We had an early start as we left Port Charlotte, FL at 8:15am on Monday, March 22 to head north. Our parting mileage for Acey was 70,632.8 and Thor had 81,074 miles. We arrived at A Stone’s Throw RV Park in Lamont, Florida just before 4pm, adding 315.5 miles to Acey. The name of the park was quite descriptive – it was literally “a stone’s throw” from I-10. We left Thor attached and slept OK even with the busy interstate so close by.
We left early on Tuesday morning; about 8:15 again. Our overnight stop was the Cullman Campground in Cullman, Alabama. We drove 375 miles and arrived about 4pm. We enjoyed a quiet evening and slept well at this park that was a bit off the beaten path. Again, we were able to leave Thor attached, saving time for our departure in the morning.
On Wednesday March 24 we left Cullman around 10am for our relatively short drive (157 miles) to Grand “Ole” RV Resort in Goodlettsville – on the north side of Nashville. Acey’s mileage on our 1:00 arrival was 71,480.8 – and we will stay 12 nights, This is the park where we stayed last year after we sold our house; we were there nearly 6 weeks waiting for RV parks to open so we could begin our journey! So, since we left on May 27, 2020 until our return, we have travelled 9,545.3 miles in Acey!
We met up with Christopher after his work day was over and drove to a friend’s home to borrow a van for Chris to drive so that we could use the Nissan Rogue – having 2 cars at our disposal during our stay. Gini’s silly pit bull thinks she is a lap dog!
We had dinner at Honeyfire BBQ – Christopher’s favorite eating establishment!
Thursday was a busy day! On this dreary, drizzly day, we drove out to Dickson – west of Nashville – and got our first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
While in Dickson, we picked up our mail from the UPS store. Chris has been a big help picking up our mail about once a month and sending it to wherever we are, but today we got it ourselves! We drove back to Bellevue, then we parted ways. Linda went to get her hair cut (Jim has been doing a good job cutting our hair with the Flowbee, but since we were near her stylist, she wanted a “professional” cut.) Jim went to his former office where he caught up with his former co-workers and went to lunch. We met up with Chris after his work day ended and drove up to Clarksville to celebrate Amanda’s birthday. Our niece is 31 today. She showed us the improvements she has made to her home and fixed some appetizers. We went to the Gladiator Brewery for dinner.
AJ and Chris played at mini foosball
Friday we did some cleaning and caught up on laundry. In the afternoon, we stopped in at Yazoo Brewing. The new location in Madison is not far from where we are staying. Jim and Chris have done some work for the brewery over the years.
The brewery is high on the bank of the Cumberland River and a lot of work was done to clear some brush – so when you are on the patio, the river is in view!
Saturday we went to Springfield for dinner at Eve’s. Over the years, it seems that Amanda’s birthday is celebrated for a week – or more. Eve was out of town on Thursday, so we had another gathering to commemorate another year for AJ! Linda helped Eve and Amanda make pasties (pass-tees) – a family tradition! Our great grandpa worked in the iron ore mines near Ishpeming, Michigan (in the upper peninsula) and took a pasty for a hearty lunch. It would be wrapped in newspaper and the story goes that it could be warmed up by placing it on a shovel over a fire. Eve’s cat Tank greeted Linda at the door. He is a big furry boy!
When Linda arrived, Eve and Amanda had already chopped up most of the potatoes, rutabaga, onion and parsley to go in the pasties. We added round steak and ground pork and assembled the pasties, using refrigerated pie crusts. Our Nana may not have approved, but the suet and flour crusts are a lost art…for us anyway! The refrigerated pie crusts make it much easier! While the pasties baked, we went for a walk around the neighborhood with Amanda’s dog Tux.
The pasties came out perfect!
We like to eat them with some chili sauce. Root beer or creme soda make a good accompanying beverage. Beer is also a good accompaniment. A very hearty meal!
After dinner, we zoomed with the family while we were at Eve’s home.
It rained and stormed most of the night Saturday and as we drove to church on Palm Sunday morning, we encountered some flooded roads. We had to change our route twice, but made our way safely to Stephens Valley Church. It was wonderful to be “in person” for Sunday School and worship! Valerie brought a fun treat for the class!
The service started with the children coming down the aisle waving palm branches and shouting “Hosanna” – this is the Sunday we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
We had our picture taken for the church directory.
Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch out with friends – but again neglected to get a photo.
We have been in touch with the couple that bought our house, and they invited us to come by sometime, and Sunday afternoon was a good time for our visit. They have made several changes to make the house their home and it was fun to see the familiar surroundings that was our home for close to 20 years.
We want to replace the carpet in the back bathroom of Acey with some vinyl laminate, so that was a project Jim planned to do during our stop here at Grand Ole RV Resort. We had looked at different flooring options while in Florida, and found the waterproof vinyl laminate to be a good choice. We had stopped by our storage unit on Friday to pick up the table saw, a miter saw and other tools to get the job done. We found a good product at Lumber Liquidators that was a good match for the ceramic tile.
On Monday, Jim began work on the floor project. He ripped out the carpet that appears to be rotting – Acey is going on 13 years old, and the shag carpet really needs to be replaced throughout… but the bathroom is our target for now. (The carpet is about the only thing that we do not like about Acey!)
There is a hatch in the bathroom floor to access the engine which added a challenge to the project. You can almost make out the hatch in the upper right photo, and it is obvious below! The photos are all together here so you can see the steps along the way!
Almost done! We have the “stair nose” piece on order – hopefully it comes in soon!
Linda meet with her Book Club for lunch. We have been Zooming for several months, so meeting together was a treat! We caught up with each other and discussed The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. All of us enjoyed the book with all the twists and turns of the plot.
Tuesday, Linda had a doctor appointment in the morning and Jim did more work on the floor project. In the afternoon, we got our teeth cleaned; Jim had his crown finished (we drove up to Nashville last month to have the tooth repaired and he got a temporary crown then)
Wednesday, Linda went to Farm Burger to meet her friend Pam for lunch; we had not seen each other in quite some time! Afterwards, she stopped by to see Linda and Craig who live down the street from our old house. It was great to see old friends but alas – no photos. Jim went out to New Johnsonville to have a meeting at the papermill he has worked at since about 1986. He will be working on a project there in July.
Friday we met with a Medicare advisor to help us choose a plan that will be best for us when we enroll later this year.
Saturday we had some friends visit. Bob had been aging some brews and wanted to share them – so we invited him up to see Acey and enjoy some very tasty stouts.
Tom & Christy came to see Acey and we had slow-cooked pumpkin chicken chili for dinner. Tom works at the papermill where Jim will be helping out in July.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful sunny day. Chris joined us for worship and the church was full! The music was lovely and we had a great celebration of the resurrection.
He is risen! He is risen, indeed!
The first Sunday in our church building was March 1, 2020 – and we only met 3 weeks before the building was closed due to the pandemic. Easter 2020 was “virtual” on YouTube – so this was our first “in person” Easter service.
In the evening, we zoomed with the family
On Monday, we left for Hohenwald about 9:45 and arrived at Natchez Trace Wilderness Preserve – a Thousand Trails Park at noon.
Good times. Seeing and hearing your adventures in the year of the pandemic is like a breath of fresh air.