October 12, 2015
Falls Lake State Recreation Area
Wake Forest, NC

Today we traveled 210 miles to Falls Lake State Park. This is a short stop on our way to The Outer Banks. This is our first experience with a State Park and the first thing we noticed was the distance from the interstate and the lack of good park signs. The roads and over hanging trees are not "big rig" friendly but the low cost and generous space between sites makes this a good short term location.

Here is our rig set up on site 30 of Holly Point Loop 2.

As you can see we are very secluded with great shade trees. I was concerned our satellite dish wouldn't be able to lock onto any satellites but it sync'd right up. Other than a 35 foot A Class we are probably the biggest rig in the park. It looks like most people use this as a weekend or short stay park and of course the time of year there are many available sites. There is a lake here and they even have a beach.

We'll get out tomorrow to do some exploring and go into the closest town, Wake Forest. We are just 30 miles or so north of Raleigh-Durham. We'll be here until Thursday and then head over to the coast.

October 5, 2015
Tom Johnson Camping Center
Marion, NC

We made it across the Great Smoky Mountains......hooray!!!!  After much indecision thanks to hurricane Joaquin, the need to change sites at River Plantation, and a faulty air bag on our truck load leveling system, we made the last second decision to run back to RVs For Less for the repair and then head over the mountains to Marion. Here's an action photo from Marilyn's dash cam (no, she doesn't have one, she's holding up her iPhone, honest it's safer than texting ;>) )  

The trip across the mountains went better than expected. We had no problems other than a suicidal bird. Ever see a bird field stripped by a 12 ton RV....really cool, feathers everywhere....

The RV park here is associated with a Camping World store. They do RV sales and service, RV Rallys, and of course camping. Here are a few pics of our site and the park.

The RV sites are nice with concrete pads and asphalt drives and roads. They have a Rec Center for activities and they even serve breakfast and lunch daily. We'll be spending the next week here and hope to take in a few sites like the Biltmore House just down the road in Asheville. That's it for now....I need a drink after that drive ;>)

September 28, 2015
River Plantation RV Resort
Sevierville, TN

The journey begins........ actually one small step. We traveled a vast 72 miles to River Plantation RV Resort with a stop over at RVs For Less in Knoxville to get a few minor maintenance issues fixed.

It was bittersweet leaving Caney Creek where we had made several good friends and enjoyed our lakefront view.

As we drove away our site looked barren. We spent a lot of time and energy fixing up the site by adding rock, shrubs, and pavers....and our good friend Steve even poured a section of concrete for us.

The trip through downtown Knoxville was uneventful and we had a smooth drive through Sevierville. I think our many practice trips paid off and I felt very comfortable pulling the rig and maneuvering through traffic. Still it was a relief to pull up to River Plantation.

 It was a bigger relief to get in our site and all set up.

We will be relaxing here for the next week and will be enjoying Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Smoky Mountains before heading over the mountains to Asheville and Marion, NC.

August 27,2015
Caney Creek RV Park
Harriman, TN

I never thought this day would arrive. After 42 plus years of working I am now officially retired. As I pulled into the driveway my amazing wife had balloons deployed and was standing next to the drivers door, as I exited the truck, with her phone in her hand playing Zac Brown's "Free". I'm sure it will eventually sink in, but for the moment it just feels like I'm on vacation.

With this milestone reached we are now on final countdown for completing final prep and saying goodbye to family and friends. If I was wondering what I would do with all my spare time, my darling wife has solved that problem ;>). We created a list of all items that need to be done before we leave on September 28th and assigned a date to complete each item, and let's just say I'm considering returning to work.... just kidding. It's nice to be finally working on things that lead to the start of our travels and not just counting time. Speaking of that, time to get back to work!

April 25,2015
Caney Creek RV Resort
Harriman, TN

This is the third time we have taken the rig out to practice. Each time we forget things, find better ways, and streamline our process. This was the first time I was able to back into our site and not run over the neighbors landscape :>). It turns out our site is the most difficult due to cars parked close to the road on both sides of the street. This gives me a narrow window to maneuver through. Anyhow, we are both feeling pretty good about our progress and we are feeling more confident about hitting the road.

March 20, 2015
RVs For Less
Knoxville, TN

I had to make the trip back to RVs For Less today to have them install the Blue Ox Bed Saver. This is a device that attaches to the hitch and it captures the King Pin if it ever slips out of the hitch. I had read several accounts where people had not gotten the pin locked in and when they tried to pull forward it slipped out and the RV crumpled the side rails of the truck bed and the pin either dented or sliced through the bed. That was reason enough for me to get one.

The only other item I have on my list that needs to be installed before we hit the road is a tire pressure monitoring system. At this time I am looking at the TST 507 with flow thru sensors.

March 16, 2015
RVs For Less
Knoxville, TN

We've been here at RVs For Less over the past week getting final warranty work completed and new items added. After two years its good to finally be done with warranty work. The last phase was getting three compartment doors replaced and repainted. This last trip was to have the entertainment door replaced and unfortunately the new door doesn't look much better than the old. The difference is we can't see light through the door and it now stays locked.
The final step in being road ready was to add a few items. We had them install an Onan 5500 watt LP generator, a TriMetric T2030 Battery Monitor System, Ride Ride Air Bags with an Air Lift compressor and remote, and a wired, four camera system that interfaces with the Ford dashboard monitor was installed by American Radio of Knoxville. We are also having a Blue Ox bed saver added to the hitch this Friday. That will prevent the rig from damaging the truck in the event the hitch is not locked and the RV pulls out unexpectedly.

The plan this week was also for us to be trained on how to hitch and unhitch the rig and ultimately how to drive and back the rig. Both Marilyn and I spent a few hours with Alan on Friday learning and practicing the hitch-unhitch process. Due to the weather we delayed leaving until Monday (3/16). On Monday we hitched up the rig and headed out. We went up and down the highway out front of RVs for Less a few times to get used to how it handled and then we made our way to the interstate.
 

  Driving through Knoxville was a little tense due to the amount of traffic and the number of potholes from the recent winter weather but all in all it wasn't too bad. Once back at Caney Creek we took advantage of a few empty sites to practice backing. Then we decided to pull over to our tight spot and practice a few times there. That turned out to be quite the challenge with cars and rigs limiting the maneuvering space but we were able to successfully park the rig twice. By then we were all ready for a break......We now feel like we're ready to be off on our own and plan to practice every few weeks around here until we become comfortable. Hopefully, we can take a few weekend trips to become even more experienced and ready for the road. September will be here before we know it.....stay tuned.