Looking For Balance, Love in the Rally

 

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.

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.)

Our site on the river

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…..

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:

Kentucky Burro

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.

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

The music begins after dinner.

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.

Finding wildflowers along the river at Elkmont.

Celandine poppy

Showy orchid

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!

 

Flame azalea in Cherokee

Birthdays and Rabbit Holes

 

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.

Late March snow!

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

Hiking on the Cumberland Plateau.

Backyard, Kwanzan cherry tree.

Dogwood

Crested wild iris found in the Cherokee National Forest.

Benton Falls: Cherokee NF

Sylvester Goes Camping & Abrams Falls

 

His name is Sylvester and he is changing my mind about camping with cats.  This is the stray from my last post who finally got a name.  Although table sitting is not allowed, an exception was made for this picture. 

My camping experience with our two older female cats was miserable, putting it mildly.  They were afraid, wailed constantly in the car and cowered under the Casita bed.  Their litter box was huge and I feel into it more than once!

Sylvester has been a perfect gentleman, so far!  Sweet, affectionate and complained only mildly about being crated for the trip….oh, we are at the Tremont Campground, only a few feet from the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in Townsend, TN.

This is the 6th annual Eggscursion….a fiberglass egg rally hosted by the Egg Camping Club of TN, GA and AL.

Thursday is the perfect day to go hiking….and our only chance since abundant rain is in the forecast.  Cades Cove is a short trip away and halfway around the 11 mile Cove loop is the Abrams Falls trailhead.

Since the goal is exercise, not photography, most of the  loop pictures are taken on the move.  This loop is one of the most heavily traveled routes in all of the Park and a good reason to only go off season.

Traffic is not too bad…we are hiking by 11:30.  The hike’s rated as moderate, 5 miles with 3 climbs, and we’re unsure of our fitness…..hope we can do at least 5 miles!

 

This is the peak of the spring wildflowers and I am wondering if we will see anything.  We are not disappointed!

Star Chickweed

Crested Dwarf Iris

Trillium, unidentified type

Bleeding heart

These rare bleeding hearts are all around the waterfall cliffs.

After one hour and forty five minutes (due to the picture taking) we arrive at Abrams Falls.

Looking for a bit of shade, we find the perfect place for lunch.

Playing with the shutter speed…..which do you like better?

The sun gets hotter as we trudge back to the car.  There’s few leaves to offer any shade.  We are counting the hills; one, two, and then, almost to the top of the third hill…. a blow out occurs!

The sole of hubby’s hiking boot comes loose! 

There’s no duct tape but a plastic grocery sack helps.  I’m concerned that his gait will be altered, placing stress on the hip replacement so we slow way down….and due to the turtle-like pace, we see a black racer heading through the brush.

Two tired hikers are happy to see the parking lot!

Coming attractions……more on the Eggscursion….and pictures if it ever stops raining!