Dixie Stampede and New Friends

Monday was a work day at the campground office and it was windy and cloudy all day.  It is so slow here that I had three phone calls all day and made one reservation.  A lot of people choose the weekdays to travel so we had 8 checkouts this morning.  Gary and I choose to travel  Mondays through Thursdays, too; the traffic being a little lighter after the morning rush hour.  We plan to leave this campground on the 29th if the weather is good.  If not, we have a couple days leeway before we have to be in Florida on December 5th.  Travelling over mountains demands good weather, doncha know. 

We're very excited to get back home (home meaning warm weather, palm trees and the beach).  But we don't plan to stay very long.  Just a few million things to do, and then we'll be on our way to TEXAS!  We don't know where we'll be spending Christmas this year,but it will be the first one we've ever had without family. 

Tuesday was a better day to return my wedding outfit that I didn't use, and everyone sat in the Jeep while I ran into two stores and convinced the salesgirls to please take them back.  They were both understanding and gave me a refund.  Of course we were hungry again and since it was a cool day decided on our favorite sandwich/soup shop McAlister's.  After a really good feed, we returned to Stage West western wear so we could check out belts and stuff.  A company named Justin makes western wear and Donna and Ron got a cool belt and buckle with Justin printed on it for their grandson, Justin.  He will be the envy of all in school.

After that, we headed home to rest for Dixie Stampede's Christmas show.  It had started raining, so Gary dropped us off at the front door, and got to park just 25 yards away near the buses.  The place was jammed - every seat was taken and for a good reason.  The show was great as it had a lot more Christmas in it including sheep, goats, donkeys and three Wiseman camels!  There were the regular games with the audience: kids chasing chickens, and dads throwing toilet seat covers as giant horseshoes to determine whether the North or the South pole teams were winning.  Since you eat dinner completely with your hands (no utensils) sometimes it's impossible to applaud.  Therefore you stamp your feet - thus Dixie Stamp-ede.  It was a lot of fun and we got out around 8 but stopped at the French's Boot store to check out their footwear.  Gary found another pair he liked but we didn't buy them - that 10% tax is tough to swallow.

Donna and Ron's neighbors Judy and Norm Black from Texas came to visit on Wednesday around lunch time.  They moved from California to Tennessee a few years ago as a retirement place and love it.  We talked and talked, ate subs, talked some more, went to No Way Jose's for dinner, returned home and we said goodnight. 

Judy and Norm and us

Thursday Ron had to work in the CG office instead of Sunday and I only have a few days left to work there, too.  I can't believe how fast 7 months has gone, but April does seem like a hundred years ago.  When having fun...doncha know.   Friday we will return our outfits to Wardrobe and turn in our ID cards to Dollywood.  We don't know if we'll be back, but the Smokies have gotten into our blood.  It was a good experience working for Dollywood, and I'm glad we did it just to see the Smokies and the beautiful area of East Tennessee.

We are looking forward to getting back on the road, visiting Grandchildren and our children before heading west and brand new adventures.  Stay with us!