Back in Nashville -- Busy, Busy, Busy

After our rainy but fun two weeks over the 4th of July at Fall Creek Falls, we headed back to Nashville on July 5th.  Below are a couple of more pictures Renee sent me after we all had left of Brent and Chuck on Brent's scooters that I just have to share with you.  Brent and Chuck really look like some bad motorcycle dudes.  :)

Heaven's Angels

Easy...rider.  :)

We pulled out of our site at Fall Creek Falls around 9 am and hooked up the car across from the dump station near the camper check-in.  With the exception of a traffic tie-up around Cookeville, we had an uneventful drive back to Nashville until we pulled in to Jellystone.  While I was in the office getting us checked in at Jellystone, Chuck discovered he had lost his set of keys to the Honda which also has the key to the Blue Ox tow locks on the key ring.  The only thing we can figure out is that he must have left them on the hood of the car when we were hooking it up at Fall Creek Falls and they fell off somewhere between there and Nashville.  I called Fall Creek Falls and they looked in the area where we had hooked up but didn't find any keys nor had anyone turned in any keys.

The good news is we had another set of keys in the motorhome to unlock the Blue Ox locks so we were able to quickly unhook the car.  The bad news is we had to order a new Honda key with the key fob which cost about $157.  Ouch!  Chuck is also now using one of those easy-latch hooks on his shorts or pants to which he can hook his keys so we don't leave them on top of the hood of the car again.  It's one of those things you tell yourself:  "I probably should not leave the keys on top of the car because one of these days I'm going to drive off and lose them."  And then despite how careful you think you are, it happens.

We had rescheduled all of our doctors appointments that we typically get done in April to July.  Next year, we are planning on moving them all to around Thanksgiving.  We have talked about doing this since we started full-timing over 3 years ago because we know we will always be back in Nashville during the Thanksgiving and/or Christmas holidays.

Over the next 18 days, we saw all the doctors and "--ologists" that we needed to see and I guess other than the fact that we could stand to lose a little weight, we are in pretty good health which we are very grateful for.

I also went to the optometrist next to Costco in Nashville for an eye exam.  I got new eyeglasses at Costco that have Transition (tints in the sunlight) and Progressive (no line bi-focals) as well as scratch resistant, anti-glare, and all the other add-ons the other optical companies try to sell you on.  The best part:  I saved probably at least half what it would have cost to have gotten those same eyeglasses with all the add-ons at other optical companies.  We also switched all of our medical prescriptions to Costco Pharmacy which is saving us a lot too.  Thank you, Costco!

Chuck's "dumb" phone (an old flip-phone) had started shutting off all by itself over the last month.  Since he was eligible for an upgrade, we went to Verizon at Opry Mills and Chuck now is the proud owner of an iPhone 6.  One of the first things he tried out was the "talk and text" feature where he can text by speaking into the phone.  When he texted Crystal, below is the text he got back:

What??? Pa has an iPhone???

Chuck has been learning how to use his iPhone and I have been learning how to share our apps through iCloud.  I think he's enjoying it.  At least now he has something to do when he's waiting on me in the store.  Of course, I still expect to see him talking to whoever is sitting on the bench at any Wal-mart we venture into on our travels.  One of the things I love most about him!  :)

We did a little cleaning out of the motorhome; but since we had just purged in April, we didn't have a lot to get rid of.  We do have a lot of hats and t-shirts from all of our travels since we began full-timing but it's really hard to part with those because they have such wonderful memories.  Chuck keeps threatening to throw out his very dirty-stained-sweaty-stinky Cabelas hat that he bought in Hamburg, PA, the first year we were full-timing but I won't let him.

He can throw it out when he gets another one to replace it which we should be able to do in a few weeks when we are in Pennsylvania.  In the meantime, he just keeps getting it dirtier and sweatier by wearing it only when he's working outside in the sun.  All that sweat and dirt provides at least 85 UV protection.  :)  We did finally throw out the old green flannel shirt that you see him wearing in so many of the pictures on the blog.  There were almost as many holes as cloth so it was time to go.  :)

We also cleaned out "our" closet at my mom's.  When we sold our house and began full-timing, we got rid of just about everything and my mom graciously lets us keep the few things we kept that we can't carry with us in her attic and in one of the closets in her condo.  Unfortunately, what happens when we purge the motorhome is a lot of the purging ends up in the closet.  We gave that closet a thorough purging and took about 4 big bags of stuff to Goodwill or gave to my mom for her to put in her church's annual yard sale.

Another thing we do when we are back in Nashville for a few days is order all the stuff we have been wanting to order from Amazon or wherever so it can be shipped to my mom's while we are there.  We got a new storage ottoman, stocked up on our favorite salad dressing, and got another set of locks for our Blue Ox tow bar.

The Blue Ox locks is another story that is worth sharing.  Over a year and a half ago, we ordered new Blue Ox locks online.  We thought with the thousands of miles of towing the car that it would be a good idea to replace them.  Sometimes the locks would be a little challenging to unlock and they are exposed to rain, sand, and everything else on the road.  However, when we received the locks, the keys were barrel keys which are awkward on a key ring and don't seem to lock as securely as the flat key locks.  Chuck had been putting off using them but we finally changed them out before we headed out west with Ken and Bonnie because the old locks were just worn out.

By the time we had returned from our trip, Chuck was ready to throw the new Blue Ox locks and their awkward barrel keys in the trash.  Unfortunately, Blue Ox has changed all of their locks to the barrel keys and these are the only kind they are currently manufacturing.  When I called Blue Ox, the sales clerk told me the only way to get the old flat key locks was to find an old set at a dealer or store somewhere.

I began looking online for the older version of the Blue Ox locks with the flat keys and found several distributors like Tweetys and PPL Motorhomes that showed the flat keys on their pictures of the Blue Ox locks.  I emailed the companies to confirm that the locks were the flat keys as shown in the picture.  PPL told me that theirs were the barrel keys but Tweetys reply was "they are standard, not barrel."  So, I ordered the locks from Tweetys.  However, when we received the order they were NOT standard keys but barrel keys.  I called Tweetys back and the guy's explanation was that whoever responded to me did not physically look at the locks but only at the picture they had from Blue Ox.  Whatever!  Three days later, they sent me a return label, and I shipped them back.

I began looking for other Blue Ox dealers and found Croft Trailer Supply in Missouri.  They had the locks in stock and even sent me a picture of the locks so I could see they had the standard key.  Three days later we had new Blue Ox locks with the standard keys.  The ladies at Croft Trailer Supply were very nice and very helpful!

So....one of our new "quests" when we are traveling will be to check at any RV dealer we happen to see when out shopping or on a day trip and see if they have the old style Blue Ox locks with the standard keys.  If they do, we're buying another set for when these have to be replaced in a few years!

Well, that pretty much takes care of all the busy-ness and errand-running we did while in Nashville.  I'll share with you the "fun" part of being back in Nashville on the next post.