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Clair & Sandy's Home Away From Home |
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Friday March 10th we left Pahrump traveling down through Las Vegas and Henderson NV and crossed Hoover Dam which is quite a sight and traveled on south to Kingman AZ where we picked up I-40 and headed east. We traveled east to Williams AZ where we stayed at Canyon Gateway RV Park. On Saturday we took the car up to the Grand Canyon. We thought it may be cold up at the canyon but we had a beautiful warm day and really enjoyed the sights.
  Sunday we traveled east on I-40 to Albuquerque NM where we stopped for the night at Enchanted Trails RV Park. We intended to continue east on I-40, but our luck with the weather ran out at this point. A winter snow storm hit northern New Mexico with a vengeance and closed I-40 east to the Texas line.
 Monday morning it was 26 degrees and snowing with more snow in the forecast so we decided to Take I-25 south and get out of there. We traveled south to Carlsbad, NM, where we stopped for the night out of range of the snow. Sandy said that since we were headed south we should head back to the Texas hill country and see if the bluebonnets we blooming yet. Wednesday morning we moved on to the south and stopped for the day at Pecos TX. Thursday March 17th we traveled west through Fredricksburg and stopped for the day at Stonewall TX on Rt 280 at Peach Country RV Park where we found we were still a week too early for the bluebonnets.
 Thursday evening we got a call from Lloyd and Bert Christiansen, who we had met at Raccoon Valley in Tennessee last fall saying they were in the Dallas area at a Thousand Trails Park, so we decided to head up that way and spend a couple days with them. Friday morning we left Stonewall and traveled west to Austin and north to Canton TX and stayed at Texas Log Cabin RV Park. This park is near the park the Christiansen’s are in and on Saturday we got together and went into Dallas and for sightseeing and dinner. When we returned we played cards for a couple of hours at the Christiansen’s. Sunday we got together again and drove over to Tyler TX and went to a craft show and looked around town after having dinner at a good down home restaurant. We had planned to leave on Monday, but they were calling for severe storms to the east so we decided to stay one more day and do some more sightseeing. Tuesday March 22nd we traveled east to Benton AR and stayed at JB’s RV Park which was a real nice park located in the woods with a nice lake. Wednesday we moved on east to Hurricane Mills TN. and stayed at the Buffalo KOA just off the highway. Thursday we traveled on to Nashville where we stayed at the Jellystone RV Park located next door to Camping World where I had the motor home serviced. We had yet another severe weather situation here, but fortunately it didn’t materialize. Friday we went downtown and visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and walked the streets stopping in the honkytonks, Tootsies, Wildhorse Saloon etc. and listening to the singers who work for tips while attempting to be discovered.
 Monday March 28th we traveled on east to Heiskell TN where one of our favorite Escapee Parks is located. We will be staying between here and Pigeon Forge and soak up some warm weather for a few days before we head north to PA. Tuesday March 29th we did some housecleaning and made a trip to Walmart and got our prescriptions filled and some groceries. Finished the day laying in the shade. Saturday April 2nd we moved to Pigeon Forge and went to See Louise Mandrell at her theatre. We are glad we did because she is going to sell the theatre and retire. She puts on a great show. Sunday we headed north as far as Natural Bridge VA and spent the night at a nice campground in the woods. Monday April 4th we stopped at Dick and Betty Souters in Mt. Sydney VA and visited for the day. It’s always good to see my cousins. Tuesday we traveled to Adamstown PA where we met Sharon and had dinner at a great buffet near there. We had a nice visit plus a terrific meal. Wednesday April 6th we arrived back in Farragut and had a reunion with the kids. It’s always good to get home and see the family and friends. The rest of April was busy getting vehicles inspected and serviced. We also had a full schedule getting ourselves inspected by the doctors and dentist. We both got a clean bill of health and are good for another year. We had been looking at motorhomes as we were traveling and decided we needed a little more room. We found one in Nashville we liked but we couldn’t get together on price. Then we found almost what we wanted in Lancaster, PA. and decided against that as it didn’t have some equipment we wanted. When we got home I checked with our local dealer and they didn’t have what we wanted at the time. Within a week the local dealer called and said they were getting a good 2002 Holiday Rambler Endeavor (like we had been looking for) in the following week. We had a tentative departure date of May 16 to leave for Alaska. So we didn’t know if we wanted to trade motor homes at this time or not, but I told them we had made plans to take Chelsea for a long weekend trip to Virginia to see Luray Caverns and the Air and Space Museum at Dulles in Herndon VA. and that we would come look at the motor home when we returned.
  We returned from VA on May 10th and we went and looked at the motor home and we now have an Endeavor.
  We picked up the new (to us) motor home on May 25th and began task of moving everything out of the old one and into the new one. This may seem easy but there is more to it than meets the eye. I was not too sure about my decision for a while, but we eventually got everything in place and still have a couple empty drawers. On May 28th we took the motor home on a shakedown trip down to Reading, PA for the weekend to get familiar with it and see how everything worked. It passed the test, everything works and the Endeavor drives real nice. We also had a nice visit with Sharon and Brandi. We spent a day in the Cabela’s store which is always enjoyable. This was Memorial Day weekend and all campgrounds were full, so we just stayed in Cabela’s parking lot, which worked real well. We returned to Farragut on Monday and spent the rest of the week arranging and rearranging our things in the motor home and trying to make sure we have everything the way we want it for our trip to Alaska. We also made our rounds visiting with friends and relatives. My “friends” at the Bird House had kept asking why I was still here, so I assured them it was for real this time.
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