We just had a GREAT weekend camping with Toby, Tammy, Ellie & Hayley. We’re at Caesar Creek State Park just north of Cincinnati and they drove down on Saturday and stayed until Monday afternoon. The weather was just about perfect and we had a great time eating yummy camping food (anything cooked outside), playing silly games with the girls, taking walks and going on “treasure hunts” (geocaching!). Our RV may seem pretty big to some, but it doesn’t really sleep crowds very well (the saying is – 6 for drinks, 4 for dinner, 2 for overnight!). Gary and I elected to stay in the tent – and enjoyed two night of quiet good sleep! I think the kids did OK in Lizzie too!
We had a great apple tree at our site. Just right for “climbing”. (note the death grip Hayley has on the tree!)

This weekend we go to their house and then the following weekend they come and join us at our project – Kings Domain in Oregonia, OH. While we’re here in OH we hope to connect with some other good friends, so it should be a good month. Plus, we will be working with another couple (our last two projects we’ve been the only Sowers on the project), so we’re looking forward to that too!

The campground is quiet this morning. We are almost alone on our little cul-de-sac. This morning we had coffee and devotions while sitting outside in the sun. Ah, the sweetness of it all. This morning I’ll be cutting fabric for Hayley’s bed quilt (Tammy & I got to go shopping on Monday before they left!), and then in the afternoon we’ll be off exploring again. I’ll have to do a big post on our geo-ing adventures. We’ve been having a blast.
In closing, here are a couple of shots of our treasure hunting team from the weekend!

Before we leave Livingston I wanted to share some interesting facts about this little town in middle Tennessee-
Livingston is the hometown of –
Roy Roberts – Blues King
Mike McCully – Space Shuttle Astronaut
Specialist 4 James T. Davis, – the first American killed in the Vietnam War

Livingstonian’s love their pets.
Within the town limits is a large veterinary hospital, Karen’s Doghouse of Beauty, and Creature Comforts Pet Retreat. Plus they also have an “Animal Awareness Association”. (Dear, are you aware that there is a cat sitting in your lap? I don’t know. Just what would an Animal Awareness Association do?)

There are more small cemeteries in this area than I have seen in a long time. We drive by 3 on our way to town and we’ve found caches in four others. They are all family plots that grew to include others, and most have tombstones dating back pre-Civil War. I find them to be very interesting and should start a collection of cemetery photographs.
Here are a couple…..

Speaking of collections of photos – remember the Esto Post office picture? I’ve been thinking about collecting PO pictures too – they come in quite a variety of sizes and shapes. Here is the one in Livingston – a very nice addition to a lovely town square.

And here is one from Kettle, Kentucky (from our jaunt on Saturday).

Like I said, quite a variety!

So, back to Livingston – apart from the lovely afore mentioned town square, they have eight stop lights (all numbered – don’t know what’s up with that?), any number of fast food joints (from Sonic to MickyD’s to Taco Bell), a couple of family restaurants (one with a $6.50 Catfish special on Fridays that was pretty fine!), two dollar stores, 3 grocery stores (or reasonable facsimile thereof) and No Walmart. And it’s sort of a “gateway” to Dale Hollow Lake. All in all, a very nice little town. Come and see it sometime (though I haven’t noticed any Holiday Inns nearby!).

So we head out tomorrow. The awning is in, the outside shades are off the windows, and most of our “stuff” has been stowed away in it’s traveling position. It’s always sad to leave new friends, but this time we are excited to be on the go. Not because we haven’t had a good time here (we did!) or met some wonderful people (we have) – but because Friday we are meeting up with these guys for a weekend of camping!

Since this was going to be our last weekend in this area, we took Saturday to see more of the local sights. One that I had really wanted to see was Dale Hollow Lake – a huge reservoir north of here that crosses into Kentucky. On the way we stopped at the Alvin C. York State Park (you remember him, he’s was one of the most decorated WWI heros and a pretty interesting guy to boot! Read about him here.) From there we headed to Cordell Hull Birthplace. (If you haven’t a clue about Cordell (I didn’t), he was the longest running Secretary of State and is credited with starting the United Nations. See, you learn something new every day here at rvthereyet.org!) And guess what else was at The Cordell Hull Birthplace? You guessed it – a geocache! We picked up a couple more caches along the way, but eventually we made it to Dale Hollow Lake. We entered on the KY side because that’s where several trails were that we wanted to hike. And hike we did! I think we must have done about 5 miles – one of the trails led to this beautiful overlook –

While I was enjoying the view, (Gary was back hunting for a cache) I was struck with how much beauty there is in this country. Not just in the well known places – Blue Ridge Mountains, Big Sur, the Grand Canyon, but in so many unexpected places along the way. Sometimes just rounding the bend on a new road we are treated to some eye candy. And Dale Hollow Lake is one of those unexpected pleasures that God blessed us with. Man, I love this life!
Here are some other random shots from our day out….

With 130 campers running around, it’s pretty tough to stay on top of “pool maintenance”. So, I have been moved to Lawn Maintenance. Yes, the girl that somehow managed to never even get on the riding mower when we lived in Jamison, has spent the last four days cutting lawn with a zero-turn lawn mower. Here I am – Mower Steph (with a view of some of my domain!)

Ten things that I have learned while mowing acres and acres of grass….

1. The “zero turn” thing? Well it’s a little easier said than done.
2. Young campers are prone to enter your mowing area. Stop and find a new patch to mow. There is always somewhere you can mow.
3. Straight line mowing is highly over-rated. I personally think that a nice scallop to the lines adds interest.
4. Sunscreen
5. And if you forgot the sunscreen on the first day, DO NOT forget it on the subsequent days.
6. No matter how carefully you turn, there will be times when you eat grass. Or dirt. Or bugs.
7. Fingers usually stop tingling within 3 hours of turning off the mower.
8. There is nothing quite as lovely as the sound generated after turning off the mower.
9. “Getting close” to trees and bushes takes a lot of practice and usually best left to those more experienced. (Sorry about that little Bradford pear…….)
10. Mowing provides a great opportunity to catch up with your prayer time. After all, who else can hear you? (Just don’t close your eyes and fold your hands!)

Oh – and my tan is really coming along!

This morning was one of those picture perfect mornings. I carried my camera with me to take some shots – here’s the best one.

(and yes, I even mowed the island!)

When I have a better internet connection I’ll try to upload some of the others so you can see our home base for July.
No big plans for the weekend – it’s time for some household chores for sure! Watch out dust bunnies!

Well, my tan is coming along nicely! But I think I’m moving off of Pool Maintenance and on to camper registration this week. Both the Day Camp (about 60 5-12 year olds) and Residence Camp (about 80 13-18) will be in full swing this week. Did I mention we’re parked between the boys cabins and the bath house? We get a fair bit of traffic around here.

We did have a good week – followed by a good weekend. I’ve been busy sewing on some different projects and am about ready to start on some Christmas presents. Sssshhh – don’t tell the kids! We did have some truck “issues” – our A/C died. What a sorrowful thing here in July in Tennessee! It was pretty expensive, but at least Gary was able to do the install himself. Now it seems to need a tune-up. So much for the “auto maintenance” budget!

But what a fun weekend! We were joined by friends John & Rosie who live in Nashville, and we spent Saturday introducing them to geocaching. I think we might have them hooked! Plus we fit in a couple of wineries – and had a lovely drive through the Tennessee countryside. This is really a beautiful state – it reminds me some of Vermont (but without those harsh winters!). John and Rosie had come from Nashville on their motorcycle (we left it at the Cracker Barrel and drove around in our truck with the windows down!!!). Here is a shot of Rosie – and even though you haven’t a clue who is in that big black bubble, we can call it our group shot!

Sunday we worshipped at The River again and then did some more geocaching. (Yes, we do seem to be addicted!). There were so many right around town – plus some in lovely little parks. The two that we could not find last week continue to stump us. I think we’ll probably give it another try next time we’re in town. I think they should have beepers on them that get louder when you get close!
Here are a couple of shots from our treasure hunt today. I guess you can tell that Gary does most of the hunting while I do most of the “photo journaling”! I did actually find one in the woods today – that was pretty cool!
The treasure wasn’t right at these mini falls – but they were so pretty I couldn’t resist. And this park was right in the city limits of Cookeville! Amazing!

This little park was right in downtown. Gary was busy retrieving a 35mm film canister from the magnolia tree while I was enjoying the roses.

Can you tell why we like this new hobby?