It's a Family Affair

Hey there folks,

I’m a bit out of sequence with this post.  The last one was meant to tell you all about our family get together in Eastern Tennessee with Mom, Mel, my brother Wayne and his wife Theresa, but as you know, I reported on our water woes instead. The flooding around the Nashville area earlier in the week made national headlines and family and friends were inquiring if we were okay.  I wanted to get the news out.

So back to Elizabethton we go.  Not much has changed there since my visit over Christmas.  The white snow has yielded to lush green.  Rain has been plentiful so there’s an abundance and the fields and gardens are giving back.

Cousin Mike's house viewed from Mom's blueberry patch.

Yeah, eating while my mom does all the work.

We’re all at the age where we don’t need to be entertained.  No busy agendas.  Just sitting around the back porch and catching up is plenty.  However, the women went into town to their favorite consignment shop (The Corner Nest) to “window shop”.  I told Margo we didn’t have room in LuLu for any more “windows”.  The guys hung out at the gunshop where the usual suspects dropped by and a lot of the same old stories were told.

Wayne served up a fantastic fish fry Saturday.  The guy fed the whole crew out of a 12 inch electric fry pan.  There’s something to be said for the fact that most of the meals came from within view of that back porch and yes, the world famous pies were served, then served again.  I know for a fact we all gained weight.

We had a concern about air conditioning in LuLu.  She can be plugged in anywhere to a standard 15 amp, 110 household outlet and everything works fine.  The only exception is the air conditioner.  It requires 30 amps so a special RV outlet is required.  I made a stop at Lowe’s while in Dalton and picked up the supplies needed, it was just a matter of wiring it into the breaker box.  Funny thing though, and this is a testament to where my Mom and Mel decided to settle down, their house is high enough in the hills that even in August it’s still cool enough to go without AC.  We were fine, actually the mornings were on the chilly side.  That isn’t to say it doesn’t get hot in the summer, it does, we just lucked out and caught some good weather.

Our harvest from Mom and Mel's garden. Margo snagged some of mom's quart canning jars to make her sun tea (perfect size for LuLu's fridge).

 As with any vacation it ends too soon.  Sunday morning we said our goodbyes and scattered in opposite directions.  By Sunday evening we were settled into the KOA here in Nashville where we remain.  We’re supposed to be here for a month but it may turn out to be longer than that.  I hope it does, this is a very cool place with a lot to see and do.  We took a trip downtown yesterday and plan to spend more time there next weekend so pics of our adventures will be forthcoming.

Till then we’ll be working off that pie……