This was not a typical birthday for me as I am normally off doing something or being with lots of friends but this year all day was spent preparing for departure the next day. I started working on things about seven thirty in the morning barely having a cup of coffee as I knew there was much work to do to finish up the remodel on the RV and then to stock it with everything.
I worked on building a new cup holder and place to store items in the cab as the plastic one did not hold a cup well and I spilled a drink driving it to the house so I knew I needed to remove the original one and build a wooden one that suited my needs. That took several hours of the morning and there was a misty rain falling so going back and forth from the saw to the RV reminded me of the song, “Raindrops keep falling on my head.”
Finishing up the RV took a lot of work and with that the usual complications found on any project. I have had a new toilet for a couple of months sitting nicely inside its shipping box. When I ordered it there were pretty pictures of the front and the water and waste controls but none with the position of the water supply. The old one’s supply line came up vertically from the floor straight into the inlet adapter but the new inlet was pointed horizontally out the back with no way to make a conversion to the water line. Frustration was starting but I quickly went to plan B and cleaned up the old one and re-installed it. It was now about two in the afternoon as I started finishing the trim in the bedroom.
I worked on trim, stocking, and ran into the next hurdle, the water heater. I tore out the old six gallon heater and replaced it with a new propane tank-less heater I installed in a cabinet in the bedroom. I ran water and a gas line to the location of the old heater’s plumbing. Naturally no leaks but for some reason the igniter didn’t fire off so no hot water. I fooled around with that for several hours trying to get the batteries combination the right way as I could not tell on the appliance. I tried several things but will have to wait and call the factory support on Monday.
Packing, stocking and trying to arrange things blew through the rest of my birthday falling to sleep around two thirty in the morning. I’m hoping to finish up in the morning and depart by around noon.
Departure Day 4/08/2018
It was early to rise with a quick cup of coffee and back to work just after seven am. Stocking and arranging things took most of the morning and my sister wanted to meet and grab a quick lunch before both of us headed out in different directions. The morning and early afternoon was misting rain with the occasional wind gust leaving one damp running back and forth stocking things. The last of the work was done installing the dinette table, securing the two gas cans and cooler to the rear luggage rack and it was time to go. Not exactly as I had planned but luckily the drive to the first stop in Cherokee North Carolina was only about an hour and a half away.
Official departure time was 5:15 pm.
Leaving Helen the sky brightened with clouds and bits of blue sky as the drive north through the foothills in Clayton Georgia crossing into North Carolina just after six. It has been years since I played in this area spending several years here when I worked and flew hang gliders for Tut Woodruff who owned Hang Glider Heaven in Clayton and lived on Lake Burton. We flew there and several places in North Carolina during that time so these roads and fields were like seeing an old friend.
The police were out in all the small towns, Clayton, Dillard, and Sylvia along the way just like years ago earning their town money from people in a hurry. It was a steady climb up and over the mountain and the beauty of the river outside Sylva was breathtaking with the dogwoods, cherry trees and other blooming along the roadway. Arriving in Cherokee around seven the place was pretty quiet with just a few people milling around driving past the casino and along the river to the campground.
The campsite sits along a river where you can hear the sounds of water crashing along the rocky bottom. This is about eight miles out of town in the surrounding mountains. The camp host left a note on the office door with the site number so there was no one around. The camper next to this one was just coming back when I backed into the slot and he started a campfire. I made the hookups and settled in for the night after the long last couple of days leading up to hitting the road.
First “meal” on the road, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, lol. Too tired to cook and not sure where everything is yet so cooking will have to wait until this trip progresses. Hopefully a much needed good night's sleep and visit the Indian museum tomorrow before hitting the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Asheville, North Carolina.