Thanksgiving Camping

We are making plans for our first Thanksgiving while camping.  I've done it once before about 18 years ago when my parents came down to Tennessee and we went to a state park.  I was still using a pop-up and that was a bit drafty, hah hah!  Mom and Dad had their 5th wheel so there was always a place to warm up.  Thanksgiving diner was a simple affair.  They brought down turkey meat they'd prepared at home and a pre-made casserole that Mom popped into the oven and made the mashed potatoes on the stove top.  It was cool weather but dry and we had a roaring fire going most of the time.  The campground at Montgomery Bell SP was nearly empty though there were other hardy souls out there doing the same thing.  The deer would come right up to you in the campground and feed from your hand.
So this is our year for Thanksgiving camping.  We'll be parking the Premier at Kentucky Lake and smoking a turkey in the large Weber kettle grill I'll bring for the occasion.  Got a killer green bean casserole recipe for crock pot from RV.net forum and will do the 'taters while there.  Janet will make her fabulous sweet potato pie and  take it along.  Should be a good time!
I'm including a pic. of the loop we plan to back into...it'll be awesome looking out over the lake through the big picture window in the back of the Premier! 

I-65 through Birmingham Alabama

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways..

( A parody of “Let me count the ways”)

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.
I loathe thee to the depth of my shock absorbers as they bottom out
My cabinet doors doth open and all matter of supplies have fallen out.
The jars have torn the bike rack asunder and I have found them dragging long behind
As the weld in the bumper tore and the bikes became junk and became intertwined.
For the ends of the road will leave a camper in disarray
and all the travelers luncheons will have to be cleaned up along the way.
I loathe thee to the level all in a day’s ride
Most quiet need of smooth highway I can certainly abide.
I loathe thee freely, as we travel through;
To the land of the sun and the gulf so blue.
I loathe thee purely; as you turn my camper into ham
I loathe thee with the passion as we put it back together as best we can.
In my grief I shout, fix this damn road! but in my faith I have my doubts.
For travel it we must if we want a holiday,
from somewhere up north down to the gulf’s ocean spray.
Please fix the dang road is all I can say
as we lurch, and bump and make our way.

St George Island SP Florida

Staying at site 56 for the 2nd time this year.  Works for us!  October weather had been good until today when we had flooding conditions and winds keep us indoors.  Fishing was ok and I caught a nice flounder  yesterday on shrimp.  The gulf is really churned up now so I think fishing won't be very good for the rest of our week. Maybe shelling will though!  Love the new camper and I can't say enough good things about all the features it has.  Tomorrow the weather will change and cooler temps are in store for us the rest of the week...oh well, thats camping.

New Keystone Bullet Premier TT

This is our new 2012 Premier 28RLPR.  We are loading it up and getting ready to take it on its maiden camping trip.  We lost a slide out but gained 3 feet of length.  It has tons of storage without feeling or looking cramped inside.  The ceiling is slightly arched and is 6'4" which helps give it a expansive feeling. 



Old and New RV's

I took this picture at the dealership up in Ohio as I brought our former Cherokee 28A+ in for trade.  We now have a Premier 28 RLPR...I must like the number 28 :-)  The dealer is Aborgast in Troy Ohio,  they are great to deal with!  My son Ray and I are here spending the night in the new TT on the dealers lot while I'm on the MyFi tapping this blog out.  Tomorrow we'll head back home with our new beauty in tow to get it ready for a trip down to St George Island SP in a couple of weeks.  This is a gas!

Trading in old stand by.

We have decided to move beyond the Forest River Cherokee entry level TT and upgrade to a Keystone Premier.  Its kinda sad to move on beyond the Cherokee as we've had for 6 + years full of adventures, new campgroounds and raising our two kids in the camping lifestyle.  Hopefully the camping experiences will give them lessons and provide them some basic social skills that the camping community all share. Its been a good experience with the Cherokee.
BUT it's now time to move and we are very excited about the Premier 28 RLPR. DW and I decided we'll most likely have 3 TT's in our life time and this is now the time for the 2nd one. 
We had 3 pop ups before the TT phase and so I guess its all part of the plan.  We expect to get 8 to 10 years of great camping with this new one with the fiberglass siding and so many other excellent features.  We'll be taking it to Florida in a couple of weeks for its maiden voyage and I'll have many follow up posts with it!