It has been a busy time with working on the farm so I am just now getting around to typing up the month of July’s happenings. Hope to get back on track and get August happenings posted soon.
We spent the first week of July in Tennessee. I got to hang out with the some of my grandkids and enjoy their company. We worked on the farm as a family. We rented a skid steer and spent time cleaning up the old burnt down hay barn. We did more exploring of the property and found a beautiful pasture behind the horse barn. We got our water meters paid for and the road into the land started. We also cleared around the power pole so they could run electricity to where we will be staying on the land while things are being built. We are slowly but surely getting closer to moving out to the land. I was hoping we could all be out there by the time school started in August but it looks like it won’t be until September or October as everything takes more time than we thought.
July 4th – For the 4th of July we took the day off for working and relaxed a bit. We all went down to Gallatin, TN where we watched an amazing fireworks show. We used to go to the same park to watch fireworks on the 4th when we lived here back in the 1990’s. The grandkids really enjoyed the show.
July 8th – Early the morning I received a phone call from my daughter Hana. I spent the next 5 hours on the phone with Hana who was still in Houston. Hurricane Beryl had come barreling through the area with high winds, knocking down trees and knocking out power to the region. Hana was in her trailer when trees started breaking on either side of her. She and her boyfriend were able to run to the laundry room in the park and shelter there until the storm passed. They endured 5 hours of intense winds and rain and we were both afraid to hang up and not be able to reach each other again. When Hurricane Beryl had finally passed her neighbor next door had a tree on her car and trailer and another neighbor further down on the other side had their trailer crushed by a tree. A tree had brushed the side of her trailer leaving scratches and another tree blocked her trailer in its spot. But the scariest thing was there was another tree hanging over her trailer and it looked as if it could fall on her trailer at any time. With help from her neighbors, the trees were cleared and she was able to get her trailer moved to another spot. It was a scary time for all of us. Power was out for the area with no prediction of when it would be restored and the heat and humidity was oppressive for them.
July 9th through July 11th – Because of the storm we immediately left Tennessee to go down to Houston to help Hana out. We made a quick, long drive for us. We almost made it all the way down in one day but just got too exhausted. We stopped late at night and slept for a bit before arriving on the morning of July 10th to so much destruction. Hana and Blu were sleeping in the trailer in intense heat and humidity and no promise of power coming back anytime soon. Their pets were suffering in the hot trailer too. With our generator and solar we were able to bring them into our air conditioned RV. While in the area we drove around to our old neighborhood to see the damage there. We saw our old house and a giant tree had fallen in the yard barely missing the house but the new owners where enjoying the fact they had a generator to keep them cool. We stopped by our old neighbors and helped them get some trees cut down.
While in Houston we had to run our generator day and night to keep the air conditioner going and the people and animals comfortable. Because of the power being out all of Hana’s food in her fridge and freezer was ruined and she was unable to work at her jobs to earn money. We had already planned a family reunion next week but decided to leave early to get away for the heat and the fact that the electric company said there would be no power for at least a week. So Hana and her boyfriend Blu headed off to Tennessee with us with hopes when they return they would finally have power. We left Houston the evening of July 11th for a campground that had power a couple hours up the road.
July 12th through July 13th – Since we were all exhausted we took the drive back to Tennessee slow. We stopped along the way in Yuma, Tennessee at Parkers Crossroads RV Park and Campground for the night. It is a beautiful park just East of Jackson, Tennessee. https://www.pcrvpark.com/ . Then it was on to Dad’s Campground in Franklin, KY. We arrived early enough on the 13th that we were able to take Hana and Blu out to see the farm, the town of Lafayette and Hana was able to visit Portland, Tennessee where her first home was. When we arrived in Portland they were having an American Graffiti night at the local theater and people were surrounding the theater with their classic cars. It was fun to walk around downtown Portland and look at the cars. https://visitsumnertn.com/a-timeless-gem-in-portland-tn/
July 14th through July 19th – Mueller Family Reunion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Every other year our family has a reunion where all the siblings and their kids come together for a week of fun. This year we had 24 people at the reunion and I think everyone had a great time. We had booked Auntie Belham’s All American Cabin with 9 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms which was perfect for all of us. It had a hot tub and games for the kids to play. https://www.auntiebelhams.com/cabins/all-american/ Each day throughout our stay we had fun activities for everyone to participate in.
July 14th – We arrived at the cabin in the afternoon. Half of the family made it in that night. Frank and I had a spot at a campground nearby so that each family would have their own wing of the house. We got those who were here settled in the house and spent some time visiting.
July 15th – This morning we did some exploring of the area. We enjoyed the scenery around Gatlinburg Hana and I visited Cooter’s, a Dukes of Hazzard store and museum in Pigeon Forge. When our oldest boys were little the Dukes of Hazzard was a big favorite in our house and they had at least one birthday party that was Hazzard themed. https://cootersplace.com/cooters-pigeon-forge/ . While there I got to sit in The General Lee and Daisy’s Jeep. All the rest of the family arrived by early evening and Sara and Edwin hosted a big barbeque and we sat around and visited. Some video games got pulled out and the fun began.
July 16th– We started off the morning with an amazing breakfast prepared by Bill and his family. Suddenly in the middle of cooking Frank spotted a black bear out the cabin window. I guess it was attracted to the smell of the bacon since we had opened windows with all the cooking going on. It wandered through the front yard, around onto the patio and then out the backyard. We were all excited to see our first black bear. We all dressed up in our family reunion shirts and got ready to head out for the day.
We had originally planned to go to Dollywood tomorrow but since they were predicting thunderstorms tomorrow we decided to move our visit up a day so after breakfast we all got ready to head out. We arrived at the park at 10 am and spent most of the day riding rides and hanging out and having fun. Then around 4 pm it decided to pour so most of us went back to the house to dry off. After waiting out the storm quite a few family members went back to Dollywood to watch their fireworks show and Drone show.
July 17th– Today was the day our group went to explore part of the Great Smokey Park. The more adventurous part of our group decided a hike to Rainbow Falls https://www.gatlinburg.com/great-smoky-mountains/hiking-trails/rainbow-falls/ They had an amazing time and saw some beautiful sites. The rest of us took a driving tour on The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail through the park. https://www.mysmokymountainpark.com/road-trips/scenic-drives/roaring-fork-motor-nature-trail-scenic-drive/ We drove 5.5 miles stopping and get out and to explore along the way. We saw several old cabins and even played in the stream for a while.
As we exited the park we spot our second black bear of the trip walk alongside the road. We slowed down to take a picture, but he or she wasn’t very happy about it and started huffing at us so we drove on by.
Later on in the afternoon a small group went to check out the Salt and Pepper Museum which was packed with so many salt and pepper shaker sets. https://thesaltandpeppershakermuseum.com/Interesting/Why-a-Museum I saw some that I know my mom had in our house when I was growing up. As we left the museum we stopped to look at some chainsaw art.
It was time for all us to load in the car and head back to the cabin. As we were getting in the car we spotted our third black bear up in a tree.
When we got back to the cabin Franklyn and Melanie had made dinner and a cake to celebrate all the July birthdays in our family. Then some of us played video games. I enjoyed Doctor Mario which used to be my favorite video game. Claire challenged me to a game of ping pong which I promptly lost.
July 18th– Today most of us went to the Craft Fair in Gatlinburg. Most of us found some items we just had to have. Then we wandered down to the Village area and had a huge group lunch at Johnny Rockets. Frank and I headed back to the house to help Hana make her family dinner of multiple kinds of lasagnas. years ago. After dinner Melanie gave everyone haircuts who wanted one. She did an amazing job.
On our drive back to the RV that evening we were able to see where the Smoky Mountatins got there name. The clouds hanging over the mountains truly made what looked like a smoky effect.
July 19th– Today was our last full day at the family reunion. We went to the park this morning to take family pictures in our matching shirts. It took a bit to get all the grandchildren to look at the camera and while the parents where trying to get them to behavior and smile for a picture with Frank and I my husband managed to sneak a picture of the parents making their funny faces at their children.
Then this evening we try recreating some old family photos before having dinner prepared by Pieter and Leslie. Then we played a newlywed game in honor of our 50th anniversary. Hana and Bill ran the show while Pieter & Leslie, Franklyn & Melanie, Edwin & Sara, and Frank & myself tried to answer the question the way we thought our spouse would answer them. Edwin & Sara were the winners of the game. It has been a fun time with all the family and we will be sad to see everyone head their separate ways tomorrow.
July 20th through July 26th – After our family reunion we headed back to Houston to take Hana and her boyfriend Blu home. Hana had been busy putting our resumes in Tennessee since Hurricane Beryl. It had been a terrifying experience for her to be in Houston alone during the storm and she really wanted to be near family again. By the time we arrived back she was starting to get requests for phone interviews in Nashville, Tennessee area. While back in Houston we got our RV water heater worked on and once again we can enjoy hot showers. Frank had his Dentist checkup. Then on Wednesday, July 24th Hana had an interview with an International School in Nashville. They called back the next day to offer her a job but needed her to be in Nashville by Tuesday, July 30th. She had to quickly give notice to her places of employment and move to Tennessee. Luckily Edwin was able to drive down from Houston to tow her trailer up to Tennessee for her.
July 27th – It was our last day in the Houston area before all of us heading to Tennessee. Hana got off work at 2 pm and we got her trailer hooked up to Edwin’s truck. We were going to try and stay together part of the way but within a few hours we got separated from Edwin. We know he had planned to drive straight through and drop the trailer off at a campground on Sunday morning so we weren’t too worried to lose sight of him. Then we started to have our own adventures driving up to Tennessee. We were driving the RV pulling our Jeep and Hana and Blu where following in her car. We pulled off the road in Prescott, Arkansas to find a campground and took a wrong turn and were lost for several miles before we could turn around and head back to the highway. We decided to head on up the road in hopes of finding a rest stop we could sleep in. By that time it was close to midnight and most of the rest stops where packed. We finally pulled into one but there was no room to stop and sleep. While we were talking to Hana, her cat Bunny who had been riding with us, escaped out the RV door. We didn’t realized Bunny was gone and we pulled away and headed out onto the highway. Next thing we know Hana was calling her to tell us Bunny had escaped and had crawled under an 18-wheeler. Blu had to get on his hands and knees and climb under the truck to capture her. While that was happening we pulled off the highway to wait for them. When they caught up we proceeded to get lost once again on a back road which circled us back to the rest stop we had left 15 minutes before. When we got back there we were able to find a spot and stop and sleep for a bit. We were able to get a few hours sleep at the rest stop before heading on to Memphis where we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. We took a nap there and then explored the Pyramid before hitting the road again. We got into out campground at 4 pm and were exhausted.
July 28th through July 31st – We did a bit of exploring of the area on Monday with Hana and Blu. Then on Tuesday Hana met with the Principal at her new job. We were staying at a campground in Lebanon, Tennessee but on Wednesday were able to move up to the same campground Sara and Edwin are staying at in Franklin, KY.
The adventures will continue even though we are not out on the road and we will try to keep you updated monthly as we work to get settled on our land and build a home.
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