2023 Start of our Second year of traveling

 2023 Start of Our Second Year Traveling

We spent the end of 2022 visiting our children and obviously the world's most perfect grandchild.  We were able to spend precious and priceless time with all of them.  Our children shared their time with us when they could. Obviously, they still have to work and have homes and families to manage. We were very fortunate that Megan was able to take a full week off to spend with us. We are still adjusting to our newly retired life and the new dynamics it creates. We beg for a to do list so we can attempt to do something useful. Missing the kids and being so far away from them is definitely the worst part of this nomadic, travelling lifestyle. It makes each visit seeing the family even more priceless. As expected, Lisa struggles with this the most. Thank goodness for FaceTime, texts and even social media. Mark has strong opposition to all forms of social media, but it has allowed us to keep up with family and friends. Our cell phones feel like a lifeline to the ones we love and miss the most. 

 Lolli (Lisa) is totally smitten with her precious Ellis. She was on cloud 9 the entire visit. 

Lisa got a little bit excited. She got a bullseye on her very first throw ever.  We were out celebrating Adrian's birthday, but it appears we neglected to get pictures of the birthday boy. We also were able to spend some quality time with Sid for his birthday. And... it appears we did not get any pictures of either birthday boy.

We started out 2023 with our annual trip to Red Bay to have Ethel's (RV) mechanical items serviced, a few repairs and new tires. While the coach was at Bay Diesel, we ventured out in the area.  We set our sights on Tishimingo State Park to do some hiking.

Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Tishomingo State Park is steeped in history and scenic beauty. Archaeological excavations confirm the presence of Paleo Indians in the area now encompassed by the park as early as 7000 B.C.! The park takes its name from the leader of the Chickasaw nation, Chief Tishomingo. The famous Natchez Trace Parkway, the premier highway of the early 1800s and a modern scenic parkway, runs directly through the park. Visitors to Tishomingo State Park discover the same timeless natural beauty that enchanted the Indians centuries ago. Tishomingo offers a unique landscape of massive rock formations and fern-filled crevices found nowhere else in Mississippi. We wish we had been able to see it in the spring in its glory when everything was alive and green. 

 With Ethel back in top form, we headed to Arkabutla Lake, a Corp of Engineers property south of Memphis  We scheduled visits with all of our doctors and also for Karma.  Part of getting older involves a list of specialists for all your ailing parts. We discovered Arkabutla when we lived in the Memphis area.  It is a phenomenal park. We had a lake front site and the campground was nearly empty. Since it is a corp property and we have a senior pass, it only costs us about $20/day with full hook ups.  The park is located about 30 miles south of Memphis -which allowed us to visit our doctors, dentists, veterinarian and even our financial advisor. It was a scheduling jigsaw puzzle, but it all worked out. We will try to establish medical care in Chattanooga, since we use Megan's address as our "home" while we travel. Once we get medical care established in Chattanooga, we will no longer have any ties to Memphis.

We have learned from the summer to slow down and enjoy our journey as much as our destination.  We are taking our time getting to the coast with a stop at Twiltley Branch, another Corp property located in Central Mississippi.  We are continually amazed at the Corp of Engineer properties for the value and the wonderful sites they provide.  They have consistently been some of the very best campgrounds, often lake front, with huge sites, full hookups and cost a mere fraction of what a RV "resort" charges. 

The sign on the tree was probably 150 ' from Ethel and 10' above ground.  It is the highwater mark from when the Corp had to hold back water due to flooding in April 1979.  Twiltley branch is part of the Pearl River where the flooding occurred. It was rainy while we were there, but thank goodness we were spared any flooding!