July Journeys

We left Grand Ole RV Resort in Goodlettsville on Saturday morning July 1 at 10:55am with 98,068 miles on Acey, Thor had 120,335 and Heffie had 89,319 miles. That may well be our last time to stay at Grand Ole RV as we hope to move onto our building site soon! We arrived at Tanbark Campground in Dickson about 12:15, right before another big thunderstorm hit!

And that was the story of July – LOTS of rain! The stumps had all been removed from our building site in June, and we got ready for the next steps! The site was wet and muddy!

Sunday was a restful day with Sunday School and worship in the morning.  In the evening, we enjoyed a wonderful Patriotic Celebration Concert at our church – it is well worth seeing it again on YouTube!

On Tuesday, we went to the Pegram 4th of July celebration at Pegram Park and stayed for a little while. It was a warm day and lots of folks were there. We had a fun shot taken at the photo booth!

We didn’t stay for the fireworks show but enjoyed seeing the Nashville celebration on TV – the Nashville Symphony played live with the fireworks coordinated to their music!

The surveyors came on July 5^th to pin the corners as markers for where the footings need to go. Footings were dug and poured the following week on the 13^th Lots of activity that day!

3^rd load of cement being poured into the footings!

The next day, mama turkey and her 7 or 8 chicks came across our site and into the neighbor’s yard.

Our block salesman came later to estimate how much block we’ll need. It was great to see things happening!

And overnight – more rain!

Chris came with his drone and got some overhead shots.

Chuck has been in the UK working since September and is coming back to the States later this month. He spent a few days at The Open (Us Yanks know it as the “British Open”, but the locals of course don’t like that!) He got a bit wet but enjoyed being there!

Our 44^th anniversary was July 21, so we decided to go away for the weekend. The folks at Tanbark gave us a place to park the Rogue while we were gone; we left for Fair Play, SC at 8:15 on July 21. We drove up and over Monteagle, through Chattanooga and through Atlanta where traffic was backed up.

After 8 hours on the road, we arrived at Carolina Landing in Fair Play, SC. We got settled in our site and went out for dinner – at Tilly’s Tiki Bar and Grill in Lavonia, GA on Lake Hartwell. Dinner was delicious in a beautiful setting – but we didn’t get any photos!

 On Saturday we went for a bike ride. It had been nearly 4 months since we had been on our bicycles and even though it was a warm day, it was really nice to be out riding! We rode from Easley to Pickens on the Doodle Trail – a well maintained rail-trail.

A big train engine was parked at the end of the trail

 and there was a colorful mural as well!

We rode 15 ½ miles that day.

Sunday was a full day – we opted to skip Zooming with our Sunday School class and headed to Cashiers, NC to the Summer Colors Fine Art Show. Linda found out that our friend Terry Warren was exhibiting there, and we thought it would be fun to drive thru the mountains to see the show. There were several artists there with works in several media – lots of “eye candy”! And Terry was quite surprised to see us!

Afterwards, we had lunch at Cornucopia in Cashiers and drove the curvy roads back to Fair Play.

There was a scenic viewpoint, so we stopped for a look.

We had a well-attended family Zoom in the evening! 

After Zooming, we got a call from one of our subs – he wanted to start on the septic system in the morning. We couldn’t sleep in – Jim needed to get back to our building project! So, we got an early start Monday, leaving Carolina Landing at 6:40 (5:40 Central time) with 98,518.8 miles on Acey and 121,677 on Thor.

 It really was a beautiful drive back towards Nashville – we opted to drive thru Asheville and Knoxville rather than Chatanooga and Atlanta. There was a lot less traffic, but it took nearly as long to get back.

It was quite pleasant to drive through the Smoky Mountains – and they were Smoky that day!

Going thru the tunnel reminded us of how excited our boys were when we drove this route so many times when Linda’s folks lived in Brevard, NC during their growing-up years!

Soon we were back in Tennessee…

As we came to Crossville, the new Buc-ee’s was on the horizon. It’s a real novelty to many Tennesseans; we have been to a few in our travels, and they are a fun place to stop. Jim read somewhere that the average carload stops for about an hour and spends about $70.

We parked Acey at the Bellevue One near the Ford Ice Center at 1:30 and made lunch. Linda dropped Jim off at the building site and ran errands. The septic system was well underway by then! They dug the leach field and installed the 1,000-gallon septic tank.

By the afternoon, it was all ready to await inspection by the State Environmentalist; we very much hoped she would not take 4 weeks like she did last time!

The surveyors returned on Tuesday to pin the corners again for the block to be laid.

Block was delivered quite early on Wednesday; Jim arrived at the site at 7 and it was already there, and so were the turkeys!

Jim heard an odd noise on the tractor and found a stowaway under the seat – a hummingbird! It didn’t want to move, but finally flew off!

Several loads of dirt were delivered, and Jim worked on leveling out the path for the driveway.

Thursday the block layers began their work on the foundation and Jim continued to work on the driveway.

Later, we had a couple of loads of gravel delivered for the driveway.

Friday – more block was laid, and Jim did more work on the driveway!

Saturday the block was finished, and Jim got some help on the driveway – we hope to move Acey in on Monday!

Sunday we attended Sunday School and worship at Stephens Valley Church and had lunch out with Eve and Chris. Later, we made preparations for our move in the morning!

And Monday — YAY! We left Tanbark Campground at 7:45 with 98,956.6 miles on Acey, 122,150 on Thor and 90,896 on Heffie. Linda arrived at our building site at 8:20. Lo and behold! A white truck was parked in the driveway; the State Environmentalist was there already – and she approved the septic field!

Soon after she drove off, Jim drove Acey into the driveway at 8:30.

Acey got a bit stuck in the mud, but all is good – we are parked and ready to live on-site now! The septic field got covered up later the same day and is now ready for us to use it – what a blessing that this has all come together! We have water, electric and a septic tank. We are happy campers glampers! We are home!

The natives gathered to discuss all the disruption to their land!

Chris came after work and took more drone shots, helped Jim set up a ring doorbell/camera and stayed for dinner.

July was a happening month, and we are so thankful that the building project is moving along!

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