this little piggy........

   Friday afternoon, Sandy,(the campin' dog), Les, and I set  out to a "van dwellers" pig roast / camping trip for the weekend.  We started out driving our (yes Dear, OUR) bus on the high way.  That turned into a one lane road, then,......... yup you guessed  it, a single wide dirt road.  On the highway I get nervous so it is best for everyone if I spend my time reading instead of freaking out that the trucks are too close to us. Yeah my depth perception is off.  On the way to the national forest we pass the white water rapids where the '96 Olympics took place. The flood gates had not recently been opened so we saw a bunch of rocks, not too many white caps.    I have been lucky enough to see the kayakers, and rafters enjoying the rapids in the past.

    Les, Sandy and I arrived at the camp ground, said our hellos, and cooked our supper.  After we set up the bus for sleeping we sat around the camp fire and enjoyed the company of new and old friends.  I had some interesting conversations about hiking, mushrooms, and Indian cultures.

     Let me tell ya a little something about "van dwelling" folk.  These are a great group of interesting people.  Living in a van/RV/camper..... is their CHOICE.  A few of the people that were at the get together live in their van full time.  A few others are part timers, tossing around the idea of living this lifestyle full time.  A couple of us are waiting until the time is right.

     Of course I didn't sleep well Friday night in the bus.  Les recently put a futon in it so we could sleep somewhat comfortably.  Our home on wheels has a stove, sink, heater, and a head.  All the convinces of home. We have a solar shower and a portable refrigerator too.

      Saturday morning we woke to the pitter patter of rain falling on the metal roof. Getting dressed with the futon in the bed position, and the 70 pound dog was a challenge in the limited space, but I made do.

     The men prepped the pig.  Injected and brushed the beast with BBQ sauce. They stuck it on the home made rotisserie, and it started cooking.  I found the craftsmen ship of the rotisserie, and BBQ pit very interesting.  Someone did a ton of research and home work.  One person turned that little swine every 10 minutes.  I asked if these men had ever done this before. The response I got was "no but we seen it on you tube".  Now y’all know if you watch something on the Internet that automatically makes you a pro at it.  (yes, I am kidding.  Don't try this at home:-))  Now we wait impatiently for grilled pork.

    

 Les set out on a hike with a few other campers, to check out a couple of old chimneys in the middle of the woods.  I had seen them before when we were here, so my dog & I went for a walk. I wanted to take some pictures of an interesting flower I saw on the way in.  Sandy wanted to explore   the woods, but after the conversation the group just had I didn't think that was a good idea. Believe it or not, I cannot outrun a bear.

     We waited and waited, and waited for the pork to be cooked.  A couple people showed us how to make a stove out of cans.  Then we waited and waited and waited for a member of our group to show up with a meat thermometer. We could wait no longer.  Our gang needed FOOD!!! Someone was nice enough to share his popcorn made over the camp fire. 

     After the thermometer showed up we waited even more.  When it was done, the big strong men carried the pig over to the table, where it was skillfully carved by a lady from Germany who reminds me of my grandma Meta.  Anyway, the deliciousness of the meat was well worth the wait.  We all enjoyed our feast around the camp fire.

   

   Sunday morning one member of our group made everyone a delicious breakfast of bacon and French toast.  We said our byes, and headed from the warmth of the camp fire, back to the bus.  Sandy knew we were leaving; she was having no part of it.  I did, however, convince her to climb aboard.  She jumped on our bed, and didn't move until I push her out the bus door when we got home.

     On our way down the mountain we noticed the river was low. Yeah, they opened the damn. There were kayakers and folks rafting down the river. 

 Les, and I arrived home safely, unloaded the bus, did the normal end of a great weekend stuff, and here I am prepping a blog about a great weekend getaway.

Battle Creek (nice pics too)

     Sunday morning my husband and I knew we wanted to do something outside. We pulled up the weather, 40 % chance of rain. We both know had we decided to go kayaking that percent would instantly go up to 100.  That's just the way it goes. My husband, Les, needed to get some parts for OUR camper/ bus/ work truck/ flee market vehicle. He is installing a sink in it. He decided we would head Lowe's.  We would find someplace to take a little walk too.

  

     We got ready, and headed down the mountain up to Kimble TN. Just over the bridge, at the bottom of the mountain, Les turned into a park / boat ramp that  is on the Chattanooga River.  Les had a conversation with a man who was launching his fishing boat. Les and I strolled around the park for a little bit. I was drawn to an old what use to be a bridge of some sort. Maybe it was an old railroad bridge. Anyway I thought it was interesting, so I took a few pictures of it. The bridge/tunnel gave me an idea for a blog about graffiti, NO not this blog:-).

    My hubby drove up the street a little ways to a place called TVA Battle creek recreation area. We had been here in the beginning of the summer, my feet were not dressed for walking, and I was sun burnt, so we didn't walk very far. This time, I planned ahead and wore sneakers. 

     You can't drive on the gravel path.    We parked in the little lot, next to one other car. As we began our walk we noticed someone, or several someone's, had driven on this driveway. There is clearly a sign stating no vehicle traffic. Oh well, I'm not the Battle Creek police.

      As we began our journey I noticed several unique pieces of God's art work, interesting vine, colorful flowers here and there. The woods are very thick and wet. There were twists in the road. This made it more interesting for me because I couldn't see too far ahead. There was a new surprise around every corner.

 

     We chatted with a lady and her three dogs.  Her dogs were very happy to see us. They shared their mud with us:-).  The dogs' owner told us the trail was about a mile or so long. Cool, we can do that. Yeah, of course we can, we've hiked MT Washington. We continued our stroll along the path, and came across a very thick swamp. It was obvious the water along the creek and swamp had been much deeper.

     Les and I arrived at an old rail road track; we noticed a sign stating we were leaving TVA property. Way in the distance there was a house. At that point a truck came around the bend, and headed for the house. That explains the tire tracks. The TVA path must be a right of way for the house. I wouldn't mind living back there.

  

     I enjoyed our Sunday stroll down TVA Battle Creek recreation area. We discussed camping there. You do here the traffic at the beginning of the road, so I can't imagine that would be too appealing to a camper looking for peace and quiet. I have to assume it could get awfully buggy too, with all the standing water and thick forest.