Fall trip to Nashville, TN

2005
 Sandy and I made plans to leave after work on Friday, October 21st for a week in Nashville, TN. Our first overnight stop was at a BP station out of West Branch, IA. The next day we drove to Marion, IL. where we stayed at the Marion Motel & Campground. This was not a nice place and would stay at a gas station again rather then here. In the morning we continued on to Nashville while stopping at a Camping World to pick up a few items, seems like it never end finding item we need. Then we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for a meat loaf dinner before gassing up and driving to the Seven Points Campground. This is a Corps of Engineers campground on J Percy Priest Reservoir on the east edge of Nashville. The route we took, not the most direct, took us 930.3 miles in 17 hours 57 minutes drive time. We towed the Jon boat down so we had to get a rental car to get around town.

 Our first day there, 10-24, we just drove around some and came back to grill steak and make some of camp potatoes. Our friend Pat showed us how to mix potatoes, green & red peppers, onions, carrots and what every else your imagination can come up with plus your favorite seasonings and put them in tin foil and grill for about 25 minutes. Delicious. After sunset we played Canasta.

 For our second day there we went for a ride to Cookeville & had lunch there. It got up to 57 degrees during the day.

That evening we had  a beautiful sunset over the lake.

 

 On our third day here we went and got some fire wood and stayed in camp all day just enjoying doing next to nothing. The temperature got up to 61.5 degrees, so it was a pretty nice day.

 

 

 The next morning when we got up the temperature  was 40 degrees and mostly cloudy so we decided to go to the Stones River National Battlefield. This battle had the greatest percentage of casualties during the Civil war. Its hard to believe that there were 24,000 causalities of the 85,000 troops. We will be heading back home tomorrow mid day.

On October 28th after getting up at 7:00AM we had breakfast, dumped the tanks & returned the rental. It was about 11:00AM when we left the rental place and headed back home, arriving there about 4:25 PM on the 29th. We got home to find it had been 5 to 10 degrees warmer here then in Nashville. Even so we plan on getting back to that campground again.

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy

Bigfoot levelers and the 4th of July

 On June 8th, 2005 we left home headed for White Pigeon, MI where we have an appointment to put levelers on the rig. Our stop for the night was at  MILL BLUFF STATE PARK, on I-90/94 next to Camp Douglas in Wisconsin. There is a old saying in the RV world that most campgrounds are built next to an airport, interstate highway or a train track. Well, we got the trifecta,  I-90/94 traffic was to the north, trains with a whistle crossing to the south and fighter jets passing overhead.

 The next morning we continued on to White Pigeon, MI and the  Big foot factory. After stayed over night at a KOA in Middlebury, IN. we headed up to our 7:00AM appointment. Everything was done by 11:00AM so we headed back across I-80 towards Davenport, IA. Sure glad we do not live in Chicago. At our first gas stop the LP gas sensor started to go off. It finally stopped without us doing anything. When we finally got to our camp site in Prophetstown State Park in Prophetstown, IN we leveled the unit, then turned on a light. Everything went dark. I checked the fuses but all seemed ok. Being that we just had work done at the Bigfoot factory, I thought maybe they had done something to cause this. But being it was after their closing time and it was an electrical problem, I called Lazy Daze and spoke with Steve. After some discussion I checked the battery bypass switch. Bigfoot had shut it off while working on the unit & forgot to turn it back on. Prophetstown was a nice little camp when it is not full. I don’t know if the same would be true when it was full.

 April 11th found us working our way to Galena, IL where we toured an old lead mine. Then it was over to Prairie Du Chien up along the Mississippi River to the Effigy Mounds National Monument. Then we drove to Caledonia, MN to stay at Beaver Creek Valley State Park Campground. This might not be a place to stay with rain in the area as you have to ford a creek to get back into the camping sites that are built into a valley with high bluffs around.

The next day we worked our way home through the bluff country.

The 4th of July holiday found us back in the Bluff Country with Dale, Mary Jane, Randy and Marlene where we stayed at the Peterson City Park, Peterson MN. They have 10 spots with water and electric and a remote dump. The spots are close together, but it was really a nice quiet spot. We brought our motorcycles and 1 car. We put a couple hundred miles on the motorcycles driving around the area. It looks like the converter went dead so will have to call the factory on Tuesday to find out how to check it for sure.

Picking up our new “LAZY DAZE” at the factory and our trip home

 On April 5th, 2005 we were at the Lazy Daze factory to inspect and pickup our new Lazy Daze 26 1/2 foot mid-bath class “C” motorhome. We were given a 3 hour walk thru where they explained the operation of all the items in the motorhome, i.e. stove, air conditioners etc. Since this is our first motorhome, we thought we were retaining it all as we went through the items but we were soon to find out how little we retained.

 The next day we had a ICC driver drive us to Ehrenberg, AZ where we signed the paper work to give us possession of the motorhome. We had to do this because we did not want to pay the California sale tax.

 

 When we got to the Phoenix area we went to a campground that Jane said was the best one in their area. It was  the Cave Creek Campground. (Maricopa County, AZ). We got site #10 which backs up to the north on the outer ring of the campground. Jane was right … the campground was beautiful. This is our 1^st time camping in a motorhome so it was interesting. After we got settled in we went over to Ron and Jane’s for supper.

 



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 While Ron went to work, Jane gave us a 4 hour tour of the Phoenix area. We are having a hard time getting used to the 96 degree weather.

 The next day, the 8th, Jane picked us up at 6:00AM and drove us  to the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff & Sedona. It was very windy at the Canyon.

 

 Sandy and Jane with the Grand Canyon in the back ground.This was our first time to the Grand Canyon and we were very impressed. Mother nature did a fine job here.

 

  
I wonder how many couples besides us have had there picture taken here, or we the first?

 

 It was 50 degrees in the Lazy Daze when we got up this morning, the 10th.  We didn’t take any pictures, but 13 hot air balloons took to the sky before we left Cave Creek at about 8:30AM and drove to Show Low, AZ (186 miles), where we stopped overnight at the  Fool Hollow Lake Recreation Area. This is also a very nice campground with 50-100 foot separation between sites with concrete slabs.

 

 Our first grill was a charcoal Cobb grill that we got ride of after we got home. It was not very hot and the grease just stayed in the cooking area. On to a gas Weber Baby Q.

 

 Upon leaving Show Low we drove to the Petrified Forest National Park. Sandy really did not want to stop as she had been to several “petrified forest” in the Black Hills that were nothing but rock shops. She said she was glad we stopped. After hearing at the visitors center about how much of the area had been pillaged over the years before the park was established, we were surprised with the amount and size of the petrified trees.

 

 After we finished touring the park we continued on to Albuquerque, AZ where we stayed overnight. The next morning we had the oil changed at Stratkus Engines before getting back on the road again by 11:00. After a stop at the Petroglyph's National Monument we headed up to Santa Fe, then to Taos, NM were we spent the night.

 The next day we spent touring the area. One of the sights we took in was the Taos Pueblo Ruins. These buildings have been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years. 

 

 

 We drove east from Taos on US64. Lots of curves but a scenic drive. Finished driving eastern NM, pan handle of Oklahoma & stopped in Elkhart, KS at Prairie RV for the night

 Along the way we stopped for a nap and when we woke up there were several antelope at the stock tank behind us.

 

 April 14th found us leaving the campground around 7:30. Along the way we stopped in Dodge City, KS and visited the “Boot Hill” museum. Will have to go back to the area. Drove hard the whole day and finally stopped around 6:00PM near Fairbury, NE at the Wagon Train State Recreation Area. 476 miles.

Here are some pictures where we parked by the small reservoir.

 

 April 15th was our last day on the road. Now we will be busy adding accessories and finding out how to pack and store items in the rig.

Until next time,

Dave and Sandy