6/5/14

Home Sweet Home!

 

I knew it had been a long time since the blog had been updated but did not realize that it had been this long!  So out of practice writing…could not even think of an appropriate title!

Don’t know if we’ve adjusted to stationary living.  Noticed that I am drawn to looking at pictures of Montana, Wyoming…hoping next summer we will find a way to be in big sky country!

There is progress being made on the whole downsizing adventure!  In the past few weeks Craig's List has become a friend and surplus sporting gear, a refrigerator and our old solar kit have found new homes.  We can see space between the stacks of stuff!

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David has dissembled his shop…it’s still in boxes….but, hey, it’s a start!  And we have a new past time, flea marketing…selling, not buying.  Each Friday morning we take a load of “stuff” a few miles up the road and proceed to unload it on the buyers looking for bargains.  Almost give it away but our possessions need to go somewhere…might as well get a few dollars!  And it becomes a social event…swapping tales with some of the old codgers.   We are not working at it…just trying to enjoy ourselves for a few hours.

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We could be working harder at the purging of possessions….but believing that one must enjoy the process we open one box at a time, looking, remembering and (mostly) discarding.

While surfing one night I stumbled across a video by the young full timing couple known as Technomadia.   In this video Chris is broadcasting from his storage unit in California. He talks about the process of clearing out his old treasures and how he does not want them to just go to anybody…..just those who will value them as he has done.  video.

I realized that is exactly what I have been doing. Holding on to precious memories and wanting these items to go to special people.  Watching the video shows me how this is impeding the process; now my possessions are moving out the door much more rapidly!

We have been home without a camping trip for 5 weeks!  Some days time stands still, other days…it flies!  Still struggling to have fun at home but it’s getting easier.  We’ve cooked in the Dutch oven for the family a few times…every dish turning out perfect! 

On Memorial Day weekend the Pro National Bicycling Championships were in Chattanooga.  Thrilling to watch the elite bicyclists tear down familiar streets a just a few miles from home.

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During the race I became fascinated with this drone….taking numerous photos.  Someone suggested that it probably had numerous photos of me, taking mine as I was taking his.

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Think I’d like to have a pet drone!  Don’t you think it’s kind of cute?

Back to the life at home update!

We are going to the gym, walking regularly and riding our bikes infrequently.  There’s been some talk about paddling but it’s gotten hot, humid and sticky.  Not sure if it will happen.

The three cats are getting along better.  Princess still screeches like a banshee when Sylvester gets too close…very annoying!

We are hoping to shift into phase two within a few weeks.  Phase two is painting the kitchen walls, removing wallpaper and painting in the back bathroom.  And I hope phase three is listing the house!

Outside our “dead” plants are showing green.  My fig tree has new growth at it’s base and the completely brown gardenias are sprouting tiny leaves.  The yard still looks pretty from a distance…where one can’t see all the weeds.IMG_0361

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Well, that’s all I got!  A long hot boring summer stretches out before us!  Very thankful for our blogger friends who are in Canada, Washington, Oregon (by now) and Colorado….(you know who you are!)  Keep us entertained and informed!  We will be making lists of more places to visit…once the downsizing hell is over!

5/7/14

Looking For Balance, Love in the Rally

 

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Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Apologies for waiting so long to post…..there’s no good excuse, except the continuing emotional rollercoaster of downsizing.

Not wanting to reenter the world of depression, we start working on the basement soon after returning from the Townsend rally.

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There’s another room to the right where most of my energy is being spent.  It’s almost empty of my possessions….can’t say the same for the hubby!  Thus the roller coaster.  On this particular morning, don’t know if we will be able to sell the house.  Is it worth going through all the conflict?  When trying to push (him), our relationship suffers.  Life is too short!

I’m trying to remember how to live, happily, in a house, in a town, in the same place.  Trying to reconnect with people I enjoy and it’s challenging after being away so long!  Taking more effort than available.  Looking for balance between the travel world full of bloggers and fiberglass rallies  and the home world with family and old friends.  Must also find a way to balance the downsizing work with exercise and socializing.  This hermit stuff is not working for me!

Subject change…….

Townsend 2014

It’s a rainy Tuesday when we arrive at the Townsend/ Great Smokies KOA.  We enter a pull though and don’t unhitch.  Our 4 night stay on the river starts tomorrow. 

Pleasantly surprised that many good friends are already here.  Find a whole row of old friends with new trailers, some moving to Escapes, some to more traditional S. O. B.’s, (some other brand).  One of our favorite couples arrived 4 nights ago! We walk, frequently stopping to chat and catch up with our buddies.

And the rally begins……non-stop visiting and eating for 4 days!  

We are getting braver with the Dutch oven, preparing a breakfast casserole for the morning pot luck.  Black Forest dump cake is a success the following night.  (Notice, below, the bottom spoon scrapings.)

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Our site on the river

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The Little River

Difficult to describe a rally….it’s all about the energy of the people….their love for each other and their trailers.  Going to parade just a few of our friends…..

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This is our third rally in six months and I find myself enjoying the events more and more.  Each one better than the last.  This time I feel so much love in my heart….are the people here more loving?  Or have I changed and can accept the love that was already there?  Whatever!  Loving the feeling of being loved!

There are 64, maybe more, trailers here.  Many friends are not in the pictures as it is Saturday before I remember the blog and the need for documentation.

A few trailers:

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Kentucky Burro

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Most of the campers, as usual, are Casitas….from the old to the new.

The high spot of the rally is always the Saturday night pot luck.  Hungry folk wait patiently for their turn.

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One of the reasons the pot luck is so appealing…..this is made in a Dutch oven!

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The music begins after dinner.

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And it is over!  Time for goodbyes and plans to meet again!

We decide to spend another night in the Smokies as a few friends are heading to Elkmont campground.

Another night of tale swapping fun.

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Finding wildflowers along the river at Elkmont.

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Celandine poppy

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Showy orchid

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Large white trillium

The weather forecast is ominous with several days of storms, possibly tornados, coming.  We are anxious to get home but a trip to Cherokee, NC is necessary. The Tacoma pulls the Chatta-Egg up and over Newfound Gap, elevation 5,046, without a problem.

Happy Holiday RV Park has had a few changes with a new pizza and breakfast addition.  We check out the covered pavilion and central fire pit.  Discuss some details with the manager and everything is good.  The 2014 Cherokee rally is just 5 months away!

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Flame azalea in Cherokee

4/20/14

Birthdays and Rabbit Holes

 

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Foster Falls: Marion County, Tennessee

Last weekend was beautiful, full of warm sunny days, birthday celebrations and time in the woods.  My family has 4 birthdays in April, my step-father, my niece, my sister and me.  Mom, who’s 86 and likes to cook, entertained the family at the 64 year old home place.

Great fun to visit with all the relatives and spend the next day hiking in the Cherokee Forest.  A Happy Birthday!

What a difference a week makes!  Sometime between last Sunday and this one, a rabbit hole swallowed me up.  Can’t seem to get the happiness thing back.  Spending my time eating poorly and lying in bed reading, finishing a 500 page suspense novel in 24 hours.  Not wanting to call anyone or even send emails or texts.

The difference?  Starting to work in our basement and feeling so overwhelmed at the monstrous task that lies before us.  I tell myself that it is the thoughts I choose to think that makes me happy or sad.  I tell myself that all of the other “full timers”, those that permanently live in their campers, had to go through this purge of possessions.  I tell myself to pick up one thing at a time and dispose of it.  And nothing seems to help!

So what do we do?  Run away!

Today is about blogging away these negative feelings and starting to pack for the Townsend rally.  Called and reserved an extra day so we will be leaving in about 48 hours.  The weather looks good and we can’t wait to get back with our Casita (and  Escape) family.

Plan to put all the stressful thoughts of property disposing behind me for the next  10 days.

Changing the subject, slightly……this was a big birthday…65!  And I know I am only as old as I think, but the oldness is creeping in.   Navigating the Medicare obstacle course started as soon as we returned from Arizona.  (And I learned later that it would have been so easy to have applied online while in the southwest.)

Turning 65 also make me eligible for my permanent Tennessee fishing license.  Since we rarely fish, it’s nice not to spend the big money for the yearly license.  For $10 I have this nice little card that makes me legal to throw in a line.

The new license and a new pole are being packed as we have reserved a river site for the rally.  This is the 7th annual Eggscursion, our fifth year to attend.  Love the Smoky Mountains in the spring!

The following are random pictures from the past month.  (Can’t have a blog without photos.) 

The leading picture of Foster Falls was taken during a hike this month.

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Late March snow!

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Sylvester and Princess enjoying a (rare) moment of tranquility.

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Hiking on the Cumberland Plateau.

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Backyard, Kwanzan cherry tree.

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Dogwood

Crested Dwarf Iris

Crested wild iris found in the Cherokee National Forest.

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Benton Falls: Cherokee NF