At this very moment, I am sitting. I am looking at budding trees surrounding the peaceful lake and imposing granite mountain of Stone Mountain Park, Georgia. I don't sit very often - I always feel like I am in motion - traveling, unpacking the trailer, packing up the trailer, taking in the sites for an area, cooking, straightening, laundry or just going for a walk trying to get in my steps. Often when I am sitting, it's been planning a route, checking the weather, researching an area we are going, looking into the details of places we want to visit, or writing. There is a lot to do! And because our location and amenities change regularly, I have to make sure we have enough food on hand for meals; many stops require checking out where the laundry is located; quite often we will use the showers at a campground if they are especially nice, spacious. I also monitor our credit cards and pay any bills we may have on-line.
Stone Mountain Park has especially nice amenities and I give my highest recommendation for camping at this location! Each site has a deck overlooking the lake, new gas grill - which I happily used each night - pretty nice bathhouse with large showers, a pool, playground and many, many activities including history! Charlie and I can see us returning here and spending at least a week!
We will be leaving in the morning for Asheville, North Carolina. We actually really don't mind the packing up and setting up of our trailer. Each time we arrive at a new location, I feel like I am beginning a new adventure; that makes it exciting! Often the travel can be stressful, when it's unfamiliar areas and directions are not always clear. Making a wrong turn when you're 40+ feet long truck and trailer, or being directed to a narrow, curvy or bumpy road, trying to avoid major cities, construction, climbing elevation and bad weather. These situations can be nerve-wracking and words are often said in frustration. We're usually pretty good at getting past these moments - though a lot of stuff is said under one's breath LOL. (in the words of Deborah Barone - "Idiot")
Charlie is a pretty easy going guy, which works well with my more Type A personality. At one of our previous stops he asked me "Where are we?" I said "Don't you know what state we are in?" He said "No - I'm just the driver." (Oy!)
Minnie our cat is also pretty chill. She is currently relaxing in her playpen. She's not crazy about the traveling part either, but I usually let her out of her soft-sided carrier; she sits on my lap and looks out the truck window. She has a special place in the trailer she likes to go to be alone - under the couch. She literally squeezes into a little area between the back of the couch and the window. We refer to this as "her office". So quite often, she has work to do, conference call and needs her space.
One area we have been very lucky about so far is our health. Knock on wood, we haven't had any illness, colds, emergencies. For the most part, I do a lot of the cooking; we limit eating out and we try to eat healthy - though we do love our ice cream! The snacking from being tired is my downfall lately. Sometimes, I'm just too tired to prepare a proper meal and wind up just picking at different things - which tend to add up to way over my calorie allowance. But, I just try to do better the next day - exercise and get those steps in! Life is about doing better than the day before.
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We arrived in Asheville yesterday Wednesday afternoon 4/13. Driving through northern Georgia, Rabun County, on route, we were so taken with the beauty of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. The driving was a little interesting, to say the least. At one point Charlie commented "How steep is this mountain road?" Yeah, it did feel like we were ascending for a very long time!! It is hard to accelerate when you are pulling a big load. My RV friends will agree I am sure!
Once again, we arrived safe and sound. I have been looking forward to touring the Biltmore Estate for a long time; we have our tickets for Friday 4/15! We are more than halfway home at this point; four more stops in the next 10 days. Our next two stops are just overnighters; we won't even bother to disconnect. Our big four day stop is in Maryland, visiting the family. It will be good to see everyone, especially my Mom, who will be celebrating her 97th birthday in May. I can only hope I have the same good health and longevity of life to keep on enjoying and experiencing the world. Peace!
