Short travels are fun too

Around this time last year we were returning from our adventure out west. To say that it was an experience of a lifetime would be an understatement. It was the experience of my lifetime to date (other than marriage). It was amazing, and I’m sad that we didn’t get to do something like it this year. But, we are doing some short trips to wrap up 2016.

Short trip #1- Atlanta and Chattanooga

Last Friday we loaded up and headed out to Atlanta for the weekend. We had some friends we wanted to meet up with, as well as a Braves game at Turner Field to catch. Being a Braves fan, the opportunity to see a game at Turner Field before they moved to SunTrust Park was tops on my list. And, truth be told, one of the main reasons we decided to head to Atlanta when we did. My husband is the best.

I tried to snap a photo of the new SunTrust Park as we were driving by.

Our Friday night ended at Red Top Mountain State Park after a yummy dinner with some friends in Woodstock. Red Top Mountain State Park was a wonderful place to stay. There are quite a few things to do there- hiking, lake activities, etc…- and it’s very convenient to  I-75 and Downtown Atlanta. That Friday night they were having a star gazing and ice-cream event, though sadly we missed out.

They have lakefront RV spots along with the forest section we stayed in. We’ve found that staying with the class A/Motorhome crowd seems to be quieter (introverts here) and the bathrooms are mostly empty. The bathrooms were very nice and very clean. I can’t stress that enough. VERY CLEAN. The host couple worked hard to make sure things were in good shape for the campers. It was much appreciated by these campers.

Our camp spot. We look so small among the tall trees.

Saturday morning we started with lunch at the Silver Skillet in downtown Atlanta. Give me the choice of a dive restaurant/diner or a trendy place and I’ll pick the diner every single time. It was delicious and just what I was hoping for. Apparently I was too hungry to take a photo, but it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s right downtown, and there is a nice parking lot next door

Our second stop was the High Museum of Art. After the sticker shock of parking ($15!!!) we really enjoyed ourselves. I mean, we were there for over four hours so there was definitely lots of stuff to see. The Eric Carle exhibit exceeded my expectations. I remember the books, but didn’t know the history behind those distinctive and familiar illustrations. It’s collage! That was really fun to see up close and they did a great job setting up the exhibit at child eye level so they could see everything and even follow along with a guide. The Walker Evans exhibit was fantastic as well. Learning more of his story and seeing his work in person was pretty special. While it’s an expensive field trip, we thought it was worthwhile. And, you can take photos!!

This was my favorite from the Eric Carle exhibit. The Grouchy Ladybug! You can see the different papers in the collage here. The lighting was a little wonky, but maybe it’s because they were set up for the 4ft tall set. I thought I took more photos, but alas, I spent all my time looking at stuff. Story of my life.

Our Saturday ended at Turner Field for the game! We got there right after the gates opened and I don’t know why, but I thought we would be one of the few there at that time. I was wrong- it was packed! And it was Chipper Jones Bobblehead night.

 

We bought our tickets off StubHub and the seats were fantastic (and came with a parking pass).

After some extra baseball (extra innings for the win!) we made our way back to the campsite to go to bed and get ready to leave the next morning.

Our journey back included a stop off in Chattanooga for some white water rafting on Sunday. While we had done it before, years ago while we were dating, I had forgotten how fun it is! So fun. We did it through Adventures Unlimited again and our guide was fabulous. We had a great time navigating the rapids and nobody fell out. That’s always a good thing. While we were waiting for some other boats/resting our anchor leg we saw a dog go down in a raft with its humans. It was precious and I immediately wished I had a dog that wasn’t constantly wanting to greet new people. Unfortunately that would be a disaster with our pup.

This is more her speed

We stayed at the Cleveland KOA half way between the Ocoee and Chattanooga. From our experience, KOA campgrounds are typically pretty good and this was no exception. It seemed to be on a country road, yet there was quite a bit of large truck traffic. It wasn’t so bad that we couldn’t sleep, but it was noticeable. The bathrooms were clean, though the shower stalls weren’t near as spacious as the ones at Red Top Mountain State Park. But all in all, I’d stay there again.

Monday morning we woke up and hitched up to drive back to Nashville. We thought about going to the TN Aquarium but we had already spent quite a bit on tickets to the Braves game and the High Museum so we saved the Aquarium for another trip. Instead, we grabbed some lunch downtown at the Maple Street Biscuit Company and went to the Coker Museum.  There is a really nice large parking lot on the water by the Aquarium with plenty of room for RVs and other non-standard driving set-ups.

I found the museum on Trip Advisor and it was worth every second we spent there. Coker Tire has been making tires for decades! They have some super-cool videos on YouTube if you’re interested in how they make their tires. Back to the museum- it’s fantastic! The owner of the company has taken on a caretaker role of sorts in preserving automobile history. You’ll find old engines, race cars, antique cars and motorcycles there, as well as a really neat machine shop and wood shop. The tour takes about an hour and you have a tour guide that walks you through and gives you the history of the company, as well as the cars, motorcycles and engines they have on display. They’ve done a great job of accumulating rare cars, and there are even a few race cars on display. Not the kind of race cars you’re probably thinking though. Early race cars that of course I forgot to take a photo of. Shame on me.

This is the wood shop where they make the wood wheels. 

This is the main room where you can walk around and see all the cars. They’ve done a great job with all the vintage signs too. I think they work closely with the American Pickers guys on those (and maybe some cars too). 

And the wall of motorcycles!

Such a fun trip, although I wish it were longer. Isn’t that always the case.

Thanks for reading!

Garden Update

Is it weird that I count the tomatoes every day? Thought so…

Here are some updates to the garden. The tomato plant is crazy big, as are the potatoes. I guess it’s the rich soil again. (?)

Here’s a full garden shot. I added the hawk because something was munching on a few flower leaves. I’m not 100% sure it’s made a difference, but I’m going to leave it there anyway. I guess it’s time for a scarecrow.

Here’s a close up of the tomato, corn and carrot side, with a giant Cosmo coming up and some basil at the bottom.

And here’s the potato side with the potatoes in the front and the melons in the back. To add to the experiment I’ve got sweet potatoes running around the potatoes in the corner. At first I was a little worried about the sweet potato plants I got in the mail, but they are doing really well! I’m not sure I have enough space for them because they are runners, but we’ll see how they do. Second year in and it’s still just one big experiment (with delicious produce involved).

Tomatoes! I’m so excited about these little guys. At last count we had 13 and there are quite a few more flowers. I started from a plant I got at Hewitt Garden and Design Center in Franklin, TN. It was less than a dollar, if I remember correctly. I started from seeds last time so I thought I’d get a little plant this time. So far, the plant is the way to go. And, any excuse to go to Hewitt is fine by me.

Happy gardening!

Shasta Airflyte Reissue Recall Work

As with others that purchased a Shasta Airflyte Reissue, we had some recalls. I think there were two factory recalls, then quite a few items that we had jotted down over the course of our using it. Might as well get them fixed under warranty!

We dropped her off at Mount Comfort at the end of January. They knew she was coming and would be there for awhile so they were prepared. We sent our list to them, as well as a YouTube video we made as we were going through it all. It took them a good two months and we picked her up at the beginning of April.

Our list of fixes:

– front stripe “flaking”

– rear window leaking

– repair/replace warped paneling and damaged ledge under back window

– rear stripe is misaligned

– air conditioner fix

– lightbulb in handle has never worked

– water in floor when it rains (wheel well issue?)

– wheel clearance recall work

 – misc water damage from window leak or floor leak issues

It was a long list, but I’m happy to report most everything was taken care of and it looks good as new! The back window is fantastic, and it’s nice for the back to have all new skin that actually repels water. The only thing Forest River didn’t sign off on was the rear stripe alignment issue. They said that because these are handmade there will be some variations. I get it, but I’m still annoyed.

They put a new silver stripe on the front and the new stripe is more industrial than the original one. I’m guessing they realized the old material wasn’t good enough, but I don’t know for sure.

The camper sits about two inches higher with the new axles, but after our wheel well clearance issue with the old ones I’m OK with that. We may move our hitch ball up to the next spot, but haven’t decided yet. The back stabilizers don’t touch the ground now so that was another thing we needed to work out. Thankfully we had some leftover flagstone that we put under there.

We got her home and moved into the back yard until our next journey. It doubles as my sewing room when we’re not traveling. Or the new dog house/shady spot, depends on who you ask.

It’s that time again- spring gardening!

Well, it’s been awhile but I’m back and ready to self-report. I planted the garden last week and I already have quite a few sprouts. This makes me a little nervous as it seems soon, but I guess we’ll see. To get the soil ready I added another bag of Happy Frog organic soil as well as some more compost manure and peat moss.

Here’s a picture of my plan. Formal, I know. 

And here’s a photo on planting day!

 

I made some changes this year. I cut back on cucumber plants since we had so many cucumbers last time. I added a few new things like potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. I moved the sweet peppers.  And, I started with a tomato plant instead of seeds. Hopefully these changes will lead to more diverse garden offerings this year, and more success in the area of sweet peppers. Those dang sweet peppers got me last year. Oh, and I added a real trellis.

A week later and there is already quite a bit of green. Yippee!

Garden Updates (and some other stuff)

The peas are growing like crazy! So much so they were ready for their new trellis. I purchased it from Gardener’s Supply and am very impressed. In my head it should be cheaper, but I feel like I will definitely get my monies worth over the next few years.

Full Shot with the fancy trellis

Close up of the peas and spinach

I’m still working on my trip wrap up and some notable things/places but I’ve recently taken up sewing so I’ve gotten sucked into the vortex of making stuff! What do you do when you have a small house and want to learn to sew? Set up in the camper of course!

Here are a few things I’ve liked on the Internet lately.

How the Ballpoint Pen Killed Cursive is a pretty interesting read. I love handwriting, but have lost my ability to think in cursive. If I go really slow I can, but I haven’t honed the skill over the past few years so I’ve lost it. Maybe this will motivate me to go back to it. It definitely makes me want to try out a fountain pen!

John Oliver’s piece on “Prosperity Gospel” is so good. He really spends time researching and participating instead of just providing commentary. A lot of his stuff is hard to take, but this one is spectacular and dead on.

Adventures in the Shasta- Part Four

On our way to San Francisco we stopped for a night in Sonoma, CA. While I’m not a wine buff, touring a winery while in California seemed like a logical excursion. I don’t have a favorite label, nor am I into the fancy wine stuff, so going to some elaborate winery wasn’t really our style. The Benzinger Family Winery had great reviews and what they have going on is pretty cool. They are a Biodynamic winery which means they view the vineyard as a single organism. Adhering to the highest level of organic farming, they have a neat ecosystem happening there. They have cows on property as well as an insectary. They don’t use bagged fertilizer or other chemicals, but instead rely on their own animals, natural predators, and composting. The property is lovely and I loved its understated beauty.

Grapes on the vine!

Our adventures in San Francisco started the next morning, and after a quick 30 minute drive to the campground we were ready to go! We stayed at Marin RV Park just outside of SF and it was perfect! It’s urban, but quiet, and close to the ferry, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a bus pad. There’s also a Trader Joe’s within walking distance. Pretty handy place, and the service was fantastic! They were more than willing to help us navigate public transit, which was much appreciated coming from a city that doesn’t really have a public transit system to speak of.

The first day we began with a trip to Muir Woods. We stopped for lunch at The Dipsea Cafe and it was delicious. It reminded me of a restaurant we have here in Nashville. The entryway was just precious so I had to take a photo.

Muir Woods was nice, but very crowded and louder than I would expect. Still not sure why people have to yell to each other while in nature. Next we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge on our way to the super-touristy things like Ghirardelli Square and Lombard Street. Driving a convertible down Lombard Street is pretty fun and reinforced why we went through the extra effort to get our rig. Off the Grid, the SF food truck meet up, was having a gathering at the Presidio so we went there to get some dinner. We wanted to explore that part of town anyway, so having a reason to be there was nice. The Chairman food truck is the best and I’m not embarrassed to say I ate a bun two days in a row.

We wrapped up at the Palace of Fine Arts for a brief photo op.

Our second day was a full one. We started by taking the ferry into the city. We explored the Pier and Fisherman’s Wharf before heading over to City Hall, The Mission, and the Castro District. We rode the trolley for quite awhile, and even got to hang off the side like you see in movies and tv shows. So fun. City Hall was beautiful, but full of wedding parties. It’s hard to believe they conduct government business there that isn’t wedding related. Maybe they don’t, who knows. The Mission was an interesting place to see and La Taqueria is worth the trip. Arriving just a few minutes after closing time we were unfortunately unable to take the Mission Dolores walking tour.

Our final destination that day was the Castro Theatre for a showing of “Vertigo”. In San Francisco watching a movie about SF that they shot in SF…so meta! It was a fun experience and I enjoyed our trip to the theatre. The organist playing before the movie starts was an unexpected bonus.

Our last day in SF was spent touring Alcatraz (totally worth it), China Town, and then watching a BAMA game at a packed bar that we left because we are introverts and it was terrible. The place itself wasn’t terrible, just the environment.

Saturday morning in China Town

We drove the car in that last day and our good luck with street parking continued. The parking app is very easy to use, and I don’t think we paid more than $30 for parking (for both days). It was really user friendly and much better than the public transit or parking garages. The public transit there wasn’t nearly as good as Chicago or NYC.

San Francisco was beautiful! We did so much in our short time there, yet left enough for a return trip someday. 🙂

Part Five is the long trek home. I love re-living this trip. It was so fun and overwhelming while we were on it and so sweet to look back on.

Fall Garden Update- We have sprouts!

Less than a week after planting seeds I had sprouts. That was unexpected, and I’m still thinking it means something is wrong. But I’m also excited, so here are some photos! I used a real camera this time, instead of my phone camera, so hopefully they look a little better.

You can see a little of the green…

More green…

This one shows how tall they are already. Looks like there will be quite a few peas!

I think she’s wondering why there are green things in her dirt box.

I’m thinking about purchasing this trellis for the peas, then using it with the other climbing plants in spring. I like that you can separate the panels.

More later.

Trip Advisor Reviews

I’m still working on reviews for restaurants and attractions, but all my campground reviews have been posted. You can check out my profile here.

Adventures in the Shasta- Part Three

After Seattle we made our way over to the Olympic Peninsula for a few days in Port Townsend. We stayed at Fort Worden State Park for two days and it was a pretty nice “home base” to explore Port Townsend as well as Olympic National Park. I had some complaints about the campground, but it wasn’t the worst we experienced. Port Townsend reminds me a little of Downtown Franklin, TN in its architecture and preservation. Franklin is a tad bigger, however.

Olympic National Park is just as beautiful as all the other parks we visited. We didn’t see much wildlife, just a deer eating out of a man’s hand. Pretty funny, actually. We stopped at Hurricane Ridge for a bit and kept going.

After our two nights at Fort Worden (and a drive in movie at the Wheel In Motor Movie Drive In) we made our way down the coast toward San Francisco.

We drove from Port Townsend to Wilsonville, OR where we stopped for the night. Driving through Portland was a mess, and we were there at 3pm. I can’t imagine the rush hour situation there. Our campground was pretty nice and well-located around many shops, should you need to replenish supplies. My favorite part of our stay near Portland was the Dar Essalam restaurant. It was our first experience at a Moroccan restaurant and it was fantastic! The food was delicious, and the experience was one to remember. They were very kind and more than willing to help us with ordering.

Our next adventure was in Astoria, OR, or Seaview, WA to be exact. We stayed there for one night at The Sou’wester Lodge. Talk about an experience you could only get in the PNW! It’s an old lodge from the 1800s, but they also have vintage campers on the property that you can rent for the night (or multiple nights). We stayed in our Shasta in the campground part, but we could have stayed in an old camper. My favorite part was their fish cleaning station.

In Astoria we went to see the tarp covered Goonies house and we had dinner at Buoy Beer Co. The fish and chips were delicious, and the window to view the lounging sea lions was an extra fun bonus.

Driving down the Oregon Coast is beautiful! I’m used to Florida beaches, so this was a new sight for me. The rocks are very interesting, and the fact that your view, most of the time, is an overlook onto the water was neat.

This is one of my favorite photos from the whole trip.

We stopped in Cannon Beach for more Goonies spots. The little town of Cannon Beach was nice, but very crowded. I wouldn’t balk at one of those wood shake covered houses though- so pretty! Working our way down the coast we stopped in Bandon,OR for the night and enjoyed an afternoon at the West Coast Game Park Safari.

A little weird having a lynx in your lap, or so I’d imagine.

A drive through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in a convertible is the way to go! The trees were so large it was hard to comprehend without something for scale.
I’m no shorty.

And eventually, after six days, we arrived in San Francisco! We did quite a bit there, so I’ll save that for a different post.

Fall Garden is planted and ready to sprout (maybe?)

I sowed the seeds for what will hopefully be a nice Fall garden. Hooray! In the break between pulling up the old stuff and planting the new stuff I was having a visitor in the dirt box.

Here’s the plan I made. I’m not sure the cabbage and potatoes are going to grow, but I’m giving it a try.

And viola! Hopefully in a little while I’ll have some tiny sprouts.

I didn’t do anything to the soil other than add a little more manure and peat moss. It seemed rich enough the first time around, but we will see how it works. After pulling out the Spring/Summer plants, but before planting this new stuff, I had about 15 sprouts pop up from the seeds I planted in April. Not sure what’s going to happen there, but I’m eager to find out.