Last week I drove up to Indiana for the annual Faerie Picnic. I started out on Wednesday. I didnt get to leave when I wanted to because things just kept happening. So I finally left here at 1pm. I had made a RV reservation at a KOA in Renfro Valley. It was probably a mistake because I felt like I needed to make it to the KOA that I had reservations at and I really needed to stop before then. Well 2 hours into the trip my "check engine" light came on. Great. So I pull off and try to read the owners manual to see what I needed to check. Well ,tons of things. I checked the oil and it was ok. For the life of me I couldnt find the coolant container. I read the owners manual but it wasnt were it said it was.
See the white box, there was suppose to be another one on the opposite side that held the coolant. But its not there. See that thing that looks like a radiator cap on the top right? Well, thats what I thought it was, the radiator cap. But later I found out it was the coolant container and was just plastic.
Anyway, I saw a very large "Camping World" about 13 miles back. So I turned around and went back. I get there only to find out that they dont do any service. (weird huh? I know the "Camping World" here does service) They gave me the name and number to a Freight-liner service center that was not to far away. I called but they couldnt see me until tomorrow. So now what? Do I stay here only 2 hours into my trip, do I go home? So I texted a friend of mine who has an RV and knows lots about them. He told me that as long as the "stop engine" light doesnt come on, that Im ok to continue. So now Ive wasted over 1 hour of daylight. But I continued on. I got through the scary mountains. I-40 through NC is kind of scary. Twisty and lots of grades so you have to watch your speed.
Then onto Tennessee. After I get through the Knoxville area, they are now working on the roads. So now Im stuck in traffic and sometimes stopped. They are re-paving the roads, so everyone has to go down to one lane, multiple times. I get through all that but now its dark. Driving RV's in the dark is hard because the headlights dont really light up the road like a car does. It becomes stressful. I wanted to stop but I had that reservation. Ack. Well I finally make it to the exit for the KOA and its 10pm. It was hard to find the entrance because its dark and the road is small. I passed it the first time and had to turn around. I turn in and its a steep road up. Most KOA's are dark with just a few lights at night. It was hard for me to find the check in building , which was already closed. I go up to the door and they have several signs about checking in after closing. But I couldnt find anything related to me. I call the number and its now 10:30pm. I felt bad but the guy was very nice and said there should be something pinned to the board with my name on it. And sure enough there was, I just some how missed it. Now I had to turn the RV around, because I couldn't read any of the signs in the dark. If I had, I wouldn't have turned in there. I dont know how I got turned around without hitting anything. Then to find the road my campsite was on. I kept stopping and getting out to read the little road signs. I finally find my spot and lucky its a pull thought spot. (Lots of times they are back-in spots). I get in, get leveled, plug in and walk the poor dogs. I have a massive migraine because I never ate dinner or lunch. My head is hurting so much that I feel like Im going to start vomiting. I take my migraine medication and lay on the bed waiting for the nausea to pass. Well I fell asleep and woke up at 4am. The puppy was out free that whole time. She is usually locked in a crate at night. When I look around all the dogs are in bed with me, including the puppy and she hadnt eaten anything. Thank goodness.
I get up the next morning and the KOA is very nice. Now I can see all the signs. LOL. They have a dog park , kind of small but the KOA isnt that big anyway.
Look it has a teeter.
It had a nice pool that looked out over the mountains.
They have a putt-putt golf area.
I walked the dogs around the area. There were several cabins, a kids playground and this "pillow bounce" thing for kids. There was a rooster out that was waking everyone up at 6am. Here is the road I drove up in the dark.
This was taken about 1/2 down the entrance road. It was steep(This is looking up the road. )
This is looking down the entrance road.
This was a very nice KOA. I left early that morning because I still had a ways to go, 4-5 hours.
I made it to Muncie IN , by 2pm. Thank goodness. I was the first traveler to arrive. My college roommate was coming that night too. She was rooming with me in the RV.
Here was my spot for the next 4 days.
The next few days were sent sitting around and talking. Letting the dogs play. Java and Miley wouldnt play with anyone but the puppy had a great time. Lots of young dogs for her to run with.
Her and Heron (this tri-colored sheltie) played a lot.
Everyone who came through the gate was greeted by lots of shelties.
Its funny, there use to be lots of blue shelties at the picnic. Now the black tris and bi's have taken over.
The sheltie on the right, is Java's mother.
The puppy was exhausted by the last day.
The puppy was first scared of the chickens but that didnt last long.
My roommate from college stayed with me. We needed to get a picture together but it never happened. The only picture I got was this one. Sweet.
The white dog is Cowboy and is Java's litter-mate. He and "Moo"(if you know him from agility) look very much the same.
The last day was cooked breakfast in the morning. I broke in my stove and made scrambled eggs. (eggs were from the chickens at Tammy's place). And a couple of other people cooked food too.
This is my roommate , Maribeth. (I hope you(Maribeth) are ok with me posting it. I just want to have it in my memories)
Most people left by early afternoon. Maribeth and I left the next morning. I had an appointment with a diesel engine place to get my check engine light checked.
I got there at 8:30. I was done between 9:30 and 10am. It was just my coolant level that was low. They were the ones who showed me where the coolant was, under that cap that looked like the radiator cap. Man was that an expensive service. Then I started on my way. I was going to try to make it home in one day, about a 10 hour drive. But by the time I got passed Knoxville I was tired and needed to stop. So I pulled off when I saw a sign for an RV park. I called them and they had an open spot. It was 4 miles from the exit. It as called "Anchor Down". It was a beautiful RV campground, that was right on Douglas Lake. The RV spots are on different levels, so lots of people can have views of the lake.
This place was awesome!!
Lots of the RV spots had stone fireplaces.
There were water toys for people to play on in the lake.
It had a very nice pool with a water slide.
There was a dock where people were fishing.
To bad it was cloudy the next morning. I bet the sunrise here is awesome.
I got up early and was on the road by 8am. We made it home without problems. But the ride back through the NC mountains seemed harder. I had to drive 45mph most of the time. Im sure the people behind me were not happy.
