Last Monday I left off in Nashville, TN - Happy New Year!
We start off the New Year with a bike ride where Azlan and Ted rode attached (see picture). I wrote down my goals and made a plan out for the week to get plenty of exercise with Ted (since Azlan was taking his first adventurous trip without either of us...that's right - we sent him to Miami with Vovo and Vovo for 3 weeks!!!) - Tee Hee!!! After a visit with Epic Friends, we depart Nashville to Clarksville - sans Azlan.
01/02/19 Hello Clarksville, TN!
We arrive in Clarksville, TN (Ft. Campbell) and abruptly stop at a very rickety looking bridge with a weight limit of 9 tons. Well, we have #theglamper, the trailer and the #Jeep(18 tons)....we are NOT taking that risk. Ted backs up beautifully and we go the long way to our campsite....just outside the skeet range...which means shotguns....hmmmmm. We get by with a few scares and a few laughs :) All in all, we had what we needed at the MWR campsite and we were fairly well located for what we did.
We meet a new baby and spend good times with friends catching up. I even got to build furniture - this makes me happy! A few #Zumba classes, a boxing class, spinning, and long walks combined with lots of silence, petting horses, tasting epic German food and plenty of quality time as a couple made Clarksville an absolutely lovely experience! We even checked out some cool planes, tanks, guns and choppers out on the base lawn before we took off.
01/07/19 Hello Chattanooga, TN!
Shit! It happened AGAIN! Another flat tire on the trailer. While a PIMA (pain in my ass), we know how to solve the problem so no big deal - this time we don't have a cow over it. We stay at the #HolidayTravelPark in Chattanooga. Our first full day begins fabulously with some close friends and their adorable daughter. We go explore Civil War battlefields (#Chattanooga and #Chickamauga). Ted and I LOVE history - so we are pretty happy here. Especially after we went to chch.oncell.com where they have an audio tour that you can play on your phone and it has all the audio written on the site (if you prefer to read) along with pictures, maps and much more. Since the National Parks were closed (the visitors centers and facilities) due to the government shut down, the website with audio tour were absolutely perfect! Interesting Fact: President Abraham Lincoln's brother-in-law, Confederate Brig. Gen. Benjamin Helm, was mortally wounded at these battle fields. Moving on, we go to Lookout Mountain which was the turning point for the Union Army to overpower the Chattanooga area. I rolled down a hill, stomped in some mud and off we went for a gourmet dinner cooked by our very own chef (it pays to have talented friends)!!!
#snoopersrocktrail was next on our list. If you like to hike, the first big view you get here is phenomenal. It's a good little workout too. We must give credit to the #alltrails (@alltrails) app. We have found some sweet hikes on the app and its easy to use!
Tire is fixed, off we go with hopes to see our friends again one day!
01/10/19 Hello Guntersville, AL!
We roll into #lakeguntersville State Park with no problems. The very first thing I expect to see when I open the front window shade is a beautiful view of the lake...instead my attention is sidetracked to the Jeep - WTF!?!?!?!? ROTFLMAO!!!!! The #jeep got #toiletpapered!!! I thought this was pretty funny, Ted, however, did not :/
Since, I found humor in it, I offered to clean it up while I froze my patootie off! Burrrrr! We close up the slides and roll out to get #theglamper repaired. The window in our bedroom was coming unglued from the frame. As the temperatures were pretty low, and the chill coming in through the inch-wide gap in the window was quite unpleasant, we thought it was worth it to get an immediate fix. Well, these guys sucked but gave us our money back when they couldn't fix the problem so it pretty much made that a wash. Anyways, after a few days of chilling (enjoying silence, cuddles, phenomenal sunsets and #qigong on the dock, good times with more friends), we have our Saturday party which is absolutely lovely! #oldfriends and #newfriends were welcomed alike and we had an absolute blast with last minute cabin rentals and a few stumbles in the woods. The next few days roll by with workouts, lunches with friends, meal prepping, and one of the most beautiful #sunsets either Ted or I have ever seen! Oh! Almost forgot! We found out who toilet papered the Jeep! However, we should have #planetsecurityusa install some cameras on the Glamper as it would have been pretty neat to catch them on video!
Notice we haven't really mentioned Azlan...that's because he's still in Miami with Vovo and Vovo and uncle D having the time of his life! He went to a fun jump place, fishing, swimming, boating, visiting friends and family and even an awesome helicopter ride over Miami thanks to pilot (@rafamatos01)!!! We miss our little guy but we know he is in very good hands and we are all #havingthetimeofourlives !!!
01/17/19 Hello Again Pensacola, FL!
This time we stay at the #pensacolabeachrvresort (@pensacolabeachrvresort) - Daaaannnngggggg - totally worth the extra bucks for the beachfront view. I think I can make this statement on behalf of Ted and I: We fell a little bit in love with #pensacola on our second visit. Perhaps we could park ourselves there for a little while (like a year or so)...maybe....in about a year or so.....we'll see what happens.
We start off with a lovely morning workout pushing the Jeep around the parking lot followed by amazing breakfast burritos at #thedoghousepensacola. We link up with old friends and much aloha and also meet some amazing new friends. Ted and I have a few nights out on the town like we haven't had in a while - the art walking, wine tasting, escape room playing, street exploring, live piano playing, booty-shaking, shot-taking, firetruck riding, and #wafflehouse eating kind of nights (YASSSSSS!!!!!!). Well, party time is over, our little man is coming home! Ted and I primp up the Jeep and Glamper and also enjoy a phenomenal tour of the #nationalnavalaviationmuseum (@navalaviationmuseum). As a matter of fact, we love the tour and the museum so much that we take Vovo and Azlan there the very next day! After our appointment at the Eye Institute, and it is determined Punch has to wear a patch, we drop off Vovo with lots of hugs and move on to our next adventure. We look forward to visiting again and having some real Hawaiian Shave Ice at Pensacola Beach at #localboyzhsi (@localboyzhsi)! Thanks so much to Vovo and Vovo for taking such spectacular care of our son. We are eternally grateful and so blessed, we love you!
01/24/19 Hello New Orleans, LA!
BuUuumMMmmppPpYyYy BbBbbbBbUuUuUmmMmmPPPpPyYyyy! So was our arrival into the #PontchartrainLanding where we had a picturesque view of the #steamboats over the water. We started off with a fantastic Bingo called by Captain Shaun. Ted and Azlan each won! We had a blast together #whatthistripisallabout. We link up with friends and go explore #nola. Roaming the French Quarter, hearing the music down the streets, a melting pot of people (most with a smile on their face) a mix of culture - This city is an interesting place with a very rich history. Many highs and lows throughout the last few centuries since the city's birth. We go on the #creolequeennola (@creolequeennola) historical river cruise and truly enjoy the narrator on the boat. He gives a very vivid and exciting account of New Orleans' history, we walk on the Chalmette battle field, eat the buffet on the boat and head home. A trolley ride and art festival later, #houmashouse becomes our next visit. I spend a glorious morning taking a tour of the interior main house while Azlan and crew played outside on the Plantation gardens. The tour was lovely and the owner of the home has a nice comprehensive collection of antiques from the 1700-1900s which was intelligently displayed in all rooms. While on this stop, we also visit the #nationalWWIImuseum (@wwiimuseum). This is a pretty impressive place that is still in the making. We only spent a few hours there and I feel like we hardly scratched the surface. One thing we noticed is that a lot of what we saw were display boards, images, and digital media. We did not see a lot of artifacts...this is just something interesting we noticed and now that I think about it, I wonder if museums are starting to change as we move forward. After all, a lot of future 'artifacts' will end up being our current technologies - seems like a logical progression. After a some quality time with friends, we say 'Au Revoir' to this diverse and layered place. I think I would return here one day....after a lot more new places first!
01/31/19 Hello Fort Polk, Leesville, LA!
The Alligator Lake RV Park is exactly what we needed after being spoiled with a lake, a beach, and river front spot for the Glamper! It is the perfect transition as we are now lake front again. The view and little corner of woods we have here kind of make up for the lacking area surrounding us. Regardless, we meet up with good friends, pop cherries with King Cake, and laugh very hard! We have a our Saturday party where we share drinks and stories and the gents spend hours playing cornhole. Azlan makes new friends at the RV park. These are the very first park friends he has made and they are lovely. Last night we had some good laughs and tacos after spending a whole day recovering from the party laying in bed, watching Poldark. Unfortunately the timing and weather did not present an opportunity for us to do an air boat ride through the Louisiana swamps, but we are hoping we can still squeeze it in.
So, I close out this post with a big thanks to Ted for crushing all the laundry today while I pieced together our last 4 weeks on the road. Next Monday, I will post again...have a great week and stay safe!
Love,
Daisa (and Ted and Azlan)
