109 - Lowkey

The last few days we've kept a low profile, mostly due to my inability to be more than 15 minutes (if I was lucky) from the nearest available toilet. Good times. Last night was especially fun for me. If I never experience anything like that again I'll die a happy woman. You remember the house from Up? If the gas I was producing had been helium instead of some noxious form of methane, we would have been floating somewhere near Neptune. On the upside, not being able to sleep has enabled me to spend more time reading...

So, today was better. So far I haven't suffered an attack, and my stomach isn't distended nearly as bad. Night's not over yet. I'm watching a horrible movie, one of those gory, slasher flicks... one I call a torture fest... it makes me nervous, which is not good for the tummy. Not my cut of tea... I meant cup of tea and would normally correct that, but it was appropriately Freudian. In some ways I'm watching to see how the survivors avoided death... but, it's a movie... it doesn't go down like that in real life. In real life this movie would never have happened at my house... I would have shot the bastard. That applies to the first and second victim, who actually stood a chance... not the dog, the child or the girl who was kidnapped. Anyway... here's hoping it's almost over, he has a circular saw out now, and that's way beyond my comfort zone.

So I figure now is a good time to get back on my IBS regimen. I have been battling gut issues for the past few months and this recent bout of unpleasantness brought it to a head. I can't take it anymore. So back to the Heather's Tummy Fiber, and peppermint capsules. I also got some peppermint, and fennel, teas for Mike because his gut is still recovering from the gall bladder removal. The fiber helps give bulk to... things, and the peppermint oil helps with gas and bloating, so does the tea but I don't do tea.

Here's a segue for you... Last night as I went to fill the fresh water tank, and empty the black tank, I was being all vigilent and stuff... had the flashlight ready to shine if I heard movement... had my back to the RV so nothing sneaks up on me from behind... door flush with the side of the RV so I can see both sides... I stepped away to turn the water spigot off and when I came back to the control panel, here comes a kitty cat from underneath the RV... which was, only a moment ago, behind me... so much for vigilence. He seemed friendly, but I don't want to make friends with any stray cats so I just said hello and left it at that... then comes another cat to join the first. I squatted down to see how many more there were and saw a calico. Poor things, I felt bad for them... it wasn't raining or freezing last night, but they were obviously huddled under the RV to keep warm. The first cat was eyeing our storage compartment so I had to keep an eye on it, and when I went inside, it tried to follow me in. They were all still there this morning and will probably be with us until we leave. I wonder if they were dumped here. My heart breaks when I run across a stray, but there is nothing I can do short of telling the park about them.

Well... tomorrow we're hoping our truck will be ready and we can head out by Tuesday morning, so we will probably be celebrating NYE here at the park. We crazy. And you best believe we're going to grab some cabbage, some black-eyed peas, and some hog jowl to eat on New Year's Day. I'm going to have me a good 2013 y'all...

108 - Christmas

Well, Christmas Eve was a semi-success. My cousin Jamie and I spent most of the day cooking and arranging food, as did her daughter, Ashley, and my mom. People started to arrive around the scheduled time and the party got started. I made buffalo chicken dip, jalapeno poppers, sausage balls and salsa (I call it chunky salsa but I guess it's really pico de gallo). The salsa was the biggest success, everyone wants my recipe... problem is, there really isn't one. I eyeball it, I taste it... there's no known quantity as everything depends on the ripeness of the tomatoes, the amount of juice in a lime, the size of the jalapeno, etc. I attempted to explain it, but it's just something you have to play around with. Jamie made onion dip, banana bread, and took a recipe for cookies off my hands which helped immensely, plus she helped in many other ways when I needed it. She even bought me an apron. The girl gets me. Everyone contributed in some way... grandma still didn't relax though, I don't think she sat down until everyone went home... 87 and still ticking.

The last three days were not the best for us. So far nothing horrible has happened today, but the night is still young, and until the day is over I refuse to call it good.

The day we arrived was definitely not good. The roads surrounding the RV sites at this park are not user-friendly. As we were attempting to back into our reserved spot, the front passenger wheel dropped off the asphalt and onto the shoulder, which is probably an inch or two difference. Because of the angle the RV was at, it connected (solidly) with the driver's side of the truck bed and dented it. I heard a loud crack, but I thought it was a large branch giving way under the tire, and when Mike started to yell, I thought the wheel had gotten bent. We thought it was the straw that broke the camel's back but we were wrong...

The next night we met up with family for dinner at The Country Squire, originally one of the nicer restaurants in the area, which has kind of fallen in the ranks in the last few years. They used to bring a slab of beef when you ordered a steak, it was on a cart, covered in a towel, and a cook from the kitchen would uncover it and ask you how thick you wanted your steak; you paid by the pound. It was really cool, but they don't do that anymore. Anyway, it was chaos. Our waitress was overwhelmed by us, and the layout of the table was not conducive to conversation. Catfish was good though. Afterward we planned to head to Walmart to grab what we needed for the Christmas Eve party instead of waiting until the absolute last minute. The GPS pulled a fairly common stunt and took us in the wrong direction, so Mike pulled onto the shoulder to double-check the address, and that's when things started to go wrong. It had been raining, and Mississippi is made of red clay. Our back end is so heavy that when he cut the wheel to get back on the road and we started to move, we started to slide down the embankment. The harder he tried to get us back up, the further down we went until we finally settled into a low point. We couldn't move forward, we couldn't back up, the wheels were digging further into the muck. He has offroad skills and says he's been through worse... it's just the ground here... wet clay is unforgiving, even when you have 4-wheel drive.

It was amazing how many people stopped to see if we were okay. At least seven. The second person tried to pull us out, but his truck didn't have enough power. Of course it rained the hardest when Mike was outside hooking up the tow cable... he was drenched, muddy and cold. I tried to call roadside assistance, but the signal was weak, and just before someone answered the call was disconnected. I tried both of Mike's phones (work and personal) but they wouldn't even ring. Finally I got a signal and was just about to have a truck sent out when another guy in a truck stopped. He turned his truck the other way and pulled us from behind instead of from the front. At first it seemed hopeless, like a repeat of the last guy, but finally we got traction and he pulled us out. Mud was flying everywhere, I could smell how hot the tires had gotten, but we were out. If that hadn't worked, there was another guy who stopped earlier that was going to come back with a truck, and another guy took our number to call when he got home to see if we'd gotten help or if we needed him to call someone. People like that deserve good karma for their willingness to help. It sure helped us out... but I was already drained from the previous night, and everything else that has happened to us recently so I had a mini-meltdown and decided Walmart could wait.

I say that Christmas Eve was a semi-success because we almost made it through a night without something bad happening to us...

Grandma's house is fairly rural, and therefore, pretty dark at night. Instead of attempting to back up in the dark, we were going to pull forward, and turn around so we could drive down the driveway and be able to see. Mike had vented the sunroof, which put the back of it up at an angle. At first we thought the antenna caught a tree limb, but then our sunroof came tumbling down the windshield and down the hood. Grandma has some low hanging electrical lines coming from her garage to the house, and we couldn't see them in the dark. We had walked underneath them several times before when it was light outside, but didn't give them any consideration that night... hell, even if I had I probably would have assumed we could fit underneath them with no problem, but we couldn't... and the sunroof caught them as we were backing up. It's a wonder that the wires didn't come down on top of our truck, or snap and take out the power at grandma's house.

We were pretty much in shock at that point. I mean... how does that happen?

It doesn't.

It can't.

But it did.

So we headed for home, and by the time I thought about calling to make sure everything was okay at grandma's, we were about ten or fifteen minutes down the road... and my phone was dead... battery was drained. So I had to wait until we got to the RV to make the call. Mike was done, it was all he could take and he ended up on the floor, exhausted. I called it in to Allstate and did what I had to do for the night (filling the fresh water tank so we have water if it freezes, and scooping the litterbox). I tried to cover the sunroof with a trash bag... wasn't long enough. I had some thick plastic sheeting with me that NASA issued after hurricane Ike. It was a bag, but I cut the end off and cut one side so that it was one big sheet. I tried to make that work, but I was tired, it was windy, it was dark, and I couldn't get it to cooperate so I was going to lay it across the seats... it ended up in a wad because I kept hearing noises and didn't know if there was an animal nearby, or a person... I spooked myself. After that I pretty much collapsed onto the couch. I was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but I was too wound up, and then the stress collected in my gut and I felt nauseous so that prevented me from sleeping. I think I finally passed out sometime after 3 am.

Today, it didn't rain... it poured. Mike got the plastic snug over the top of the roof about an hour or two before the rain started. It still leaked a little bit though. We have an appointment with a claims adjuster tomorrow morning. Allstate has drivethru claims centers where you take your vehicle in, they ask you what happened, they write a damage estimate and issue you a check on the spot (minus your deductible). When I used it for my Mini it was painless. And they cover rental cars for the duration of the repair, or up to 30 days. It may have to be done in Alabama though, because we're set to leave here on the 27th or 28th.

So... another $500... plus the hassle of taking the truck in for repairs... again... and the scar all these things leave on your psyche. You start to wonder if you're a bad person. What did you do to deserve such a shitty run of bad luck? Why is this happening? Most importantly... when is it going to stop? Seriously... a person can only take so much and we've reached the end of the rope.

On the upside, we continue to be awed by our friends and family. People who haven't seen us in years have offered to help us if they can. They also deserve good karma, and maybe it helps (them) to know that gestures like that do make a difference to our mindset. It may not be outwardly apparent, but each gesture is like a rope to grab onto and pull ourselves out of the muck.

We're hoping that by parking the RV at one of our home parks, where we stay 'for free' 21 days out of 28, things will improve somewhat. Less travel means less opportunity for damage, or so we hope. It sucks that Mike will be staying in hotel rooms, eating out every day on the job, and I will be in the RV where transportation can be complicated... but something's gotta give, and it's better than having him in the middle east and us being apart for months at a time. I'm trying to wrap my head around how we could get my car to Alabama... I am all for that, but the issue I have is that if we do pick up and move, we have to be able to put it somewhere.

Anyway... here's hoping 2013 is an improvement. And I hope everyone else had a merry Christmas and enjoyed spending time with friends and family like we (mostly) have. :)

107 - Grateful

We have recovered from our disasters, at least for now - and the world didn't end today... something I'm not sure how to feel about, sometimes I think it would be better if we got to start over, but I digress.

We picked the truck up this afternoon. It was down to the wire. It went from, "It should be ready Wednesday by lunch... possibly Thursday morning," to "We're trying to have it ready for you for the weekend." We decided they probably closed at 5 pm, so we headed to Athens, pinning our hopes on them having it ready. They closed at 5:30... I think we checked out at 5:23, and $1,200 later, we drove off. I suppose I should stop grousing and focus on the positives, we have the truck and will be able to head to MS where we plan to celebrate Christmas. But can I talk a second about the traffic? Hot damn there is a lot of traffic in Athens. And while I'm at it, driving to the Atlanta airport was no bed of roses either, and if it hadn't been Mike... forget about it.

Our receptacle and cord were replaced a couple of days ago. $700, but I think our insurance covers it and our deductible should be $250. The microwave never came back on and I think our washer/dryer was damaged. It works, but something smells hot, and I'll be damned if I saved the RV from burning down because of the cord, only to have it burn down because of the washer/dryer. Once we get settled into another RV park for a while I'm going to set up a time for an adjustor to come out.

Christmas is going to be lean this year. I got small gifts for mom and dad, and small gifts for Mike, a gift card for grandma (sounds like a movie title doesn't it... "A gift card for grandma"). That's it. Other than that, we're bringing food to Christmas Eve.

On the other hand, our friends have been really good to us and I have cried a couple of times because of their generosity. One of my friends is sending us a goody box of wine. One of my friends offered to let us stay at her house rather than remain in the RV. One of my friends offered me a spa day or a trip to India to meet up with her or a flight to MS to see my cousin. One of my friends was thinking of coming to MS to see us. And one of my friends would have driven here from Tennessee to come get me if I was stuck. How awesome is that? It's gestures like that that keep us going.

And is it weird that I want to see the new Tom Cruise movie? I don't want to like him, but dammit I can't help myself... his movies are good.

106 - Ain't Nobody Got Time for That

Ah Sweet Brown, you are etched into my vocabulary and my psyche, and today you are especially relevant.

So there I was in the bathroom when I smelled something foul. You may think this is normal, but since I was doing my hair, it wasn't. It smelled sort of cabbage like at first so I leaned over to take a whiff of the toilet. Since the bowl doesn't hold water at the moment, it's entirely possible that sewer gasses can come up and cause an odor, but it didn't smell like methane. Then I heard a couple of pops in the living area so I stuck my head out and smelled burning electrical components. As I came down the stairs I saw dark grey smoke billowing from the large vent next to our refrigerator.

At this point I freaked out and everything seemed to happen at once.

My first thought was... is our RV on fire? Then I worried about where to put Gracie... could I get to the cage in time? The windows were already open because it was nice outside, so the smoke had somewhere to go, but the heater had come on and since the smoke was coming out of the vent I figured the two might be related. I shut that off and went out to open the storage compartments to see if I could see anything there. I couldn't see anything from the vent because of the smoke, and I couldn't remove the cover because I didn't have an allen wrench handy. There was smoke in the storage compartment, but I couldn't see the cause and the smoke seemed to have stopped.

I came back inside and shut the fuses off because the tv power indicator lights were flickering and going crazy... didn't notice that initially because I was more worried about a fire. Then I shut the breaker off at the pedestal. I called the mobile RV repair guy and scheduled him to come out and I called our dealer and asked for a copy of our extended warranty, which I had done a couple of days ago... apparently there are only two people qualified to email that to me and neither of them are available. I told them I couldn't wait any longer, my RV almost caught on fire and I needed at least the name of the warranty company. After I calmed down a little more, I called the office and asked them to come check their pedestal.

In the meantime, I tried to disconnect the plug from the back of our RV and it wouldn't come out. I came to the conclusion that the power surge melted the plastic enough to warp it and it was now stuck... half-in, half-out. Great.

The maintenance man said that there was power at the pedestal, so that wasn't the problem, it would have to be from the surge protector to the RV. Since he didn't check the voltage I can't say that's the case... The maintenance man tried to dislodge the plug from the back of the RV and couldn't get it out. The two guys staying next door came over and asked if we were having problems with our electricity because their power has been coming off and on for the last couple of days. They both tried to dislodge the plug... No dice. They did get it back into the receptacle and we turned the power back on... everything seemed to work, but I have kept the load low... just the television components, my computer and charging my phone. Except for the times when I have the washer going and I'm cooking, I don't usually keep a lot on the circuit.

The mobile repair guy came out. He looked behind the vent and said there's nothing back there that should smoke. The furnace looked fine. Then he said if it's been a while since the furnace has been on, it sometimes smokes a little. That's not the kind of smoke that was coming out, and we have been using it off and on since we got the RV back. So he said if the fuse panel started to smoke it could have been drawn into the vents. He checked that wiring and said it was fine, putting out 120 volts on both sides. He checked an outlet and it was fine. He checked the pedestal and it was fine. I was getting a little frustrated. Finally when I had him try to remove the plug, he said the same thing I thought... it melted the plug and we have to replace the receptacle and the cord. He said there is no way to predict a power surge, they happen sometimes, and our surge protector is probably what caused the power indicator lights to go all schizophrenic, because it was shutting the power down... probably saved our electronics.

In the meantime, everything should be safe to use. We turned the furnace on and it ran fine, no smoke. He said the receptacle should be covered by our warranty and he would also see about getting the toilet replaced. He thinks he might be able to get the parts by Monday or Tuesday.

I have lost all confidence in this fifth wheel. I'm afraid to leave it unattended at this point with anything running, because what if that had happened and I wasn't home? Losing our stuff would be bad enough, but to come home and find it burnt to the ground, knowing that Gracie was inside is a horrifying thought. I just don't know what to do anymore. At this point I've had all I can take. I know things can get worse, they can always get worse, but fucking hell... between the truck and this shithole I'm at my wit's end.

I feel stuck. My house is rented until June, so even if I wanted to go back - which I don't - I can't. We can't qualify for a loan, so we can't get out of this thing and into a house, and we are stuck paying $625/mo in storage fees in the meantime. There are some dumps out there that we could probably afford through owner finance, but that's just digging a hole deeper and delaying our ability to get into something we do want and I refuse to make another bad decision. My car is in Georgetown, the rest of our vehicles are still in Houston... truck is in the shop. Any time we start to make financial headway, we lose more ground than we gained. Every time we turn around it's bad news.

Hell, at this point, we can't even move onto our land and just keep the RV stationary because we can't afford to have it leveled again, we can't afford the concrete for our building, we can't afford to put the building up, we can't afford to insulate it, we can't afford to put end walls and doors on it, we can't build the inside out, we can't afford the utilities... we can't afford shit.

Stuck. And pissed. And tired of worrying about everything.

105 - Good vibrations

Well, I'm pretty much boondocked. Since the weather is supposed to hit 32 or below tonight I am taking the advice from the forums and the fresh water tank has been filled. I didn't disconnect the sewer hose, but I did make sure that all standing water went down the drain. It's amazing how much water just sits in that hose and ferments... gross if you think about it. Water hose is disconnected, not sure it matters or not, but just in case. And the heating pad is keeping the LP tanks warm so they don't freeze up.

We had a mobile repair guy come out to check our propane tanks this morning. He didn't find a leak. He said that we have a 35k BTU heater and that, depending on how much we run it and how much we cook, we can drain both those tanks in 2-3 weeks. He also told us that when they get down to around 1/4 tank, we will start smelling LP because of the way the valves work. He told us that we should refill them before they hit empty because most filling stations don't purge the air, and we won't get a full tank if we take in an empty bottle. In addition, we learned that during the winter months, you should take the bug screens off the heater vent because it affects your efficiency and it could void your warranty since there is not supposed to be anything within 5 ft of the vent. Even though they're minimal, he said it affects the output. Add that to the list of things that are good to know...

He was a fountain of information. He also said that we need a new toilet. Our bowl doesn't hold water anymore, and when Lazydays 'fixed' it they probably just put vaseline around the gasket so that it would temporarily seal, but you can't order parts for those toilets so I need to find our extended warranty info and see about getting that fixed. He thinks he can order the toilet and have it installed before we leave.

It sucks that he came out and didn't really fix anything, but we have peace of mind and learned a lot so it was worth it. Having purchased our rig from Michigan and had it brought to us, we didn't get a walk-thru to teach us how to live in this thing. We've been doing it by feel, and it's worked okay for the most part... we could probably have done better. We've had some catastrophes, but we have avoided several too.

Mike is at the Augusta airport waiting for his flight to Pittsburgh. He was going to fly out of Atlanta... no one likes to fly out of Atlanta. When I started thinking about it I remembered that we were 73 miles from Atlanta, and 90 miles from Augusta, which has a much more pleasant airport, so he'll avoid all the hustle and bustle and foot traffic.

I'm here with the trailer. Our truck is in the shop so we couldn't pull the trailer with us, and I didn't want to leave it here to freeze with us gone, plus Gracie can't fly and I can't just leave her here either. I'll be here for ten days... it's good that I've been learning how to make things work and the tanks are filled.

There are very few good samaritans left in this world, so today I took a thank you note with some cash to the office for our tow truck driver. He saved us over $100 in cab fare, and a lot of headache, by bringing Mike home. At first we were going to give him a Walmart gift card, but then I figured, if we paid part of his rent, he most likely won't know it until we're gone and it will be a nice surprise for Christmas when bills typically run high. They (he, his pregnant wife and their toddler) live in an RV with no slideouts, probably not much room, guessing they don't have a lot of money. Right now, we don't either, so we couldn't do much... but we wanted to acknowledge his kindness.

After Mike gets back we're heading to MS to see family for Christmas. This year my generation is going to take care of preparing the food so that mom and grandma can relax. I can't do much in the way of gifts, but I can do that. In addition to the regular crew I'll get to see my Aunt Rose, and I think Brian is going to drive out as well. Laura is still in California and if I could devise a way to get her to MS I would, but I only have $150 in flight credits and the tickets were waaaaaaaaaaaaay more than that. So... I can't make that happen, but he'll be heading to CA in a couple of weeks to bring her home for good so it won't be too long a wait.

104 - Things that make you go boom

This morning I woke up to the sound of gun fire. At first I thought it might be hunters in the woods behind the RV park, but after the initial shotgun blasts there followed the pop of a handgun, and the rat-a-tat of a machine gun... followed by more booms, pops and machine gun fire. Felt like I was next to a small war zone, an idea that the dark grey plume of smoke rising from the treeline did little to dissuade. Gracie went low to the ground and finally sought refuge under the kitchen table.

So I got up and went about my day... I have a routine... I make the bed... I open all the blinds and windows... I turn off the 'fire' in the fireplace... I turn the gravity feed off and switch back to city water... I empty the tanks... I do dishes... I tidy up... I have a soda. I would be incredibly easy to stalk. And then I fixed a loose blind which made me feel all cool and stuff.

The gun fire happened a couple more times throughout the day, so either there is a gun range nearby, or someone was having a good time in their backyard. Gracie almost lost it when it started up again and the wash cycle hit spin, which shakes the RV. She jumped behind the television after darting from spot to spot with no relief.

Instead of Hallmark Christmas movies I watched SyFy disaster movies all day. It seemed appropriate. Sometimes I just get in a SyFy mood. It's background noise while I do data entry or clean up my iTunes library... which is a neverending task. I am determined to organize it and clear up some hard drive space on my computer. I have a ton of duplicates, sometimes they're different versions of the same song, sometimes they're exactly the same. I have a few that are missing pieces of information like the genre or artist. There are Parton, Dolly and Dolly Parton's to fix. And eventually I need to re-rate them so I can make playlists.

Around 6 pm Mike asked if there was a problem with the truck, would Good Sam cover that, or did he need to call the Allstate Motor Club... that's never good. Apparently a belt slipped or something. Our a/c has been out for a few weeks now, which normally wouldn't be a problem this time of year if the weather was normal, it sometimes does suck with the temperatures being what they are, but we haven't had the time to troubleshoot. I guess that's all related. Anyway, he was trying to come home, and there was a lot of noise and then the power steering and brakes went out, which I imagine made driving extremely challenging. I already know that the warranty company is going to gyp us again and this time we probably won't be able to dispute it because 'technically' it's not an emergency repair. It's like we almost get ahead... and then we fall further behind. I told Mike by the time all this is done, we're going to have a new truck.

As (our) luck would have it, it's Saturday, and all the rental car agencies close early on a Saturday except for the airport locations... which were 73 miles from where he was. The Dodge dealership closed at 6 pm as well. There was a shuttle from the University of Georgia to the airport for $34, but then it would be a three hour trip to the airport and then home - in addition to the time he had to wait for a tow truck (90 mins). Cab fare was going to be around $100, or he could stay in a hotel and go to two of the rental car companies that would open at 11 am on Sunday. I really didn't know what to do. As it stood, he could ride in the tow truck and end up at the dealership... and then...? I called Good Sam's concierge service, which I thought was supposed to help me, but they were worthless. They could give me phone numbers that I could find on the internet. I should be thankful they paid for the tow (out of our membership fee).

So, all that said, I wasn't exactly expecting a diesel truck to pull up next to the trailer and sort of hover there. Sometimes people do drive by, but they typically don't stop like that. When my spidey senses go on alert I tend to make sure that the 9 is at hand. I sort of thought it might be one of Mike's co-workers bringing him home, but I didn't know. Then Mike was at the door and I could relax.

Maybe our luck isn't always bad. The tow truck driver happened to live at this park, so he brought Mike home and said when the truck is ready, he'll pick it up and tow it to the park if we want. Mike said he was a really nice guy. I'm thinking about cooking dinner for his family or something as a thank you, after all, he brought Mike home safely and saved us a lot of stress and money.

There is an Enterprise just down the road from the park. They don't open until Monday at 8 am, but they come to you, so anyway, that means Mike gets a day off... which truth be told, he could use. He hasn't really had one in weeks and he's lucky to get through a meal before he falls asleep. Being stuck here with no transportation sucks, but I do it every day and we have food so... we can watch movies, take a walk around the park, he can play video games and just... relax.

103 - Different Strokes

I don't often post recipes, because typically I find them on the internet and there is no need to do anything more than post a link. In this case, it's something I've reconstructed on my own. Not that it was difficult. But still. :)

The picture doesn't do it justice. Nor will it inspire confidence when I tell you that I first tasted it at a cafeteria. Nonetheless, this salad is ad-dic-tive. They made it in limited quantities and you had to be competitive if you were going to get some. Sometimes I bought two containers at a time and hid one in the fridge for a rainy day. You probably think I'm kidding - I got some dirty looks and I didn't care. You snooze, you lose. It's that good. And it's healthy. And it's easy. I eat it for lunch, and Mike takes it to work as a snack to boost his energy during grueling twelve hour days at the job site.

Starport Cafe's Chicken Tabbouleh Salad

Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I have listed ingredient quantities, what you're really looking for is pretty much a 1:1 ratio of everything but the wheat. What I'm saying is, the wheat quantity is definitive, the rest is like your grandmother's cooking... a pinch of this, a handful of that... adjust as you see fit.

5 oz bulgur wheat
8 oz hot water, or enough to cover the wheat
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 tomato, diced
10 kalamata olives, seeded and chopped
1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped (I use rotisserie chicken)
A handful or two of lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I used spring mix)
Feta, crumbled, to taste
Juice of two lemons
A few thin strips of lemon zest
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
Olive oil
Salt (I use Pink Himalayan Salt)

Put the bulgur wheat into a bowl and cover it with boiling water. I typically put water into a measuring cup and microwave it for 2-1/2 mins on high and that does the trick. This step makes it perfect for summertime when you don't want to turn on the stove, and it really speeds the process along. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, then rinse it under cool water and drain the water off. While the hot water is doing its thing... take each cucumber half and slice it lengthwise into thirds, then slice it crosswise into bite-sized pieces. Prep the tomato, olives, chicken, lettuce and feta. Make your vinaigrette: Combine the lemon juice, zest, garlic cloves and some salt, then add olive oil. I don't know how much, I generally add the same amounts of oil and lemon juice then taste to see how strong the lemon is. I like lemon so I use less oil, you may like it more diluted. That's okay. This is definitely not an exact science. Once the wheat has been 'cooked', rinsed, and drained, toss everything but the dressing into a bowl and mix it up. Admire how pretty it is. Add the dressing as you serve it so that the lettuce doesn't wilt. The salad stores in the fridge pretty well for three days - if it lasts that long.

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This is an interesting RV park. It got mixed reviews and one person basically said it was a parking lot that had been converted into an RV park. Not true. There is no concrete here, just grass and gravel and trees. All RV parks technically look like a parking lot in some respects because there are RV's parked everywhere. Duh. I've seen some truly depressing parks on the side of the road... fields with no trees, just spots for a rig to park and hook up to the utilities. So I don't like when people leave misleading reviews because a review is the only way I have to judge a park without going there on my own. In my opinion, it's actually a nice place with trees and well laid out roads. I want to know if you can navigate the roads with a 39 ft fifth wheel. I want to know if the sites are relatively level. I want to know if the utilities work and if the place is 'clean'. Personally I am drawn to the trees and hills and rural look of a place like this. Some people are city folk and want concrete pads and fancy clubhouses with pools that a handful of people use and a playground for the kids.

There are several full-time residents around us, and they run the gamut: There is a bus with a rusted propane tank chained to a grill. There is a Class A that appears to be empty. There is another fifth wheel like ours. There is an old RV with three slideouts on one side of the RV. There is a semi. Then there are the eyesores... the guy who is selling his truck with fluorescent flames on it, which is parked in front of a grey metallic tarp has been made into a tent, which... houses a BMW. And the guy who lives in a 29-foot pull along with a blue tarp on top to, I assume, keep the rain out. He drives a very old maroon cadillac, the kind that has squared edges that existed before the bubble cars of today.

People live all kinds of ways.

I changed the propane tank out last night. We got up at 4 am to drive to this campground and arrived by 6 am. I probably slept for an hour last night so I was exhausted, but I didn't want to go to bed until everything was done. Mike leveled the RV and left for work and I did the rest, which is cool, I like the fact that I know how to. He usually handles the propane and the water heater though. It was cool outside and I had the windows open so I didn't realize the propane wasn't on until I attempted to cook dinner. Then it became a problem as I had already defrosted the chicken and chopped all my veggies.

Today I cleaned the bathroom and changed the bed linens. I did three loads of laundry. I terrified a kitten. I heard a meow and looked out the window to find a small ball of grey fur and white feet on my first step. Gracie was riveted to the spot, growling a bit. I said, "Well hello there," and the kitten's eyes got big and he scampered off into the woods. Poor little baby. I told Gracie how lucky she was that she had a family to love her and take care of her.

I think she might have become diabetic. She's been drinking a lot of water lately, but she wasn't peeing a lot so at first I wasn't concerned. When we packed up to move it had only been two days since I scooped the litterbox and there were a lot of pee chunks in it. Pee chunks, what a nice picture... it's clumping litter, that's what came to mind. Pee chunks. It upset me. I dealt with it once before and never wanted to go through that again. Last time it happened, I was in Ireland and my fire alarm went off for several hours after lightning struck my apartment building... between that, me being gone for a week, and the experience of the firemen tromping through my apartment, the stress caused my cat to become diabetic. This time I feel like it was the stress of us having been gone for three weeks and leaving her with Brian. She was fed, her litter was scooped, and she got water, but she was basically isolated because she just doesn't trust anyone and always hid under the bed when Brian came into the room. She had no way of knowing we were coming back, even though I told her we would.

This time I do have the time to manage it with insulin, but it would be difficult to keep it stocked and at the right temperature, and I'm not sure how much it costs. Losing Gracie is the last thing I need on top of everything we've been through lately. I decided that I'm going to find a way to make it work. According to some articles I found online, diabetes can be reversed, especially if found early. We feed her primarily dry food, but we also feed her canned food. I'm going to eliminate the dry food and only give her wet food, plus some raw meat before I cook our meals and see if it stops the process. Next step would be taking her to a vet and seeing it there are pills instead of shots, or a shelf-stable insulin.

102 - Ho Ho... Hum...

Another beautiful day in Georgia. Looking like it might rain before the day is out, but it's still nice out and I have the windows open to let the fresh air in. I always love it when I can open the windows.

Started reading a new book last night. Couldn't get into the new JK Rowling. It wasn't bad, I just wasn't in the mood for it... the tone is so different from Harry Potter and I haven't quite found the purpose of the story. It's very disjointed. Maeve Binchy and Pat Conroy do something similar... introduce a lot of characters, tell their stories and start weaving them together. It can be magical. There are just too many characters in this book to weave together, or at least not fast enough. And I don't really like most of the characters. So I'm back to old faithful, Anita Blake. Yea for vampires.

I'm in a relatively optimistic mood today. It's hard for me to wallow for long... not because I don't want to, but because I have to keep going and it's pointless to let life get me down. I guess I'm a fighter. And possibly an optimist. Who'da thunk it...? I have a husband that I am head over heels in love with, I'm able to see him almost every day, our bills are getting paid, and we have food in our bellies. I realize that while our life has been rough for the last several months, we have endured. Even through the hard times, we have it better than some.

Still upset about the house, but mom gave me a good suggestion and I'm having Hannah check into it. You never know.

We're pulling up stakes in the morning and moving to another campground that's closer to the sites Mike will be working on for the next few days. It's only a couple of hours from here so at least it's not another long drive. I'm having another mail shipment sent. It's hard to get mail sent when you aren't at a park for more than a couple of days at a time. Mail is like Christmas to me... it's something mysterious to open, and contact with the outside world. Plus we have a couple of checks coming our way and that really is a gift.

And I might get to hang out with a friend this weekend. She recently moved to the Atlanta area. We're both kind of homesick, not for Houston, but for people. It will be nice to get out of the house and hang out with someone from back home. :)

101 - Another lesson learned

So we are continuing to learn about our new home as we go. This week's lesson was ice. When it gets cold enough outside, water freezes... you might have heard rumors to that effect... whether that water is in a hose, in a pipe, or on the ground. As we awoke on Wednesday morning and attempted to flush the toilet, the water did not come swirling around the bowl as it usually does when the lever is depressed. We made due with water bottles, but it brought to light a problem that we'll need to learn to deal with during what's left of winter - frozen water, aka ice.

Forums are great informational repositories... thank goodness for forums. They can be confusing at times, and they are sometimes so full of opinions that you don't know what to believe, but in this case, the forums probably saved us from a catastrophe. Apparently, you should NOT allow the water to drip from the faucets during a freeze as you would in a house... which is exactly what we were about to do. I'm not sure how it happens, but they say it will leak and there was something about waking up to icicles inside your RV and having to rent a steamer to shampoo your carpets that we decided we would rather avoid. Instead, you fill your fresh water tank, disconnect the hoses (water and sewer if you've emptied the tanks recently) and stow them in the belly of the beast where it is warm and toasty. So instead of using city water, during a freeze, you use the gravity feed from the tank. It's little things like this that are really good to know. They really ought to have a school for people who buy RV's.

We still haven't identified and remedied our propane issue. Mike thinks it might be a leaky hose. Right now, the spare tank is still half full, but then it's been relatively warm for the last few nights and we primarily use our space heater... which makes it kind of stuffy in here sometimes to be honest... it's a beast. Anyway, there is a mobile repair guy in the area (so says the brochure that the camp gave us) and I am going to call him on Monday. It's not something we can ignore, and Mike doesn't have the free time to figure out what's happening. Mike doesn't have much free time at all really.

We went to the grocery store tonight. That's my big outing for the week. I was running low on supplies, and while Mike loves beans, I needed to replenish some pantry staples.

There is a town about a mile down the road that I could walk to if I got really desperate for something to do, but I doubt I will attempt it. Cute little town, reminds me of Georgetown in some respects, but more quaint. Mostly I stay home and find little projects to keep me busy. Yesterday I did four loads of laundry, sorted through most of the shred pile cutting out just the personal bits of information and throwing the rest into the trash... I probably got rid of five pounds of paper we've been lugging around, I cleaned the bathroom sink, and I finally cleared the area around the dining room table (or mostly did), and I made chili in the slow cooker. That kept me busy for most of the day. Now I'm caught up on laundry and all of the shredding has been taken care of so... I may have to relax tomorrow...

Maybe I'll walk around the park and take pics, although I'm not sure there's a lot to take pics of. It's a nice place, if you arrive during office hours, they escort you to your site - all pull-thrus. Our site has a concrete pad. They have a playground, two pools, a pond... some spots have a lot of trees, ours has young trees. The price reflects all that, so it's good that Mike's company is picking up the tab. It's probably less than a hotel, so it works out for both of us.

Since Stacy likes pictures, and since Stacy represents 12.5% of my total readership, I want to keep Stacy happy.  :p As always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it... trust me, the pictures make more sense when you can actually see them.

The sky has begun to fascinate me. I never really thought about how different it can look relative to your location. The sky changes everywhere we go, and I have to say - it does some pretty spectacular things in Georgia. Unlike the fluffy, Disney-like clouds of Florida, Georgian clouds cover great spans and have amazing depth to them. As a result, the sun paints some interesting murals as it starts to sink into the western sky.

This was interesting. There was a spot in the sky that I thought was the sun behind a cloud, but then I saw that the sun was actually to the right of that spot. Every time I took a picture of that spot, it came out as a rainbow. It's harder to see in the other pics, but you can see a corona-like effect around the sun, and the spot I was seeing is to the left of the sun.

This is not the sun. It's a bird. A cute little fat bird that runs amazingly quickly when there is a camera trained on it.

Back to the sun...

This one almost looked like a picture of the sun setting on the surface of the ocean. It was really neat.

This is at Pine Mountain, the RV park where we're staying. I love when the rays of the sun shine down like that.

This is the same sunset from another angle.

Same sunset, it bathed everything in gold.

This was Marval in Kentucky. I miss waking up to this view of the Illinois River. So peaceful.

If you get up early enough - and I actually did sometimes, you can see smoke rising from the water as the temperature starts to rise.

I don't know why, I just liked the contrast of the leaf and the cracked asphalt. This was on the way to the office, up a hill so steep it could easily have been in Scotland. Seems like I climbed it every day for one reason or another, but it's good, it gave me some much needed exercise.

This is how elves get their shoes... from squirrels eating pecans. Oh the carnage...

This was not smoke on the water... It was a bit disconcerting to wake up to the smell of smoke and not know why. My first assumption is always that our RV is burning. It takes a second for my sleep-addled brain to put two and two together... they were just burning piles of leaves.

Happy Saturday night... I'm about to hit the hay.

100 - La Push

We took Sunday to finish some maintenance items, and we even managed to relax a little and take some time for ourselves. I think I'm am coming down with another illness because when we got back from lunch I took a three hour nap while Mike rigged some reverse lights to help him see what's behind the truck in some of the remote areas he goes to for work.

On Monday we packed up and left for Kentucky. The original plan was to overnight in Memphis, but Mike wanted to push through to be at work on Tuesday morning, so he drove the whole way and we got here at 5 am. Gracie was starting to protest, she even got so desperate that she climbed into my lap a few times... she's not a lap kitty; she wants (and gets) attention but never that badly. Usually she is content to curl up on the console between us, and not putting her in the cage seemed to help her nerves so we're going to just do away with it... carry it with us should we need it for any reason, but not use it for trips.

I recovered some of my sleep and Mike went to work. When I woke up I hooked up the cable, put some things away, and realized my phone was in the truck. I went to the office to pay and get the wifi code, and no one was there. I went to the attendant's trailer, and no one was home. Lucky for everyone I was able to guess the code and therefore communicate with the outside world (i.e. Mike). Cable wasn't working because the receiver fell and all the cords came undone and I couldn't figure them out. I hate to say it, but spending all day in the RV by myself... that's all that keeps me sane. I do other things, I never just sit around and watch tv, but I need it going in the background. Unlike past workdays, this was a short one, so Mike came home at a normal time and we went to dinner and ran some errands. We have propane but haven't identified the leak, so it probably won't last long. And we have a support for the bottom step. Saw someone at another RV park with lumber under theirs and thought it was a good idea since the bottom step always feels weak; makes a huge difference.

This is an okay place. Not much within walking distance, but that's par for the course (which is funny, because this is a golf course). I'm ready to hunker down for a week or so, packing and unpacking everything a day or two apart gets a little old. At least we have a spare propane tank now so it's warmer in here. I need to go shopping but haven't put together a list, and I would rather wait until our next jaunt is out of the way. I'm not sure about the quality of food in the fridge when we're on the road and the power is off... that could be responsible for how I'm feeling.

99 - Solitude

Last night was the first night I've been alone in the trailer overnight. It's a strange feeling, not necessarily scary, just odd. It's not the same as spending a night alone in your house, in a neighborhood. I've been here long enough to feel safe, but I still lock the door and I keep the Glock with me. I did that at the house too, it's just habit.

Since we're pulling out early tomorrow morning I have buttoned up as much of the RV as I can. Tomorrow we only have to disconnect the water, electric, and camp cable, then pull the slides in, stow the plants, and off we go. If we still have to do all that, you're probably wondering what I did that deserves mentioning... I disconnected the sewer line, put away our satellite and two of the cables, brought the bicycle inside, and stowed everything in the RV so the slides can be closed.

Earlier I got into a fight with the RV and the RV drew blood... I was trying to use the built-in sewer tank flush, but it wasn't cooperating. I couldn't get the hose screwed in. At one point the nozzle got stuck and I couldn't get it loose. I decided to give it a rest and go do something else, and when I closed the door I realized both my index fingers were bleeding from some papercut type slits. Eventually I won... eventually I always win... Then I remembered that the clear connector we got that goes from the RV to the hose, has a flush nozzle. It was much easier. So I emptied the black tank and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... every time I thought I was done, more stuff would come out. After about 20 minutes of flushing and flushing I decided it was clean enough, closed the valve and emptied the grey tanks. Even though it wasn't quite five yet, it gets dark early out here and I needed to be able to see. Mike usually takes care of the sewer hoses, which I appreciate, so this was really the first time I've ever dealt with them on my own. I didn't have any mishaps, so I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. We've gotten into a groove where I take care of the inside, and he takes care of the outside, and that speeds things up.

Mike pulled an all-nighter last night, finally grabbing a hotel room in the wee hours. I was trying to wait up for him so I stayed up until about 4, but when he told me he wouldn't be coming home I gave in and went to bed. So I slept until noon. Which means my sleep schedule is going to be off again... I just got back on track. Tomorrow is going to be somewhat painful if we leave as early as I think we will, but then that all depends on when Mike finishes up tonight. He's like I used to be... intent on finishing something no matter how long it takes, so he's out there by himself and his teammates have gone off to do other things because they have places to be. So do we...

098 - The Glam Life

Here I am, living my glamorous life of emptying poop tanks and watching cheesy Hallmark channel Christmas movies... oh yeah... envy me people... envy me.

Emptying the black water tank is a disgusting, but fascinating process. I watch the waste passing into the hose and think how very thankful I am that all of the connections are solid... how it all looks like hot chocolate, which I used to love... and then it slows to a trickle and I think - I'm done! Not so. Seems like there is always more, at least according to the indicator lights that tell you how full the tanks are. But nothing more is coming out... so what gives? Do RVs get constipated? (we certainly don't) Today I used the water hose to flush the tank out... huge wads of white paper came tumbling out, followed by more... poo. My first reaction was to think we should be adding more enzymes to the tank, but then I realized that because we empty the tanks once every day or two, the enzymes are probably doing more for the septic tank of the park we're staying at than they do for our tanks. So I guess we just have to flush the tank out every so often. It's not a difficult thing to do, and I certainly have the time.

Now that you have that image stuck in your head...

Even though I'm gorging myself on holiday movies, this is just one of those years that just doesn't seem very Christmas-y. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week. I think it's all of the crap we've been through this year. Or the fact that we don't have an actual house - or rather, no particular place to call home at the moment. Or maybe it just comes with age. I can't put my finger on why some years lack that holiday feeling. I don't really feel like doing any Christmas shopping... it's hard to... where do I mail the packages? How do I get around to shop at a brick and mortar store when I don't have a car? And we don't really need anything except a house, which isn't something I can ask for anyway, hahaha. Makes me sad... traditions are slowly becoming a thing of the past and I don't like that they're getting lost in the shuffle. There's that part of me that want to live life according to 'the old ways' and traditions are a piece of that.

Made some small, simple changes to the RV to help get us organized. So far, so good. We bought a battery operated light... in June... that we never found a place for. We'd thought it would go by the bed to replace the interrogation spotlights there now, but there wasn't wall space for it (seriously, sometimes I want to tell Mike everything I know just so he'll turn the light out... but I took an oath... (that's a joke people)). I recently ran across the sconce part of it and decided to put it over an existing light with some doublestick tape, kind of tones it down so it's not so harsh. It works. Now we need several more of them. And Mike likes to keep his semi-used clothes in a pile on the floor... which worked okay at the house if I never went on that side of the bed, but we just don't have the space for it here. I recognize that he has methods that work for him, so I found a balance that works for both of us - and helps prevent wrinkles - we got some 3M wall hooks and mounted them on his side of the bed, and now he can hang those clothes. Perfect. Lastly, I found some shelves at Target for shoes and t-shirts. We had a hanging organizer, but it was heavy and this takes the weight off the dowel rod. Now we just have to figure out how to secure it so that it doesn't move when we're on the road. Otherwise it's great - gets the shoes out of the way. And once we get to Austin we can put some stuff in storage so that hopefully there won't be piles of stuff around the dining room table... not that we really eat there, but it makes opening the blinds a tricky thing.

And speaking of shoes... I'm wearing the rain boots I bought last year. They are nice and warm and so ridiculously comfortable. For some reason the floor of the RV is particularly cold tonight and my socks aren't doing the job. It's the little things... like the fake fire in the fake fireplace... and Mike bringing home Chuychangas for dinner... mmm... Chuychangas with Boom-Boom sauce... I actually made salsa and queso last night... and ate it again this morning for 'breakfast', but I think I could live on Mexican food at least 300 days of the year, and it's the weekend and... and... he said Chuy's... don't judge me...! :)

097 - Marval... Marvelous?

It's nice here, but the internet is exasperating. It's... a little slow. And any time I search for cilantro lime chicken tacos, I get kicked off for peer to peer sharing violations. I don't know what's so bad about cilantro lime chicken tacos. They sound pretty tasty to me.

Also, our internet access code was supposed to expire on the 17th, but it has expired today... which really sucks. Luckily I have a hotspot, but it too is maddeningly slow.

Anyhoo... it is pretty here, and even though it will probably take hours to load, I am posting pics.

A gorgeous thistle on a piece of property we liked in TN. Apparently two other buyers also liked it. Today I put together a spreadsheet, determined that we are going to find something. I have a couple that I think are contenders, but Mike looks for different things in a property than I do. He tends to go for the amount of acreage and size of the garage, while I tend to go for the houses I would want to live in and the whether the land is pretty or not. Yes. He's a boy, and I'm a girl. It's pretty obvious. We fall for the fixer uppers every time, but this time I am trying to be a realist... we like the idea of a project, but when faced with one, we become overwhelmed. I think the reason for that is rural Tennessee projects are much different than suburban Texas projects.

The river outside our window at the RV park. Interesting to watch the tides go one direction, then the water gets still, and in the evening it goes the other way.

The perfect fairy house.

The reflection of the trees in the water was really pronounced today.

Interesting knot, almost looks like a bird or the virgin Mary on the right side. Or maybe I'm just tired.

Like the white rocks interspersed between the tree trunks.

I fixed stew yesterday, thinking it would be ready for dinner. I was woefully wrong... I put it in the slow cooker on high, and four hours later the veggies were still firm. So I let it cook overnight on low, and all day today, and it was delicious. The meat wasn't as tender as I thought it would be, but the broth was wonderful... all the tomatoes disappeared into the sauce, and the flavor of the carrots was drawn out. Yum. I love that stew, and the weather is perfect for it.

No mishaps today, or at least not yet... only an hour and a half to go!

096 - My last name must be Murphy

Here we are in Oklahoma. And as usual, our journey was not easy.

Somewhere just outside of West Memphis, Arkansas (oh irony how I hate you*), Mike points out that one of the panels on the fifth wheel was flapping in the wind. It looks like something hit it at some point and all the screws tore through the panel... they didn't come loose, they tore through completely. We pulled off the road, but the shoulder wasn't overly wide and while the truck can go offroading, the RV can't. Mike was able to zip tie the panel and it is secured now, but it needs to be repaired for the long term. Having him under the RV as semis zoomed by and shook it was a harrowing experience in itself. About half moved into the next lane... and 9/10 of the other half could have. We try to cut truckers some slack because we know what it's like to pull, so it really pissed us off that some of them didn't extend us the same courtesy.

* The irony is that on the day Mike was headed to Austin for our first date, his drive shaft fell off the Jeep in West Memphis, Arkansas. Also on a Sunday. Like Florida, West Memphis, Arkansas is now on the list of places we need to avoid.

So after that was dealt with, we continued to on into Oklahoma, with the wind beating at us the entire way. A front was passing through with winds gusting at 20-40 mph... that sort of wind is not kind to a fifth wheel. Once again, we encounter a freak storm... at night... while towing... I was nervous because I couldn't see the road. And we were in a construction zone so the lanes were narrow. I know it's way worse for Mike... but this is my blog. :)

Having made it through that, we pulled in to the park after dark, which is always a hassle. It was cold. The ground is sloped. There is water behind us and the slope goes down toward the water. Our self-leveling jacks were not working. Our tires were coming off the ground when we tried to level the rig. We were both very high strung, but we have learned how to interact with each other and no blood was shed. :) I'm just glad yesterday is over.

Today was pretty low key... we went to the grocery store. There is a small store here at camp, which is one of the reasons we chose this place, but it doesn't have much. Mike was working for most of the day, so I put together some shelves I got for the closet. It helps organize the space and it's better, but we need to purge some of our things. My goal for however long we're here, is to organize things and make sense of it all.

I miss Gracie... she is still at Brian's. In some ways I wish we had gone ahead and brought her with us, but given how everything turned out I think I made the right call. As soon as we're done here though, we are headed to Georgetown to retrieve my baby girl.

All in all it is nice to be 'home' again... but I think I'm starting to realize that while I'm good with living in the fifth wheel... pulling it stresses me out, and setting up camp stresses me out. Why? Because something always seems to go wrong. On a particularly cold night in TN we learned that if the propane tanks get too cold, they don't work. That wasn't fun, and now Mike has gerryrigged something that prevents that from happening, but there are things they don't tell you when you buy one of these things and they are IMPORTANT. We forgot that the water bypass valves have to be in a certain position or you don't get hot water (thank goodness for the internet or we'd still be taking cold showers). Add the panel and the jacks and little things here and there and it is maddening sometimes. Still, I try to remember that it allows us to be together...

And finally, my cousin is insanely talented. He calls himself The Concrete Angel, but he goes so far beyond concrete... 107,000 pennies... w-o-w...

095 - Tennessee in the Fall

If you don't like trees, you won't like this post.

We made it here just in time to catch the tail end of the fall color change. It is absolutely gorgeous to drive down the roads and look around at all the yellows, oranges and reds. I don't even know which are my favorite anymore. I initially went with red, because red is usually always my favorite, so vibrant... but I think the yellow might be winning because the sun shines on the leaves and wow, they just pop. There was a hill that looked like gold. Then there's orange... it's a mix of both and it's stunning too.

For those of you who don't understand why we want to be here, I present you with the following... and if you still don't understand... you're hopeless.

Cotton fields in Georgia. Cotton is really kind of pretty.

I told you there would be trees.

Cool bridge in Georgia.

Fall in Tennessee!!!!

Thought it was neat how the roads made this almost look like a bubble.