Showing posts with label spring wildflowers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring wildflowers. Show all posts

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

4/6/13

Spring Thoughts

 

Four years ago this month, after turning 60, I left my full time job.  It was a decision easily made as the husband was retired when we married 13 years ago and he had been patiently waiting for me to be free of the work commitments.

It was easy to leave the job that I disliked....but, hard, due to the fear factor.  The fear of not having enough money,  irrational fears of being homeless and hungry!

Now, approaching my 64th birthday, I’m looking back on a wonderful 4 years, loving the freedom that this life gives me and hoping to be blessed with many more years of happy living!

And the money thing?  There is none to throw around but there’s always enough to do what needs to be done.  Years ago, when gainfully employed, I would not thought of enjoying NOT spending money!

Contemplating life is one of the great things I get to do with my freedom.  Getting up early, making the coffee and watching the sun peep over the ridge from the warmth of my kitchen. Feeling grateful for life.

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No, this is not through the kitchen window but dawn at Chester Frost park just north of Chattanooga.  Contemplating, again, how grateful we are to be able to travel and come home to a beautiful area.

Speaking of travel…..

No progress to report on the reflectix window project.  I did go back and get the longer length, hoping to be able to secure the coverings without velcro.

Also no progress on the solar panel redo.  While looking at the forums, found someone was using piano hinges to secure individual panels.  Guess we will try that.

Evenings have been spent perusing The Milepost, an Alaskan travel planner and reading blogs of others who have made the trip.  It feels overwhelming when imagining the distance, so I’m just going to ignore it.

During the daylight hours we have been getting exercise by working in the yard and walking.  Inspired by reading too many cooking blogs, I made a place under the steps to use the dutch oven.  Hubby has always been in charge of the outdoor cooking so it was a first for me when I made City Chicken…….

http://dutchovenmadness.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-160-city-chicken.html

Other than wasting lots of charcoal briquettes (none were needed for the lid), it turned out great!  Wish I had a photo!

In a few weeks we will be heading to the Smoky Mountains and the spring rally in Townsend.  There were over 80 trailers last year… and more expected this year.

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2011 Eggscursion

The spring wildflowers are always peaking during the rally.

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Maidenhair Fern

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Dogwood at Cades Cove campground….Smoky Mountains National Park

Glad it’s finally spring…thought it was never going to show.

Good times are happening now, good times coming in the future.  Who could want more?