A Very Different Kind of Life

[Goal15]

Maggie

Looks like a really beautiful campsite. As to the inverted photos, for some reason this seems to be an Apple issue. Googling it may provide some answers

Dana


Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

[cwf]

Miss Maggie, it really isnt a problem.. After all, I get to see the pics right after you do!!!! So, it is kinda "fun" ... I just put on my aluminum propeller beanie and see if it can be resolved.... It's the sorta thing I did in a previous life! I only saw it as "work" When I saw how little I was paid. Hahah

[Lily&Me]

It is really beautiful, and the sunset was gorgeous. The camp hosts said this site (15) is the favorite here, and is only open tonight and tomorrow.

The tent sites are mostly empty (Lily had a little romp thru that area), but the rest are filled.

This will all be especially spectacular once the leaves have turned. Might catch some of that on the way back.

Crisp, fall air, and the reflection of those trees on the water.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by cwf

Miss Maggie, it really isnt a problem.. After all, I get to see the pics right after you do!!!! So, it is kinda "fun" ... I just put on my aluminum propeller beanie and see if it can be resolved.... It's the sorta thing I did in a previous life! I only saw it as "work" When I saw how little I was paid. Hahah

Okay, then. We'll do a photo relay.


Maggie

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

Okay, then. We'll do a photo relay.


Maggie

Hi, Maggie; Nice picture.

[Lily&Me]

Rightside up! Thank you.

There's a mist over the entire lake this am, lovely and peaceful.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Heading here today.

We have letters posted from Bean Station in the early 1800's. So fascinating.

Bean Station - our history


A no-reservation COE campground on a lake just south of there, where we will plan to spend the night.


Maggie

[DIR1]

Hi Maggie.. I don't know what COE stands for??? Thx for the rightsideup piccy Bob... Hugs to all... Keep having fun!!! gail

[Photobum]

Corps of Engineers, greatest camp sites.

[Lily&Me]

No pretty campsite pictures today.

The COE campground on the map that I planned to stay at was sold by TVA to a private person in 1997, and he wants way more for a campsite than I am willing to pay.

Best to always call ahead, which I frequently do, but did not do today.

So, it is important when traveling without reservations to be flexible. Always have plenty of water and propane, and a well-charged battery, so that you can remain the self-contained little hotel room you are designed to be....wherever you happen to land for a night. You don't always get the brass ring.

In our case, we landed in a church parking lot, after also not finding the structure at Bean Station that I had hoped to find.

The original Bean Station/tavern/hotel/general store/post office burned down years ago, then was covered by lakewater after the dam went in. It has been 200+ years.

This I learned from a phone call to City Hall after driving around this small area for an hour or so, stopping several times to ask for assistance from locals who had no idea what I was talking about.

But, I'm still here, in the area where my people came from before they went to southern Mississippi, which is what I wanted, so it is still good.

Heading for the Smokies in the am. I think we're in the foothills, now.


Maggie

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by DIR1

Hi Maggie.. I don't know what COE stands for??? Thx for the rightsideup piccy Bob... Hugs to all... Keep having fun!!! gail

Originally Posted by Photobum

Corps of Engineers, greatest camp sites.

Hi, it also means Cab Over Engine. But I know Maggie wasn't talking about that.

I think this is pretty close to the one Dan has. [Smartstream]

[switz]

Sometimes the uploaded pictures invert or go 90 degrees off due to being too large an image.

Glad to see you enjoying your travels.

[Lily&Me]

6:45am. Wed. Sept. 17th.

We were up and on the road toward the Smokies very early Tuesday morning (no wireless signal here) and secured a nice campsite in the campground at Cades Cove......landing amongst a group of very friendly people, and next to a beautiful, 2004, 26' customized, Airstream Motorhome.

Ron & Peggy, Tennessee transplants from Indiana, who bought some years ago from a private owner and have never heard of WBCCI or AirForums. Retired, married 52 years, and roaming the near-country with friends, they are headed next to the Blue Ridge mountains. I invited them to stop by Alumalina next weekend for a visit.

They do almost all of their cooking with cast-iron at a firepit set-up, just for fun and because they enjoy it. They use a DO for baking, also suspend pots over an open fire.

Peggy paints beautifully, and keeps an artists' travel journal in notes, sketches, and small watercolor paintings. Lovely.

She can't believe I am traveling by myself, but has herself not experienced the life shift that makes one either do this....or stay home. I am fortunate to have the modest means to allow it.

It has been good for me to be out, heading toward the warm hearts of Alumalina, and reacquainting myself with everything we loved about this. I feel better, stronger, and less "lost".

The roads are paved here, so perfect for bike riding. On my first ride, I was hailed by one of the neighbors who informed me that a tire was flat. What I thought was perhaps a leak that would need to be fixed at some point was actually a woefully under-inflated tire.

Bicycle tires have recommended psi, too, which I did not know. I had pumped both tires up, using my little portable compressor, but apparently not far enough.......assessing inflation adequacy by the feel of the tire rather than using the gauge. Something else Doug always took care of. The nice man quickly inflated both tires to 45 psi, making them much firmer than I would have thought good, and I learned something else to help me in my new life.

Started yesterday afternoon a loaf of bread to bake later today. My first DO loaf using charcoal since Doug died. Something else that is now permanently mine. I dealt with the dough, he handled the charcoal. Have put this off, but thought it best to refresh myself before the rally next week. And, it's time.

Such a peaceful, gorgeous area.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The bread turned out great, and I shared with my nice neighbors.

Minus freezer space, an entire, 3-cup loaf is a lot of bread for one person to consume before it stales/molds. Am going to try cutting the recipe in half, then baking in my 8" DO. Or, setting half to raise and refrigerating the other to do some days later.

Drove the Cades Cove Loop this am. No bear spotted, but plenty of deer including a couple of bucks.

Leaves are starting to turn here, and it is gorgeous.

Am sending a couple of pictures to Channing to post, somehow.

Switz, I think you are right that it is a size thing, because cropping down a DO photo always does okay.

On to somewhere east of here today. Don't know exactly where, but that is all part of the magic.


Maggie

[Photobum]

Looking good Maggie....

What size DO should I buy? and with feet?

[Hittenstiehl]

Maggie the bread looks delish.

Let us know how the half loaf version turns out as that would be of interest to us also. We had no problem finishing the last loaf with 4 people but when its just 2 of us the half loaf will be a better fit. Seems our body types are being a bit carb clingy these days.

[Pagey]

Originally Posted by Photobum

Looking good Maggie....

What size DO should I buy? and with feet?

I bought the 12 Qt with feet on Maggie's recommendation. It can handle anything from bread to chili for a crowd or leftovers.

[Pagey]

Originally Posted by Pagey

I bought the 12 Qt with feet on Maggie's recommendation. It can handle anything from bread to chili for a crowd or leftovers.

Make that 12"...oops.

[Lily&Me]

Yes. 12", deep, with feet and the inverted lid, is a good, all-purpose size.

Mine is not the "deep", but it works fine, if that's all you have, just takes a bit more care to keep the top from burning. If to do over, would have got the deep.

If you do a mostly whole-grain loaf, Hittenstiehl, it isn't a bad thing, in moderation. We all have to watch our carbs as we get older , and choose our white flour items carefully and sparingly. At home, by myself, I slice a loaf up and freeze it, pulling out just what I want. The slices thaw and toast very quickly,

Drove the Foothills Parkway today....and, my first switchbacks. Doug would be proud. No scratches, dents, nor even near-misses.

Lots of motorcycles and small, very fast cars on 129, which apparently is the famed Tail of the Dragon that we drove once before....by accident...and where our picture is from. I somehow thought that was east of Chattanooga.

Took 2 1/2 hours to drive 70 miles from Townsend to Tsali NF campground west of Bryson City. No hookups, but decent showers, and $7.50/night with the Golden Age Passport. No phone signal but 2 bars of 4g sitting outside.

Not as pretty as the past, but nice nonetheless, and a good price.

A picture before we leave on Sat.

Maggie

[Pagey]

I grew up in Knoxville and went to college in Maryville, so I am very familiar with 129. My old Porsche loved that road long before the motorcyclists discovered it. Spent many nights camping in the Joyce Kilmer area.