Author: Easin' Along

Easin’ Along has been on the sidelines for a few weeks. Helen and I returned home in April after a road trip to California…then let other events in our busy lives drive us forward. I’ll give a summary in the paragraphs below.

After returning home, we discovered a broken leaf spring on the passenger side of our fifth-wheel trailer and one of our slides needed repair. Dora is now in the shop and waiting for parts that won’t arrive until late July. Helen continues to receive treatments for breast cancer and is doing very well. She underwent surgery in May and is on the mend.  Her doctors tell her that she will completely recover and that the treatments will end in a few weeks.

While we were away, my brother and my sister moved my mom into a nursing facility and moved her furniture into my garage.  Mom is doing exceptionally well, but my garage pleaded for a better arrangement. Some friends took a few pieces of furniture into their consignment shop, and hopefully, buyers will emerge. A neighbor picked up a piece for her grandson. The remaining pieces of furniture still needed a home until this week when a ball bounced our way.

A friend in Helen’s pottery group mentioned that a group of ladies from a foreign country was moving to Knoxville and needed furniture and household appliances to help them settle. Helen reached out to the lady leading the effort. She accepted our offer of furniture and provided some details about the recipients–members of the Afghan Women’s Basketball Team.

When the United States departed Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban took over the country and immediately denied women the right to an education and to play sports. With the swift assistance of some International Rescue groups, members of the Women’s Team were led out of the country with nothing more than a backpack and temporarily settled in Albania. Efforts continued to find a permanent home for the athletes until word reached Sarah Hillyer, a faculty member at the University of Tennessee. Sarah and Michelle Marciniak, a former star basketball player under the legendary Pat Summitt, traveled to Albania to meet with the team and offer help.

Mindful that Pat Summitt’s life focused intently on education and basketball, Sarah and Michelle felt that there was no better place for the team to settle than Knoxville, where they could further their education at the University and live in freedom in one of the most livable places on earth. (For more on the story, click here).

Two of the ladies have arrived and moved into apartments. The rest of the team will come soon. Much is needed to help them during the early days in their new home.

Last week, Michelle and another volunteer arrived in a large truck to pick up our furniture. I remembered Michelle from her time as a Tennessee Volunteer and her performances in winning two National Championships under Coach Summit. I could have chatted with her all morning about basketball and the Afghan Team project, but our pick-up was just one of many, and they had to keep moving.

They loaded the furniture without our help.  I jokingly commented to Michelle as she lifted a desk effortlessly that she was “tough.” She replied, “I had to be to play for Pat Summit.”

Helen also added a smattering of household appliances like an air fryer, a toaster, and a blender to the collection. They posed for pictures, we exchanged thanks and well-wishes, and they were off to help another downsizing household and some deserving women.

We got our garage back and felt great doing so.  We’re Easin’ Along.

I’ve worn many hats in my life, but one role I am very proud of is my time as president of the Appalachian Anglers Society. This group is composed of men who love the sport of fishing for trout in the waters of our mountains and share a love of the great outdoors. Since 1957, our group has held a three-day event in the Cherokee National Forest near Tellico Plains, Tennessee. The founders of the Society dubbed the gathering Camp II. I spent my 30^th birthday at my first Camp II and attended regularly for at least two decades.

Over the last ten years, my attendance at Camp II has been sporadic due to our RV travel. However, I still visit the Cherokee National Forest at least once a year for “mind cleansing” and because I cherish my time surrounded by the unbelievable beauty of the area.  There is something about the roar of a mountain stream that shuts out much of life’s noise.

Camp II is usually held during the first weekend of May. For many years we had the event in a group campground. Still, due to a shortage of Forest Service personnel, we were asked to move the camp from McNabb Branch to the Holly Flats campground about six miles further into the forest near the North Carolina border.

I love Holly Flats and have often camped there with the Anglers and my family. Nevertheless, this campground is too small, and the road is too steep and narrow for our trailer.  I’m long past my tent-camping days, so I drove down for one day, taking my new dog, Mortimer, with me. I also had a mission on this visit.

The eighteen-mile drive along the Tellico River from Tellico Plains to the road over the mountain to Holly Flats is captivating. The fast-flowing and scenic river heightens the sense of what it means to be alive and in the presence of such beauty. I never tire of it. I paused once to enjoy the stream and give Mortimer his first taste of Tellico River water.

I arrived at Holly Flats just before noon. There was little movement in the campground. This was predictable—many of the campers were out for a day of fishing, and several of the younger guys were still sleeping off the first night’s usually raucous activities. Tucked into one corner of the campground were several friends of mine and veterans of Camp II—guys who learned long ago to pace themselves. I chatted away and enjoyed myself immensely recalling old stories of Camp II’s of the past. Mortimer made several new friends as well.

My overall mission for the trip was to honor one of our members who passed away recently—my brother-in-law, Jimmy Dean. Jimmy, Helen’s younger brother, died in a tragic fall at his home last November. He was a long-time Anglers member and loved every minute of Camp II. Jimmy is pictured below, bottom row, fourth from the left.

His lovely daughters gave me one of his hats and asked that I leave it somewhere in the campground as a tribute and a memorial to Jimmy. I was honored that they asked and accepted immediately. I wrote a short note to go with the hat and had it laminated before the trip to the campground.

I could have stayed well into the evening and feasted on the Prime Rib dinner being prepared on the smoker that a brave Angler towed over the mountain, but I needed to scoot before temptation took over. I spotted a tree in the corner of Holly Flats, overlooking the Bald River, that was the perfect spot to give Jimmy’s hat a home.

A number of the campers asked that I read the note, and another camper brought a ladder over, allowing me to nail the hat high on the tree trunk, away from trouble and perched high above a section of still water. Mission accomplished.

Leaving Camp II is always difficult; this year was no different. As I drove along the river, past Bald River Falls, and back toward Knoxville, I again found myself so grateful for another visit to this blessed sanctuary and that a piece of Jimmy was there, shared with his friends.

In no hurry to depart, I was Easin’ Along…slowly.

In all the excitement surrounding a new addition to the household, I passed over recapping the details of our trip home from California. I have shared our time in San Diego, Seal Beach, and Temecula, but there’s more to the story. I’ll wrap up the return and throw in a few activities from a busy month.

We left Vail Lake KOA Campground with the intent to stop overnight somewhere between Temecula and Las Vegas, Nevada, but we got an early morning start and decided to go all the way.  Helen called Desert Eagle Campground on Nellis Air Force Base to ask if we could arrive a day early. Desert Eagle is one of the largest (and nicest) campgrounds in the military inventory, so we didn’t expect a problem. Still, we wanted to ensure we could remain on the older part of the campground because it affords more shade than the recent addition.  No problem, we were good to go for three nights instead of the two we had planned initially. Our only stop was to take a picture of the scenic Nevada Desert.

I can’t recall how often we have camped in Las Vegas, but we enjoy being there because there is so much to do. On our second night in the city, we decided to visit the Golden Nugget, one of the older casinos in town.  Our daughter-in-law had visited the Nugget earlier in the year and brought home some unused poker chips from one of the gaming tables.  Helen had them in her pocket and was eager to use them at the Blackjack table.  She won on the first hand and immediately cashed in.  She owes our DIL a commission.

On the second afternoon, we decided to walk through some iconic hotel lobbies to get a feel for the current happenings.  Caesar’s Palace didn’t have much going on, so we walked the Sky Bridge to the Bellagio, where there is always a lovely display in the ballroom. Before we reached the presentation, I paused in the lobby to take a picture of the Chihuly Glass that covers the lobby ceiling. Stunning is the only word I can think of to describe this beautiful work of art.

Inside the ballroom, a fantastic display of flower sculptures filled the ballroom and surrounded a fountain and pool of water. A pair of flowered swans filled one edge of the pool and seemed to have a “thing” for Helen. We took lots of pictures before moving on.

Walking to one of the hotels, we passed through the Plaza leading from the parking lot to the Strip.  Overhead, a group of Zipliners flew over us from the balcony ledge at the Linq Hotel. Believe me when I say there is more to do in Vegas than gamble.

When we left for home, we were alerted to a weather forecast predicting threatening weather in the coming days. The mountains to the west had significant snow overnight, and more was predicted for the higher elevations. We were headed to higher elevations.

We called ahead to Fort Tuthill, a military campground in Flagstaff, AZ, to learn that the campground was closed due to the predicted snowfall.  We were offered a room in the inn on the base, but we decided to pass and keep moving to get ahead of the weather.  We reserved a campsite in Winslow, AZ, about 100 miles east of Flagstaff and several hundred feet lower in altitude.  Despite the elevation, snow showers moved over Winslow just as we arrived.  Fortunately, the temperatures hovered above the freezing mark, and the snow did not accumulate. 

Traveling on Interstate 40 by now, we spent the next night in Amarillo, Texas, in the campground we always use for the return trip home. The weather cooperated, and we had no issues.  Oklahoma was the next stop.

Again, we used a campground that works well for us traveling home.  We have camped several times at Tinker Air Force Base, but reservations are not accepted, and space is usually tight. Helen called the desk and learned that three campsites were available.  We pushed hard and made it with one site to spare.  The sunset that evening was brilliant.

We still had two nights on the road before arriving in Knoxville and spent one night each in Roland, Oklahoma, and Parker’s Crossroads, on the western side of Tennessee.  We managed to stay ahead of some bad weather all the way home.

Once home, we had to get up to speed quickly. My mother was moved into a nursing home while we were away.  My brother and sister did an excellent job of making the transition go smoothly.  Helen and I were now home to help with the furniture and other items that did not make the move.

Another task for April was getting an English Bulldog accustomed to living with us. Although Mortimer (dog) has been a joy, it does take time and effort to get him set up to live in a new house. I tried my best to get that task accomplished without involving Helen, but she fell in love with our new pet and welcomed him graciously, primarily because Mortimer was a gift from me to me for my 75^th birthday. She would have preferred to give me a box of chocolates, but I beat her to the punch and bought my own gift for the big day.

A big day needs a party, so we closed the month with a small gathering of close friends from our first neighborhood, plus my dear friend and business associate of twenty years.  In observance of my new dog, we served hot dogs and cold beer.  

April is a wrap…we’re Easin’ Along.