If Not Now, Then When
It’s been a rough year for Jim. Medically speaking, he has had at least 10 different significant surgeries, 30 rounds of radiation and taken enough medication to kill a horse. Life is short and we just never know what the future holds. None of us do. It’s a fact that we will not get out of this thing called life, alive.
To contemplate that, is tough. It’s sad, and it’s scary. There are things to be done. People to see, places to still visit.
When we completed our boating adventure, Americas Great Loop, we were two of the most badass people I knew, other than the friends we met along the way, who were bonafide badasses too. We quit our jobs, we sold our stuff and threw caution to the wind. We moved on a boat and we traveled 6000 miles around the Eastern United States and Canada. We laughed and cried, we struggled and prayed. We faced our fears and could never have bought enough napkins to wipe the smiles off our faces. We sold our boat, we bought a home, and if that wasn’t enough we bought a RV so we could go see the rest of the world by way of the highway, and beautiful back roads that lead you to far away places and beautiful scenery. You’d think if you are this blessed, you’d get out more often and actually see the rest of the world.
Then, life gets in the way. Which it did.
If Not Now-Then When has become the mantra for our next adventure which we have now been on for a few weeks. Throwing caution to the wind one more time, we decided to leave the extreme heat in Florida and attempt to chase 80 degrees, as we trudge the road to Happy Destiny. It’s a daunting little adventure which will take us around 10,000 miles and allow us to see Americas National Parks and the beauty therein. We will meetup with friends and family. We will laugh and cry, we will struggle and pray just like on the boat, I’m sure. I bought the super sized package of napkins, just so we have enough.
June 19, 2023 - July 7, 2023
It took many weeks to plan and prepare for our adventure. Hours of phone calls and online web searches produced our itinerary. You can’t just call a day ahead of time to secure a RV site at this time of year. It’s is travel season. The kids are out of school and people plan their vacations years ahead of time. I started getting reservations in April and had a tough time. Many of the State and National RV Parks were already filled. I had to be creative. We had a plan and I followed it, and found us some pretty cool places to stay. I’m happy with my choices, for the most part.
We left in a hot, humid rainstorm on Fathers Day. Our plan is to meet Marshall and Judy ( our Looper friends) in the Smokey Mountains National Park on the 22nd. Our first day took us to Ocala, Florida. We stayed at a very nice campground and I made a nice dinner for Jim to celebrate Fathers Day. We both went swimming and just enjoyed our day one.
Day two took us to Elko, Georgia. We braved some pretty big thunderstorms and high winds. We stopped at Carroll’s Meat and Sausage store, a favored place of ours and stocked up on some meats. The RV campground was nice and we enjoyed some of the sausage we bought and my friend Cindy’s Mac and Cheese that she so graciously made for us. It was great. Early to bed, early to rise, our next stop is Marrietta, Georgia, where we will stay a few days so Jim we can visit with one of Jim’s oldest friends, Denny and his wife Jennifer.
Funny thing, I had made a reservation in Marrietta since it was the only campground in the neighborhood of Dennys home. According to the reviews, this place was a dump and not very nice. Marrietta is just above Atlanta. There are no Rv campgrounds in Atlanta. I was hard pressed to find the dumpy place. As I looked at the reviews one more time, I freaked out a little bit. Now, Jim and I have stayed in some pretty sketchy places before, but, have always felt safe enough. I was worried about this one. It seriously had bad reviews. I had paid a deposit for one night already. I decided to look around and I found a campground a bit further away from Dennys home, but Jim and I agreed that it was much nicer. So we ate the $50.00 deposit and booked a spot on Allatoona Lake. And boy oh boy, I’m so glad we did. It was beautiful!
It has been raining a good majority of our time here. It’s so pretty that it really didn’t matter. We had plans to meet with Jennifer and Denny at 5:00 for a dinner date. We drove about 40 minutes and arrived at their beautiful home in Marrietta, Georgia right on time. Denny and Jennifer moved to Georgia from California about a year ago. Their home is a beautiful big home on a lake. Their daughter and grandchildren live with them and they are all having the time of their life. It is a beautiful place to raise the children.
After taking the tour of their home, we loaded up and went to dinner in town at Teds of Montana steak house, where they specialize in Bison. I’m not quite sure how I feel about eating Bison, especially considering that I seriously can’t wait to see the Bison and their baby Red Dogs when we get toYellowstone. That being said, I did get a beef steak and it was delicious. We all had nice conversations and I’m sure Jim and Denny were very glad to see each other.
Thank you both for a lovely evening. We hope to see you again soon.
In the morning we packed it up and hit the road for our next adventure in The Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. Our good friends, Marshall and Judy and their adorable pup Mindy, who I have written about many times, are meeting us at Buddy Bear in the Smokies Rv Resort in Seiverville, Tennessee.
We were met with very busy, touristy cities. Seiverville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are the home of Dolly Parton’s Dollywood and the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It is a busy time of year, where families are vacationing, hikers are hiking and folks are here for the amusement park vibe of these cities. Traffic was bad as we got to the RV park. But, we arrived finally and found ourselves in a small, well kept campground.
Marshall and Judy showed up a few hours after us, and we all caught up and grilled up some pork chops we had picked up back at Carroll’s Sausage and Meat store in Georgia. We had a nice dinner and I was so happy to see Mindy, who is the luckiest dog in the whole world. She traveled the Great Loop too! She’s a badass pup and I just love her.
Mindy
We called it a night and agreed to figure out what we would do the following day.
We decided to drive into Gatlinburg and go to the SkyPark chairlift and suspension bridge.
Since 1954, the iconic yellow chairs of the Gatlinburg Skylift took us to the top of Crockett Mountain for scenic views of the Smokies. At the summit we walked across the Gatlinburg SkyBridge, the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. Stretching 680 feet across with a height of 140 feet at its midpoint, walking the bridge is an unforgettable moment and quite the accomplishment!
This place is packed with tourist things to do. From Ripley’s Believe it or Not, to putt putt golf, fudge shops, restaurants, rock climbing walls, and zip lining, this place has it all. I’m not a big fan of these kind of places. I hate crowds and the DisneyLand lines. I was glad to get out of there after a sub par lunch, we headed for home. After a nice rest, we again had a nice dinner and retreated back to our camper, and sat outside in the cool Tennessee breeze until we were forced in by the bugs.
Day 6 of our journey took us to the Great Smokey Mountains in Gatlinbug. We stopped at the visitor center and got a map. A beautiful day spent with good friends in the Smoky Mountains National Park.
We drove to the highest point in the mountains. At 7,643 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the highest point in Tennessee, and the third highest mountain east of the Mississippi.
It was breathtaking as the “smoky hue” began to envelop the mountainside. That famous fog that surrounds the Smoky Mountains actually is produced by native vegetation in the area. You probably learned in school that plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. However, plants let out more than just oxygen. They release something called volatile organic compounds.
This may sound bad or dangerous, but it’s not! They are totally natural! These chemicals have a high vapor pressure and in the right environment form the vapors or fog that you see. With millions of plants and trees in the Smoky Mountains they all give off of these vapors that cause the “smokey” appearance.
♥️
The four of us drove into Pigeon Forge for pizza. Another subpar meal along with a very long wait, made all of us grumpy. I’m confident now, that cooking at home, is the only way to go. The food is better and the service is 5 star!
We drove back to the campsite and enjoyed another quiet evening as I loaded up the camper for our departure in the morning. We said our goodbyes to Marshall, Judy and Mindy.
Until next time friends. With all our love❤️
Day 7- headed to Kentucky and The Mammoth National Park.
A four and a half hour drive takes us to Cave Country RV Resort in Cave City, Kentucky. We hit a huge thunderstorm, which always makes me very nervous. I don’t like it when it gets dark, foggy and the rain hits the windshield with extreme force. The storms we have encountered thus far come suddenly. They are expected, you can see them, but, when they hit, they hit hard. We made it safely to our campground, Cave Country RV Resort in Cave City Kentucky around 2 pm. I set up camp and we enjoyed our evening.
At nine o’clock or so I started seeing lightning in the distance. It was far enough away that I didn’t really think anything about it. Within a hour, all hell broke loose! Remember when we out ran (not really) Hurricane Ian? This storm here in Kentucky was comparable, if not worse. I would venture to guess, with all the damage I saw the following day on the news, that this storm produced a tornado somewhere. We thankfully didn’t get blown away like a cow, but the winds were at least 70 mph. The rain came down in sheets. Then came the golf ball size pieces of hail that pummeled our Rv. I was really scared. I’ve seen photos of campgrounds and mobile home parks demolished by storms like this. It lasted for about 6 hours, all of which I was awake for as Jim slept peacefully, with the occasional “are you ok” call out. I was not ok😂
We awoke to a beautiful morning. Like nothing ever happened other than a few downed trees in the park.
Our excursion for the day was to explore Mammoth Cave National Park. Under a swath of Kentucky hills and hollows is a limestone labyrinth that became the heartland of a National Park. The surface of Mammoth Cave National Park encompasses about 80 square miles. No one knows how big the underside is. More than 365 miles of the five-level cave system have been mapped, and new caves are continually being discovered.
Two layers of stone underlie Mammoth's hilly woodlands. A sandstone and shale cap, as thick as 50 feet in places, acts as an umbrella over limestone ridges. The umbrella leaks at places called sinkholes, from which surface water makes its way underground, eroding the limestone into a honeycomb of caverns.
Our tour for the day was the Cleveland Avenue Tour. I picked this tour because it was only one mile long and at the end had an elevator to return you the 297 feet back up to the surface. I figured we could both handle it. As we transcended the 197 step satires into the cave, I started to worry about Jim. With all his heath problems he gets exerted quickly. I could see it in his face and the uneven floor of the cave was difficult for him to execute. It was for me too. You run out of oxygen under the ground. It’s dark and claustrophobic. Jim really doesn’t like enclosed spaces and we were in a huge enclosed space. It was kind of scary and just a few steps in I worried I had made a mistake doing this. Jim was a trooper and at the end of the hike, we both recomposed ourselves and we’re glad to get up that elevator and back to topsoil! Was it a cool experience? Yes. Would I ever do it again, nope.
The drive through the park was stunning. Huge green trees and miles of endless roads returned us to our campsite where we enjoyed the rest of our day and planned our next move towards Ohio. We are getting closer to Niagara Falls!
Onward and upward we head to Ohio. A 4 plus hour drive lands us in the beautiful Hueston Woods State Park in College Corner Ohio. This is a humongous State Park with miles and miles of awesomeness. Hueston Woods State Park covers 3,000 acres along the southwestern border of Ohio where it meets Indiana. The park includes Acton Lake, a 592-acre man-made lake. A dense, 200-acre, old-growth forest of mature beech and sugar maple is designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service. There is much to do here. The campground is very large and hosts a plethora of different style camping options. From full hook up sites to primitive camping like tents and pop up vans. We got an electric only site which means we don’t have water or sewer hook ups. We can use our water tank. I have been creative in the dishwashing department because we don’t want to fill the gray water tank and have to disconnect and go to the dump station to empty a full water reservoir. This camping curve is interesting, but I’ve done my homework and can pretty much adapt to what we have at hand.
We took a drive around the park. Acton Lake is the where everything else here is formed around. There is a Lodge with a swimming pool, a beach, a marina, and a nature center. There is a wonderful covered bridge, and hiking trails galore. There is a golf course and mountain bike trail. This place is quite impressive. Speaking of hiking trails, I’ve been on the hunt for waterfalls. I couldn’t find one in the Smoky Mountains, but that’s just because I’m not an avid hiker by any means. But here, just a short 7 minute hike down a steep hill brought me to this beautiful place. I found me a waterfall!
Hueston Woods State Park
I’ve been painting my kindness rocks along the way. It keeps me busy and I enjoy leaving them around our campsites so folks can find them. I hope they make the finders smile. Some have already posted their finds on my Facebook Rock page, RVING ROCKS. Yesterday a new friend Leanna came over while I was out painting. She said she’s always wanted to do this rock painting stuff. I invited her to sit and give it a whirl. I gave her a rock and she confidently proceeded to paint. She did a great job for her first rock. I think she’s hooked😂! In fact, her husband Joe got in on the shenanigans too. He painted an awesome rock a well. It was really fun to share the joy I have painting with someone who shares the same passion. I’m quite sure Leanna will be “rockin”her kindness soon.
It was nice meeting y’all. Blessings always, ❤️Kim
Leanna and Joe
I painted this rock while I was at the park. I gave it to the ladies at the campground guard shack.❤️
Kindness Rocks 🩷
Heuston Woods-
College Corner Ohio
We are going to see how many meetings we can get to on this adventure. On our loop we managed to get to 38 AA meetings. It was hard, considering we were on a boat and we had to rely on Uber, walking, or marina loaner cars.
We have the Mini Cooper now. There’s not a whole lot of excuses to not go.
I found a meeting in College Corner and we went. It was a great meeting and I found out that we actually were in a church in Ohio, but across the street, is the state if Indiana. I was flabbergasted! The address of the church is 112 Stateline Road, College Corner Ohio. When I finally got the “Stateline” street memo, it made sense. Nonsense, but fact! This is Jim and I on the Ohio-Indiana state line. I am standing in Indiana and Jim is standing in Ohio. It’s amazing, I know😂
Recovery Happens
In Ohio and in Indiana 😂
Saturday July 1st took us into Akron Ohio. First we hit a meeting and then we went to Dr. Bob’s house and eventually to Bob and Ann Smiths gravesite.
The 12 steps leading into their home was a great start. You felt the history and the magnitude of what Dr Bob and his family accomplished there to start AA. Great reproductions as well as actual artifacts and furniture. The volunteers were knowledgeable and very welcoming.
The Dr. Robert Smith House, also known as Dr. Bob's Home, is a historic house museum at 855 Ardmore Avenue in Akron, Ohio. Built in 1914, it is significant as the home from 1915 to 1950 of Dr. Bob Smith ("Dr. Bob"), one of the cofounders of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It was here that Smith and Bill W. began the meetings that became AA, through which Smith achieved sobriety. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012. It is now owned by Founders Foundation, and is operated by them as a museum dedicated to the history of AA.
Dr. Bob
I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my sobriety. I was standing in the home where, without Dr. Bob and Bill Wilson, and all of the thousands of people who came before me, I would most likely be dead today. Jim and I stood in the “surrender” room, with a few other folks and we all knelt around the bed and said the 3rd Step prayer. I literally cried. It was very emotional.
We followed up with a trip to the Smiths gravesite in the Mt. Peace Cemetery in Akron Ohio, where we left our yearly sobriety medallions and a welcome chip from our home group in Florida.
I will never forget this day. ♥️
Welcome Home
Welcome Home
Day 14- Cuyahoga Valley National Park on a train!
Though a short distance from the urban areas of Cleveland and Akron, Cuyahoga Valley National Park seems worlds away. The park is a refuge for native plants and wildlife, and provides routes of discovery for visitors. The winding Cuyahoga River gives way to deep forests, rolling hills, and open farmlands. We Chose to ride the Cuyahoga Scenic Railway through the National Park. I got us seats in a dome car. It was very cool and very beautiful.
So, I had a great big glitch in my blog that totally erased our trip from Cuyahoga, Ohio to Niagara Falls. I’m so upset and it would take me quite a long to to replicate this leg of our adventure. What I can say is that if you were able to read about it before it disappeared, I’m happy about that. If you didn’t read it and are reading now, I hope you enjoy this version.
July 3 - 7
We left early for our 4 hour drive to our campsite at Branches of Niagara in Grand Island, New York. We crossed through the Pennsylvania and New York borders. We arrived at the campground, checked in and proceeded to our assigned site. I started to unpack and was seriously not happy with our site. I was ankle deep in mud and there was a swampy, water buildup behind us. I knew this was a mosquito disaster! I was not a happy camper. We paid a pretty penny for this site. You pay a lot for camping when you are close to a destination such as Niagara Falls. I’m not one to complain, but I was fuming. I abandoned unpacking and went to the office to see if they could change our site. I knew this was going to be tough. This place is sold out for the holiday. I asked to speak to a manager, explained my displeasure, and after about 10 minutes she was able to move us to a new site, which was very kind of her. We settled in there, went for a swim, and had a nice dinner. It had been a long day.
My plan was to go to Niagara Falls the following day to check out where we might see the fireworks show. It is very hot here. Muggy and hot. We drove to the Falls and proceeded to get a bit lost. We finally found a parking lot and to my surprise, found it to be a half a mile walk to the falls. I knew this would be a lot for Jim and it was. I don’t want anyone to think Jim is handicapped in any way, but after all that he has been through this past year, walking long distances, especially in the heat is not good for him. We made it to the falls and he found a shady spot to sit. There are thousands of people here. We are wanting to go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour, but at 2:00 in the afternoon, the lines are Disneyland long. You know how much I hate long lines! I proceeded to check out Niagara Falls while Jim tried to stay cool. The falls are a beautiful sight to behold!
We agreed that returning for fireworks was probably not a good idea considering how many people were probably going to be doing the same thing. We agreed to get up early in the morning and catch the very first boat tour, which is at 9:00 am. I found a park policeman and asked if he would drive us back to our car. He obliged, and whisked Jim and I the half mile back to our car in air conditioned bliss. I’m not beyond asking for help anymore. We found a closer parking lot which we would use in the morning.
We returned home and went for a well needed dip in the pool. I did a load of laundry, we had a nice dinner and called it quits for the night.
As stated, we got up early and returned to Niagara Falls. We didn’t get lost this time and the walk from the new parking lot was shaded. The morning was cool and we were both glad about that. We arrived right on time for the boat ride and were greeted with this wonderful, beautiful, amazing rainbow over Niagara Falls🌈
Nothing gets you closer to the American and Horseshoe Falls as the world renowned Maid of the Mist boat tours.
For a thrilling thirty minutes we experienced the magnitude and magnificence of the Falls thundering down, from the water below. The noise from the falls was deafening. It sounded like thunder and the mist from the water falling from above, renders you soaking wet! It was so worth the price of admission. I don’t think I have ever experienced anything like it. It was magical and spiritual. We did not bring enough napkins to wipe the smiles off our faces!
The Maid of the Mist is North America’s oldest tourist attraction.
Consider the following, and let it sink in…
According to the official Niagara State Park Website, a mind-boggling 681,750 gallons of water goes over just the the Horseshoe Falls section of Niagara each and every second.
Yes, you read that right. Well over 1/2 million gallons flow over just the Horseshoe Falls section of Niagara every second of every day!
Not in a day. Not in an hour. Not even in a minute.
That’s every second!
What’s more, another 75,750 gallons flow over the American and Bridal Veil sections every second as well.
Those two amounts added together come to 757,500 gallons.
That means over 3/4 of a million gallons of water flow over the entirety of Niagara Falls every second of every day!
But you didn’t ask how much water flows over the edge in every second. You asked about an entire day.
Let’s do a little math…
There are 86,400 seconds in a day.
757,500 gallons of water flow over Niagara Falls every second.
If we multiply 86,400 by 757,500 we get 65,448,000,000.
That means almost 65 and a half billion gallons of water flows over Niagara Falls during every 24 hour time-span!
Notice that I said billions, not millions.
Pretty incredible, right?
We gathered ourselves back together and walked back to the car. It was still cool enough that Jim managed well. Our next adventure will take us over the Rainbow Bridge and into Canada. I had seen and researched a place in Victoria Park called the Butterfly Conservatory. It is one of the largest glass-enclosed butterfly conservatories in North America. This magical attraction features over 2,000 colourful tropical butterflies floating freely among lush, exotic blossoms and greenery. Paths wind through the rainforest setting, past a pond and waterfall and the Emergence window, where butterflies leave their pupae and prepare to take their first flight!
I wanted to go here, so Jim entertained my wanderlust and dropped me off as he went and found a nice shady spot in the park to read. Men just don’t get it! 😂
We ended our adventure with a trip to the casino where we left a small donation to support the Canadian economy. 🇨🇦😂 A short 30 minute trip back across the Rainbow Bridge took us through customs and across the border back into the USA.
Our very Special Day in Niagara Falls both in America and in Canada was spectacular! It definitely will hold a special place in both of our hearts and the memories will last for the rest of our lives. We are so blessed and I for one never, ever take any of this for granted.
Our last day in New York will take me too, guess where? Ugh…The dentist. 9 days ago I broke one of my crowns. You might think it’s not a big deal, but it was a front tooth and I seriously looked like a crackhead when I smiled. I managed to keep the part that broke and Mickey Moused it with Walmart tooth cement until I could be seen. I was in Ohio when it happened and not one dentist could see me. I worked my way through a few states and found a great dentist who could get me in. He fixed my tooth and I am back to smiling confidently. Thank you Dr. Havens.
So, this is the end of this leg of our adventure. We have been in 9 states and one province in Canada. We have driven 1,685 miles. We have laughed, and I have cried, a few times. We’ve been to meetings in small towns, and embraced the tribes we have met along the way. We have seen beauty, and experienced magic. Life is so good.
I will post another blog in a few weeks as we make our way to The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone!
Thanks for coming along for the ride!
❤️Kim and Jim
