Day 1- We're On The Way!!!

It's our first day on the road, and what a GREAT DAY!  We left Irmo at 10:15 this morning (thanks Roger for the pictures!), the sun was shining, several of our friends called to wish us well.   We were finally going on the great adventure that we have wanted to go on for the last 25 years!

 Our first stop was in Prosperity (about 15 miles away) for gas...uneventful, but obviously a necessity!

and now we are really "on the road"!

The drive to Clinton, Tennessee, just north of Knoxville went really smooth. Saluda grade on I-26 was a breeze as was the the steep decent down I-40 before Knoxville. Used the exhaust brake feature and was impressed with the performance, used the vehicle brake very little and had no worries of overheating the brakes. This drive makes the thought of driving the mountains out west a little less intimidating.
Linda is making a very good co-pilot and navigator and as always is my favorite person to be with.  We're enjoying our time together.

After we crossed the North Carolina line we thought we should have taken a picture of the sign of each state we enter but we weren't about to turn around!  So I took a couple of pictures through the windshield to see if they would come out and they did!  And then we got the "Welcome to Tennessee" sign! 

Can you tell the girls love traveling and being with us?  They slept most of the way!  We stopped at the Welcome Center to stretch our legs, pickup some brochures and walk the dogs.  Decided to fix sandwiches and eat lunch in the motorhome...too easy!  Then "on the road" again.

 

We arrived at Fox Inn Campground in Clinton, TN about 4:30.  Really nice people and very clean...an escort driving a golf cart to take us to our site and ensure that we had no problems, etc. Their motto "close to everything but away from it all" is true. Glenn made a good choice when he selected this campground for our first stop! 

Glenn's sister and brother-in-law, Rhonda and Rick Griz, came to visit us and see the motorhome and then we went to Gondalier's Italian Restaurant for dinner.  We really enjoyed seeing them...so much that I forgot to take pictures!

Tomorrow we will rest, pace ourselves after the last few "hectic" months, and visit some of the "local attractions". Then back "on the road" Tuesday for our next stop in Kentucky.