oct 27 2021

we have left brads area and headed south ish to Pigeon Forge Tn. whew! what a busy busy area. it can take hours to get from Seiverelle to Gatlinburg. too crazy for us. Mill Creek Rv Resort was ok. ( #67, $51 a night) . Cable was good. wifi was in and out. it did have a trolley pickup at the campground which was a blessing as we didn't want to drive in town any more than we had too. took a trolley tour one day and got a lay of the land, then spent a day at Dollywood. it was nice but not as nice as Disney World. her rides consist of rollercoasters. shows were ok to see. wouldn't go back. spent a day at smokey mountain np. busy busy busy! took a easy hike and attempted to do another but the traffic was just too crazy for us. so we headed back to the campground. we were going to leave on monday but the weather was predicted to be bad so we stayed an extra day. did nothing that day. tues we left and started towards Atmore Al. i was dreading Chattanoga tn  but for a change it was decent driving thru. got as far as Gadsen Al and decided to stop for 2 nights. stayed at the Cove rv park, #24 $39 a night with good sams.

bode is growing up fast

finding a brew pub in waynesboro va

tomb of unknown soldieer

dalton, myself and brett at arlington national cemetery

lincolon memorial. dalton, brad and brett

vietnam wall. so many lifes lost

ww2 memorial. 

dalton really enjoyed the memorials

capitol building in the background. looks like the fences have been removed from the january 6th insurection

tom and i with our boys. brett, bode,dalton

mallory, bode and i getting ready to walk thru the blue ridge tunnel. great walk! bode did not like to walk in tunnel

brett getting ready for smores. his favorite!

brett turns 13! bode is learning about cake!

family dinners are great

campsite at Mill Creek Rv resort. pigeon forge tn

dollywood

they make their own cinnamon rolls here. line was forever long!

dolly does it up right for halloween

train ride was fun

pumpkins everywhere!

dolly gave a speech. well, her halogram did

sunrise in Gadsen Al

lake across road from us

Cove rv park. gadsen al. #24

walking in the Smokeys

overlook with Gatlinburg to the left below

pigeon forge traffic 3pm on a thurs

. nice park. great wifi but ota tv not so much. but we can stream anything. overlooking a pretty little lake. moving on tomorrow to Atmore Al. staying at wind creek casino for 4 nights. yeehaw! 

oct 15th 2021

this is crazy that i havent updated in sooo long. busy busy summer. Brads and Kevins families came in july. friends phil and jan had to cancel d/t truck and camper issues. darn. i stayed busy with the garden and keeping track of mom and jack. the garden produced just ok. very dry dry july and very hot too. august wasnt a lot better but it was a little wetter. hung out quite a bit with the neighbors in the campground. lots of fun when they come to campground. val and ken came down for a couple of days and had high hopes of getting together again but it didn't happen. got together with bunch of old friends from Hayward Hospital at the end of august. fun fun day. spent september getting camper ready to roll for the winter. had an appt at fix it shop for a checkup. good thing as we had rusty broken shackles by the wheels and one had rubbed a tire a lot and needed replacing. fixed shackles, new tire in place. a few things fixed and we were ready to roll. an unexpected surprise was all of our boys being at kevins house for a packer football so we hung out a couple of extra days so we could all be together. so soo nice! 

then we headed out for kentucky to visit Mammoth cave np. nice but wasnt our favorite NP. cave was ok but very busy and we had to make reservations far in advance to get some of the nicer tours. 

then we headed for brads in VA. after taking a "shortcut" we ended up on a twisty curving narrow road. very ugly! also, along the way we head a LOUD bang on interstate 64. thought we blew a tire, but no. couldn't figure it out on our own so we went to a ford dealership literally 1 mile away and they fixed the problem ASAP and $200 later we were back on the road. 

got to brads and checked in at North 340 # 336 for $294 a week. pricey... nice enough campground. wifi sucks. we have gotten together with brad, mallory , brett and bode a lot. grandson Dalton Rykal was also here for a visit with brads family so it was get to see him. next stop will be Pigion Forge Tn.  

on another sad note my uncle jack died oct 2. he fell on sept 9th and laid on floor for 17 hours before he was found. he had a uti which developed into sepsis, got pneumonia from lying on floor so long and got rhabdomyosis which a degeneration of muscle tissue which then clogs up the kidneys. he had a long 3 weeks in hospital before he died. we had lots of conversations during that  time. rip uncle. 

brad, mallory and bode just before entering 3/4 mile dark tunnel.

blue ridge tunnel trail. great hike

brett, bode, dalton tom and I

arlington national cemetary

dalton, myself and brett at tomb of the unknown soldier

dalton, brad, brett and i in washington dc. lincoln memorial

found a brew pub. pretty decent

twisty curvy narrow road. hwy 19 i think. never again

our spot in cave city.  singing hills. # 6. worst site in the campground. 

cave tour

cave tour

nice view on a hike

mammoth np. 

tom and i with our "boys" brad, eric and kevin

watched payton play 2 volleyball meets. very fun!

mom and i at our last lunch before leaving chippewa

mom

mom and her sister in law, my favorite aunt lois!

got together with hayward buddies. myself, gail bernier, eileen froemel,, mary mishou and tammy dahl. 

toms 50th class reunion

buddy ken benton made us a delicious walleye dinner one night while they were visiting chippewa

our second hatching of a butterfly