Front and Center

Hey everyone,

We made it safe and sound to Dalton Georgia last Sunday.  An uneventful 80 or so mile drive through the North Georgia countryside and a bit of I-75.  We're staying at the KOA just south of Chattanooga. It’s in the little town of Ringgold, Georgia about 3 or 4 miles south of the Tennessee border and about 15 or so north of Dalton.  The owners, Nora and Danny, are a very outgoing couple and take a lot of pride in their park.  Margo and I had a plan before we arrived to play hardball and tell the campground people that we wanted to tour all the sites and then choose our favorite.  We pulled in and immediately were overpowered by their enthusiasm toward having an Airstream in the park.  Danny, a man twice my size and beaming in his bright yellow KOA company shirt (and matching khaki shorts), had total control of the situation.  “That’s a fine looking trailer there folks.  Nora and I decided when we heard you were coming that you were going to be front and center on site 43.  Yes sir, that’s a fine trailer.  Everyone coming in and out will see it first thing”.  We couldn’t even get a word in edgewise before he crushed my hand in a handshake and that was that.  So much for playing hardball but as it turned out site 43 is wonderful and yes, LuLu is on display for everyone to see.

Site 43

The view out the front door. Meadow dog park.

My first week in Dalton went well.  I got the lay of the land in a few days and by the end of the week was feeling pretty comfortable about things.  I’m the only person from the company here so I’m on my own but I work closely with the local gas utility and all of the people I deal with have been really helpful.  I go by the utility office at the end of each day to file my paperwork and now I’m starting to get to know a few of the guys.  My brand new shiny boots, uniform shirt and reflective vest I wear are starting to get worn in so they don’t cover their eyes and squint as much now when they see me.  More on my daily routine in another post.  I’m snapping pictures of things and making observations so I’ll tell you all about that down the road.

We headed down to Ringgold today to check out the Saturday farmers market and look around downtown.  It’s classic small town America.  Exactly what we had envisioned we would see.  We spent some time in the local downtown shops, housed in a building circa 1920.

Downtown Ringgold

Downtown Ringgold

View from the railroad depot.

Margo had a blast in a local "retail therapy" shop called Uniktings and lunch at the local coffee shop (Caffeine Addicts) was excellent. We then had a look at the railroad depot, which still shows evidence of bullet holes and other damage from the Civil War.  There’s a lot of  war history here, being the site of many decisive battles and the Great Locomotive Chase of 1862.  I won’t go into the details here but there’s a great Wikipedia article at this link.



Next weekend we plan to head up to Chattanooga.  There’s a lot to do there including a world renowned aquarium, Lookout Mountain, Rock City (think the red "See Rock City" bumper stickers and birdhouses) and many other local things going on.  Stay safe until then.

Georgia On My Mind

Hello everyone......Margo here.

Our first two weeks here in Georgia have included some of my favorite things...fireflies, fountains, hot air balloons, rainbows and Lavender Lemonade.  We have been treated to a firefly show every night since we arrived. I'm  sure  there are fireflies in Florida but I rarely saw them there.  A simple pleasure I know but that's my mind set now...simplify.

I'm enjoying my retirement but there's still "work" for me to do.  I've made a good start on long overdue projects like digitizing my photos and finally getting to those books I've been wanting to read.  Pepper and Shiloh love it that I'm here all day with them and we take long walks around the lake after we get Kevin off to work.  One particular morning we were surprised to see this sight!  Somehow I don't think  a near dunk in the lake was part of the flight plan...

Summertime has definitely arrived here with heat, humidity and afternoon thunderstorms.  On a recent trip to Publix,  just after a rainstorm, I happened to look up at the right moment and there was a beautiful double rainbow...awesome! Sorry, no pic...

We're leaving in the morning (Sunday) for  Kevin's first assignment. It's not far, just up the road to Dalton, Georgia. We'll actually be staying closer to Chattanooga as there are better RV park options up that way for us.  We've enjoyed our stay here at Twin Lakes RV Park and would recommend it and return  here if need be, especially now that they've added a fountain for everyone to enjoy day AND night. It's lit at sunset and is so pretty to look at.

With the official arrival of Summer on June 21, I got inspired to make a pitcher of my  Lavender Lemonade.  Here's the recipe--it is delicious!

LAVENDER LEMONADE        Makes 6 servings

• 5 cups water, divided use


• 3 Tbls dried culinary lavender


• 1 cup sugar, or more to taste


• 1 cup fresh lemon juice, or more to taste (approx. 6 lemons)


• Fresh lavender stems or lemon slices, as garnish

Bring 1 cup water to boil in a medium sauce pan.  Combine boiling water and lavender in a medium bowl.  Cover and steep for 10 minutes.  Strain lavender water through a fine sieve or coffee filter into a bowl and discard lavender.

In a medium saucepan combine 4 cups water and the sugar to make a simple sugar syrup.  Bring the mixture to a boil and cook 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved.

In a pitcher, combine the lavender water, sugar syrup and fresh lemon juice.  Cover and chill.  Serve over ice.  Garnish lemonade with lavender stems or lemon slices if desired.

Hope this finds you all  well and looking forward to experiencing some of YOUR favorite things this summer.

In-Joy!

Margo

Chicken Fried

Hey folks,

We got to Atlanta all safe and sound on Monday.  Well, not actually Atlanta but Cumming, GA., a little community about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta.  It's far enough away to be in the "country".  Listen to Zach Brown of  Zach Brown Band fame; he was born here.  I'm sure the inspiration for "Chicken Fried", his hit song, came from these parts.  The RV park is small and quiet, just like we like 'em.  We have exclusive fishing rights and if just sitting is your thing they have porch swings placed strategically around the lakes and weeping willows.

I started training with the new company on Tuesday and have been "walking the line" with my trainer in the small town of Buford, GA. all week.  I know now we made the right decision.  I'm impressed with the company and everyone I've had contact with so far has been great.  Training will continue through next week and after that we'll be off to our first assignment.  There's talk of North Georgia but at this point nothing is confirmed.  It all depends on where they need a wet behind the ears new guy.



Margo has been "adjusting".  No just kidding...... she's been enjoying herself, getting started on long term projects that have been on the back burner and getting her own routine set.  She'll be posting soon her perspective but she is truly enjoying our new life.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Click to find LuLu.

Margo's little touches.

There's more aluminum here. The RV park owner's project trailer.

Hanging up the headphones

Hey folks,

Remember my post a while back, the itinerary post.  Yeah that one.  Disregard it since we’ve changed plans a bit.  Actually more than a bit.  We’re still departing.  We’re still going to travel the country.  We’re still going to live the dream that we’ve been planning for 5 years.  The only difference is that I won’t be typing medical reports to earn a living any more.

I’ve made a living as a medical transcriptionist for over 15 years.  It’s good honest employment and in my case it allowed this whole travel the country idea to evolve but ya know, I’m tired of sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week.  Tired of working nights.  I’m just burned out.

I’ve been passively keeping my eye out for a while for something else that I could do.  I knew there had to be a company or industry that would want a person who could travel freely.  My pet photo business meets that criteria and I do very well at weekend events.  However there are not enough venues to sustain it during the week.  It’s a great part time job for extra income but I can’t make a solid “living” with it.  Not only that, my days off from the transcription job are Friday and Saturday so I have to take time off (Sunday) to work the big dog shows.

So……  I was reading the RV internet forums a while back.  It’s where you go when you want to talk sewer hoses and weight distribution hitches.  Anyway, I came across a conversation from a guy who works for a company that surveys and inspects natural gas lines.  He gets sent to a job for a few months then moves on to the next.  The actual position is called “mobile survey technician”.  It peaked my interest so I started researching it.  Turns out that yes, it is a legitimate job with a legitimate company that has been in business since the 1940s.  They contract with local gas companies all over the country and perform leak surveys.  Most of these surveys are mandated by the federal government so job security isn’t such a worry.  It’s obviously an outside job but that is where I prefer to be, especially after so many years cooped up inside.  It REALLY started sounding good when I found that it offered full benefits, insurance, 401K, the salary was competitive with my transcription salary but in addition – oh listen to this - they pay mileage to each location, weekly per diem that pays the RV park or state park costs, and a vehicle allowance that covers my expenses to the job site each day.  In my transcription scenario those costs would have been covered by dog show income.  Now the photo biz can truly be what it should be – extra income.

Margo and I talked about it and came to the realization that it would be in our best interest to follow this path.  I contacted the company, filled out an application, interviewed, submitted to background checks both criminal and driving, and lastly filled the cup for a drug test.  Since I’m such a nice guy, good driver and “just say no” they hired me and we immediately got our marching orders to Atlanta for a couple weeks of training at company HQ.  We’ll be leaving this weekend and staying at a nice quiet RV park up near Lake Lenier, (our choice) out of the hustle bustle of the metro.  We may even check out Stone Mountain and some of the state parks in the area too.  After that I don’t know where we’ll be going.  Yes, we give up the ability to go where we want but that wasn’t really the point.  We just wanted to go to new places.  Well be sent to some armpits I’m sure but we’ll also be sent to some gems.  Now it’s a REAL adventure.  Buckle up and stay tuned.  Next stop Hot‘Lanta.

PS.  I caught some flack (Shelley) for not posting pictures in the last blog entry so here’s a couple pics of our new purple friends, Lucy and Desi.  I “acquired” them from Dawn and Ted’s house – the victims from the last flamingo caper.   Don’t tell ‘em.

The flock

Lucy