SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!!
…….or is it?
As I was writing this in Pittsburgh, looking out the window, there were SNOW FLURRIES in the air! But on the CALENDAR it was the day before the first day of spring!
We are excited to start camping again with our “yellow submarine” as we like to call it – our Airstream trailer! We kept it in Florida for the winter, and we went two weeks ago to get it and bring it back to Pittsburgh. As we headed north, our first stop was at a campground in McDonough, Georgia.
We arrived safely, and when I went inside to “set up shop”, I noticed that under our quilts on our beds there was just a mattress cover! NO SHEETS??? It hit me right away that I had washed and folded the sheets, but never put them on the beds! In fact, I could picture them sitting RIGHT where I left them…IN FLORIDA! So, we knew for that night that we would be sleeping either on top of the quilts or on top of the mattress cover! In the meantime, we headed off to a Wal Mart to buy new sheets….
After dinner, we noticed that the thermostat was reading F/C??? Having no idea what that meant, we got out the manual, and after a few minutes, realized that it means FAULTY CONNECTION! (that never sounds good, does it?). It was getting chilly and we wanted to put the heat on….one thing we found out very quickly is that F/C does NOT let you put any heat on!!! Leonard called the 24 hour trailer service line and quickly realized that it wasn’t something WE could fix!
UNFORTUNATELY for us, the temperatures were going to be in the LOW 30s that night!! SO…we bundled up under blankets on top of our quilts and went to bed… About 3am, Leonard woke up and just decided to go look at the thermostat, and guess what??? THE F/C WAS GONE AND HE TURNED ON THE HEAT AND IT WORKED!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!
The next morning, after being toasty warm the rest of the night, the thermostat read F/C again – but we had heat MOST OF THE NIGHT!
Our next stop was Sevierville, Tennessee, and on the way we wanted to stop and have lunch with our friends, Ken and Laura, who live near Atlanta…not knowing where to get off the highway and meet was the question (you can’t just pull off anywhere with a truck and a trailer!). We decided to meet them right off the exit to where they live because there is a big Wal Mart and a couple of restaurants there. It was easy to park in the Wal Mart parking lot, and after lunch, we purchased a small space heater!!!!
After a nice and YUMMY lunch, we headed on up the highway to Tennessee – arriving safely at the campground! When we were all settled in, and after a nice walk and dinner in the trailer, it was time to settle in for the night. After looking at the weather to see the temperatures overnight, we knew it would be cold again – THE LOW WAS GOING TO BE 29 DEGREES! brrrrrr…. As we looked at the thermostat again, guess what??? IT WAS WORKING AGAIN!!!!! We had heat ALL night again – and then the next morning, it read F/C again! Thank you GOD!
There was an Airstream dealership just 15 minutes from our campground! We were thrilled, thinking they would take a look at the trailer for us and see if they could help – unfortunately they would not help us…Leonard started looking for Airstream dealers between Tennessee and home! There is a HUGE dealership in Ohio, which Leonard calls the “MOTHER SHIP” – it’s five hours from home – so he called to talk to them and a WONDERFUL man named Ty helped him – after explaining the situation with thermostat, Ty knew which parts we needed and said that if we could find a dealership to go to, he would OVERNIGHT the parts to them !! WOW – thank you GOD!
Since we had a day to spend in Tennessee, we headed over to Gatlinburg (my FAVORITE place ever!) and decided to try a hike that I had done several times with my family when I was growing up – it’s called ALUM CAVE BLUFF and is 2.3 miles UP a mountain! We know FULLY how old we are, and decided that we would give it our best but if we couldn’t make it all the way, that would be okay – GUESS WHAT? WE MADE IT! Here are some photos of the gorgeous scenery along the way – it was a hard hike and VERY steep a lot of the way – LOTS of steps also – we were so proud of ourselves!
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After searching, we found a dealership in Richmond, VA and realized that, if they were willing to help us, we could re-route our trip home and go through there! IT’S ALWAYS A YELLOW SUBMARINE ADVENTURE! Leonard called them, and they were just as wonderful as Ty in Ohio! This was Tuesday morning and they said we could bring the trailer in on Thursday! OFF WE WENT! Packed up and headed to Virginia – neither of us had ever been to Richmond, so here we go! We found a nice campground and spent two full days there – the Airstream dealership fixed our trailer in THREE hours! AND…..we found out that not only was the thermostat in the FRONT of the trailer defective (we needed a whole new thermostat), but the BACK thermostat was also not working because of a wire that wasn’t properly connected! TWO different issues at the same time! Our technician, Joshua, was AWESOME and fixed them BOTH! AGAIN, THANK YOU GOD!
Sorry to make this so long, but we were just AMAZED at all of the blessings the Lord gave us along the way – wow! We enjoyed a full day after the repairs by going to Williamsburg for the day – what a great time it was! The funny part is that he day we got the thermostat fixed the temperature was EIGHTY degrees!
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The trip back to Pittsburgh went smoothly – we were safe and had NO other issues or problems! On the way home, we talked a lot about the way everything happened, and how it all worked out so amazingly!! Each day the thermostat read F/C and each COLD night, the heat worked!
Thanks SO much for taking the time to read this – we are looking forward to the adventures we have coming up – next we are taking the trailer to the Masters Golf Tournament, and then back out west in May and June! I can’t wait to see some more of our beautiful country and also experience all that God has in store for us! We KNOW that God will go before us and we look forward to what we will see and do!! SO GLAD YOU’LL ALL COME ALONG!
UNTIL NEXT TIME….
You guys sure are troopers! George and I hiked that very same trail in our honeymoon 21 years ago! I’d love to go back an hike in the great smoky mountains again!
Love this post and how God provided and you guys changed course as necessary. I can clearly see that patient and perseverance are both necessary when traveling with an RV!
Glad you’re home safely!
❤️Mary Kay
It’s an amazing trail isn’t it!? wouldn’t it be fun to do it all together! you should go back and do it!! God was so good to us!
Thanks for the inspiring post and welcome home! Great is His faithfulness!!!
Thank YOU for reading it all – haha! yes, HE IS GREAT!
Glad you got back safely! Beautiful pictures!
Thanks – just wait until we get to do all this together! NOT LONG NOW!
Another awesome adventure. You kept me reading!!! Amazing stuff!
Thanks for all that reading – it was too long!
That trail looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for reading! The trail we hiked was hard but AMAZING!
God is good, all the time! Looking forward to “going along” with you 2 again and seeing all the fun stuff you find to do!
YES HE IS!!!
Wow! How amazing that you had heat when you needed it! God does have His hand on us all the time! The hike looked amazing and I love Williamsburg! Makes me want to book a hotel.😉 (we would not do well as campers)
Glad you had so much fun even though you had to deal w a repair.
DOn’t sell yourself short – you may LOVE camping! haha
I wish we had gotten together when you were in FL! We always go to church at FBC McDough if we pass through on a Sunday. They are so welcoming!
Good to know about FBC McDonough!
I always love your adventures! And I’m so glad you’re documenting it! Every detail, God is good and has you covered. For as many miles as you have logged so far I have to say you both are such good planners! You’ve only forgotten a tool kit (inside) and maybe some electric blankets. I’d say that’s pretty good!😊
You are funny – even though we plan, there ARE those times when I forget! haha. But I agree….we’re not doing too bad for two old people!
Thanks for the update and the pictures! we used to hike Alum Cave Bluff as kids! please stop by Decatur sometime when going through Atlanta. love y’all!
Next time we will stop for sure!!!!
Remember Alum Cave Bluff? I sat up there and thought about our families and Gatlinburg!
I love reading your posts! I especially love your testimony of the Lord at work in the details of your trip.
Thank you for taking the time to read!!!
Let the adventures begin! Love the way God blessed you with a working thermostat at just the right time. So awesome! Gatlinburg is gorgeous!
It really was SUCH a God thing!
Such an amazing adventure! So glad we got to see you guys for a little bit! I love all the photos, such beautiful scenery! God is so good and I think it’s pretty awesome how you always give Him the glory!
It was SO fun being together that day wasn’t it!!!
I’m so happy for you and your big yellow submarine. It certainly sounds like a great adventure. What’s next on the trail?? Can’t wait for more pictures 😊
Hi!! We are headed to the Masters Golf Tournament with the trailer in a couple weeks, and then back across the country in May and June! some of the same places as last year, but some different/new ones too! Can’t wait!
I’m so proud of you. That hike looked hard. Well done. I’d love to go to Williamsburg some day. I’d love to hear more about that.
The hike was really hard, but i wanted to do it as a memory of doing it with my parents as a kid! You would LOVE Williamsburg!
I enjoyed reading your adventures and praising God with you for His care of you in the details. He is truly our good good Father and worthy of our complete trust. You and Leonard are amazing, I don’t think Tom and I would do as well under the same circumstances. Can’t wait to hear more and see more of your pictures this year.
Thanks for those kind words – we absolutely LOVE the trailer and camping all over the place – weren’t sure we would, but we are hooked!
So cool to hear how God provided exactly what you needed when you needed it! Fun to follow along and see your pictures of the cool places you visited. Can’t wait to be part of your travels when we go together in October!
we will have SO much fun!
Canned Sardines and Vienna Sausages.
(You know what I mean…lol)
i thought about both of those things up there! 🙂
I agree with all the sweet comments posted by everyone else but wanted to give a shout out to you for the pants you were wearing on the hike! Haha! Totally impressed by your fashion sense AND your hiking abilities!
Chris, I am cracking up as i read your comment about my leggings!!! haha