Camping

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We woke up around 8 am. It was raining off and on. Ken managed to cook bacon on the grill outside. I made oatmeal and toast. It was cozy inside.

Finally it stopped raining; Bella immediately went to the creek. I cleaned up the dishes. We decided to drive in to Cherokee and the Smoky Moutain National Park. the girls wanted to stop to see April. She works at the casino in Cherokee. It is a huge place; it took us 10 minutes to find a parking space. We found her restaurant and saw her but couldn't get her attention. She was very busy so we left. We headed to the touristy area. We walked through a few shops. We told the girls they could pick something out. Bella picked out a few beautiful rocks and Lola picked one rock and a set of bows and arrows. There were some Indians (they were NOT of Indian descent) dancing out in front of the shopping area and they were horrible! We got a snack and then decided to drive through a bit of the Smoky Mountain National Park. It was pretty, but I think the girls were bored. Lola said, 'this is a long drive'.

Bella wanted to eat at 'Bojangles' in Bryson City. It's her favorite place. April and Randy said they would meet us there for dinner, but they never showed up. I ordered the two piece white meat dinner (I don't eat friend chicken, but that was the only choice!). I also got green beans and mashed potatoes. I don't know about you, but whenever my mashed potatoes are served from an ice cream scoop and they sit in a perfect round ball on my place, I'm done. I can't eat them. The green beans had fake bacon bits and were gross. AND, my chicken was a leg and thigh. That's dark meat! I took one bite and it was truly gross. Ken took it back and got some chicken tenders, which were OK. I don't think we'll be going back there. I didn't say anything to Bella since it is her favorite place, but she noticed I wasn't eating.

We got back to the campground and it started pouring rain and didn't stop. So, we made s'mores in the microwave! I cut those big marshmallows in half. Lola played with her bow and arrow (not much room in an RV). Since it was raining, I said, let's get our jammies on, open the fold out bed and tell stories. Then we can watch a movie.

We turned out all the lights and lit a candle. Ken is so good at telling stories. He told a few 'animal' stories, then a few scary ones. Bella had a scary one too. It was fun! Then we watched 'Parent Trap', the original one with Haley Mills, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith. They enjoyed it. It was a fun evening and then time for bed.

During the night, I moved my legs and felt something wet. I thought, my gosh, have I peed the bed? I pulled the sheets down and the entire bottom of my bed was soaked! (and I did not pee!) I woke Ken up and he turned on the light to see the air conditioner pouring water out on to the bed. He turned it off; we cleaned up what we could and he moved to the floor down next to the girls for the remainder of the night. It was not a restful night!

He checked it out in the morning and found out a big leaf had fallen on to the roof of the RV and clogged the area that drains condensation; therefore it had no place to go except on me! He fixed it and it worked fine after that.

We made breakfast: bacon, toast, OJ, coffee and hot chocolate; cleaned up and then it was time to take the girls home. Tomorrow is my first day of work at my new job so I don't want to get home too late.

Miss Betty is going to let us store our RV at her campground for $5/week. This will be convenient for coming up to see the girls on weekends. It was a good weekend.

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