Harrison Run State Park TN

August 22, 2016 Harrison Run State Park, Tennessee

We finally left the mud-infested Renfro RV Park and arrived at the beautiful Harrison Run State Park in Tennessee. It was a bit of a challenge to back into the site, but even as the front wheels almost dropped into a ditch, we made it in ok. Our neighbors looked on in anticipation (and probably for some entertainment value as well).

 

The roads in Tennessee were the most dangerous I have ever seen. There is nowhere to pull off because right over the white line, the road drops off into a ditch. I as the passenger rode in absolute fear of falling off the road and nearly threw out my back trying to stay on the road (or so I thought).  But I digress.

When we cooked outside, we had visitors.  

A beautiful park...

Site right by the lake.

Boats...houseboats

  

 

Pool that was rarely used.

   

  

Bird and wildlife observation platform 

and Nature Center..  

  

  

Harrison Bay State Park.  

Hope to see you again someday!  

http://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/harrison-bay

There's a nuclear power plant nearby so signs are posted for evacuations. 

The Beach

Today I finally checked out Santa Rosa Beach, about ¾ mile from the campsite. Even though I had my left hip replaced last March (and also stopped smoking), I still have some arthritis and soreness in my knees sometimes, so I decided to take the tram.  So I spent an hour checking out the beach and trust me, I’ll be spending some time there this week.  I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

First view of the Gulf

Endless

The Gulf 

As far as the eye can see

Lots of bikes

Beauty...More to come, promise..

We're On The Move!

It’s hard to know even where to begin.  As you know from previous entries, we’ve been living in the coach since mid October.  There were all kinds of repairs, delays, appointments with Cummins and Freightliner, all in order to get the coach ready for us to drive away. We got our Exit Pass on Monday November 9 so we could drive the coach off the lot, finally.

       The next morning a tech came to show us how to hitch up the car

and we were on our way!  Our delivery specialist Marroe made it all happen by annotating and scheduling all the repairs, appointments with Cummins and Freightliner, coordinating all aspects of the coach to get it ready for us to take it off the lot.

We finally took off around 10:30 am on November 10, 2015 while the tech watched us go.

 I nearly cried as we drove off the lot and out into the world to meet our future. We waited more than a year for this moment to arrive.  So much preparation, so much work, selling, storing, giving away, all with this goal in mind.  

                            

On our way out of the park, we just handed our ExitPass to the gate.

                                 And we are out and on our way.  We're finally freebirds!

So long Lazydays.  You treated us well.

We can even watch our car.  If we don't see it, we're in BIG trouble!

                                                 Our first rest stop to water the dogs.

We decided to take 2 days to the campground at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park so we stopped at Loves Truck Stop in Lee FL. 

Since there are no hookups, we used our generator to keep the lights and air conditioners on.  Not a big deal, but taking the dogs out at night was a challenge, dodging 18 wheelers, going in between them hoping not to be crushed, and watching out for snakes and alligators in the field.  Can’t be too careful! Boondocking our first night out, priceless. Parking without putting out the slides, double priceless.  End of Day 1!

We finally arrived at Topsail Hill State Park around 2pm. We didn’t realize we crossed a time zone, so we arrived an hour early.  

Getting closer and closer...











The campground didn’t seem to mind we were an hour early, so check-in was a breeze.  We managed to unhook our car without looking like fools and proceeded to our campsite after I, driving the car, got us lost for a bit.  But we made it and while I was parking the car, Shelly didn’t even bother to wait for me and proceeded to back the rig into the site.  Piece of cake.

And once again, we didn’t look like idiots.  We auto leveled the coach, put out the slides, hooked up the electric and water.  When it’s time to dump the gray and black tanks, we’ll get out the new sewer hose and figure out how that works!  We were too tired too tired to cook by then so we ordered the worst pizza ever.  End of Day 2 accomplished.

Yesterday (Thursday) we pretty much got settled, opened the awnings, got out the chairs, went shopping for food and other necessities and hung around outside in the evening.  I bought a lantern and tablecloth for the picnic table, so it looks quite homey already! 

Santa Rosa Beach is about 7/10^th of a mile from here and I started to walk down, but it was almost 4pm so I stopped at a bench to send a text and lo and behold, a ranger went by and picked me up.  I met another couple who aren’t sure where they’ll go next.  They are full timers and we’re just starting out but I think we’re going to like this lifestyle...Til next time...

tomorrow

Well, tomorrow the saga at Lazydays ends and our future begins. We stayed in the bays last 2 nights while the tile in front of the fridge set.  It rained most of the afternoon, so we shopped for a few things for dinner this afternoon. I bought honey and lemon juice to make Bees Knees , thanks to Tom (and Nina) for the recipe: 2 oz gin, 3/4  oz honey, 1/2 oz honey.  Mix FIRST, then shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Don't be like me and fill the cup with ice first. The honey solidified, so don't do it...

Lucky deal -the tile that was replaced didn't get scratched when the slide was closed.  Glory day!  Winnebago is known for this problem so they started replacing the tile with carpet.  So we're good.

So we have our Exit Pass.  This is really it, the end.

We'll be back in a few weeks to have a window replaced so we'll be staying at Topsail Preserve RV Park near Tallahassee for 10 days at Santa Rosa beach. 

wish us luck tomorrow!

What We've Been Doing

Well we soon may be on our way, but I'll recap what we've been up to this past week to while away the time.  The coach was at Freightliner for a few days to work on the cruise control, so Lazydays put us up at the Comfort Inn and Suites for 2 days.  It was nice to live in luxury for a couple days, but we were glad to get back "home".

Ken came to visit this past Friday and stayed over until Saturday. We've been over to Daytona Beach 3 times so we plan to head north when we leave.  We had dinner at Exit 10 in the campground next door...

It's decorated like an RV and their food is pretty good!

We took the pups to a local dog park that is huge!  They've never been to a dog park so I thought the dogs would just run their hearts out but no.  They mosied along with their noses to the ground until they were as far away as they could get.  There was 1 other dog there and it turns out his owner is from upstate NY and moved down here last February. 

Another day I decided to use our crockpot to cook a chicken and vegetables. It made the coach smell wonderful, like home.  Isn't that the point? 

The dogs are lovey dovey and seem to enjoy being in the coach.  They are always excited to go out for a walk in new places!

We are in the bay for a couple days while the tile by the fridge sets.  There doesn't seem to be anyone else here and it's quite silent because it's Sunday.  We had gin and tonics with a twist of lime while we watched the rain outside (a rarity around here).

The view from our coach.  Just a bunch of bays with coaches, 5th wheels and trailers being worked on.  No one is here on Sunday, so it's very quiet. 

We've been told we can leave tomorrow.  We made a reservation for 7 days at Topsail Hill Preserve on Tuesday. We'll stay at a truck stop for the night and go the rest of the way on Tuesday.  We'll see how it works out and let you know!   

We hope to be on our way so we can document our journey!