I Speak Whale!

For those of you who don’t know who these guys are the above title will mean nothing.  Go out and get a copy of "Finding Nemo", no matter your age you’ll love it.  Why do I bring them up?  You see, this weekend we went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga.  Unfortunately I did not get to use my whale-speak skills as they do not have whales but they have everything else.  It’s unique in that they have two separate buildings, one ocean habitat and the other a fresh water habitat representing the rivers of the world.  They have penguins, sharks, our little friends Dora and Nemo and for a bonus a butterfly garden that’s truly amazing.    

We had the added pleasure of going with our dear friends from Florida, Nancy and George.  They went way out of their way on a trip to North Carolina to come to humble little Ringgold and stay a few days.

The aquarium complex also includes an IMAX theater where the four of us took in a short movie.  The feature film on our visit was "Born To Be Wild" which highlighted the efforts to save endangered elephants in Africa and Orangutans on Borneo, with Morgan Freeman narration goodness.  It was a great way to spend a rainy Fourth of July.



Friday, I got rained out of work so we all decided to visit the nearby Chickamauga Battlefield.  This sprawling battlefield memorial south of Chattanooga is operated by the National Park Service and chronicles the battles fought here that resulted in 1,657 Union soldier fatalities.  The Confederacy lost 2,312.  All of this in just two days of fighting.  It’s awe inspiring to stand there and imagine that just 150 years ago these decisive battles were waged where we stood and just 20 years after the war both sides came back together in peace to conceive the memorial and construct the dozens of monuments here that stand to this day.  It’s set up to tour in your car with narration from a phone number you call on your cell phone.  They also have a very impressive museum.  It would take many days to actually see everything they have here so we may go back and look at it some more, maybe on our bikes but on a drier day.

The visitors center at Chickamauga Battlefield

They say you can’t go back home but home came to us.  It was great to see George and Nancy and we look forward to dropping in on them in their new home in the North Carolina mountains real soon.  We hope everyone’s Fourth of July was filled with fun, friends and a few fireworks and not as soggy as ours was.  We’re looking forward to going back to Chattanooga in the coming weeks to explore more of the city, visiting the famous riverfront and looking for that choo-choo.

Until then.

Kevin

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

Happy Earth Day

Hey folks,

This post has nothing to do with Earth Day - just thought I'd, as the kids say, give a "shout out" to the earth.

You know when you have to put quotes around what the kids are saying you aren't cool anymore.  Oh well...  You also know that when you start getting e-mails from friends asking where the posts have been it's time to print some news.  That my friends is what this post is really about.  I do wish I had some funny stories for ya, or exciting adventures to report but I don't.  We've just been in Ocala doing the day to day which is really boring but things will soon be changing.

Back in June of last year Margo was offered a bank teller job by a good friend of ours.  At that time we weren't ready to leave yet so she took it and promised them a year.  Well, June 8th is the year so here's the plan.

In mid June we'll be leaving Florida and heading to Savannah, GA for a few weeks.  There's a dog show that I've booked so we'll do that and spend some time exploring Savannah, Tybee Island and Hilton Head.  I've read a lot and seen countless History Channel shows over the years about the area and I'm looking forward to seeing it all in person.  After that the plan is to work our way to Eastern Tennessee  (Mom's house - see a few posts back for pictures, just replace the snow with green grass).  They have enough elevation that it stays cool all summer - in comparison to Florida that is.  The locals don't think so but give 'em a summer down here in the Humidity err... Sunshine State and they'd think differently.

There are some dog shows and a cat show (yeah, I'm considering going to the other side) in Greenville, SC and Spartanburg, SC in July that I'm booking.  The world championship disc dog competition  (that's Frisbee to you and me) is in Chattanooga, TN in late September so that's a possibility, not to mention something that would be really cool to watch.  I'll book some agility events along the way in Tennessee and North Carolina.  I'm trying to book some shows in Eastern NC so I can mooch off my brother in coastal Carolina for a bit before heading west to the mountains. This will be the first he hears of this plan.  Hey 'bro, can I park in your driveway?

That's the beauty of this, being open to go anywhere.  The reality is I need to plan so we can work on the way.  The dog shows pay for the travel.  They follow the cool weather too so leaving as late in the season as we are kind of puts me out of sync.  We'll catch up though.

We plan to head to Austin, TX in October or so as well.  There's so much to see and do there and I think fall and winter would be a good plan.  We missed it this year but in March Austin hosted the Mighty Texas Dog Walk.  They try each year to break the world record for dog walking.   Over 10,000 dogs took part over a one mile stretch.  The record is 22,742 dogs who took part in the Great North Dog Walk  at Leas, in the UK, on June 12 2011.  Austin has a ways to go but I do believe it would be a great city to work my humble pet photo business.

So there ya go.  Stay tuned.  I promise more timely posts now that there will be more to write about.  Nothing is in concrete until the vending check gets written so there may be a bit of "recalculating" - I always wanted to work that into a post.

Till then,

Kevin.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work.....

Hey folks,

I’m glad you got to see the inside of LuLu in Margo’s post. She’s done a fantastic job of making this travel trailer a true full-time home. It’s more than just making it look pretty. She has unique challenges that people who live in a house do not have to deal with. Not only does she have to find a place for all our stuff she also has to make it easily accessible but out of the way at the same time. It also has to be safe while going down the road. Now you see why I only had one plastic fork when it was just me here by myself. She’ll be putting together a post soon on all the behind the scenes details; how she organizes things inside the closets, cabinets and other storage ideas she’s come up with. She’ll talk about her gadgets and even how we deal with two dogs underfoot. All good stuff so click that button on the right and sign up for e-mail notification. I’ll still send out an e-mail but this way you’re sure to get every post. We’re fixin’ to get going soon. Her gig at the bank is up in June so we’ll be shoving off then and posting often about our adventures.

Now none of this is going to happen without me working. I certainly can’t retire at this point. As I’ve shown in earlier posts I have the green screen pet photography business but that’s only part-time. For those of you who don’t know, I work full-time as a medical transcriptionist. I type medical reports 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I’ve worked from home for 15 years. The only difference now is the view out the window changes and as long as this Internet thing remains popular I’ll be able to continue earning a living from the road.

The mechanics of this are simple. As you can see the living room converts into an office quite easily. I have a really comfortable chair, a large monitor connected to a laptop and an old bullet proof IBM keyboard. This thing has buckle springs under the keys and weighs about as much as a good size bass. You can get one here http://www.pckeyboard.com/. It sits on a simple folding TV tray. Not attractive but lightweight and very functional. For connecting to the Internet I use a Verizon MiFi which I’ve talked about in an earlier post. With a hot cup of coffee on my left I’m in business.



During my work day I only take up about one third of the living room. Margo and the dogs have run of the rest of LuLu. At the end of the day the chair goes out the door and gets covered, the folding table gets put away and everything else stores in an overhead bin. It takes about 2 minutes to take things down. Not bad compared to the average person’s commute.

Lastly, to some it would appear claustrophobic, not to mention a bit crazy, to sit in a trailer all day and work but actually my office here seems larger than when I was set up in my house. The photos may not show this but the panoramic windows give the feeling of being in a much larger space. On nice days I can even go out to the picnic table and work.

Till next time.

First Mate On Board

Hello Everyone!  Margo here…aka First Mate.

January 01, 2013 was officially Move In Day for me and Shiloh, my 14 year- old Cocker Spaniel (perhaps more familiar to you as ½ of “The Boys” seen in previous posts). For those of you who don’t know, April 2011 (Kevin and I had been together for just over 3 years by then) found me living in my own two bedroom, two bath spacious apartment near my office where I worked as a dental hygienist. In March 2012 I retired after 23 years and began to downsize via many garage sales and put my most treasured belongings into a 5’ x 10’ climate controlled storage unit. I then moved into my dear friend Nancy’s house and began a new career as a bank teller until her house sold in December 2012. Kevin had already been living in LuLu since March 2012. The plan was for me to move into LuLu once Nancy’s house was sold. So here we are!  New Year... New Life (style)!

Now, to go from a 2000 sq. ft. house and an 1100 sq. ft. apartment before that, to a 180 sq. ft. Airstream takes a huge leap of faith but I didn’t think of it so much as “downsizing” as I did “SIMPLIFYING”.  Of course, having a kind, patient, understanding, supportive and loving man like Kevin as my partner in this amazing adventure made it easier to take that leap….and he has a great sense of humor which helps.. A LOT!

Five years ago when Kevin and I first dreamed of full timing in an Airstream, I have to admit I was thinking more of the new places we would go, the people we would meet, making new friends, having fun and exciting experiences and not so much about the logistics of the daily living and the challenges that may come. Being here in Ocala, in “pre-flight” until June 2013, has actually turned out to be a good thing as it will give us some time to adjust to living together, working out the kinks of limited storage, cooking and let’s face it, living space (I did mention that there are only 180 sq. ft. here in LuLu).

Before I moved in, LuLu was definitely a bachelor pad. …ship shape and clean but strictly utilitarian. The only pillow Kevin thought was necessary was his bed pillow. The kitchen was “complete” with paper plates, one coffee mug, two spoons and a fork. And the fork was plastic. Well, there’s a new sheriff in town…..

Kevin and I came to a consensus early on that inside LuLu would be my domain and he would be responsible for all things outside… round, shiny, greasy, and stinky ( i.e., tires, hitches and anything tank related). My first order of business was to bring more organization, more function and definitely more style! Airstreams are so iconic and stylish to begin with that I had great bones to work with. In a future post, I will take you behind the scenes (read behind doors, cabinets and inside drawers) to show improved organization and function but now I’d like to take you on a tour and show how LuLu has become “Home Sweet Home”.

In-Joy!
Margo

Come on in...

Living Room
] Kudos to Monica of "Just 5 More Minutes" (another Airstream blog) for the atomic clock inspiration.  Kevin made it and had the idea to use a  page from the road atlas for the clock face.  Brilliant!

Dining mode including my great thrift store find of mid-century multi-color aluminum cups (Steel Masters Inc).  Two of a set of eight[/caption]

Foot stool multi-tasks as storage and extra seating - note our "party time" rug

R&R





I made this to compliment the decor. We use it for shopping lists, notes to each other, etc.

Memory boards. We each have one of these on the bedroom cabinets for pictures, postcards and other treasures.

The bedroom. Yes, twin beds. This floor plan gives extra storage under the beds and the nightstand.  Also, when Kevin is working his day job up front this gives me plenty of space to relax, work on my crafts, read or use my laptop.[/caption]



We really love our bathroom. We thought at first we would have issues with the size but it has plenty of space. The shower is on the left. We removed the standard issue sliding shower door and replaced it with this curtain to add color and function. The under sink cabinets provide plenty of storage and what you can't see in this picture is a very large mirrored overhead cabinet.[/caption]

Little Trailer on the Prairie

Hey folks,

Long time no speak. Actually I haven’t been ignoring you. We’ve just been holed up in Ocala working on the daily grind with not much to talk abut. Just because we live like this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re always in vacation mode. We’re just like everyone else at this point, work for the weekend. In our case our weekend is Friday and Saturday.

Since LuLu has been stationary for over a month we felt we needed to get her on the road. She’s like any vehicle. You have to use it to keep it in shape. Spin the bearings and the tires. That kinda thing. So, we decided to take a day trip about 20 miles up the road to Paines Prairie State Park.

There are a number of advantages to taking your house with you on a day trip to the lake, beach or wherever. You have all your stuff with you. Lunch is simply a matter of finding something in the fridge and in our case, the best reason; we don’t have to watch the clock to get back to let the dogs out. They come along too and just “stay home” while we’re out playing.

Paines Prairie is another one of Florida’s gems. Old Florida at it’s finest. It’s 22,000 acres of undisturbed nature. Bike trails, lakes, wildlife including believe it or not a herd of buffalo, and just plain old peace and quiet. It offers a small campground but we didn’t use it. We just parked in a shady spot in the parking lot. We practically had the whole place to ourselves, only seeing a dozen people at most.

The parking lot near the boat ramp. Our home for the day.

Visitors Center

Visitors Center

Observation Tower




The view from the tower.
 
We rode the trails and checked out the visitors center. We climbed the observation tower and just basically spent the day relaxing. Of course the dogs had a blast. They love these kinds of places.  The best part, the whole day cost a whooping $6.00 - admission to the park.  Can't beat that.  Click here for the parks' web site if you want to learn more.  Come on now, you know you promised yourself to learn something new every day.

Stay tuned though, Margo is putting together a blog post to show off all the improvements she’s made to transform LuLu's interior into home sweet home. Amazing what a woman’s touch will do.

Till then.