Chasing Adventure

We left the farm on February 4th and I already miss it.

Well, not the mosquitos, but I was able to spend some quality time chatting with Aunt Lynn and then whatever Uncle Harry and Uncle Jim were up to that day. I’ll miss that for sure. Greg also got to spend some quality time with his mom, and I’m sure he will miss that. It was great being able to go just an hour up the road to see my parents and BFF as well, and I’ll definitely miss that.

Leaving the farm, we stayed in Wickham Park in Melbourne for a few days to spend time with my family and get the tanks cleaned out from moochdocking. It rained most of the time there, which was pretty much on brand for our Florida trip. Thursday, Feb 8th, we pulled out and headed north. I planned out the trip to stay in the 3-3-3 rule: no more than 300 miles or 3 hours each day and no more than 3 days in a row. Maverick had an appointment at 10am on Monday morning, so that gave us 3 days to get into TN. It’s going to be easy!

Why did I think well-planned would be easy??

The first night, we stayed at this beautiful ranch in Hillard, FL, The Ranch at Trader’s Hill. There was originally just an aquaponics farm there, when another family came down and wanted to have horses. That idea grew into a full equestrian center, where people can bring/keep their horses, take lessons, and so much more. We were able to park behind one of the larger paddocks at the edge of the property and were the only ones there, so our view was gorgeous out both sides of the camper. We left the next morning and had to take some tight two lanes highways back to I-95, but we would definitely stay here again.

On each leg of each trip, I swear we learn something. Shortly before pulling into The Ranch, we stopped for fuel and Greg picked us up a wrap from Arby’s. I typically skip breakfast, so I was getting a little hungry. We agreed the wraps were not good and it was not relaxing eating in the truck at the truck stop. Not sure why I didn’t think of this previously, but while at The Ranch, I made up some egg salad since we already had hard-boiled eggs prepared, and we had croissants. The plan the next day was to stop at a rest stop and eat our healthy lunch.

I know, novel idea…. sigh.

Day 2, we found a rest stop halfway between our locations, and pulled over for a relaxing lunch. Wow. While it’s not hard pulling the rig, it’s draining mentally. I think even Tigger appreciated being out of the Jeep!

That night we used our Harvest Hosts membership to stay at Herd it Here farm, an agritourism farm with a llama, alpacas, mini cows, a mini donkey, a mini pony, and chickens. The host, Bill, gave great detailed instructions on the best way to pull into the farm since we were a big rig and there was no way we were making that hairpin turn. On the Entrance Options map, I had to take the blue route off Cottageville Hwy. It didn’t seem too bad in the planning, so we went for it even though it was the longer way around.

Greg always goes ahead of me, and the farm owner, Bill, was out at the gate to greet us. The road was dirt and it started out fine, but it got skinner the closer it got to the farm. From the red route, a van was coming in my direction. The van pulled over to ‘let me pass’, which was very nice, but they did it right where I needed to swing left to pull onto the property. That van had no idea I needed to be there, and didn’t move when I tried to wave them forward, probably because they couldn’t pass me and I couldn’t pull over anymore or I’d be in the ditch. So, I held my breath and drove as close to them as I dared and started to make the turn onto the property. The farm mailbox stuck out a decent amount, so I needed to avoid that on my right while the van was on my left. The gate was about 8′ wide at an angle, with low-hanging branches on the other side of the gate, another obstacle. Oh, and it was on a dirt incline. Oh, and it had rained. Fun times. Crawling slowly, we made it in to park in the pasture (whew).

Bill gave us a great tour of his farm, introducing us to the welcoming committee – Tillie, the mini-pony and Eddie, the mini-donkey. We went into feed the chickens – ornamentals, Polish and some other kind. Those ornamentals were so pretty, but apparently they are for looks only, lol.

Then Bill asked if I wanted to be kissed by a goat… of course! Haha! He gave me a piece of feed and told me to hold it in my lips. Tony came over and very gently took the feed from my mouth with his mouth. Greg said he was surprised I did it, but hey… I’m here and have the opportunity. Experiencing everything!

Then, we went in and met the alpacs and their body guard, Bert, the llama. We learned all about alpacas and some fun stories as well. Apparently, when they are trimmed, they are at least 6″ skinner on every side!! Tigger made nice with Tillie and Eddie as well.

We thought it was going to be a nice quiet night on the farm, like we’ve had at every other farm. It wasn’t. Remember the Cottageville Hwy I mentioned, just on the other side of this farm? Well, it was a Friday night and apparently that is when the local hooligans (drag racers) run their races and random times throughout the night. Thankfully, we travel with a sleep aid fan, so that drowned out some of the noise. I feel bad for Bill!

We had a plan to get out decently early, since this next leg was a little bit longer. There was room for me to do an ‘S’ turn on the pasture Tigger played in, and go back out the same way I came in. Coming at it from the opposing angle, I’m not sure how I made it in the fence in the first place!

Total length of Pearl & Maverick hitched up is 61′. I’m just shy of being a semi! Of that 61′, there is about 10′ of Maverick behind the tires, which could easily tail-whip the fence post on my right or the mailbox on my left. Greg helped guide me out, but with the different angle, avoiding the branches and mailbox, I swear I was going to scrap the fenders of Maverick on the fence. Greg was standing right there as I CREEPED out of the fence going maybe 2 mph. He said I had less than an inch clearance.

Oh. My. Goodness. Maverick – act skinny!

So, we are boondocking at these locations, meaning none of the plugs work. Meaning, there is no coffee brewing in the morning. Meaning, we completed the hardest maneuver we’ve ever done… without caffeine. Sigh, thank you Jesus for grace. I have the cold brews, but it was cold outside and I just couldn’t do it. We found a Bojangles at the highway, so Greg went on ahead to get eats and caffeine, and I was going to meet him in a church parking lot that was wide open and easy to get in and out of. However, shortly after I pulled in, so did the florist vans for the funeral being held there that morning. It’s already been a learning day and we have some highway miles to get behind us.

We got onto I-26 this day and that road is rough. I think Maverick caught air a couple times. All I could think about was please don’t break the new fridge! We had found another rest stop and were very grateful for it, again.

We knew there was going to be lots of rain in the area (thank you, Greg), so the final night on the road I wanted to make sure we were able to park on pavement. A Boondockers Welcome Host offered the parking lot of their real estate office, so I booked it. We had access to use the florist’s parking lot in front so we could back in behind the tree, and use it we did.

That turned out to be another tricky maneuver, but we nailed it…eventually. I got pictures from every angle, because I am impressed at this parking job. I pulled into the parking lot, and Greg had to maneuver me around so I was backed into the area for us, all while avoiding the large drain in the middle so we didn’t bottom out. We are getting pretty good at this!

It definitely rained that night and into the morning. We didn’t want to go over the mountains when it was raining while hauling 20,000lbs, so we got a later start. I’m not sure what was harder, climbing the mountain, or going slow enough down the other side. It was all going well, until on the last downhill, 7% grade, they had the divided highway down to 2 lanes with the concrete barriers dividing them. I swear I had NO wiggle room and Pearl’s tires rode some of those barriers. 7% grade!! Maverick’s heavy ass was pushing us the whole way! Sigh.

Thankfully, Johnson City, TN was just over the mountains and we were able to pull into our last stop. We had stayed at this campground in the fall, so we were familiar with the setup. After a slightly stressful couple of days, I about lost it when I saw what I thought was a nail in my tire. You know how roofing nails have that plastic piece around it? Well, I saw a pink circle thing around something IN MY TIRE TREAD. Omg, these tires are $600 each. I was done with today. At a closer look, it was a child’s sticker. Not amused. I need a beer.

So, we are finally back in TN. Maverick has an appt at the dealership the next morning and then we will head out to our new home, Old Mountain Campground, literally in the mountains. So excited!!

What did we learn? Patience is a virtue that needs to be practiced all the time. Take our time in the drive, in the pull-in/out, go slow on the highway, and stop at rest stops. Do you see a theme here?

What I need from my readers is ideas for quick meals to prepare the night before so we can eat a healthy lunch at the rest stops. I did egg salad and chicken salad. We don’t want to do sandwich meat since it’s so processed. Ideas??

~Katie