Author: Easin' Along

Easin’ Along readers know that Helen was diagnosed with breast cancer in January this year and began a regimen of 12 weekly chemotherapy treatments shortly after. Even though the chemo drained her energy and resulted in some hair loss, we both feel that the treatments went well. With that phase of treatment behind us, we decided we needed an RV trip to relax and celebrate.  The mountains of North Carolina called us.

Happy Holiday Campground in Cherokee, North Carolina, is always our first choice.  With wide, spacious campsites and a bubbling creek to lull us to sleep at night, we consider ourselves fortunate to have such a lovely setting within a short distance from home. We planned a five-day stay, but we shortened our trip to three days due to some issues with my Mom. Three days would still provide a nice rest.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and began setting up when I realized I had made a big mistake. I’m unsure if I ever shared that I have sleep apnea and need a CPAP to sleep at night.  I am utterly dependent on the machine; with it, I sleep—without it, I don’t. Unfortunately, I left my CPAP at home. I was not going to spend three days in the campground without sleep, so I decided to drive back to Knoxville and retrieve my sleep machine. Helen remained in the campground and watched people and the creek flow by.

I returned to the campground, CPAP in hand, around nine o’clock that evening.  I was wide awake and suggested to Helen that we run over to the casino for an hour of fun before calling it a night.  She was surprised.  Usually, you couldn’t drag me out of my house at that time of the night, but Helen loves the casino and warmed up to the idea pretty quickly.

Cherokee Casino is about three miles from the campground, and on this Friday night, the place was hopping. As is our usual practice, we ventured off in different directions.  I usually find an obscure part of the main floor while Helen wants to be in the middle of the action.  Within fifteen minutes of unwinding with some casual gameplay, I received a text from my better half.  “I won $2,142!” I could almost hear her screaming through the message. A picture of her at the winning machine is at the top.

By the time I found her, Helen had already received her winnings (along with a Federal tax form) and was eagerly looking for another slot machine to conquer. She held her own for the rest of the night and the rest of the trip.  I coaxed a single one hundred dollar bill away from her vise-like grip on her money, but this was not my weekend. I did get one big thrill, however.  On Sunday night, a lady sitting in the row behind me put four dollars into a machine and, on one pull, hit the jackpot for over $13,000. Everyone sitting around her rose and gave her a standing ovation.  It was fun to see.

Before readers get the idea that the only thing we did was gamble, let me dissuade you.  On Saturday, we drove to Sylva and spent some time at Captain Bill’s Flea Market.  This is a vast market, and we walked to the end.  Some booths had interesting items, but we resisted. At the last booth, I spotted a hardback copy of The Judge’s List, John Grisham’s latest novel, in like-new condition. Currently, I am reading Grisham’s The Whistler, featuring the same main characters. The lady running the booth let me have the hardback for five dollars.  I consider the purchase my win for the weekend.

Relaxed and rested, we’re Easin’ Along.

Helen and I are bi-coastal grandparents.  Our two sons and their families live in California and South Carolina, which makes for complicated logistics when arranging family get-togethers. Those complications were the driving force in our purchase of an RV, but it usually means we get to visit with one family at a time…it’s hard on two doting grandparents. Nevertheless, Helen (BeBe) will not be denied at least one family reunion a year; she made that happen last week.

The South Carolina group arrived in Knoxville last Friday, followed by the California kids late on Saturday night. All arrived without incident, and the grandchildren were happy to reunite with their cousins.  COVID prevented that from happening last year.

After a good night’s sleep, I attended church, and Helen drove the grandchildren over for their first visit of the week with their great-grandmother at her retirement home.  My mother is a very sharp 94 years young and was so thrilled to see the children that she couldn’t hold back the tears. She might prefer that I keep this picture to myself, but I found it very touching.

The remainder of the day was spent smoking pork shoulder and slabs of ribs for dinner. My brother’s family came over to visit and join the family fun—something we had not done since my mom’s 90^th birthday party.

On Monday, everyone piled into two cars and drove to a Nature Park across town to let the young and the young-at-heart try their skills on a ropes course. The Dads (Justin and Collin) joined the kids in negotiating ziplines and tightropes, walking across a rope system covering about an acre.  A ropes course expert led them through the adventure.  It was crazy fun for both the participants and the spectators.

On Tuesday, three of the California bunch came down with COVID, probably due to airline travel. Each had a fever of 100 degrees or higher, erasing several planned outings for later in the week. We decided to make lemonade out of the lemons.

The healthy ones went to the toy store to purchase cards and board games. Helen found a chess set and set it up on our screen porch. The kids found some old blankets and built forts in the living room to hide in and share secrets. Of course, each child had iPhones for surfing and books for reading, and by the end of the week, Helen and I were thrilled to see them play well together and fill the house with loud laughter. Justin and Collin spent a lot of time working remotely.

Before the COVID outbreak, heavy rain fell on Knoxville one afternoon to the delight of the California kids who don’t see rain often.  They decided to immerse themselves in the wet stuff.  Our oldest granddaughter is a member of a competitive dance group in California and jumped for joy as the rain fell on her.  I love this picture.

On our most recent visit to Charleston, Collin tried grilling pizza on a Big Green Egg over a pizza stone.  The pizza was outstanding, so I bought a pizza stone this week to do it again.  I also purchased an outdoor propane griddle that would work for pizza, and on Wednesday night, we had a pizza party. Collin worked in a pizza joint while attending Indiana University and mastered the art of tossing the dough.  It’s a skill that (almost) made the tuition worth it. We prepared six delicious pizzas and had fun doing it.

Helen had asked everyone to write down a favorite Bible verse and send it to her for printing.  Once she had them printed out, she asked the children to draw pictures around the written verses and color them so she could attach them to our refrigerator.  They each did a great job and gave us an art gallery that made us proud.

Everyone knows about Helen’s love of jigsaw puzzles; she had a unique puzzle for family week. Our last get-together was in California, and we had a picture taken on a visit to the Brea Tar Pits that Helen ordered as a 1000-piece puzzle. This was a challenging task to pull together, and people worked on it constantly.  One morning, Collin stayed up until 1:00 am to make some progress, trying to complete the puzzle before everyone left for home.

Sadly, our week ended too soon, and everyone had to return home and attend to life’s demands.  We said our goodbyes and gave the grandchildren one last hug for the road.  We’ve had some great times in the past, but this one we’ll remember for a very long time.  Who knew COVID could be this much fun?

It’s been a great week! We’re Easin’ Along.