Tennessee Travelers October Rally – Crossville, TN - Days 1 & 2

We are on the road again but this time only driving 65 miles to the Spring Lake RV Resort near Crossville, TN for the club’s final 2019 rally and our annual business meeting.

We had 11 coaches in attendance (two visitors) but would have had a couple more had the folks who live next door in Fairfield Glade brought their coaches.  This is our group and we are the second site which has a concrete parking pad with gravel at each end – it was reasonably level.

The campground has an out-front part where we were and a rear lake part (below) with 20+ sites in each place.

Louie and Bill insisting I get their picture - turned out well.

We got to the campground around 1:30pm on Monday and spent the afternoon catching up with the others before heading to the Beef & Barrel Restaurant for a group supper.  I was too busy eating & visiting to take any shots - our food was decent but nothing special even though the place was packed and folks were waiting to get in.

On Tuesday, our main event was a trip to the Cumberland County Playhouse (a first for me) to see Baskerville, a Sherlock Holmes Mystery (comedy) which took place in the smaller of the two theaters – with very uncomfortable chairs.  I could only make it through the first half before my hip said enough of being in that one cramped position,  so I went to the car.  I thought the play was okay but not great although I was impressed with the number of characters that several of the actors played and how quickly they could change clothes – five actors playing 45 characters.  I assume this is the kind of place where actors start out to hone their skills.

From there we went to Cumberland Mountain State Park for a buffet dinner where I ate mostly salad. 

This is their signature bridge/dam and the restaurant where we were the first ones in line.

In case you were wondering, we are in Cumberland County on the Cumberland Plateau of the Cumberland Mountains.  

That evening, we sat around the faux campfire and visited - always a favorite part of mine and the propane fire rings make it so easy and smoke free.

So ends the first two fun days with this group – I always enjoy being with them.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

10/14-10/15/19 event dates

Coach Repair, Health, & Furniture

Not much blog-worthy happenings around here lately but wanted to get these things documented.

Our coach began showing the “Check Engine” light last spring and we thought it was a coolant problem and checked the coolant system and some other issues only to have it return during our recent trip to Kentucky.  So this time the mechanic checked the fault codes to find three different issues with the biggest one being the pollution control system – similar with our cars.  So, $4,600 later it’s all hopefully fixed.  Diesels are definitely more expensive to keep on the road than gas engines.

Swordfish Puttanesca

When I saw a recent blog post for this dish, I knew I needed to go in search of some swordfish steaks and managed to find four with trips to two different Food City stores. While I liked the recipe I’d seen, I saw some others for the puttanesca sauce that had some elements I preferred so I combined a couple of them to get the one below.

Furniture Shopping in north Georgia

As I mentioned in a previous post, about the new flooring, Bev is now on a quest to replace the 1950’s tables and lamps, that we got from her parents, with something she actually wants – in other words to decorate the living room vs. having an eclectic collection of items.

While on an RV rally a year or so ago, she saw some rustic pieces she liked at Alexander’s Store near Blairsville, GA.  So, Pat, Cindy, Bev and I loaded up at 9am for the 2hr+ into north Georgia. Alexander's reminds me of Mast General Store with some of everything except groceries, but since Mast began in 1883, I’m pretty sure it did not copy Alexander’s, which opened in 1953.

Chicken Marsala

One of Bev’s favorite dishes is Chicken Marsala and it’s always a request from her.  Since we had mushrooms on hand, plenty of Marsala wine, and three large split chicken breasts in the freezer, it seemed like the time was right.  I removed the chicken meat from the bone, removed the tenders and sliced the breasts into medallions per a recent post from a blogger buddy (I used the bones to make broth)  After looking at several online recipes, I settled on one from Once Upon A Chef and adapted it a little to suit our needs.  Check out the site for some great how-to shots and these finished shots.

New Flooring At The Ranch & The Big News

Even though we bought really good carpeting for our home when we built it, after 25 years, it has finally had-it in the high traffic areas and we decided to replace it with a laminate floating floor.  We considered replacing the tile at the same time but after thinking about the end result and the much higher cost, we opted to just replace the carpeting in the living and dining rooms.  I can’t believe I waited until the living room was about done before thinking I should take some shots but I had these two of the pre-start room shots on hand. 

Lemon & Herb Grilled Chicken

This post covers three different meals but it is ultimately about the chicken.  The first meal was a couple of CAB prime rib eyes that I grilled and sided with a baked potato for my BD supper after we got home from our RV Rally on Friday - since I was born on this day I know good things can happen on Friday the 13th. J

As you might expect, this meal was very good.

The next night, I grilled 4lbs of bone-in chicken breasts using the recipe for Lemon & Herb Chicken from Lake Geneva Country Meats which I followed as shown below but doubled for the amount of chicken thighs that I had.  

Ingredients:

2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

4 Lemon ( juiced)

.5 cup Olive Oil

2 clove Garlic ( minced)

2 Tbsp Rosemary

2 Tbsp Sage

1 Tbsp Parsley

1 Tbsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Directions:

1. Combine the lemon juice, herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl and whisk together. Pour the marinade into a large sealable plastic bag and add the chicken thighs. Work the thighs into the marinade until all surfaces of the chicken are covered. Click here to read why we don’t marinate longer!

2. Heat your grill to medium heat and oil the grates so the chicken doesn’t stick to them.

3. Place the chicken thighs onto the grill and cook for 5-6 minutes per side, flipping once until the meat reaches an internal temperature 165°F (Larry cooked to 175F for thighs).

4. Remove from the grill and rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Everyone thought the chicken was very good and wants to have it again – next time I will use boneless, skinless, chicken breasts which I will brine for a few hours prior to the marinade (without salt).  I got no pics of this meal but we had leftovers.

We also had a leftover rib eye from the Friday meal so I grilled it, reheated the chicken thighs, and Bev made a salad to get this meal.

The chicken was even very good as leftovers and of course the prime rib eye went down very easily again.  We definitely recommend the chicken dish - easy and delicious.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

9/16/19 event date