Loving Tennessee

Parkers Crossroads RV Park - Yuma, TN

May 19 - June 1, 2014 (2 weeks)

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RV LIFE:

The above statement pretty much sums up our lives. Although, I can't really do absolutely nothing in reality. But, just being with my husband, Scott and each doing what we enjoy is heaven.

Scott's man corner playing tank games

I've noticed how our RV life has changed. We are still very happy with this RV life. I'm thrilled that we have been able to fulfill our dream. Many people wish they could do what we are doing, but either both parties don't agree, or money is an issue, or you don't want to leave the grandkids or other family members. I have been very lucky in that Scott and I are usually on the same page.

Even now as we think about ending our RV life, we both feel a sense of bitter-sweetness. Both of us usually only make changes when we really hate something. We both stick with the same jobs, until we hate that position and move to a new position. I worked midnights for 10 years and loved it. But then for about 6 months things seemed to change and I dreaded that shift. That is when I changed jobs in the Post Office. We were both ecstatic to sell our NJ house. We hated NJ taxes and our cramped house and our close neighbors. 

So it is somewhat difficult and makes us doubt our decision to purchase a house again, when we are still ok with the RV life. But, our RV life has changed. We are no longer anticipating new places to see. We dread moving. We've seen a good portion of the USA. Our goal was to see the Pacific NW, which we did and we loved the experience. If we continue FT RV'ing, we'll definitely head back there. We've seen the rocky SW and I've had enough of that. I'm fine with never returning. Our plans are to see the Upper Peninsula this summer. Wisconsin, Michigan...but if we miss it, that's ok. We would have liked to go to Alaska, but if we miss it, that's ok.

Because of the miserable Winter we experienced in the SW, we've learned to be content inside our RV and that has made us happy in our space, meaning, we are both fine staying at the RV park and never venturing out except for food supplies. So between very little urge to sightsee and the unhappiness of moving, that is why we've decided to look to purchase a house. 

 We usually keep to ourselves, but I do look to see if other bloggers are in the same RV park or nearby. RVillage is a great resource to see who else is in the same park as you. Unfortunately, so far, we have been the only ones listed in the parks we've been at.  

A Montana 5th wheel pulled in the other day and then pulled out in the morning. Then later in the morning, I see a tow truck pulling a pick up truck pulling a 5th wheel...a Montana 5th wheel. Hmmm, sad, I guess they broke down. We then see the tow truck drive away with the pick up truck. Oh no! We know that feeling being stuck for 3 weeks with no vehicle while our engine was being replaced! I just HAD to go over there to offer our services. If they needed to go into town, we'd be happy to take them. Of course they broke down over Memorial Day weekend, so they were stuck here until at least Tuesday. 

Buster and Jane? no, June? no, I KNOW her name starts with a "J"! I think it's Judy! They are from NC and were on their way back home when the breakdown occurred. I think they felt a little better when we told them our $14,000K engine story. Then $4K didn't sound so bad. 

Scott & Buster took a trip to Walmart for supplies. Scott stopped at a farmer's stand so Buster could pick up a watermelon which they shared with us during "happy hour". No seed spitting contests, but Lyla sure enjoyed catching some pieces of watermelon.

Buster is hoping the truck will be ready on Friday to enable their departure for home on Saturday. "Only" a week's delay. Still better than our 3 weeks delay in miserable Stockton, TX.

While I was out walking the dogs, Carol from 5th Wheel Wanderings blog stopped by to introduce herself and give us their card. She said she follows our blog and wondered how our house hunting is going. I had heard of their blog, but I only regularly follow 3 or 4 blogs. 

Since Buster & Judy and John & Carol were all close to our site, I figured I'd invite them over for happy hour tonight. Now to just get the courage up to ask. I don't want anyone to feel like they HAVE to come by, but yet I don't like to be rejected even if they have a good excuse. So as I get up the courage to go over to invite them over later in the afternoon...they are gone! I guess that's a very good excuse and I don't feel rejected. 

As I type this blog post, I'm outside on this overcast day having my 2nd cup of coffee with some added incentive in it...Kahlua and ID Cinnabon creamer. Yum! I should do this (both) more often. I am so attached to my computer, that if it is too bright out in the morning, I can't see my screen., so I stay inside until I've had enough of computer time. I can imagine myself on a covered porch regularly having my morning coffee, then my mid-morning 2nd cup, then early afternoon tall glass of iced water, then mid afternoon adult beverage. While enjoying these beverages, I alternate from computer work, to knitting, to reading. And that dream may happen sooner than we thought!

We saw this mod while in NJ a few months back.

How adorable (off the net)

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HOUSE HUNTING:

I lied. I thought our house hunting was over until the Fall. We both had a sense of relief that we were once again free to just be FT RV'rs. But, I received an email from the realtor, stating a house we almost put a bid on was reduced in price! Fine, but we decided against the house. But the price was reduced by $30K!!!!!! Either she is desperate to sell or they found something majorly wrong. Yep, a major faux pas. The owner had an appraiser in to do comps in the area. She had the house way overpriced for the area!!!!! So this house at $180K was out of the question, but this house at $150K may not be so bad. This is the gray house I showed in the previous post. We LOVE the property. It's a mixture of lawn, forest and even lakefront in the rear of the property, past the forest area. 7 acres which is not too much to handle. So even though the house is smaller than we liked and a 4 years older than our cutoff, and it is not a completely open concept, we decided to take a second look. What a difference the second look makes. As I walked in, I imagined myself walking into our house. What was the feeling I was getting? Cramped? Happy? Cluttered? Work to be done? Nope, I felt good! Now into the kitchen. Even though it's not completely open, it is not a completely separate room either. Comfortable, lots of cabinets. Although some may feel it needs updating, we do not bow down to the masses of needing granite counters, stainless steel appliances (ugh), etc.

Living room? Bigger than I remembered. Sit down and make myself at home. Yep, this could work. Now down the hallway (I hate hallways). The guest room is fine. The bathroom is fine. The hallway walk in closet is wider than I thought and now I think Scott could be happy with his little man cave. Down to the master bedroom. Again, bigger than I remembered. we measured the bed and it is a King size with still plenty of room. Hmmm. Looking good!

There is no basement, but there are 3 large detached garages, two that are insulated. I think one would make a great place for foster dogs that need to be separated and also be my craft area. The other garage could be for our woodworking. Yep, I think this will work.

So the bid is in and we are waiting for a response. So Carla of Cozy Be Gone, you CAN come and visit Tennessee because there is room for the RV!!!! And Susan of Beluga's Excellent Adventure, I'll have Gin & Tonics waiting for you on our covered porch. And of course, Merikay of Merikay's Dream may want to stop by too!

I'll keep you posted.

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LIFEHACK:

One of the newer duties I've taken on for our dog rescue is to send out ID tags and now microchips. The ID tags come with coil rings separately. When I send these tags to foster homes, I attached those rings to the ID tags. I don't keep my fingernails manicured or long, but they are not stubs either. But they are very soft...always have been. So to attach these rings using my nails is useless. I've used a butter knife in the past.

But, I came across this great little lifehack (tip). Use a staple puller to spread and hold apart the rings. I just happen to have TWO staple pullers. Why would I bring two staple pullers in an RV? Because I have a "thing" for office/school supplies. To this day, I love walking through office supply stores and I love back to school season, so I can see all the new pens, pencils, notebooks that have come out. That's a little something, not many people know about me. I have a difficult time not picking up some markers or a fresh notepad, even though I don't need any.

Back to the life hack. The staple puller works great. I highly recommend you try to remember this to save your nails.

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AUDIO BOOK REVIEW:
A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun series, set in the 1930's in England.This is a transition period where there are still aristocrats with family money and then there are those that still have the title, but not the money to go with it.
An over the hill, 22 yr old single woman, with a title but no money. She continues to think about her virginity, her independence, potential husbands, potential careers. She is resourceful and we are now getting to know her friends, relatives, acquaintances.
Fun characters, some mystery, a touch of romance.
A nice lite read.

KINDLE BOOK REVIEW:
Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, a Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings by Michelle Knight
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first saw Michelle Knight on Dr. Phil. Michelle was held captive for 11 years. Raped multiple times daily, chained, starved, battered. This is her story prior to the abduction, during and now.
It is written just as if she is talking to you. No embellishing, just matter of fact.
I bought the book to show my support. She is a strong woman. I hope she is doing well.