Oh, Lovely Lumber

 A week ago, the lumber for 

framing was finally delivered to our lot!

The next day, a little more lumber showed up, 

and sometime after that even more.

The lumber has been laying there through 

some major rain earlier this week, but hey, 

it’s progress and the rain is now gone!

We’ve been watching other houses in progress, especially ones that are being framed.  If our calculations are correct, we could start being framed this week.  Oh, how we hope we’re right!  

Once the framing starts, it could go quickly until under roof.  Seeing it begin to look like an actual house, will be very exciting!

Smiles,

Donna

Build Progress Update

I'm happy to say that we finally have progress on the house but let me back up a bit first!  Tired of watching and waiting for some action, Geo emailed our Project Superintendent to find out how soon we could expect something, anything!  

The Reason 

We needed to break out of our 

"Groundhog Day" cycle with something 

that would better pass the time like an RV trip!  

The Bad News 

He told us that it would be awhile 

before anything happens like 2 to 3 weeks.

(Turned out to be 6 weeks!) 

The Good News 

We could hop into Rama-Lama-Ding Dong, 

hook up Bee-Bop, and scoot on down the road!

With summer vacays in full swing, and more RVers on the road than ever before, I knew finding a place to go at the last minute could be an issue.  Immediately, a park in the Pigeon Forge area came to mind as a strong possibility, and sure enough we snagged their last spot for seven nights which I documented in my last three posts.  You can read them here, here and here.  It was the perfect, delightful break we need! 

We returned July 2nd, and stalked our homesite almost daily seeking to discover something encouraging happening on our lot.  

July 21st

A drone photo of the 

foundation almost ready to pour. 

July 11th

Here she is! 

Ready to  pour.

Proudly displaying her pretty, chalk-white 

PVC like a green NASCAR flag indicating "Go!"

July 23rd

 Alas, the foundation was poured!

If you look closely, you'll see little blue dots 

on the foundation which are the workers 

smoothing out the concrete.

We were excited!

A 360° drone vid.

August 3rd

We met up with our Superintendent, a very nice fellow, who told us that he couldn't tell us much!  Due to last year's pandemic, all building supplies are unpredictable, from lumber to framers to paint to appliances to windows, you name it.  None of it was a surprise to us though.  Insert heavy sigh here.  

The superintendent promised that we'd get an update email from him every Friday from here on out.  You can bet your sweet bippy that we're looking forward to email Fridays!  

The most disappointing info was finding out that we won't be moving into the house this year!  We so hoped to be in by Christmas but that's the way the Christmas cookie crumbles. 

His best news was that they'd be dropping lumber for framing anytime from the next 2 days to 2 weeks.  If that's accurate, we'll be getting it within the next five days!  

Sooo, as we've been doing since 

October, we continue to watch and wait. 

Life is a wonderful journey though, 

and this is merely a little rut in the road!

Keep Smilin' Y'all,

(We are!)

D~~~~ 

Part 3~Tennessee Aviation Museum & Geo's Family Tie

While in Pigeon Forge, we visited the Tennessee Aviation Museum in Sevierville.  Geo loves anything aviation or space related, and this museum has been on his radar since we first discovered it a few years back. This trip, we finally stopped in for a visit.  

As you'd expect, we found a variety of vintage warbirds and other types of aircraft, interesting memorabilia and exhibits, a few classic cars, military vehicles and more.  We didn't expect to discover a family tie though!  What a delight! 

A pretty straightforward declaration!

A colorful military clock.

Does it tell more than time? 

There were several displays like this one 

(without Geo in front of course). 😁

Hah!  
Geo appears to be a bit blurry!
How does  he do that?

One of us (not saying who),

initially wondered, 

"Is this a charging station for an electric octopus?"

Thankfully, the sign was right in front. 

It's a Gnome Rotary Model B Engine.

We get the "engine" part.  

Checking out the cockpit.

This Twin Beech Mock Up has spent time in the entertainment industry, mostly appearing in TV shows like Cheers, Coach, General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, Fantasy Island, Baywatch and Lassie to name a few.  It's also appeared in movies and commercials.

Below is the full list including producer and year.

Click to enlarge it.

This plane was the best part of the museum for us! 

It's a P-47D-40RA Hun Hunter XVI

made in Evansville, Indiana in early 1945.

George grew up in Evansville.

His Mom was a Rosie the Riveter 

at Republic Aviation in Evansville 

where the plane was built. 

We think it's very possible that 

she may have riveted on it!

A bit of the Hun Hunter's history.

A pretty cool array of old Jeeps outside the museum!

We chatted with the friendly gal at the front desk when we were leaving and told her about the family connection. She asked if we had any pics of Geo's Mom in her uniform, but as far as we know, there aren't any. If we should come across one though, this museum would be a mighty fine place for it to be shared!

See you soon with the latest on the build.

Smiles,

D~~~~

Part 2~Tennessee, In The Smokies

The Great Smoky Mountains first captured my heart almost 25 years ago. That's when I first met hubby Geo, and we ventured through their glorious beauty on a motorcycle trip to the Honda Hoot in Asheville, NC. 

We always look forward to spending some time in these stunning mountains when we're in the area. 

🚙   🚘  🚙   🚘  🚙

Driving into the park's Chimney Picnic area.

Fun Fact: 

It's never above 80 degrees in 

the Smoky Mountains National park.

Ooo-La-La! 

I love that!

🐟 🐡 🐢 🐟 🐡 🐢 🐟

Streams are abundant here to say the least!

According to the blog, 

10 Things You Need to Know... 

on the Park's website, 

there are 2900 miles of streams 

zig zagging through the park.

For all you fishing folks, 

fishing is allowed in ALL the streams. 

The website also informs us that: 

"About 20% of the streams are large enough to support trout populations. Other angling experiences range from remote head water trout streams to large coolwater smallmouth bass streams."  

You might want to give it 

a whirl if you're an angler!

🌳 🌞 🌳 🌞 🌳 🌞 🌳

I always love an upshot!

Grab your sunglasses and take a 

gander at that radiant sun peeking 

through those tall treetops.

A lovely blue sky and cotton ball clouds!

🌲 🚘 🌲 🚙 🌲 🚗 🌲

We also drove up to Clingman's Dome.

The road along the way!

At 6,643 feet, Clingman's Dome is the 

highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains.

There's quite an abundant view of the Smokies
looking straight out from the parking lot.

Another direction.

And another direction!

Last year, we hiked up to the observation tower 

which is behind where these pics were taken.

No hiking this year though!

🐕  🐶 🐾  🐕  🐶 🐾  🐕

Chewy & Elmer on a rock 

by the shallow stream.

I learned how to get a good pic of 
the dogs when distractions abound.

Just ask them if they want a treat!
Click!


😊
Smiles,
D~~~~

Part 1~Tennessee Aquarium of the Smokies

We recently spent nine glorious days in one of our favorite places--the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains area.  One of those days, we went to Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. 

It's a pretty cool place!

We enjoyed it!

Coral Reefs are quite beautiful!

The lion fish is 

a pretty thing and very interesting!

Rather unusual, isn't it?

The area for the Glass Bottom Boat 

was small but fun for the kiddos!

I wonder if sharks were

visible from the Glass Bottom Boat?

Maybe.

Jellyfish!

One of God's most unique creations!

Speaking of unique!

Love him dearly❗

I suddenly have an urge 

to don some black & white.

And waddle!

Can you hear the Jaws music?

Yikes!

A creepy creature!

Lots of delightful color 

here amongst the whatnots!

The busy street outside the Aquarium.

Okay, I cry "Uncle!"

"Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!" 

I worked on a short, two minute vid for a couple of afternoons to add to the bottom of this post but I cry "Uncle" and give up that idea.  The vid is finished but getting it into this post, well that's a very ugly, extremely sad, life-altering, traumatic story. 😢😢😢😢😢

 (Oh, and I never, ever, ever, 

ever exaggerate 😂😂😂!)  

Seriously though, I give up because I have other things to do right now!  Life is too good to sweat the small stuff! 

If I decide to tackle it another day though, and I actually succeed, you'll be the first to know when it shows up as another post. 

More from our recent trip soon.

Take care y'all!

Smiles,

D~~~~

 

A Beautiful Sight!

We've met five different neighbors for a total of 10 people in our soon-to-be neighborhood. That's more than we knew the entire time we lived in our last neighborhood, and we were there for 18 years! 

They're all very nice and helpful! One neighbor across the street, Tony, texts pics to Geo when there's action on our lot. We head that way ASAP if we can to grab some pics, and see what's going on. It's only 15 minutes or so from the RV park.

After many days of rain that had just stopped, we were surprised to get a pic from Tony earlier this week. 

We'll take it!  

Thanks Tony! 

We arrived to see a trencher digging

 ditches for our water, electric and sewer lines.

Woo-hoo!

Mr. Trencher in action!

It was a beautiful sight to see! 

😍

The next day, we returned and no one was there. It was an opportunity for Geo to more closely check out the dig on our future digs. 

The lot was a mud hole of sorts but

Inspector Geo maneuvered his way around.

PVC plumbing sticking up!

There's plenty more work to be done before it's ready for the concrete to be poured but we're just happy to see the digging! 

Geo's assessment: 

So far so good!

 👍  😀  👌

Aerial Views

For awhile now, Geo's had a hankering for a drone. He finally gave in and bought one!  He's a newbie at it but took some drone pics of the lot. I think he did great!

    The front of the house is 

at the bottom of this pic.

They pulled a board away in the front to get the trencher in. That's where the garage will be. The lot is pie shaped and the large part of the pie is in the front which you can probably tell.

Here's a view with the back 

of the house at the bottom.

Here's the road in front & our truck.

The dogs and I are inside the truck.

Can you see us?

If so, you have impressive vision!

👀 😁 👓

A side view.

You might notice that our 

house is on a slight curve. 

Can you see the drone in the pic below? 

It's the black dot almost 

in the cloud-covered sun.

I cropped it a bit to be more visible.

Here it is again after dropping closer.

No cropping on this one.

That's it for now.

Be back soon.

Big Smiles,

D~~~~