At the present time we are back in Tennessee until after Thanksgiving. Then it will be back to Georgia for the month of December and the Christmas Holiday. During our month in Georgia I will have to return to Tennessee for more doctor appointments. These appointments are for wellness visits and nothing serious. A couple of the appointments have been for dental, again nothing serious.
Our stays while in Tennessee have been spent at the Eastman CG as well as Warriors Path State Park CG. The picture above was taken while at the Eastman CG and the one below was taken while at Warriors Path CG. We had great sites at both places.
We are now back at Warriors and our favorite campsite. We have stayed here so much that we know which sites work best for us. We're not happy when the campsites are right on top of one another. Having a great view of the lake is also a plus. This time of year it's also a great bird watching location.
We had not intended to remain in Georgia or Tennessee during the cold months. Our plans after returning from Alaska was to start our southern migration after Kathie's appointments in mid October. Then my doctor scheduled me another appointment as well as my having dental appointments scheduled at the last minute. We knew this might happen as we spent the entire summer away and held off those appointments until after we returned. As it stands now we most likely won't be able to escape to the warmth and sun of Florida until around the first of January.
While we wait out our doctor visits and move from campground to campground, the weather has been of a concern. The temperatures have been up and down. You expect that for this time of year. What we didn't expect was that we'd set some records for low temperatures this time of year. The fall season turned bitter cold long before the start of the winter season. It has been record setting everywhere it seems. Buffalo, NY receiving seven feet of snow in a week. That is as much as they get for the entire winter season. The residents of Buffalo have endured one problem after the other related to the bitter cold and record snow falls. Here in Tennessee we haven't suffered much more than frozen water pipes a couple of times and going thru a lot of propane in order to keep our travel house warm. With the temperatures dropping below 20 degree Fahrenheit, we set the thermostat high to stay warm and comfortable. We can't afford for our plumbing to freeze up and burst. During those cold spells not even a campfire was enjoyable, so cold you couldn't get warm, even when rotating your body around the fire. As cold as it was, there was an actual benefit to it. The low temperatures didn't require refrigeration of the beer, haha.
Kathie and I have also been tossing around another idea or two since we have returned from Alaska. Such as, we need a home base to operate out of, a place where we can get our mail, register to vote, drivers license and such. We thought about a mail service, a place where our mail could be collected and forwarded to us wherever we were. That would take care of the mail but that's about all. I also wanted a home in the event we needed to come off the road and remain fixed to a certain location. We decided to buy something in TN. A place where we could spend our summers and still travel during the colder months to a warmer climate. We started the process of looking and seeing what was available at what price range. It didn't take long for us to be disillusioned. The property we were looking at for what we felt was a mid range price, was old out dated and way over priced. Even property was at an all time high. A level piece of ground was over 10 K an acre, depending on location. We weren't fixed on any location, county or town. To us it mattered not where we bought as long as we remained in Tennessee. After doing a lot of running all about we did settle on a certain area. That resulted in us picking property we had see on the "For Sale by Owner" site while we were in Alaska. After a couple of trips to look it over we decided to make an offer if the seller was willing to survey and change the property lines. The property was being sold from a larger parcel and sold with two and half acres. After a brief meeting and my explaining where I'd like the property lines, the seller was willing to move the property lines and have it surveyed to my approval. We felt like we got a fair deal and a great buy. It was just what we wanted and the price was below the actual value according to everything we had seen in the area.
We were buying a two bedroom, two bath log cabin, in the county where I wanted to remain, in the state of Tennessee. The structure is 10 years old and comes with two stocked fish ponds, one in front of the cabin stocked with catfish and another pond on the back side of the property stocked with bluegill. There is also a large storage barn/shed as well. The property is 12 miles from the center of town and far enough out in the country not to be over populated and crowded. That suited us just fine. We applied for a low interest rate VA loan and are waiting to close on the mortgage. We hope to have it all done before Christmas. In the meantime, we will travel back to Georgia after Thanksgiving to await the closing date on our house.
We are looking forward to spending time with family in TN for the Thanksgiving Holiday. With a large family we have decided to dine out at one of the local restaurants. It's a lot easier to get everyone there and then to go our separate ways. A few of us have traveled from out of state to be here with family and friends. We have been doing this for several years now. It works well for us as a family and we also get to spend time with some invited close friends.
With Thanksgiving over we have now focused on the Christmas Holiday. Kathie and I are still in Tennessee, longer than expected. The deal on the home we are buying has hit a couple of set backs, nothing serious but a delay nevertheless. The home inspection was delayed a week due to the completion of the new well. We have extended our stay at Warriors Path State Park CG to await the home inspection as well as my last dental appointment for the year, I hope, LOL. We have changed our plans several times it seems these last couple of weeks. We hadn't intended to buy another house just yet. It happened all of a sudden due to such a fantastic buy and the type of home we wanted. It just made good sense to act as the time was right. Using the delay time, we measured the cabin room sizes and made some furniture purchases.
We started to look for furniture that would go well with the décor of the log cabin. Again the time was right as we found a great sale at a local business that was closing that location. We saved thousands and bought some fantastic items at a big savings. We had sold our previous furniture with our former home. Now we were buying a new home and in need of new furniture as well.
Between now and the closing date of our home we are in limbo between Georgia and Tennessee, running back and forth. We will remain here in Tennessee until about mid December and then move to Georgia. If we are scheduled for closing of our home during that time, we are close and will return to Tennessee for that event. An overnight should be more than adequate. Our plans are to be in Florida for the balance of the winter starting on January the first, if not sooner. Our log cabin residency is to be summer only, then to a warmer climate for the winter season.
That's our plan and now we wait. I'll keep you updated on the events as they happen. Life is truly an adventure, change after change. Until our next blog, we wish you and your families a Merry Christmas.
From:
Dutch, Kathie and the traveling gnome along with his side kick moose.
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