. I'll have to check again soon. 

Again that same river but it's pretty full..don't you think?

That was our travel day, nothing exciting and we like it that way. Good weather, good roads and an easy drive, what else could one ask for? Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. I appreciate hearing from you. 

We drove past this charming fellow on our way to Singing Hills Campground....

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

Deb

 

A sun shiny day here today.......

Our Location: Big Buck Resort, Hornsby, Tennessee

(205 Sparks Road)

 

The day started out overcast but progressed to being sunshine filled around the noon hour, and as the afternoon continued it just kept getting brighter and brighter until finally only a few clouds lingered. 

 

Axel visited yesterday and decided he'd wait for us on the table outside.....

 

 We managed to have our hot drinks and read a bit before climbing into the Dogsled and heading into Bolivar with a plan in mind. Actually two things on the list but as often happens we changed our minds and accomplished only one. 

 

Love the little mailbox, sorry for the blurry picture.

 

It was shortly before noon when we left, the little town seeming to be bustling and yet not hectic. A nice little spot with some great folks. Our first mission was to find a rug cleaner that we could rent, as we had a little incident the other day. One of our big drinking water jugs had a leak and we didn't find out until Riley stepped on a wet spot on the carpet. We then discovered the wet carpet, the culprit and with the aid of the shop vac we managed to get most of the water up. It was extremely dirty and we thought we'd make use of having power and do the carpets today. We found the machines and of course you know it was at Walmart, right? We also needed to get a few groceries and since we were already there it was our first order of business. 

 

 

A very patriotic tow company....

 

The days when I remember renting a carpet cleaner are many years in the past but the machines were smallish, a bit cumbersome on those wheels, and lots of hose to let you reach many places. The new ones are not like that at all. They are basically an upright box that even empty would be extremely big in our little Igloo, but to manage it with a full or nearly full water container would be insane. Yes I know there are attachments, etc, but after looking at the thing for a couple of minutes and seeing in my minds eye how small the Igloo is I decided we'd forgo this little venture until a later date. My dad has a rug cleaner of the smaller kind and I'm quite sure he'll let us hook up to power for a night and use his rug cleaner to do our little house. I seriously doubt the one for rent would allow me to reach all of those nooks and crannies I want to reach and moving it around the Igloo would have been almost impossible with the furniture.

 

 

Today's views of downtown Bolivar.......

 

So that idea was a no go, we did however manage to get our groceries before taking a small drive around the little town of Bolivar. Very quaint, very cute and for the most part very clean and well kept. Not a lot of garbage around, not a lot of junk or old cars sitting on blocks, etc. Some works in progress, some old and abandoned buildings, along with some very nice places too. I think it would be easy to get used to Bolivar. 

 

Can you see spring in the picture? It's everywhere....

 

We headed back home, put away the groceries and noticed for the first time today we haven't seen our buddy Axel the Husky. His family must have secured him in some fashion so that he can't escape just yet. I have no doubt we'll see him again soon. A quick note, Axel has appeared once again on the roadway as I was getting ready to post this post.

 

And the blossoms are still coming out.....

 

Last night was my night to make phone calls home to Canada and I managed to chat with my oldest daughter Courtney, my Dad, left a message for my middle daughter Bradey, got a busy signal for my best friend Linda and managed to chat with my SIL Janet (in Indian Wells, CA). So a good night for chatting and catching up. Today I called my buddy Ron whom I've known for a few years. He and his lovely wife Sharon are friends from our time at Magic River Campground, Long Beach, MS. They just returned home from their winter there within the past few days. Mrs. Sharon ended up in the CCU unit of a hospital not far from their home in Kansas. We chatted while they were waiting for the release papers for Mrs. Sharon as they were kicking her out today after releasing her yesterday from the CCU to a room. From 7 am until shortly after 1:30 pm they waited and finally while I was speaking to Mrs. Sharon on the phone they brought the papers around. Hopefully they find out what it is that is ailing the lovely Mrs. Sharon and correct it. Ron is waiting for knee surgery in the near future. So we hope for the best for both and wish them both speedy recoveries. 

 

A most prickly looking water tower here in Bolivar, TN.

 

After that I read my book, another David Baldacci book called Divine Justice. Not nearly as good as the last one but still very good. As I was reading we had the door open but not for long as the cool breeze made it less than ideal but I noticed numerous new folks around, with numerous vehicles as well. I had forgotten this is Easter Weekend and so while some of the Spring Break folks have departed today, the EASTER crowd has arrived. Should be an interesting weekend I think. 

 

The water is high and fast, you can't tell from the picture but the current is very strong as it swirls among the trees...

 

You know that old saying, " You can't fix stupid." Well I can tell you it's very true. I think the entire free world knows that this area has been getting rain, rain, rain and even more rain. After all it's why most of them have gotten off the road, right? So tell me, why would you leave YOUR OWN car parked so that it covers over half of the entrance to the spot you want to back into with your motorhome? Don't you think the idea of MOVING THE CAR would enter your mind so you could back up with ease? I'm blonde but even I figured that out. So what does the fool do? You guessed it, backs up on the grass, completely missing half of the gravel area on which to park. Decides he doesn't like the spot because it's too soft and starts pulling out and get this.....she MOVES THE CAR while he's pulling out. The ruts in the grass are unbelievable.  He was flinging mud for feet as he's trying to get the thing back on the hardtop. Then he just drives away, doesn't get out to even attempt to fix the damage (which will require a lot of work and fill) or even look at it. Honestly, I seriously wonder if people like that are fit to drive on the public roads. If they make those kinds of decisions about parking what kind of decisions are they making about driving. Sorry for the rant.

 

We found out these stately looking buildings are part of the Mental Health Unit here in Bolivar.  They have big no trespassing signs, no site seeing, and no entry.

 As I finish this post the sun is slowly sinking and while I should be out there taking pictures I'm not going to be as I have more than enough pictures for tonight's post. Yesterday I removed 2500 pictures from my computer and will remove some more in the near future too. So I'm going to try to keep the pictures to a more reasonable number and will of course back them up on another hard drive but I seriously don't need that many pictures. I have the best ones on the blog posts so keeping the others isn't that important, I don't think. 

 

As you can see it's well over the banks and still rising. The water is very muddy and like I said before, very fast flowing.

 

Anyway, here I am rambling on and on while I know you all have things to do. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit and your day. Feel free to leave a comment. I read them all. 

 

This to me just says.....south eastern states....Elegant, stately, proud, regal.....

 

 

Until next time..... take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

A bit of work, a bit of touring and the sun makes an appearance.....

Our Location: Big Buck Resort, Hornsby, Tennessee

(205 Sparks Road)

 

I have to tell you we've been sleeping late here in Big Buck. Due to the fact, at least in my case, that I cover my bed room window as there is a street light just outside my window. So in the morning it's often after 7 before I open my peepers. This morning it was right about 7:15 am. However we have nothing much on the agenda so it doesn't really matter when we get up. 

 

The Bank of Bolivar was once attached to other buildings as you can see by the picture.

 

A bit of tidying up and our hot drinks brought us to the late hour of 9:30 am before we were on our way out the door heading into the little town of Bolivar to get a few parts and pieces for the Weboost. On the way we stopped at the office to check on the mail delivery as we are still expecting ONE package, Riley's charge cords for her Tablet. Bonus, the package arrived and was waiting for us. Since Riley has been waiting for these cords for some time, we came back to the Igloo to check it out, make sure it fit and all that good stuff. At first she couldn't get it to fit, and was in the process of getting upset. I asked if I might try and sure enough with a little effort it fit perfectly. Riley is now a happy camper.  We left it charging and headed off to town. 

 

A nice little hardware store, well stocked with knowledgeable people....

 

Bolivar is a cute little town with a number of businesses and some very helpful people. Our first stop was the Bolivar Hardware Store, I wanted some clips to run some cables and keep them in place (as I won't be fishing them through the walls, I'm not that talented), and I wanted an extension of the antenna cord. The nice fellow there had the clips, a bit bigger than I wanted but the ones he had will work fine. One down, he had no cable of the size I wanted, and he didn't carry any metal plates which also might solve one of the problems. He didn't know anyone that would have the cable but suggested McKnights Welding shop on the edge of town to get the metal plate. He gave me directions and after paying for our purchase we were on our way back toward the east and turned down Highway 18 toward the welding shop. 

 

Brooks Automotive, some nice folks here too...

 

Just a couple of miles away from the hardware store we turned into a yard that was definitely a welding shop even though no name was visible. I explained what I wanted the plate for to the two nice fellows in the shop, and we walked around looking for something to fit the bill. For $5 I picked up a piece of metal plate about 6" X 8" to see if it would improve the signal by bouncing it back to the aerial (as mentioned in a number of videos I've watched). I may paint it a silver colour to help with the reflection. I asked them about the coax cable and they suggested the auto parts store, Brooks Automotive. Back past the hardware store, toward the Walmart, turn right at Joe's restaurant before the big hill and Brooks Auto Parts is right there on the right. I kid you not, those were the instructions. Being a country girl I followed them quite easily.

 

Hwy 18 toward McKnight's Welding.....

 

We found Brooks Auto Parts, right where the nice fella at McKnight's Welding said it would be. They didn't have any cable either, nor did they have any idea where I could get any of that size. I also asked about clips to attach the cables (thinking they may have a better idea than the hardware store) but they didn't have anything that was acceptable for the job. They apologized for not being able to help. How kind is that? 

 

 

We haven't reached McKnight's yet....

 

Back in the Dogsled we headed home once again. It's amazing what the sunshine will do for a person. The clouds had been breaking up all morning and sure enough by the time we were heading back home the sun had made an appearance. The wind was still cold but the sun made it nicer. Arriving home we were once again greeted by Axel the Husky. He settled himself under the Igloo while we were inside and if we stepped out he was right there to see if we were going to fed him, pet him or talk to him. 

Cute little house in Bolivar....

A quick trip up on the roof to set the metal plate there and the antenna in the middle to check it out for increased reception before heading down and using the wire holders to get all these cables out of the way securely. 

Driving down US64 East in Bolivar......

I can't say the receptions any better, but it isn't any worse either. So I'm not sure if the metal plate should be bigger, a different kind, or if the antenna just needs to be upgraded to something more substantial. We also need to order more coax cable from Amazon so we can move the inside antenna further from the outside antenna. We have one light that keeps flashing red and we can't seem to stop that. I'm hoping that the extra cable will allow us to put the inside antenna further from the windows and the outside antenna. 

 

Heading back to Big Buck....

 

After that we tried to sit outside for a while but the wind is too cold, and I moved back inside before too long. We had a nice pasta lunch and I headed upstairs to have a bit of a nap. It was a quick one, about an hour and I was finished. After that I finished my book, and started this post. Edited the pictures first of course.Then to write the post and get it ready for publishing. Always loading the pictures is the longest part. I will admit I've been very lax about reading blogs the last couple of days, I've just not had the energy. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get caught up.

 

The little Bistro here at the park....

 

As I was writing this post someone stopped with a side by side to pick up Axel, I think it may have been his family. He made a bit of noise in the way of talking back but eventually climbed into the vehicle and off they went. I"m sure he'll be back tomorrow.

 

Coming through the front gate....

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. 

 

If you like to fish, you're in luck here....

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

This is Axel the Husky, greeting me as I get out of the Dogsled.

HRH Miss Kitty is not pleased to see Axel on the patio.....Axel on the other hand wants to know if SHE can be in there why can't I come in?

 

 

Deb 

Laundry, internet, more clouds......

Our Location: Big Buck Resort, Hornsby, Tennessee

(205 Sparks Road)

 

Well I finally got yesterday's post out. The internet was so slow last night and we could barely get on, never mind actually do anything. There is a cabin across the driveway from us with 3 young folks, and I wonder, I'm only guessing though, if they are streaming things in the evening. They are about that age and while they were outside yesterday afternoon the internet worked fine. So it's a guess. 

 

As you can see the ducks kind of make themselves right at home.

This morning dawned with a bit brighter skies but that didn't last long as the clouds rolled in and the air is almost muggy now. The wind has picked up once again as seems to be the norm this spring no matter where we are located. Although I will say this wind isn't anything compared to what we had in Texas. 

 

As you can see there are some more ducks on the other side of the water. The playground over there and the trash dumpsters as well.

 

We enjoyed our hot drinks and chatted about the day ahead. We needed to do some laundry. We could of course use the park laundry but I prefer to do it all at once not one load at a time. There is only one washer, and 2 working dryers in the laundry house here and that would mean constantly running back and forth for most of the day as we always have four loads, three large and one small. So we once again climbed back into the Big Dog and headed out to check out a facility we noticed late yesterday on our way home. It's in the town of Bolivar, not very from here. It's a very small little spot right on main drag, and while I would have used it, Riley wasn't one bit interested. So as to our agreement, if we both don't agree then we don't see it, use it, stay there, etc. Back into the Dogsled we went further west to the town of Somerville, and checked out there facilities. I'll just say we climbed back into the Dogsled and asked a nice lady if there was somewhere we could do laundry other than the local one she'd just walked out of as well. She nodded and said 'Oakland. Do you know where that is?" I nodded and said,'Yes, is it any nicer than this one?" She smiled and said,"Oh my yes, it's very clean, very nice, not like this dump." We smiled, thanked the nice lady and turned left out the driveway. We had been in the Oakland facility yesterday but some one had been smoking inside and Riley wasn't impressed. Today it smelled much better and we managed to do all of our laundry. It's clean, well kept, a bit far from Big Buck but worth the drive. Plenty to see on the way.

 

The park is filling up....

 

We didn't take the camera and so I have no new pictures for today's post, sorry. We did however manage to find our way home by shortly before 1 pm this afternoon. Always nice to be have the morning chores completed. We were greeted by Axel the Husky. He's a very friendly older dog and wanders the campground according to a fellow I chatted with yesterday. Apparently Axel belongs to one of the neighbouring houses and comes to visit on a regular basis. We however didn't see him last fall. Axel is a big dog, although I'm sure most of it is fur. He's extremely friendly and always wants to come inside. I think we'd have a difficult time getting him out and beside HRH Miss Kitty wouldn't like it much so Axel is not a welcome visitor at the door. 

 

Toward the clubhouse....

 After lunch Riley took a walk to the dumpster to deposit our trash and headed on around to the main office to check on our packages. Sure enough Axel was right with her most of the way and when she returned and came inside he climbed up on the picnic table to lay down. Much warmer off the cement I guess. When he got down from the table he broke one of the seat boards which was already cracked and in danger of breaking anyway. It's an old table but for sure it now needs to be fixed. 

 

Riley returned with another one of the packages we've been expecting. Yeah... we've been looking forward to this package for a while. It's our weboost and I can tell you it's working fantastically. We had it out and temporarily installed within a half hour and it's improved our signal greatly. Not just the park wifi but also our own private wifi as well. We're not as fast as 4G but we're pretty fast compared to what we've been getting. I don't believe it's the one I ordered but it's working and I'm happy. It's designed for a car/truck and there is no where to connect the Jet Pack to it, but that's okay I think. It works well enough as it is. 

 

This is our little spot # 18. We're across from cabin 5 with the internet hub.

 

We have one more package which should arrive tomorrow, cords for Riley's tablet. Hopefully they are the correct cords and that will be the end of our needing to get any more packages. 

 

So we've set up the weboost temporarily until I go out tomorrow and get a couple of parts that we need before we install it securely. Those I can pick up at Bolivar or if necessary I could get them from Amazon I guess. Anyway, we're happy with our purchase and I believe it will be a very good addition to our home. 

 

Pretty broken, isn't it?

  The park is very quiet, the rain is holding off but threaten ing, the wind is gusty at times and non existent at other times. We're snug and warm in our little Igloo and all is right with the world. It's a good life!!

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Nothing too exciting but at least you now know we won't be running around naked since we managed to get the laundry done!!! I can tell you are all relieved about that, and so are we! Feel free to leave a comment!!

 

Our new Weboost....temporary quarters until tomorrow.

 

 

Until next time...take care, be safe, 

 

 

Deb.