Little House (No Longer) on the Prairie

So! I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath to see how our trip east is going. Worry no more!

We're doing fine so far! Today was another great day of easy driving (despite some thunderstorms and whiny cats). We made an amazing 430 miles and are stopped just south of Knoxville, TN!

Last time we made this trip (a scant few weeks ago!) we had some...um...difficulties with the RV and mountains. The RV just had a really hard time with high inclines and we puttered along at 35 miles an hour up some of them, hoping to channel The Little Engine That Could.

Noel and his dad did some troubleshooting and decided to replace the fuel filter.

It worked. This is Noel yesterday, jetting along in the fast lane, blowing past a Corvette. A CORVETTE. A little red corvette, even! Baby, you're much too fast. If you drive a corvette (particularly a red one), and you're passed by an 18 year old motorhome? You should have your corvette revoked by the You Should Be Ashamed Police.

Last night we stayed at the Sleepy Hollow RV Park. We both have our heads intact this morning. Whew. It was a lovely park! So many trees!

And for the first time ever, a logical placement for the sewage hose. DOWNHILL. Thank you, Mr. Common Sense RV Park Plumber.

We have been seeing signs of spring along the way. Driving through Louisiana, we hit a long stretch of road (actually a long stretch of bridge over swamp) with no rest areas or gas stations for miles. And I had been drinking a LOT of coffee. We held off as long as possible, but finally had to pull over at an exit (don't even know if anything was on this exit!) so I could use the bathroom in the RV. This is definitely one major convenience of having a house on wheels. Also if you get hungry, you can make a sandwich at home! :) Also it's good if you forget to put on deodorant.

Anyway, there were some really impressive Scottish thistles on the side of the road where we pulled over. Some of them were already 2 feet tall!

(Sorry the picture was blurry - I didn't think to take a picture til we were driving away!)

Tonight's campground is called Lazy Acres, and it's very close to a big lake, and incidentally we're surrounded by Professional Athletes. These men and women train hard every day, make sacrifice after sacrifice to hone their sport, and look for opportunities to showcase their prowess.

As professional fishermen.

Seriously. There are at least THREE different fishing boats here plastered with endorsements for fishing equipment and such. One outfit even has a matching-endorsed truck, and our neighbors have a monster fifth wheel that's bright green with fishing lures painted on the side. And a big #18. Do fishermen have numbers?

The National Guard fishing team is even here. Which really begs the question: What about National Security requires a competitive bass fishing team? Yeah, I don't know either.

We're now thinking about putting some endorsements on our RV. Our sponsors? Lionbrand Yarn, Duct Tape, and Scoop Away Cat Litter.

Anyway, our campground is really pretty, at the top of a ridge, and the lake is on the other side, visible through the trees. The owners are also super-nice.

How's this for a backyard?

We went for a quick walk and saw this little guy just leafing out.

A pink oak tree? Is this some kind of Barbie science experiment?

We caught the sunset through the trees. Lovely!

So the cats aren't going to be thrilled, but they go back in the carrier tomorrow morning. The good news? We're only 160 miles away from our destination campground. Which shouldn't take us more than 2.5 - 3 hours. Yay! We can be settled in for lunch!