Yesterday we drove around and looked at more houses. There was one absolutely gorgeous home overlooking the water, but once again, the roads leading up to it were pretty janky, and I'm not sure we'd have room for everything (cars, building). It's 1.82 acres, but I'm not sure all of that is usable. That said, it's not completely out of the running, but I think it would be a stretch to make it work. Makes me sad because that would be an amazing place to come home to... the water was so blue... there were trees...
We did see one that we're going to pursue further. It's near Cookeville, off of a two lane road - with stripes and everything(!), but it's secluded. They cut out a homesite but left the trees surrounding it so that you can't see the home from the road at all. The home itself is nice in the photos, but we know how that can be... been there enough times to know about creative photography. Still, we're hopeful.
Tried another Mexican restaurant... we're nothing if not determined. It was okay. The two best things about it were that 1) it reminded us of a place we ate lunch in Houston with our friend Bob, so the memory was nice and 2) there was a grocery store attached and they had tomatillos and corn tortillas and cilantro. Sounds unremarkable, but the local stores don't carry those things and I've been craving green sauce and chili pie (not at the same tiem). The food itself was passable, not my favorite but definitely not the worst I've had.
Also, along the way we ran across an Amish market... RIPE TOMATOES - I was soooo there. Got lots of 'maters, red ones, gold ones, green ones... even a Cherokee Purple to try out. *squee* They had peaches that were being swarmed by honey bees, I reached in and got a basket anyway. Honeybees are our friends. They had huge juicy blackberries, cherries, and... CHEESE. We got pepper jack, horseradish cheddar and hoop cheese. And butter. And homemade noodles. I admit... I went a little crazy. There was real food. Pretty colors. I miss vegetables, we eat out so much, and it's mostly a bunch of fried shit... even the veggies are devoid of color because they're cooked to death. I keep wanting to get a salad, but it's all iceberg lettuce and that's pointless...
The mail is starting to come regularly. Nothing exciting, but hey, it's something to do. So we checked it on our way through town.
Then we went to Walmart to get Mike's haircut. This lady did a good job... the other one half-assed it but this one made him look like Mike again. Mike got a couple of games, I got a couple of movies. This Means War was funny. Gonna watch the Julia Roberts-Snow White movie later. After Walmart, it was on to the chinese buffet... unremarkable... typical. Worst crab rangoon I've ever had, but the cabbage was tasty.
I made the green sauce last night before I forgot about it and let everything rot. The BlendTec is amazing... even without the sour cream, the sauce was so creamy. Oh - the avocados we got from the little farm are hands down the best avocados I have ever had. They were huge and creamy and perfectly ripe. So that's what I'm going to have for lunch... tortilla chips and green sauce with a peach and some cherries for dessert.
Mike keeps talking about Nashville, so I guess we're heading there today FML... I'm tired of being in the truck...
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
0038 - Pop is the most terrifying of all the Rice Krispies
The other night there was a leak at the RV park which resulted in the water being shut off for most of the day and all of the night. The showers and toilets by the office were working, but not the individual hookups. Mike, being the forward thinking monkey that he is, realized that we could couple our hoses and have enough reach to hook to the spigot and feed water into our fresh water tank. That way could use our tank with the water pump instead of hoofing it back and forth between our RV and the toilets in the middle of the night... Okay so it's just me that gets up in the middle of the night, what can I say? The boy loves me.
This is where we learned another valuable lesson about our RV.
There is no automatic shut off. We can fill the fresh water tank, but we apparently have to watch the control panel to see how full it is, and even then it only gives it to us in thirds... 1/3 full, 2/3 full and... full!
Here's how it went down: I was in the kitchen washing dishes, already a bit disconcerted by the sound of the pump running every time I turned the faucet on. This is all new to me, new sounds freak me out a bit... I know how Gracie feels. All of a sudden we heard a very loud POP. Mike put two and two together a bit more quickly than I did, all I knew is that something wasn't right, but I hadn't yet connected the water tank to the sound I just heard. When Mike investigated, he found that water was pouring out the bottom of the RV, so we *think* there is an overflow control mechanism in place - BUT I also read on a forum that the bracket that holds the tank to the bottom of the RV has been somewhat problematic for people... not necessarily with our model, but others. So we need to look and see if the bracket is still intact... the pop sounded suspicious to me. Honestly, at the time I thought the damn thing split open. Now I'm wondering if the bracket didn't pop off. The forum people said it's incredibly flimsy.
Tonight we experienced an almost-storm. There was a lot of bluster... the temperature dropped about ten to fifteen degrees... we thought we were in for one heck of a thunderstorm. A gully washer. :) The wind was blowing so hard that I moved the plants closer to the RV because they are still small and have already been shocked enough by all the moving. I humanize things sometimes. Sue me. (Happy note - the plum tree I thought I'd killed is back and better than ever - SQUEE!) All that happened is that, with the water having been restored this morning... the power went out. Dammit. When the air handlers are off it is disconcertingly quiet in an RV... until you start to hear the creaking. Aside from the wind and the power outage, all that happened was that we got about 27 drops of rain on our windshield on the way home, the result of our having washed the truck. Mike says it was his version of a rain dance.
It also made it all the more apparent that we need a surge protector. If lightning strikes the wrong place... if the hookups are in bad repair... whatever the reason, it could fry all of the wiring in our RV. That would be very, very, very bad.
So we went outside and met our new neighbors, talked to them until they retreated to the confines of their generator-cooled class-A's, and then sat at a picnic table with Ron and talked about solar power and evaporative cooling. Now we're inside reading blogs, watching tv and getting ready to turn in for the night.
Tomorrow we're headed to Cookeville. Got some houses we want to look at, but mostly it's Friday and we want to do something 'exciting'. Having this much time off becomes monotonous, and this afternoon I finally reached maximum boredom saturation threshold. We drive around pretty much every day, but it's so hot out there, and I get tired of being in the car.
The highlight of my day is going to the post office.
Seriously.
I fully intended to cook quiche for dinner, even bought an egg (had three, needed four - yes, one egg is all I needed), but decided that I would rather go to the local deli just to get out of the house for a bit. Little did I know, I still could have cooked the quiche and gotten out of the house for a bit. Oh well. I had chili cheese fries and that made me happy. Doesn't take much. (remember cheese?)
This is where we learned another valuable lesson about our RV.
There is no automatic shut off. We can fill the fresh water tank, but we apparently have to watch the control panel to see how full it is, and even then it only gives it to us in thirds... 1/3 full, 2/3 full and... full!
Here's how it went down: I was in the kitchen washing dishes, already a bit disconcerted by the sound of the pump running every time I turned the faucet on. This is all new to me, new sounds freak me out a bit... I know how Gracie feels. All of a sudden we heard a very loud POP. Mike put two and two together a bit more quickly than I did, all I knew is that something wasn't right, but I hadn't yet connected the water tank to the sound I just heard. When Mike investigated, he found that water was pouring out the bottom of the RV, so we *think* there is an overflow control mechanism in place - BUT I also read on a forum that the bracket that holds the tank to the bottom of the RV has been somewhat problematic for people... not necessarily with our model, but others. So we need to look and see if the bracket is still intact... the pop sounded suspicious to me. Honestly, at the time I thought the damn thing split open. Now I'm wondering if the bracket didn't pop off. The forum people said it's incredibly flimsy.
Tonight we experienced an almost-storm. There was a lot of bluster... the temperature dropped about ten to fifteen degrees... we thought we were in for one heck of a thunderstorm. A gully washer. :) The wind was blowing so hard that I moved the plants closer to the RV because they are still small and have already been shocked enough by all the moving. I humanize things sometimes. Sue me. (Happy note - the plum tree I thought I'd killed is back and better than ever - SQUEE!) All that happened is that, with the water having been restored this morning... the power went out. Dammit. When the air handlers are off it is disconcertingly quiet in an RV... until you start to hear the creaking. Aside from the wind and the power outage, all that happened was that we got about 27 drops of rain on our windshield on the way home, the result of our having washed the truck. Mike says it was his version of a rain dance.
It also made it all the more apparent that we need a surge protector. If lightning strikes the wrong place... if the hookups are in bad repair... whatever the reason, it could fry all of the wiring in our RV. That would be very, very, very bad.
So we went outside and met our new neighbors, talked to them until they retreated to the confines of their generator-cooled class-A's, and then sat at a picnic table with Ron and talked about solar power and evaporative cooling. Now we're inside reading blogs, watching tv and getting ready to turn in for the night.
Tomorrow we're headed to Cookeville. Got some houses we want to look at, but mostly it's Friday and we want to do something 'exciting'. Having this much time off becomes monotonous, and this afternoon I finally reached maximum boredom saturation threshold. We drive around pretty much every day, but it's so hot out there, and I get tired of being in the car.
The highlight of my day is going to the post office.
Seriously.
I fully intended to cook quiche for dinner, even bought an egg (had three, needed four - yes, one egg is all I needed), but decided that I would rather go to the local deli just to get out of the house for a bit. Little did I know, I still could have cooked the quiche and gotten out of the house for a bit. Oh well. I had chili cheese fries and that made me happy. Doesn't take much. (remember cheese?)
Thursday, July 5, 2012
0037 - Mrs. Todd's Shortcut(s)
All the little side roads we're taking lately remind me of the Stephen King tale "Mrs. Todd's Shortcut." In that story, the main character keeps taking more and more obscure shortcuts to get where she's going, and along the way begins to encounter strange creatures and phenomenon. Strangely, if I recall correctly, her shortcuts keep getting longer and longer. I used to joke that my mother was Mrs. Todd, because she would pretty much take any road she could find, no matter how out of the way, just to avoid the main road and traffic. The older I get, the more I understand her aversion to traffic. I love that out here, we rarely pass another car (and thankfully on little roads like that, we have yet to meet up with another vehicle... I shudder to think how that might go down).
This afternoon we started out on pavement and ended up on gravel. I am waiting for the day when the gravel peters out and there is just a field, or a cliff in front of us and Mike has to back down the road until there is a space wide enough to turn around in. It was gorgeous though, rocky cliffs with horizontal striations, trees with sunlight sprinkled in, hollers. Our favorite thing to find is a little zig zag cut down the side of a mountain where a waterfall would be if it rained. We found two.
By the way it did rain today. About 27 drops of water hit our windshield on the way back to the RV park.
Guessing I'll make quiche tonight. I need one more egg to make that happen, but Ron has that covered, he has chickens at his house so he just brings in some of the eggs and sells them for a quarter each at his little store. It's hard for me to think ahead so I kind of grab what's on hand and I've been lucky to be able to make dinner from that. My other problem is that some things I would normally buy aren't available around here. Tomorrow we're heading into Cookeville to see a few houses, and we'll be able to stop by a larger grocery store to see what they have.
That's about all I've got going on at the moment. Today is Thursday... I think. Time is losing its meaning. That's good and bad. The hilight of my day is checking the mail...
This afternoon we started out on pavement and ended up on gravel. I am waiting for the day when the gravel peters out and there is just a field, or a cliff in front of us and Mike has to back down the road until there is a space wide enough to turn around in. It was gorgeous though, rocky cliffs with horizontal striations, trees with sunlight sprinkled in, hollers. Our favorite thing to find is a little zig zag cut down the side of a mountain where a waterfall would be if it rained. We found two.
By the way it did rain today. About 27 drops of water hit our windshield on the way back to the RV park.
Guessing I'll make quiche tonight. I need one more egg to make that happen, but Ron has that covered, he has chickens at his house so he just brings in some of the eggs and sells them for a quarter each at his little store. It's hard for me to think ahead so I kind of grab what's on hand and I've been lucky to be able to make dinner from that. My other problem is that some things I would normally buy aren't available around here. Tomorrow we're heading into Cookeville to see a few houses, and we'll be able to stop by a larger grocery store to see what they have.
That's about all I've got going on at the moment. Today is Thursday... I think. Time is losing its meaning. That's good and bad. The hilight of my day is checking the mail...
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
0036 - Driving in circles
Today we drove around looking at more houses. I've figured out that when the GPS says, "Due to limited data, guidance is not possible in this area," that means we're about to find ourselves on a tiny little road, climbing up a steep mountain with a sharp dropoff - usually on my side of the truck. A lot of the time we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere and I have to wonder how anyone ended up living there in the first place. There's rural... and there's rural. Today I saw a barn with several license plates on the side and I thought, "Those belong to the people they've killed..." Seriously.
We've seen driveways that go up a hill that you can only get to from one direction... driveways that are really nothing more than a repetitive series of trips that someone has made up and down the hill that have packed the dirt down... and today we saw a driveway so steep that if your brakes failed, you would end up at the bottom of a holler. I know why they call it a holler by the way, because if you ever find yourself in one, all you can do is holler and hope someone hears you... cell phones aren't going to help you unless you can use them as a flashlight. So go ahead and download that app. :)
Today we were told that someone was interested in our land and was going to go look at it. Here's hoping they are serious. If we can sell it instead of trade it, that opens up some possibilities. Also on a positive note, someone at Penn Warranty Corp has common sense and has approved our claim, so we get most of the money back from getting our truck repaired in June. Maybe our luck is turning around.
Yesterday the guy who runs the RV park took us to see some property next to his house. It's about 27 acres of virgin land that has some gentle slopes, lots of trees, and a water view. I'm not sure it's officially on the market or if it's for sale by owner, we're going to have to track it down and I haven't seen it on the web. If it's FSBO, that could be a good thing because usually that type of land is owner financed. It's a beautiful place and while part of me would rather find land with a house on it and let someone else do the work, the other part of me wants us to be able to shape it to be what we want... building as we go. To start all we need is a pad for the RV and hookups, a place to put our storage building, and we can take it from there however fast or slow we want/can. We also got to walk around Ron's property so we could get a better idea of what the area looks like when it's cleared. I really, really liked it. A lot. Sycamores everywhere, sloping land, some rocky outcroppings, the ability to drill a well, power lines at the road. It has a fairytale-like quality to it when the sun shines through the leaves of the trees. And once again, we'd have an awesome neighbor.
Today is the 4th of July. Around here they celebrated with fireworks on Saturday so there shouldn't be too much going on tonight. I think we're going to have tacos at home, or a hamburger... something with ground beef. Anyway, it's a great day to think about what independence means. We used to have independence and we don't really have it anymore. Today our government is dictating what we will do, it's happening with more and more frequency, but it happens one piece at a time so that it doesn't seem as obvious. It's a day also to remember those who fought and died to give us that independence, to maintain that independence,, and to really give consideration to what our future holds. I wonder what Americans in the 1700's would think of us today. What would they think of the mess our government has made of this country? Of us, who have been a part of the process of letting it get to this point? I imagine there is a good portion of America that doesn't even realize anything is wrong. I do, but I don't know what to do about it. Voting is everyone's default answer, but if your choice is a shark or a scorpion, you really don't have much of a choice. And yet, choices must be made, so you make the best ones you can and try to stay on top of it. Happy 4th of July.
We've seen driveways that go up a hill that you can only get to from one direction... driveways that are really nothing more than a repetitive series of trips that someone has made up and down the hill that have packed the dirt down... and today we saw a driveway so steep that if your brakes failed, you would end up at the bottom of a holler. I know why they call it a holler by the way, because if you ever find yourself in one, all you can do is holler and hope someone hears you... cell phones aren't going to help you unless you can use them as a flashlight. So go ahead and download that app. :)
Today we were told that someone was interested in our land and was going to go look at it. Here's hoping they are serious. If we can sell it instead of trade it, that opens up some possibilities. Also on a positive note, someone at Penn Warranty Corp has common sense and has approved our claim, so we get most of the money back from getting our truck repaired in June. Maybe our luck is turning around.
Yesterday the guy who runs the RV park took us to see some property next to his house. It's about 27 acres of virgin land that has some gentle slopes, lots of trees, and a water view. I'm not sure it's officially on the market or if it's for sale by owner, we're going to have to track it down and I haven't seen it on the web. If it's FSBO, that could be a good thing because usually that type of land is owner financed. It's a beautiful place and while part of me would rather find land with a house on it and let someone else do the work, the other part of me wants us to be able to shape it to be what we want... building as we go. To start all we need is a pad for the RV and hookups, a place to put our storage building, and we can take it from there however fast or slow we want/can. We also got to walk around Ron's property so we could get a better idea of what the area looks like when it's cleared. I really, really liked it. A lot. Sycamores everywhere, sloping land, some rocky outcroppings, the ability to drill a well, power lines at the road. It has a fairytale-like quality to it when the sun shines through the leaves of the trees. And once again, we'd have an awesome neighbor.
Today is the 4th of July. Around here they celebrated with fireworks on Saturday so there shouldn't be too much going on tonight. I think we're going to have tacos at home, or a hamburger... something with ground beef. Anyway, it's a great day to think about what independence means. We used to have independence and we don't really have it anymore. Today our government is dictating what we will do, it's happening with more and more frequency, but it happens one piece at a time so that it doesn't seem as obvious. It's a day also to remember those who fought and died to give us that independence, to maintain that independence,, and to really give consideration to what our future holds. I wonder what Americans in the 1700's would think of us today. What would they think of the mess our government has made of this country? Of us, who have been a part of the process of letting it get to this point? I imagine there is a good portion of America that doesn't even realize anything is wrong. I do, but I don't know what to do about it. Voting is everyone's default answer, but if your choice is a shark or a scorpion, you really don't have much of a choice. And yet, choices must be made, so you make the best ones you can and try to stay on top of it. Happy 4th of July.
Monday, July 2, 2012
0035 - Chomping at the bit
I apologize if this post doesn't always make sense, I'm groggy. Not much sleep last night, and despite an afternoon nap, I'm still not firing on all cylinders.
Today we traveled to Jeffersonville, Indiana to get Mike's teeth fixed. He had one implant that was loose and causing him pain. Turns out that there was an infection so they ended up removing the implant and doing another bone graft. In a couple of months he goes back to get a replacement. It wasn't a terribly long drive (says the passenger who wanted nothing more than to take a nap), but it did take all day. They took us early so we didn't end up having to stay the night.
Along the way we saw and experienced many interesting things.
This was the funniest (had to find a pic on the internet because we went by it too quickly):
Second best was almost ruined by the inclusion of an apostrophe-s... but my imagination is powerful enough to remove the apostrophe-s... so I still giggle.
Our favorite restaurant in Louisville, KY is gone. Red Star on 4th street was a great place, awesome manager, yummy food... and now it's gone. It's just as well, Mike couldn't really enjoy much of anything anyway, so we ended up at O'Charley's. I had New Orleans pasta. It tasted good, but caused me great gastronomical grief which resulted in an unscheduled stop at Walmart. Not my proudest moment. I'm still suffering for it.
We experienced an actual emergency alert bulletin, not just a test. Wasn't for our area, but it spurred us to listen to the weather radio, and when we heard the word "Gainesboro" and "one inch hail" our ears did perk up. We managed to avoid it though, and came home, waiting for rain that never came.
Saw a lot of interesting places that warrant a roadtrip. Mammoth Cave... Dinosaur World... Cummins Falls...
And we drove by yet another housing prospect with a tiny, inaccessible road. We loved the pics, and it was gorgeous, but there was no space to park anything, a sharp hairpin turn on the road leading up to it, and the road itself was narrow and bumpy as hell. Yesterday we drove to three similarly disappointing properties. Then there was the mystery house on Grisham Lane... which apparently doesn't exist. Google Maps can't find it, our GPS can't find it, the listing itself has no map. Supposedly it's somewhere here in Granville. Maybe it's a Tennessee Brigadoon. In any case, we were glad we didn't put Hannah and Tony on the case, it would have been a waste of their time. Hopefully there is something out there that is all things we want... affordable... gorgeous... accessible... private...
Uncle Bob's is on my shit list. They keep asking when we're moving our stuff (the cars and bikes). I didn't, and still don't, understand their problem. They are getting paid, automatically, every month. I think it's the fact that we have multiple vehicles in one spot, but I don't know what our agreement states so I'm not sure. Anyway, the guy called Mike a few days ago, and I ended up with a voicemail from the woman this afternoon, this time flat out telling us we need to make other arrangements. Screw Uncle Bob. Ernie has once again stepped in to save the day... don't know what we'd do without him, his whole family for that matter.
Job situation is suddenly taking an upturn with two very real possibilities. Can't say more because I don't want to jinx anything, but the stress level is a bit less today (speaking for myself).
And lastly, I think I have resolved my data situation. My data roaming widget is not in the most obvious spot, but I finally found, and enabled it. I still don't have much coverage at the RV park, but now at least when we head toward civilization I get a signal and have a much better shot. Mike kept getting texts and IM's and I was getting pissed because we both have Verizon and I HAD IT FIRST! *stamping my foot* But I digress...
Watching a Ron White special. LOVE Ron White. He's my favorite... he makes me laugh. So... gotta go. :)
Today we traveled to Jeffersonville, Indiana to get Mike's teeth fixed. He had one implant that was loose and causing him pain. Turns out that there was an infection so they ended up removing the implant and doing another bone graft. In a couple of months he goes back to get a replacement. It wasn't a terribly long drive (says the passenger who wanted nothing more than to take a nap), but it did take all day. They took us early so we didn't end up having to stay the night.
Along the way we saw and experienced many interesting things.
This was the funniest (had to find a pic on the internet because we went by it too quickly):
Second best was almost ruined by the inclusion of an apostrophe-s... but my imagination is powerful enough to remove the apostrophe-s... so I still giggle.
Our favorite restaurant in Louisville, KY is gone. Red Star on 4th street was a great place, awesome manager, yummy food... and now it's gone. It's just as well, Mike couldn't really enjoy much of anything anyway, so we ended up at O'Charley's. I had New Orleans pasta. It tasted good, but caused me great gastronomical grief which resulted in an unscheduled stop at Walmart. Not my proudest moment. I'm still suffering for it.
We experienced an actual emergency alert bulletin, not just a test. Wasn't for our area, but it spurred us to listen to the weather radio, and when we heard the word "Gainesboro" and "one inch hail" our ears did perk up. We managed to avoid it though, and came home, waiting for rain that never came.
Saw a lot of interesting places that warrant a roadtrip. Mammoth Cave... Dinosaur World... Cummins Falls...
And we drove by yet another housing prospect with a tiny, inaccessible road. We loved the pics, and it was gorgeous, but there was no space to park anything, a sharp hairpin turn on the road leading up to it, and the road itself was narrow and bumpy as hell. Yesterday we drove to three similarly disappointing properties. Then there was the mystery house on Grisham Lane... which apparently doesn't exist. Google Maps can't find it, our GPS can't find it, the listing itself has no map. Supposedly it's somewhere here in Granville. Maybe it's a Tennessee Brigadoon. In any case, we were glad we didn't put Hannah and Tony on the case, it would have been a waste of their time. Hopefully there is something out there that is all things we want... affordable... gorgeous... accessible... private...
Uncle Bob's is on my shit list. They keep asking when we're moving our stuff (the cars and bikes). I didn't, and still don't, understand their problem. They are getting paid, automatically, every month. I think it's the fact that we have multiple vehicles in one spot, but I don't know what our agreement states so I'm not sure. Anyway, the guy called Mike a few days ago, and I ended up with a voicemail from the woman this afternoon, this time flat out telling us we need to make other arrangements. Screw Uncle Bob. Ernie has once again stepped in to save the day... don't know what we'd do without him, his whole family for that matter.
Job situation is suddenly taking an upturn with two very real possibilities. Can't say more because I don't want to jinx anything, but the stress level is a bit less today (speaking for myself).
And lastly, I think I have resolved my data situation. My data roaming widget is not in the most obvious spot, but I finally found, and enabled it. I still don't have much coverage at the RV park, but now at least when we head toward civilization I get a signal and have a much better shot. Mike kept getting texts and IM's and I was getting pissed because we both have Verizon and I HAD IT FIRST! *stamping my foot* But I digress...
Watching a Ron White special. LOVE Ron White. He's my favorite... he makes me laugh. So... gotta go. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)