WHY DO I LOVE FULL TIME TRAVEL?

Each morning, I wake up before John.  I take the fur kids out for their morning walk and return to our coach for my cuppa tea.

Looking out our front window, I marvel at whatever sight might be there that day and I say to myself, "I absolutely L O V E  this life.

The freedom to see new sights and make new friends is remarkable.  These friends might not be with us for a long time, but we will see them down the road...maybe.  But whatever, they will always be friends.  

Being able to go to bed and have a view of the sky from the bedroom window is magnificent. Bright, brilliant stars and the moon in it's various stages.  Then to awake to either quiet, the sounds of the surf or bird's singing it's greetings to the new day.

Peace, peace.  Wonderful peace.  Sweet peace.  God has blessed us with this time of our life and we are both so thankful.

Where but fulltiming can we  experience geography and history lessons 365 days a year?  

We experience first hand fault lines where earthquakes have occurred and will happen again.  We even experience our first earthquake.     

Wild fires followed by mud and rock slides scour the sides of the mountains. 


In the southwest, rivers carve deep canyons.  





There are mines to explore.  The list goes on and on.  





Two years ago we parked next to a forgotten, sleeping volcano in Amboy, California on Route 66.  It was quite an experience to approach the volcano and walk over the hardened lava with the ripples and ridges showing it's path across the desert floor.  People view the crater and think it is a curious site.  Curious?  I don't think so...It is history.  OUR history.
When will the Amboy volcano awake, rumble and spew its molten ash around? When will Mount St. Helen's, Yosemite awake?



Petroglyphs  are a history lesson in pictures drawn on rocks hundreds of years ago.  But, what story are they telling?  Do we rely on what other's translations?  Do we use our own imagination?  


What would the giant redwoods tell us about the history of their lifetime?  The flat lands of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska?  How about the New England States?  

What about the Gulf States?  What would they tell us?  Would they describe the heartbreak of the thousands of lives extinguished during the Civil War battles?  The lives lost in the hurricanes?  What would these states say?  

The difference in the mountains is striking.  In the east, they are covered with trees, shrubs, etc. 





In the southwest the 
mountains are exposed 
sharing the beauty of the 
formations, fault lines and 
changing colors.  





The sounds of full time travel are amazing.  We hear the rumble of vehicles that share the highways and byways with us.  

The roar of the Pacific as it pounds the shore.  

As the water returns to the ocean.  we hear the tick, tick,tick of the pebbles being rolled over and over back to the ocean.

At the next location, it is quiet...we hear nothing!  Silence...total silence. 

These are only a few of the reasons we enjoy our new life of full time motorhome travel.  You just might want to give it a try if you have not yet had the experience.  

THE CAST IS OFF AND WE HAVE A NEW FAMILY MEMBER

Three weeks post surgery and yesterday, the cast was cut removed.  Ohhh, what heavenly relief!  I could rub the spot that was sending itch signals (very gently).


Now, I have a brace for three more weeks.  This is a critical time with the limited freedom that I have.  The wrong move and the tendon snaps and retreats into the arm. (my own terminology).  If that would happen.....more surgery so I am being a very good patient.  I have the brace off to type this and then it goes right back on.  


We stayed in Townsend, TN for an extra day and then we headed for the Daniel Boon National Forest.  We did not quite make DBNF, but found a Wal Mart RV Campground in Oneida, TN.  


There we began to see that each region, each city has a personality of it's own.  In Oneida,  we saw hard working people, older cars and trucks on the road.  People were proud, hard working and friendly.  Another impression was the loud mufflers and what sounded like 3, 4 and 5 speed manual transmissions that rumbled up and down the highway until about ten thirty in the evening.  


While in Louisville, we noticed that huge loud Boom Boxes were the rage.  As we drove down the street, the vibrations would begin to rattle our teeth, then our seats as we grew closer to the "entertainment".  


In Asheville, NC, we found quiet.  No road music, just Southern hospitality.  I love the south.  Men are true gentlemen and women are more regal.  


Then there is the Gatlinburg area.  If you like bumper to bumper traffic, wild lane changes, road construction to handle even more traffic, this is the place.  Not for me!  Too commercial.


On the other side of the mountain is Townsend, TN.  (the peaceful side of the Smokies).  They truly live up to that motto.  Life is quieter there.  No bumper to bumper traffic, but you still have the potters, the art galleries, great food, great people. Gatlinburg, Pidgeon Forge, Knoxville and the University of Tennessee are all close by if you want a day trip. Ya gotta love it!


Monday was spent at the Kentucky Horse Park.  It is a lovely place with plenty of varried activities.  Of course horses are the center and reason for the park.  Many of the horse associations had their headquarters there.  


The campgrounds were quite nice.  Each site had a large lot for parking on a very narrow pad. We cozyed up to the side of the pad in order to have room at the bottom of our steps.  Toads had to be parked on the grass as there is not room on the pad.  Each of the 260 sites have a picnic table, fire ring, 20, 30, and 50 amp service along with water.  There is no sewer hook up on the sites, but they have two dump stations at the entrance/exit.  


Well, we are home.  Now to put finishing touches on the house so that we can have our realtor  list it on the MLS.  I hope there is someone out there that wants a house with two barns and five acres.  It is a suitable place for horses, etc.  We will see.  


Tomorrow, I'm off to the paint store and to look for the perfect stove for our "new" kitchen.  Have I told you that I really do not enjoy shopping?  Ya gotta do whatcha gotta do!  


This is long enough, I will tell you about our new family member tomorrow.....


Till next time


God bless and keep you in the protection of his loving arms.

Smoky Mountains

The Smoky Mountain Fiber Art Festival is over.  We have made many great, new friends.  My classes were fun to teach and students have returned home with their scarves, purses and felting materials.  Oliver joined the class for a while and eagerly helped the students as you can see on one of the photos.  Felting is not an art for the weak.  It takes tremendous energy.  What I love about teaching is seeing the creativity of each student.  You can see their personalities come out in their work.  The students give me energy and gives me the desire to return to my studio and continue with my experiments with color, fiber and design. 

Again, the knit lights were a huge success along with the hand thrown pottery knitting bowls by John Todd of Paw Paw Pottery.  I am amazed with the colors that I regularly have great sales.  It seems that black is hard to find and, of course, I have it.  Choral is the new color for 2011 and is running a close race with black for top sales.  The student that chose to make a choral purse, of course, had to leave early and I didn't get a photo of her finished product. 

Thank goodness it is time to rest.  Three days of sales and two of teaching can make a person weary.  Now we are parked next to the Little River in Townsend Tennessee and letting the sound of the rapids sooth us.  John is planning on getting his fishing rod out and I may even join him.  Last night, he saw fish jumping and it totally excited about finally getting to fish.  In seven weeks of travel, he was unable, or unwilling to pay the high price of an out of state fishing license to fish a day or two to fish. 

We will leave for home Tuesday.  John has physician appointments Tuesday and Wednesday, then we are off to Bowling Green, Ohio, for the Black Swamp Spinners Guild Market Day.  I hope to see some of you there!