ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’, ROLLIN’ – DRIVING THE KENTUCKY PARKWAYS

Rumbling thunder resulted in a hasty change of plans this morning, but we didn’t care – we’re on the road again! 

As promised, Barry Smith of Town and Country Mobile RV Repair was at our campsite in Memphis on Tuesday morning to replace the tiny little thermometer (that controls the exterior exhaust fans) that was no longer functioning.  It is the size of a nickel, but required major labor to reach it – the refrigerator had to be disconnected from the propane and electricity, then pulled from it’s cubbyhole into the middle of our room.  Of course, we had to empty it before this could be done, so had spent all morning emptying and scrubbing (don’t ever empty your refrigerator completely unless you want to be horrified). Because the refrigerator is so large and heavy, Barry had a helper with him.  You can imagine the parts-to-labor cost ratio on that repair!

Twenty-four hours later, the refrigerator temperature was “in the zone” and holding, but we had no food.  We made a quick trip to Kroeger,  filled it up and we were on the road before noon.  As nice as our stay was in Memphis, 16 days were enough and we were joking and grinning as we hit I-40 eastbound. Our target was Piney Campground in the Land Between the Lakes Recreation area, shared by Tennessee and Kentucky.  Our ride was uneventful, and we were settled in a level, lakeside campsite by 3 pm. 

Piney is a HUGE campground, with several campground loops plus cabins.  Sites can be rented for a “season”, which means many of the sites are semi-permanently occupied by trailers and 5th wheels used as weekend vacation getaways.  Consequently, though the campground looked half full, we saw very few actual campers, as most of the RV’s were deserted on a Wednesday.  It felt very odd!

Returning from our long walk, I spent a couple of hours cooking, trying out two new recipes to fill our refrigerator with ready-to-eat lunches and snacks.  Dinner, reading, off to bed – it was a simple and pleasurable evening.

We planned an early departure (for us) this morning, facing a drive of 280 miles to Lexington, Kentucky – and we would lose an hour when we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone.  I woke up early and was out of bed by 6 am.  Tea while we read email and blogs, then smoothies for breakfast - and I had one more recipe I wanted to make: hummus. 

I am old enough to remember the days before mass produced hummus (in half a dozen variations) was commercially available in every grocery store - when we used to make it fresh.  I ran across a hummus recipe recently, which reminded me of how simple and cheap it is to make, and how much fresher it tastes – so I spent 10 minutes on that.  Lots of garlic, lots of lemon… yummmmmm!

A long walk was on the agenda before we departed.  We stepped out the door just as the thunder rumbled.  We picked up our pace but, a minute later, dashed back inside as the big raindrops began in earnest.  A quick computer check of the radar for the area showed a huge thunderstorm to our west.  We flew into our departure routine, but it was too late to save us from a thorough soaking as we hooked up the jeep.  We’ve been in rain (with occasional lightening and thunder) since, mostly running along just ahead of the storm.

The heater is on, music on the radio, lunch and snacks in our working refrigerator, and an ever changing view… all is right in our little world.