Friday, June 1, 2018

June 1, 2018 - It Was Electric

The root canal job was finished this week.  Now I need to return to the dentist to get a filling where the endodontist drilled through the crown.  Dr. Fred Case has ruined a root canal's bad reputation. It was not big deal, not even unpleasant.  After the root canal, and picking up new RV keys in Knoxville, we returned to Pigeon Forge to see the Dolly Parton Stampede dinner show.

I did not take any pictures so I snatched one from the web.  The stadium/dining room was as interesting as the show itself.  It is a rodeo arena.  The seating is at long narrow tables. There was enough room between the rows for the wait staff to zip along for the dinner service. The show had a lot of rodeo events including barrel racing and fancy riding tricks.  There were also long-horn cattle.  The costumes were great too.  There was also plenty of audience participation which added to the fun. The cutest was pre-schoolers herding chickens. The food was good!

Thanks to the LED wall backdrop, guests at Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction are transported deep into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. (Photo: Business Wire)



This is my first photo this year of people in the creek.  I have heard whooping and hollering over there so I know these aren't the only ones who have been in the creek.



We drove across the Foothills Parkway one evening and I stopped to get some cloud photos.  It was too dark and I have not captured the magic of little clouds nestled into the hollows of the mountains.  That's what makes them the Smoky Mountains.



The best views of the smoke in the mountains are from Interstate 40, but I can't take a picture from there when I am driving.  We have had rain every day now for weeks.  That is when the smoke is the smokiest.  Big Creek and the Pigeon River have both been a torrent for the last week or so. This is looking upstream from the bridge in the picnic area.


I walked to the far side of the creek to get a picture of Andy on the bridge.  The water is so high that the drop-off is only about two feet.


Andy pointed out this Giant Leopard Moth on the wall outside the men's room this morning. It was difficult to get a picture as the white was so bright - it glowed.


I have been nibbling the wild onion/garlic all week.  This morning I saw a blossom coming out from just below the bulblette.



They are quite tasty if you like onion and garlic.  I had my camp host office-in-a-box in my left hand, the phone in my right hand (talking to Boss Larry), and my mouth full of wild onion/garlic when a deer crossed the campground road in front of me.  I missed the picture.

A bit farther along, the sun was shining on a tiny meadow in the woods.


I zoomed in and saw daylilies.


Andy said there were two deer.  I spotted one as we walked along the campground road. She paused when we did.


She began to amble through the understory.


She came out behind us and hurried across the road.


Once on the other side, she stopped for a nibble.


Then I got another picture for my animal-butt collection.


Boss Larry stopped in to visit and bring us more reservation paperwork. We always enjoy his visits.  He was concerned about our electricity problems.  Andy had a temporary fix by getting an adapter and plugging into the 50-amp outlet.  The problem with that is he could not close the door to the panel and it rains a lot here.


Larry decided to cover it with a plastic trash bag.  He did a good job too.


However, Larry was not gone for long when Tommy, the park electrician, showed up. He took one look at the power panel and said it needed to be replaced.  He happened to bring a new one along in his truck.



I think he must have had one of everything he might need it the truck.


Here is the old panel.  Good riddance.


Rick, his supervisor, helped him mount the new panel on the post.


Rick said he is new to the park and has only been here three months.  He transferred from the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis. We chatted a bit while Tommy worked with the wiring.  Turns out Rick was from the same area of Missouri where my brother Louis lived.  I couldn't remember the name of Louis's town.  When Andy said it starts with an F, Rick immediately said, "Fordland".  He knows it well.


I thought maybe we shouldn't chat too much and distract the electrician while he worked.  I don't want to be responsible for crossed wires.  We talked when he was done.


Tommy and Rick both know Spence.  They golfed with him for the memorial tournament last month.  Turns out Tommy and I have been living near each other several times in our lives.  I grew up in the Seat Pleasant, Maryland area.  Tommy grew up in adjacent Suitland. Our high school teams were rivals. Andy told him we had lived in Lusby, Maryland before moving onto our boat.  Tommy lived in The Ranch Club, just across the road from our neighborhood.

We have been having a number of electrical problems for the last few weeks.  We hope that this fix will solve all those mysteries.  It has been driving Andy bonkers. I have been smelling that electrical burning/melting smell since we got here and thought it was something in the RV.  Yes, I have been thinking about fire. Maybe the problem was that RV power panel all along.

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