Wednesday a day for sightseeing, but reassembly is taking place

Wednesday

I was in hopes of being on the road today heading but it was not to be.  I called about 9am and they said they had parts if they were all correct they estimated Thursday afternoon for completion.  I could not stand sitting around the motel another whole day so I took off for the Nantahala Gorge.

Back in the mid 80's when we lived in Arkansas we had come over here as a church group of men and rafted this river and the Chattooga.   So I headed for Pigeon Forge.

Busy Pigeon Forge

I have to cross these Mountains

One thru Pigeon Forge I took the Gatlinburg bypass and climbed up into Great Smokey Mountains National Park again.  I stopped at one of the visitors centers and got some stamps for my passport book.

got my stamps here

I stopped at an old Grist Mill but it was not operating, just another photo op.

Mingus Mill

This brings the water to the mill

Scenic creek below the mill

Then it was on to the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, NC, yes I started in TN but its just over the border.

This is the public take out sign the commercial take outs are huge this spot is tiny.

These buses take you up river loaded with people and rafts on top.

Here are a bunch of pictures of people and family,s having fun at near the end of their run on the river.

After a good burger for lunch along the side of the river I headed for home and inadvertently ended up on highway 129 on a section that is called the Tail of the Dragon.  Motorcycles and sport cars come from all over the country to run this road.  The speed limit is set at 30mph and that is too fast for some of the turns.  Over 300 curves in 11 miles.  Check out the link.  I always wanted to bring the Mini we had over here.  I did get a nice view of one of the lakes near the end of the run.

One of many lakes and dams that produce electric power

Once I got back I went to FL to check on the coach and found that the trailing arms were installed and the axle and brakes are partially complete.  So once again I am hoping tomorrow is the day I can head home.

Cell phone picture, the black part is the new trailing arm.

It was 90 this morning in Pigeon Forge, 75 on top of the mountain as I crossed over.  Then 97 when I got back to Lenoir City where the motel is.  Still 89 at 10pm.

Thats about it for today.

Thanks for checking in

Tuesday-I saw the FedEx truck deliver the trailing arms!!!

Tuesday

Well I was up at my normal time I am running out of things to stay distracted and occupied.  Its been well over a week now and until the parts show up no end in sight.  The temperature is back in the mid 90s and humid.  I am waiting to call around 10:30 to see if my parts came in then hopefully get an estimate of when they will get installed.  Then I can decide if I need to pay for another night at the motel and see if I need to extend my car rental.  Thats pretty much how my day will go.

Well I was on the phone with Bonnie when FedEx delivered the trailing arms at about 3:30PM.  Since they work until midnight maybe they will install them tonight.  The service manager told me he was sure they would find the parts for the brakes and axle seal today also.  So I am praying that I will be able to head north tomorrow.  Right now I am planning to check out of the motel tomorrow morning, I think I can always come back.

I wanted to get a couple pictures to post today so I drove down to Teleco Dam.  I diverts the Little Tennessee River into Loudon lake to provide more water for power generation.  It is an earthen dam so not much to photograph.  I took a few shots at the Loudon Locks.  Looks like a pretty long barge would fit into the lock (360 X 80 feet) and can be lifted 80 feet.

80 foot lift in this lock

Up to a 360 foot long vessel

Nice spot for the fishermen

Nice view down river

Tried a self photo from the roof of the car

This was the good news of the day

Well I think I will walk over and pick up a little food chinese to go.

Hope to be posting from on the road tomorrow

Thanks for checking in.
Bob

Latest estimate is now Thursday afternoon.

Another Monday near Knoxville

Monday

I came over here to Freightliner hoping to hear that my parts had come in early, but no luck yet today.  So I am hanging out here for a while to try to get my laundry done as there seem to be no laundromats near the motel.  Got a washer finally, now to snag a dryer.

I decided to visit Buddy Gregg RV.  They are a large Monaco/Holiday Rambler dealer.  What a zoo that was.  They are large and lots of coaches and people.  But they do not work on chassis and said Freightliner was the best place in the area to be at. I was disappointed in their store also.

I talked to the shop foreman and he was nice enough to let me plug in the MH to keep the batteries charged up.  Here is a picture sorry taken with my cell phone in dim light, of the rear wheel torn down to replace the leaking seal.

Guess I will head back toward the motel once I get the laundry done.

I finished the laundry and headed back for the motel room to keep cool. It was hot and humid today so I hid out in the room.  I did call to check on the part this evening but no part yet.  Hopefully tomorrow.  I did not even go out for dinner, but did head out after dark to TCBY for a little dessert.  I did look at campgrounds that are closer than I planned in case I can get a late start tomorrow or the next day.

Thats about it for today.

Thanks for checking in.

Sunday in Lenoir City, TN

Sunday

Got up this morning and had my breakfast.  Then got dressed and headed to the First Baptist Church of Lenoir City.  I went to the 10:45 service they had one at 8am also.  It was a really good service and I really enjoyed it.  Then I did a little food shopping at Walmart and came back to the room and made a sandwich.
Then some cottage cheese and some very good cherries that Bonnie had bought before she left.
I plan to take it easy today and watch the race and soccer final game from the World Cup.  Hope to get a bit of a nap in there also.
Got my nap and decided I needed to get out for a bit and then get some dinner.  There are a lot of rivers and dams around here so I headed up to take a look at the Melton Hill Dam.

This is a view from the overlook of the dam

Besides the dam which is run by the TVA there are lots of recreation opportunities.  Access for fishermen below and above the dam.  Also boat launches, picnic tables and pavilions.  They also have a campground with hook ups for 20 bucks a night.

This is the pool above the dam

The bottom pool and the power house

These solar panels provide power for......

This recharge station for electric cars

So after the drive I stopped at Cinco Amigos for dinner.  It had good reviews and the food was good.  I hoped to have left overs for tomorrow but I guess I was to hungry.  I had chicken enchiladas and chile relleno.

It was a big chile and very good.

Thats about it for Sunday wow its already 10pm, tomorrow I will check on the part and maybe do some laundry.

Thanks for checking in.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Saturday

A little excitement at the motel this morning enough to bring 3 squad cars with sirens to the front of the motel.  A girl and a guys hopped up on pills he locked her out of the room and they started yelling at each other.  I heard the yelling and the police were still in the lobby at 8:30 when I went up for coffee.

I headed out to go over to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I made a quick stop at the MH in the shop to grab pants and shoes for church tomorrow.  More good news the rear wheel is off so they could order the seal they need to fix the leak.

It was a nice drive over to the park.  I made a stop in Townsend at the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum.  It was small but interesting.

Info about the site

Water Tower

The old engine

Real Old Engine

Pre computer typewriter

Then I stopped at the Heritage Center but did not go in as it charged admission and did not look like it had much.

Here is a view from outside the fence

Then it was on to the park.

The scenery was beautiful and worth the trip

But the traffic was terrible

The traffic was so heavy you could not get back in line if you pulled in to a pull off to take a picture.  I did stop at the area where the old grist mill was running here are some shots from that area.

And I did see one

Took this through a crack in the planks

Corn Hopper

The corn feeds in here

The old horse stable

The blacksmith shop

He did a nice demo for a group of boys

There was even a sign that says I was here 

I headed over here tubing is big here

They also have BBQ and I had the BBQ chicken salad it was really good.  Headed back to the motel after that and will take it easy the rest of the evening.  Read and catch a little TV

Thanks for checking in.

Starting to make plans to head home maybe by Wednesday

Friday


I was up way late last night so slept in a little this morning.  I am starting to plan my trip home.  No word yet on if the parts are here or when they will get installed but since I am traveling without my Co-pilot I need to write down all the routes and info.  I use the GPS but sometimes it does not go the way I want it to go so I have to keep a check on it.  If you take the MH down the wrong road it is sometimes hard to turn around.  So having coffee now and then I will head over to get an update if they have one and then find something to visit for the day.  We had heavy rain this morning but its just cloudy now.
I went to check on the coach today and it was not in its spot.  Good news is that it is in the shop up on stands.  Bad news is that the parts have not made it from Elkhart, In. yet.  The service manager Stacy came and talked to me.  Said he had just checked on the part and while they ordered it 2 days ago, it shipped yesterday and it may not be delivered until Tuesday.  But I know since the MH is sitting in a bay they will be anxious to get it fixed and moved out of there, they can not move it now.  They did tell me the warranty company does not want to pay for installing the second one as we do not know if it is broke.  When they take it out I bet it will be cracked.  They are also working on a leaking rear seal with the company.  So nothing to do now but wait.

I took a short trip to Oakridge and visited their visitors center the Museum of Science and Energy.  They had lots of good displays and a demonstration on static electricity.  I did not realize that the whole city was a secret when it was first started.  Here are a few pictures from the day.

Reception Deck

Original Display

This was a demo that explained splitting atoms

This look familiar

They called these flat tops and built hundereds of them for workers at $3500

The living room and radio

Thats about it from here, hit some hard rain on the way back.

Almost stopped traffic

A good friend from our church went over to the house and cut our grass tonight, thanks Tony!

Thats about it for today, still raining here.

Thanks for checking in

Thursday in Knoxville

Thursday

My normal routine is to get up and make oatmeal here in the room.  I try to get on the internet but usually can not.  So I get a shower, get dressed and head to the lobby with my computer.  I get coffee there and can access the WiFi.  So far I have not eaten a single donut.  I post the blog and then read my email and do any research I need to do.

So after doing all that this morning I called the warranty people to see what the status was.  They told me they were waiting to hear back from Freightliner since the last time they talked Freightliner had said they could not order the part.  Now Freightliner told me they were waiting to hear back from Interstate the warranty people.  So I got in the car and headed to Freightliner.  Turns out that they did order the parts, last night they think.  So they called Interstate and we have an approval number to get the parts and do the work.  There are still a few things to work thru but hopefully the part will be here in a day or two.  So its been a good day overall and we seem to be making progress.

I did a little shopping and bought some sliced turkey for lunch sandwiches and some bananas  Then went back to the room and made lunch.  After lunch I went to do a little sight seeing and ended up touring a farm.  I live were I am surrounded by farms but I like to look at them and see how they function.  Here are a few pictures.

The owners home

Our tour group with booties on

They have their own milk tanker.  The ship 80% and use 20% in their cheese factory

Brand new calf, the kids like this

Iliked that all the tractors were Green Machines

I enjoyed the visit

They also have a cheese shop and plenty of free samples.  I also got to chat with the farmers daughter while I waited for the tour.  She is one of 5 kids and thinks one of her younger brothers will take over the farm some day.  She would be interested in running the cheese store.  They make about 2700 pounds of cheese on Wednesdays.

After that I headed back to the MH to see if I had remembered to shut off the generator, I had, its tough to get old.  I also needed to pick up the charger for the cameras.  The a brief rest in the room.  I could not stand my shaggy hair anymore so I went and got a haircut.  While I was there we got a thunderstorm and it was still raining a little when I left there.  I went to Bojangles to eat dinner, but the storm had knocked out their registers.  So I went back to the motel and walked over to the Panda Buffet.  I tried to eat the healthy stuff but still ate way to much.  So I had a decent day.  I am in a holding pattern until the parts come in.  Time for a little TV and reading.

Update from Bonnie
Everything at the house is ok.  The grass is long and she still needs to catch up on her sleep.  I told her to let the grass go and rest up.  She went grocery shopping last night and managed to get out of work in time to pick up all the mail today, so things should be getting back to normal.

Thanks for checking in.