Fort Campbell, KY

We departed the banks of the French Broad River in Asheville, NC at about 9:00 am and rode the ridges of the Smoky Mountains into Fort Campbell, KY. Woke up this morning to a water leak from the water pump under our bed. If we have learned anything so far it is to expect the unexpected and come prepared with the proper tools. After lots of cramming, shoving, prying and lifting I think Billy was able to fix the leak. We certainly don't have the beautiful scenery here at Fort Campbell, but the campground showers are nice. We are without cable TV so Billy is currently struggling to hook up our satellite dish as I compose. Just for information for other campers.,..the cable is just temporarily down at the moment; however, they do not have WiFi, and it is $20.00 per night. Yikes! Too much! We drove through blinding rain storms today, and it was tedious driving through Nashville. I did make the homemade pimento cheese for Billy so Life is Good Today!

French Broad River Campground, Asheville, NC

This morning was another lazy day morning enjoying being on the French Broad River. The campground has RV spaces that look out over the French Broad River, and the view is beautiful. I have very high standards for campground showers; however, and have chosen to use the bath in our camper at this campground. After lazing around we went to Arden Woods (Assisted Living) to visit my first cousin, Freida and John David. We enjoyed the "bestest" lunch complete with fresh linens, waiters and the works. They had a beautiful varied menu to chose from and an accomplished chef. I would say that Freida and John David have it good being there. I want to put my name on the wait list.

We returned to the camper and I had to do a quick houseclean before we break camp tomorrow morning. Not bad.....can clean the entire camper top to bottom in thirty minutes. My kind of cleaning. After cleaning we twirled through the mountains again (Maggie got car sick this time.) and went for one last visit with Uncle Jim and Francie. Uncle Jim prepared a delicious meal of fresh grilled salmon with cheese, tomato casserole, potatoes and bread. We were too stuff to enjoy his apple pie but he sent it back to the camper with us. Like good family, I toted two loads of laundry to finish at Uncle Jim's while we were eating dinner. I kissed Uncle Jim, Francie, Sonny (the OLD mostly crippled lab), and Fred (the toothless dancer) good bye and we will leave here tomorrow morning for Fort Campbell, KY. Thanks for stopping by. Life is Good Today.

Downtown Asheville, NC

On Wednesday we slept in to the sounds of the river rushing past and then carved a path through the mountains to a Wal Mart. I am certain we will explore each and every Wal Mart from FL to the great North West as we travel. After Billy twirled me around the mountain roads on the return trip to the camper I was sufficiently car sick and had to take a mid morning nap. Poor Billy was about to buy some of the premade pimento cheese and I told him that I couldn't eat that stuff and bought the ingredients to make the homemade variety. Got to make that pimento cheese for him today. I was doing a little happy dance through the isles of Wal Mart after I found some locally made liver mush to put in our little freezer.

We made our way to Uncle Jim and Francie's house and sat around and swapped lies for a bit. Their "Katrina" rescued dog has passed away and they have 2 more rescue dogs. Sonny, the black lab was rescued from a shelter that he had been in for 5 years. He is 10 years old and has liver issues but he is still very alert. Just needs some help getting up and down. Little Fred Astaire is also 10 years old but acts like a puppy. She was rescued with serious worms and gum disease. She doesn't have a tooth in her head and her little mouth looks funny. Uncle Jim and Francie freely admit that they are operating a "Doggie Hospice." Thank goodness for people like them. We all went into downtown Asheville and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a Cuban restaurant complete with desserts! Life is Goood Today. Thanks for stopping by.

French Broad River - Asheville, NC

We left the shores of Lake Wylie yesterday at about 10:00 am and made our way into the mountains. It was a growth experience for us because we have never pulled the camper into the mountains. Didn't have a problem though so we will drive on up to the northwest without concern. We did realize that you can't lollygag down the road while driving these curvy mountain roads like you can on our flat Florida highways. The drive was beautiful as a gawked at the wild flowers and white pines along the sides of the road. What a pleasant surprise when we arrived at the campground to find that our picture window on the camper backs up on a beautiful section of the French Broad River. Do wonder what was the name of that French Broad???? After arriving I announced that I would be happy to stay put right here in the camper for the next three days. So peaceful and relaxing and we even have a large family of Mallards on the river. I would like to say that the Mallards make me feel right at home but the weather here is quite pleasant and not at all blistering hot like it is at home. Speaking of home, we breathed a sigh of relief when we heard yesterday that our newest named storm will not go into the Gulf of Mexico.

Uncle Jim and Francie picked us up and we all went to a lovely restaurant in town. We sat around after dinner and swapped stories and then returned to the camper for more stories and watermelon on the banks of the river. I must say once again that "Life is Good Today." Maggie likes it here and jumped the rocks with me in the river yesterday. We will probably let her swim today! Thanks for stopping by.

Alexis, NC

8:00am came very early this morning when I left to pick up my brother for the family reunion. We met about 10 Stroupe's in Alexis, NC and took them to a cemetery in somebody's front yard where we believe that Adam and Jacob are buried. My were the folks living in that house surprised to wake up and find us stomping around in their yard. Some of the grave markers are just field stones and we are most certain that two of the field stones are Jacob's and Adam's as "old" Solomon is buried there. Then we took them to a cemetery that is about 100 yards in the woods after driving through a trailer park. The folks who were with us who had never seen these places were amazed. Then we took them where we had to hike through the woods....hike being the operative word. We needed a machete to get through the briars and posion ivy that I am sure to be covered in......about a half mile to some of our Stroupe markers that are covered in blackberry vines. A good time was had by all. We returned to the Baptist Church where the reunion was held. Since it was a good Southern Baptist Church I knew they wouldn't mind my giving myself a good foot and calve washing to hopefully remove the poison ivy I had wallored in. Is that how you spell "wallored?" There were about 120 people attending the reunion, and I will never remember all I met. Back "in the day" seems quite a few folks married their first cousins and I covered my ears each time I was introduced to a double cousin. Lots of gossip. My mind is swimming with it. I didn't get back to the camper until 6:00 pm, and I am looking forward to traveling to Asheville, NC tomorrow morning. Billy is such a sweetheart to let me spend the last few days alone with my brother. He is 12 years older than me, and has always been a special part of my life. He is still seeing double and one eye is almost completely closed, so I have been his driver for the week and he introduces me as his seeing eye dog. I will be grateful when we find out what is causing his vision problems. Cousin George Rhyne surprised us all be showing up at the reunion and it was great to see him again. I talked to Lewis Burton on the phone last night and he was in Gastonia playing in a Putt Putt tournament. He was going to try to get over to Alexis, but didn't make it. Hope that means that he was winning. He said he would try to get out of Atlanta in the next few days to come see us in Asheville. Tired....going to bed. Thanks for stopping by. I love you Bubba. You were a Rock Star at the reunion today.

Cherryville, NC

Today was spent with a trip to Cherryville, NC with my brother. We met Uncle Jim and many Stroupe families who have traveled for the first time to Cherryville for the family reunion. We took them on a tour of the Cherryville Museum and then stomped through the Mt. Zion Baptist Church cemetery. My Uncle Jim is the elder of the Stroupe family serving in WWII, Korean War and two tours in Viet Nam. There were just a few of the "clan" in Cherryville today so I fear that tomorrow I am going to meet even more relatives that I didn't know I had. I believe that Billy is truly thankful that he chose to hang out in the RV today instead of cemetery stomping. A good time was had by all and the trip was completed with a good Cherryville hamburger with slaw on it. Yum Yum. After putting my produce stand purchases of fresh peas up in our tiny RV freezer I resisted the urge to stop off again at the produce stand. Billy and I are both stuffed full of fresh fruit! Rushing off to bed because our day begins at 8:00 am as we have to hike through woods in Alexis, NC to show family memories from far away where old Jacob is buried.

Side Trip to Cherryville, NC

My brother and I went to Cherryville, NC today to visit my mom's sister, Aunt Evelyn, in the nursing home. I was so happy that she knew who we were and still has her wonderful sense of humor that she displayed while I sang songs to her. What a beautiful lady. My cousin Nancy met us at Carolina Care, and we all had a great visit. On the way home I stopped at the best produce stand (yes, I have my priorities in order), and bought a gallon of Georgia Belle white peaches, fresh picked blueberries, vine ripened tomatoes, a SWEET smelling cantelope, a bag of fresh picked figs, a bag of white acre peas, purple hulled peas, and butter beans. I have our little refrigerator packed and will have to blanch and freeze the beans tomorrow, but Billy is eating well! Oh how I wish that I had a big kitchen right now, and I would have purchased a bushel of those beautiful figs and put up lots of jars of fig preserves. Life is good today!