New Subject (not cats)

Well, we did it.  We found a travel trailer that we liked and bought it.  It's an older trailer but well maintained.  It's a 2000 Rockwood 21 foot trailer that sleeps 4.  The awning almost covers the whole side of the trailer.

When you first enter the trailer on the right is a couch that folds down into a double bed.  The swivel chair can be moved to make more room.

Looking to the left there is a dining table that folds down and the back and seat cushions turn into another bed.  The kitchen has a 3 burner gas stove and oven with a hood vent, a microwave and a double sink.  The fridge is pretty good sized with a separate freezer section. There is also a CD player with a radio.  Naturally it has A/C, a gas heater and water heater.

Lastly, but mayhaps most importantly, at the very back is the bathroom, complete with shower.

This trailer has a lot more storage than what I've gotten used to in previous campers we've had.  It's just the right size for the two of us and it's the newer light weight construction which improves handling and gas mileage.  It trailed really well behind the Chevy and I noticed minimal slowdown coming up the mountain roads.  Really looking forward to getting away and putting it to use.  We had been looking for awhile but we trying to find a truck camper, commonly known as a slide-in but there just weren't many on the market and the ones that were available were either too big or way too pricey.  So we started looking at 5th wheels but by the time we finished adding the 5th wheel towing equipment, we were adding another $1300 - 1500 to the price.  We figured this would be the best compromise and I believe we were right.  Time will tell..

Remarkable Happenings

Let's see now - what's it been, about 2 weeks since Tigger took off with the two kittens.  Well he showed up this morning and low and behold he had the little grey kitten with him.  The little guy seems to be ok, maybe a little thinner but in good health.  I went ahead and fed them some wet cat food and they both had good appetites.  I'm giving serious thought about putting the little grey on our screened in porch with Skeeter and our other cats.

 

I gotta funny story about the little black and white we call Skeeter.  Well, Cathy insisted that we take him to the vet before we got attached.  So Monday we took him in and turned him over to the vet.  They put him in a cage with 3 other kittens awaiting adoption.  He slinked over into a corner and watched us the whole time we were there.  Cathy went over to the cage and tried to pet him but he wasn't having anything to do with her.  He was ticked off and scared to death.  So we went on our way and the whole time we were talking about how dejected lil' skeeter was about being dumped in that cage.  Anyhow we both kept questioning whether we had done the right thing.  Sooooo - the next morning we decided to get him and bring him home.  He was sooooo happy to get back to our porch and the other cats - you could hear him purring from 5 feet away.

 

 

I guess we're both a pair of softies, especially when it comes to kittens.  God knows we have enough of them hanging around.  But we get them fixed and it keeps the population down a little.  So - it's off to a good start for a rainy day.

Surprise of Surprises

Well Now - guess who showed back up on the porch last nite.  Yep.  The runaway tom cat Tigger.  Unfortunately he was alone.  No little kittys with him.  I'm not surprised cause their little legs would never keep up with his.  We ain't giving up totally yet but it's really looking slim.  He didn't stay around long - just ate a little and took off again.  He didn't run away from me like he did when he first came here.  This time I could pet him but not for long.  I went out to search the shed just in case they were staying out there - but none were out there.  If he's feeding them and got them stashed somewhere, it's not close.  Well, well just keep the food out and see what happens next.

Dale Hollow Day

Well - we couldn't resist cause it was such a beautiful day.  Cathy and I spent the day on Dale Hollow Lake and took in dinner at our favorite marina over on Sulfur Creek in Kentucky.  Twas a quiet, restful day and just what we needed.  Of course most of our days on the mountain are quiet and restful but this one was more so. 

While we were on the lake we got a call from our granddaughter, Kaylee who needed help with a science project she was working on for summer school.  She needed to design a "Rube Goldberg" energy project.  So I talked with her for about 20 minutes about "potential" and "kinetic" energy and wound up telling her I would call her when we got home.  When we got home I spent another hour discussing her project and then sent her an email giving her examples of the different types of energy.  Talked with her later in the evening and she had finished her project and was waiting on the teacher to decide her grade.  It never ceases to amaze me how technology has us all connected and impacts our everyday lives.  What did we ever do without the cel phone....
     Yesterday the neighbor gave us a half bushel of tomatoes and a bucket of Rattlesnake beans.  First time we ever heard of them.

The beans start out green and as they ripen, they turn lighter and have purple stripes.  They're easy to shell and the beans are actually interesting colors.  We'll let ya know how they taste soon as we eat a batch.  Cathy says she's going into Jamestown today to do some shopping for the grandkids for school clothes, especially since this is the tax free weekend.  I'm a thinkin' I'm gonna go arrowhead hunting round the mountain and down by the saw mill.  We had a pretty hard rain the night before last and maybe something has washed out.  At's  it for today..

It's A New Day

Boy did it rain last nite.  Today would be a super day for arrowhead hunting cause of the washout in the logging areas buuuuuut I promised Cathy that if the weather was good, we'd spend the day on the lake. 

Does this look like good weather.  If the sun manages to break thru the cloud cover, it should burn this ground fog off but it'll take til 9AM for that to happen.  We'll just have to wait and see.
     Yesterday proved to be a pretty good day in spite of the drive to Crossville.  We shopped at Lowes, donated some clothes to a local church goodwill store, looked for a rollaway bed, shopped at Lowes, had an excellent Mexican dinner, and did I mention that we shopped at Lowes.  We found an 8 x 12 rug that Cathy wanted for the living room and some roll up blinds for the back porch to help block some of the heat from our early morning sun.  Only one little thing that kinda marred the drive.  We forgot that that day was the beginning of the Longest Yard Sale, which runs the length of Rt 127 from Ohio, thru Kentucky and Tennessee and on into Georgia.  Every year they feature this on HGTV.  People set up their tents and roadside stands all along the highway and people come from all over the US to buy junk.  Traffic slows to a crawl as rubberneckers slow down and stop on the highway to look at this stuff.  I am surprised that there aren't more accidents than there are.  Its a real mess and we always try to avoid driving on 127 during those 3 - 5 days, except yesterday.  It wasn't as bad as it could have been cause Friday and Saturday will be lousy with rubberneckers.
      I got a real surprise when we got home yesterday.  I was checking email and got a note from my Mom's youngest sister, Aunt Linda Kay.  The last time I saw or talked with her was when we were teen agers back in the 60's - - no not 1860's --- 1960's.  Anyway she had seen the Whitt family tree info that I had posted on wikitree and wanted to get more info.  What a shocker.  Once I had joined the Navy in 1965 I didn't spend much time back in good ole Illinois so I seldom got to connect with the Whitt side of the family or the Elston side for that matter.  I'm hoping we can reconnect and stay a little closer now that time is of the essence, if ya know what I mean.  Guess that's enough blabbering around the scuttlebutt for one day.  Later ya'll!!