Note, Kent is driving the motorhome pulling the big trailer and I am in the pick-up following. Not the usual or preferred travel arrangement. Start to finish we drive 2300 miles on mostly interstate highways (10, 20, 30 and 40) and log 41 hours in the truck seat over the span of 5 days. On a positive note, traveling interstate at just under 60 the pickup gets 33.3 mpg for the trip, Yeah!
Once again, I am reminded to thank Kent for his thousands of hours behind the wheel over the years. I definitely prefer watching the scenery!
Day 1: We are up a little early to break camp and make one last check of the weather. Rats, forecasts still expect 3-6 inches of snow on near Gallup NM. So much for the shorter route taking I-40 all the way to Tennessee. Looks like we are taking the southern route. We connect the big trailer, loaded last night, and off we go. Our goal today is Bowie AZ.
Day 2: Destination, Midland TX. Turns out we planned a little too far for today and traffic through Dallas Fort Worth is terrible. In Midland, road construction further delays arrival as closed frontage roads made getting to the RV park seemingly impossible. We get separated and end up independently finding our way to camp facing glaring sun, dodging orange barrels and running slalom courses between narrowly spaced concrete barriers. The sun is setting as we pull into camp. To brighten up a long day, in what seemed like a good idea at the time, Lynn took a detour to get ice cream treats and bring some to Kent. The motorhome rumbles along at under 60 while the speed limit here is 80. So, the thought was she could run the speed limit, go ahead a few miles for a quick stop at Dairy Queen then catch up with the ice cream. It didn’t work out quite as planned. Ultimately, she fell 13 miles behind then speed limits dropped making her progress slower than calculated. She was just about caught up when we entered Midland. Kent’s milkshake was a bit soft by the time he claimed it, in camp.
Day 3: We are heading for Texarkana AR. We are up and set to go earlier today to prevent another after dark arrival. Not so fast, when we pulled in last night, I rhythmically put the stabilizing jacks down, then noted how soft the ground was and immediately pulled them back up. Or maybe just part of the way back up, before I shut off the engine. Whatever the cause, the jacks went into alarm when we tried to start out for the day. So much for the early start! Out comes the owner’s manual to refresh the error clearing button pushing sequence. It seemed to clear…but nope, I still get an error. It isn’t a glamorous solution but I disconnect power and communication wires to each jack. Now it at least won’t do anything unexpected while driving down the road. The controller still blinks and sounds an alarm but I can calm all that by turning it off then on again. That will have to do for now. We are heading out with repairs to be made at a later date.
Day 4: Today, Hurricane Mills TN, just east of the Tennessee River. We catch a bit of traffic in Nashville morning rush hour but the day is otherwise pretty smooth. I will call it cumulative driver fatigue but I just don’t feel like cooking tonight. We head for the Log Cabin Diner. Lynn tries the meatloaf with mashed potatoes recommended by locals and Kent some chicken fried steak. All is good and portions generous. We take a piece of pecan pie home for later.
Day 5: Newland NC, where we are planning on month to month at Plumtree Campground until we find our place. The day’s drive is thankfully a bit shorter than others and we wind our way back the holler to Plumtree Campground on Big Plumtree Creek Rd off twisty turny 19E. The whole place is terraced into a rolling mountainside and sites a bit smaller than described. We drop the trailer and with the help of lots of leveling blocks lay claim to our home for a while, site D5. The groundskeeper/host, Jimmy, is friendly and helpful as we settle in.
Willa setting up in bed looking out at sunrise this morning. She never really said anything just watched in amazement out the open window from her bed. She is feeling well and seemingly mesmerized by the changing light. Hazel is up soon after and in equally good mood. It is a lazy travel recovery day so there is sleeping late and napping. We open a care package from Aunt Carol, fantastic cookies and tooters.
We are scoring realtor pages and hiding as in the warm with the occasional musing that we might not have had a clear mental picture of Tennessee in the winter. Over a day or so clouds clear and with bright sun this kind of winter feels about right.