Tag: #TN

  • Jan 28 2025: Into Georgia, around Atlanta (294 miles)

    (Steven) The mattress heating pad on the bed kept us both warm, maybe a little too warm for me. I will adjust its setting to something less. Vicki liked her warm setting. But we were grateful for the heating pad as the RV itself got very chilly. There was frost all around the campsite when I first got up, but the frost was gone by the time we left at 10am.

    Lexi took me for another walk. Thanks to the All Trails app, I found that there was a trail on the Little Tennessee River that Lazy Acres overlooked. We did about 2.5 miles of walking, a great way to start the morning.

    This was going to be a longer driving day than the previous two days. The ride was smooth through Tennessee and through Georgia until we came close to Atlanta. Even though we took the bypass, and even though we were traveling in the early afternoon, there were still congested areas.

    Our first stop of the day was as the Georgia Welcome Center, a few miles south of the Tennessee/ Georgia border. This was our first experience of parking in the ‘truck’ area.

    Parking with the big boys

    Our second stop was south of Atlanta where we needed to walk around, and get some gas. Not much to say there except I bought 52 gallons of gas. Tank holds 80 gallons.

    We arrived at the Interstate RV campgrounds in Byron GA around 4:30 and set up the RV. Since we are not expecting any more freezing weather, I de-winterized the RV. An RV pulled into the spot next to us, and as the gentleman was checking out his set-up, I professed inexperience in de-winterizing and RV. He talked me through it, pointing out where the water heater was and where the anode needed to go. I am sure I would have figured it out, eventually. But it was much easier with an experienced person talking me through it. And now the RV is fully functional with working water (hot and cold) and toilet.

    campsite at Interstate RV, Byron GA

    Dinner tonight was another prepared meal from our Cleveland grocery store. But the dishes were washed properly and easily afterwards.

    Vicki-Hooray!!! Now I feel we are truly glamping – in-the-rig running water. Never took it for a luxury but it’s the game-changer. The late night bathroom trips are no problem now, instead of getting fully dressed and winter-coated to go outside to a rest room in below freezing temps in the middle of the night. Even doing the Atlanta bypass, the traffic is torture. On top of the usual heavy mid-day traffic, add to that the aftermath of a very serious car-truck accident and down the road a totally burned out semi cab. We were thankful for the above traffic view and the Jack Reacher audible book as we sat and inched our way along I-285.

    Every day is a new learning adventure. We are thankful for this time together and the nice people we’re meeting along the way. Closed our evening with a game of Azul, then I was up til the wee hours reading.

    Game night with Azul. Vicki outscored me 85 to 45. But I am still smiling.
  • Jan 27 2025: Southwards to Lenoir City (266 miles)

    (authored by Steve)

    We woke up to a very cold Florence KY with the temperature below 20. We were warm in the hotel, but the RV was cold, around 25. Our water bottles didn’t freeze so it couldn’t have been too cold for too long. One advantage of staying at the Best Western: Steve got a waffle for breakfast. Vicki had the healthier breakfast of eggs, bacon and cheesy hash browns. Lexie got to wait for dinner.

    We drove south for 45 minutes and stopped at a Love’s in Sadieville, KY for gas. We had used almost half a tank, so I filled it up with 42 gallons. I am guessing my gas mileage may be at 7mpg (Rick, I finally own a vehicle with worse gas mileage than you!). And I have been traveling close to 65mph (Jeanne and Bob, you don’t want to be behind me!) for economy and just making sure that I have control of the RV. I can feel a little push on the RV whenever a semi is passing me, and it is still a beast to drive. I was tired after driving yesterday and my thumbs were cramping up.

    Anyways, Love’s Travel Stop is great! I have been worrying about the air pressure in the tires, especially on the outside rear tires. The rear tires are ‘dualies’, an inside and outside pair on each side. The outside tire has the valve stem pointing inwards, and I couldn’t access it to put air into it. But the Sadieville Love’s has a truck shop in the back, and the mechanic there came out to help me with my tires. He had a simple solution of a small valve extender, and it worked great. I am feeling much more confident about traveling now that I know I can check and fill all the tires.

    Sadieville Love for gas and tire fix

    Our next stop was another Love’s Travel Stop at Corbin KY. We did grab some fast food. We did not go to see the Col. Sanders/KFC museum, though it was tempting (my fave old school fast food -Vicki).

    The final stop for the day was at Lazy Acres RV Park in Lenoir City, Tennessee. On the way we crossed the Tennessee river and saw a huge dam. No pictures, it happened so fast. And we were ready to stop at our campsite.

    But the view from the RV is remarkable. We are looking deeper and farther along the sides at the rivers and ravines. And we can see what is happening in traffic up ahead. And we can see how the highway is splitting to pick our lane. I do remember being one of the little people in my Prius, but a part of me is enjoying being on the higher side of the view.

    We found our site in the campground. The site was level, so I put down the jacks just to provide additional stability. The slide-out slid out. Electric power was connected. Then Vicki started to clean up the bed from all the last minute items we had thrown on it before leaving Cleveland. Lexie took Steve for a walk around the campground.

    We ‘made’ dinner in our RV too! Actually, we warmed up some cabbage rolls and mashed potatoes we had bought at our local Heinens grocery store. Microwaves are great camping tools. And we toasted our dinner with some (pre-made chi-chi) margarita’s.

    A dinner of margarita, mashed potatoes and stuffed cabbage. Lexie is waiting for leftovers. She will be waiting a long time.

    The weather tonight is supposed to be below freezing. We watched ‘Princess Bride’ on our DVD player, covered in blankets. We will definitely be testing our mattress warmer.

    (Vicki)-We had gorgeous views through Tennessee. I was busy with navigation on my phone and couldn’t get to the camera quick enough. We’re following Steven’s brother Greg and his wife Barb’s trip through New Zealand right now and enjoying their great pictures. Need to catch some pictures of our spectacular views while on the road. The Little Tennessee River was WAY bigger than the Tennessee river and as Steven said, seeing these things from a better elevation provides stunning views. Driving through the edge of the Smokies, over so many beautiful waterways, enjoying a landscape not totally white – we’re learning to relax and enjoy the journey without racing the clock to get there.

    The night sky was so clear with no light pollution and the stars put on a brilliant show. We both think one especially bright star looked red and must be Mars! We might check out a star gazing app as we’re hoping we’ll have a lot more star gazing nights on this adventure. Apps do help and we’re finding they are great tools. Steven found a driving weather app that shows weather along your whole route for the specific day and time you want to travel.