I Have My Way of Relaxing … Mui Has His Way of Relaxing

Sunday, 15 April

What a restful sleep we had last night.  With the window cracked-open a smidge to let in the sound of the river rushing down the gorge, we were lulled into a deep sleep.  We certainly needed a good rest after yesterday’s debacle with the Pigeon Forge/Rod Run traffic snarl (post here).

It was 7:00a when I woke up to the smell of wood fire wafting from the tent site on the driver’s side.  I really, really wanted to eat breakfast at the picnic table overlooking the river, but common sense prevailed.  It was only 56F (13C).  While that alone wouldn’t have deterred me, the breeze that added a chill factor did.  No worries, we made up for it by having both lunch and dinner al fresco.

Around 9:30a, we deemed it warm enough to sit outside with just a light fleece jacket.  Laptops and cups of tea in hand, we settled ourselves at the picnic table to do our morning reading.  I stayed there pretty much the rest of the day; Mui, not so much.

Today was always going to be a stick-around-the-campground day to recuperate from our drive to get here.  And what a great day it turned out to be to do just that.

Mui can’t sit still for long, so our definition of “relaxing” is not necessarily the same.  His day was spent giving the Phaeton a ‘spa’ treatment.  First he got permission from the powers-that-be in the campground office to do a bucket wash of the front and rear of the coach.  Then, The Solution sprayer in hand, he set about dry-washing the rest of the Phaeton.  He snuck in a windshield wash for the toad, too; I won’t say anything to the management if you won’t. 

Just look at that shine; now I have double-the-Mui to deal with :-)

the wheel covers get a ‘303 massage’ to give them some uv protection.

Finally, some well-earned R&R.

I, on the other hand, alternated between sitting at the picnic table on the covered deck to write yesterday’s blog post; wandering around the campground to take pictures; searching the trees for the birds chirping their little hearts out; and sitting in a comfy chair from which I tried to catch up on my blog reading.  That latter endeavor was derailed by the mesmerizing effect of Little River tripping over rocks and boulders as it rapidly flowed down river — I spent far more time watching the river than I did reading.

Playing with the shutter speed, I manage to get the silky water effect I like.

Searching for birds, I find these beautiful Mock orange blooms.
[credit for the id goes to mbz.]

Blue jays — aka jaybirds — get their name from their noisy and garrulous nature.

A couple of blue jays and an American Robin.

A few more of Mother Nature's critters and flora, including a carpenter bee with its
butt hanging out of the home it's drilling in the railing (second photo, top left).  The blooms are the ubiquitous dandelion and the cross vine.

Somewhere between all that fun, we found time to do a test set-up of our new beach shelter.  Not that we plan to use it here, but Mui bought it just before we left on this trip and he wanted to make sure it worked OK.  My preference was for a Sportsbrella, but Mui liked this one better.  It sure goes up in a jiffy. We're going to need to get a couple of beach chairs, though; the ones we have now are simply too big for the shelter.

Ahh, yes — sun protection is important.

And so I wrap up the post and the day!  The sun is quickly disappearing behind the mountains and the night chill is starting to make its presence known.  No problem; after all the fresh air I filled my lungs with today, I’m ready to go inside and process photos so I can post this entry.

Watching TV is part of Mui’s wind-down ritual.

I had some pithy words to end this post, but I did something stupid and lost everything I had written.  I’m too tired to try and re-create them.  So, I’ll just say that the stinkin’ stink bug eradication program is ongoing at the condo on wheels.  We’ve been averaging 10-15 kills a day since we pulled the Phaeton out of storage at the end of March.  I apologize to all you bug lovers out there, but these bugs are not getting any stays of execution from us!