2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 9

 Tuesday, October 24, 2023 - Panther Creek State Park, Morristown, TN - 130.7 Miles, 845.8 Miles for the trip

Another cool night, but I did get out for a bit to watch for some of the Orion meteors. Way too much light - the moon was at 48%, most of the trailers had lights as well as the restrooms and other parts of the park, but I did see one.

A fairly quick trip down I81 to Panther Creek. I'm in site 10 for two nights. A paved site with water & electric that required unhooking to level - side to side 3 1/2", and drop the tongue 1 1/2". With reservation fee & sales tax, $40.91 per night. ($35.00 is the posted price)

I don't know what is going on with blogger, but starting today I can't add photos from my Mac.  If you want to see images you will need to go to my webpage.

The photos seem to be working now (Thursday, 10/26)

Site 10

Fall Color Looking Up the Campground From My Site

When checking the propane yesterday I discovered that one of the tank hoses was cracked. After setting up I went to Tractor Supply to buy a new hose, drove back to the campground (only 4.5 miles away) exchanged hoses, and then discovered that I finally ran out of propane. I know, why didn't I check when I pulled the cover to check the hose. Well, I did & the switchover indicator was still green. It didn't switch to red until after I replaced the hose. So, back to Tractor Supply for 4.3 gallons of propane. Since the tank holds 4.7 gallons, it wasn't completely empty, but switching hoses must have set it off.

A beautiful, warm day at 68°F and lots of fall color in the park. Even at 5:00 it is still 66°F. Predictions are for 40°F overnight so I'll still be running the heater, but is was nice to sit outside in a "T" shirt. 

Since I'm trying to make room in the freezer, even though it is certainly nice enough to cook outside, I made a microwave meal - Innovasian Orange Chicken.

Until Tomorrow -

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 8

 Monday, October 23, 2023 - Burson Campground, Hungry Mother State Park, VA , Day 5 - 0 Miles, 715.1 Miles for the trip

A cool night. The campground host went around yesterday evening suggesting that we unhook our water hoses since he had a predicted overnight temperature of 31°F. I did unhook mine, but it only went down to 37°F. 

I stripped the bed, and after my morning walk started 2 loads of laundry. I was using flannel sheets that are heavy enough that they make up a full washer load. My laundry bag wasn't full, but since I was doing the sheets, I figured to get rid of the rest of a week's worth of dirty clothes. Then it was time to make the bed. The double bed in the Escape 21 is comfortable, plenty large enough for one (or two - my wife & I slept in a double bed for 32 years), but making it with walls on three sides is "interesting". In any case, I now have fresh cotton sheets on the bed.

Lots of sun - while there was fog this morning, by 11:00 the sun was warming things up. Of course, that is relative - it is still only 46°F outside, but that feels much warmer than it was at 8:30. During the morning walk I took a photo of the dam that makes the lake here at the park. Nice color on the hills that looks better in person than in the photo.

The Dam

Almost everyone has left or is leaving today. A couple of "stickies" left in the campground. One of the park employees is "mowing" the leaves off the empty sites. A bit of a lost cause - they are still falling off the trees like snow. They do take good care of the sites after someone leaves - remove the leaves, rake the gravel, shut off the breakers, etc. Again, for those interested, I have a separate page of photos of the Hungry Mother Fiberglass Rally.

It warmed up very nicely during the afternoon - 63°F, but cooled quickly after the sun went down. At 6:30 it is down to 55°F. I packed up as much of the trailer as possible to make it easier in the morning. I don't have all that far to go so no rush, but it is more pleasant packing when everything is dry & warm rather than wet & cold.

We went to Mi Puerto again for dinner. Better luck for Anne - she wanted completely unspiced shrimp Chimichangas, and the last time, while the sauce was fine, the shrimp were a bit hot for her sore mouth. This time, after careful detailing what she wanted, the meal was great. I had fish tacos. I'm used to them coming with guacamole & sour cream, which these didn't, but they were good.

Until Tomorrow -

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 7

 Sunday, October 22 2023 - Burson Campground, Hungry Mother State Park, VA , Day 4 - 0 Miles, 715.1 Miles for the trip

While lots of folks packed up and left this morning, there are quite a few still here. We are leaving on Tuesday. Not sure why - we usually leave on Monday, and I hope to schedule next year's rally for Wednesday through Monday, October 23 - 27th. We are in full hookup sites, however I'd like to move one row towards town - there is little sun beneath the trees still covered with leaves, and the next row of sites have sun most of the day (at least when the clouds are gone). No sewer connection, but there is a dump station in the park & both of us can go 5 days without dumping. 

Anne & Guido went for another trip on the "Back of the Dragon" which I passed up. Instead, I headed to Bristol, TN and the nearest Best Buy for a 2TB SS portable drive. Seems I left my previous Time Machine back up drive home. It was almost full & time for a new one, and even though the Best Buy is on the way to my next stop, I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get to with the trailer. Turns out I'm glad I took the truck alone. 

On the way back to Hungry Mother there was an accident on I81 that added 20 minutes to the trip back. While many have left, there are a few still hanging out:

Some of us are Still Here!

Dinner was a pork loin, applesauce & tortellini salad.

Until Tomorrow -

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 6

 Saturday, October 21, 2023 - Burson Campground, Hungry Mother State Park, VA , Day 3 - 0 Miles, 715.1 Miles for the trip

While is is a cool morning at 49°F just before noon, there are blue skies and no rain. After my morning walk around the campground, I made breakfast, then did another loop around the campground with the camera. A few photos, but until it warms up many folks are still inside. For those interested in electric tow vehicles, there is a Trillium here that is being towed by a Tesla.

A Tesla Pulling a Trillium

The Morning Gathering

After lunch, and warmer weather at 54°F, I made another round. Saturday afternoon is typically the time for trailer tours and many were visiting to see the differences, additions, modifications, etc.

Trailer Tours

I took a few more photos walking around the campground, and around 4:45 headed to Walt's site for the pot luck. As usual, plenty of food, all of it wonderful. Even had at least three kinds of chili, key lime pie, and. of course, my blueberry pies.

Enjoying the Pot Luck Dinner

Until Tomorrow -

2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 5

 Friday, October 20, 2023 - Burson Campground, Hungry Mother State Park, VA , Day 2 - 0 Miles, 715.1 Miles for the trip

Lots of light rain. Started around 4:00AM, and has been off & on all morning. After breakfast I started making blueberry pies for the pot luck tomorrow. Since the campground is full of fiberglass, as well as a number at the Creekside campground in another part of the park, I decided to make 3 pies. Discovered that one of the batches of blueberries was questionable, so now there are only 2 pies.

Somewhere around noon the rain stopped. Still cool at 52°F, and no sun, but better than falling rain. The light rain is dumping lots of leaves everywhere. In some places it looks like yellow snow! My outdoor rug was clear of leaves last night:

This Morning's Leaves

Well, so much for stopped rain. It started again at 1:00, and like the morning, off & on. 

I called Kyle & the hot water is fixed - they replaced the zone valve on the water heater circuit. I think I'll stick with Ellsworth, and hope they can deal with the Mini Split AC if it tanks. I prefer local, and even though Issac is a much larger company, if they won't come when you need them, it is time to switch.

While I prefer listening to classical music, and often listen to the internet connection to KBACH (which is actually KBAQ) in Phoenix (I'm a sustaining member), there is no AT&T service here at Hungry Mother. Verizon varies from excellent to no connection, and I have a data limit of 75GB per month, so I tried over the air FM. One NPR news station which is good, but if you want music, the choices are country or WOLD, "music you used to listen to". Better than country, and internet radio that keeps dropping out.

The sun came out at 2:30, although it is still only 53°F outside. My weather app tells me that rain & a thunderstorm will start in 22 minutes. Since the last pie is out of the oven I'll make a quick round just to see if anyone is out.

I did make a walk around the campground. A group formed that kept getting larger, at least until the thunder started & the sun went away.

First Pass

Second Pass

Around 3:45 I headed for the showers. Individual rooms with a large dressing area. Unfortunately, there is no lip between the shower & the dressing area floor, and although the showerhead is at right angles to the dressing area, the floor still gets wet - no shower curtain. There is a small electric heater on the wall of the dressing area, but pretty anemic. The good - plenty of hot water, a place for your stuff in the shower as well as 2 hooks & a bench in the drying area. Lots of hot water & a standard showerhead. Overall a B.

We decided the weather would keep us from an outside meal, so the Guidos are having leftovers & I'm microwaving dinner - a Benihana Hibachi Chicken Rice dinner.

Until Tomorrow -