Our first road trip

We left for Knoxville around ten on Monday morning last week.  While, Robert had practiced driving a few times, this was the real deal and we were both white knuckled for the first few hours  

Rob literally would duck and hold his breath under bridges and I was sure every time we made a turn we were going to take out a few cars, and when we hits bumps and the RV jerked the truck I knew it was going to come unhooked!  I also had to really work on not getting car sick from the jerking of the trailer.

 

We stopped at Wal-mart about 2 hours later for lunch and so I could feed the baby.  That led to a quick stop inside for a few things and one hour later we were finally leaving.  We quickly learned that if we were going to enjoy all the driving we are planning on then we can’t stress about rushing to get there.  With two little ones and a newborn we have to take our time!

We got a few snacks at the store and, as a nervous eater, I made a good dent in them right away.  It helped to have something to distract me from the thought of the RV unhooking as we hit bumps and climbed mountains. 

 

We stayed overnight in a really nice campground an hour outside of Roanoke.  The spot was a pull through and level (both big bonuses)  The only problem was the massive  hill we had to drive up to get there and of course the ditch at the bottom of that hill as we were leaving.  Robert did a good job disguising how nervous he was about careening into that ditch until we got to the bottom:)

 

The next morning we left early and were making good time when the gas peddle slipped a little bit… So into McDonalds to use a little free wi-fi.  We breathed a sign of relief as we realized it was just that we needed more transmission fluid.  An easy fix until we could get it looked at.  We pulled into an empty parking lot and Robert ran into Dollar General to get a funnel…

He wasn’t really happy, or a big Dollar General store fan, when he came out.  But, necessity is the mother of invention and he made it work.

Unlike the first day, we got all three girls to sleep at the same time - that was blissful!!!  It was nice not to have someone crying, or asking for food, or needing a potty break…

The rest of the day went really well, hardly a hitch… until we were 5 minutes from the cabin mom rented for the wedding.  5 MINUTES!  The the transmission started slipping and I was sure that our travels were over before they really even started.  By this time we were way out in the boonies and we couldn’t even pull over.  We saw a sign for a church and decided to stop there.  Longest four minutes ever! 

We got out of the car, opened the hood and about two minutes later a neighbor came out asking if we needed help and saying her husband would be out in a minute to help.  Ahh, the friendly south – its nothing like Baltimore that’s for sure! 

 

Out he came bringing his dogs with him, which made the girls really happy.  A church member drove by while we were there and insisted that we go in the cool air and  gave us water and the girls popsicles. 

Rob found we had a transmission fluid leak so he put in more fluid, unhooked the rv, test drove the truck  and we were good to go.

Once we got to the cabin, Robert took a friend’s advice and walked the road before attempting to take the 5th wheel.  It’s a good thing because there was no way we could have gotten all the way to the top of that very narrow  and steep mountain driveway.  There was a little turn around spot about halfway up that we thought we could make work.  So we called the owner and a few minutes later she was walking over to help.  Once again a the friendly south to the rescue  not only was she really sweet and helpful she called her grandson (who was working in the hay fields) and he came over and backed out RV half a mile down this driveway for us!  Robert was happy about that and finally understood why I keep telling him I want to move to the south

Bella was not happy that Cecelia was getting to go with Daddy so she ran to catch up…

 

A few things we are looking for if you happen to see them at a yard sale…

- dehumidifier

- kid size folding table with at least two folding chairs

- large outside rug

- double or queen mattress