Tuesday, April 30, 2013, the last day of April.  Time sure has flown so far this year.  It seems like it has only been a few weeks since we started on our journeys.  We have been to Texas for two projects, home for a short time, and now in Tennessee after being in Kentucky for three weeks.  Staying busy and working all day makes the time pass quickly.

Since Friday we have done a little bit of sight-seeing around the area.  Of course Friday was a day to rest and do laundry.  We started a little late in the morning since we slept a little late, me till about 0630, and Sharon till about 1000.  We finally got out of the RV around 1300 and headed into town to the laundry mat, and to get some lunch.  Since Pizza Hut is right next to the laundry mat, we ate lunch there again like we did last week.  We then made our weekly trip to WalMart.  NOMADS are big WalMart shoppers.  WalMart even has some RV supplies.  That makes getting some of the supplies we need for waste tanks, electrical, and some plumbing, easy.  There are more WalMarts than there are RV supply stores.

The rest of Friday was spent relaxing, primarily since it was raining.  It rained for three days straight here.  There was a lot of flooding in the central part of Tennessee.  We are located on Kentucky Lake, part of the Tennessee River.  The water level got very high.  The swimming beach here at the camp had some picnic tables floating along the shore.

Saturday we decided to get out and do something besides stay in the RV and watch the rain.  We headed for downtown Camden, TN.  We were told that there were several nice second hand/antique shops in town.  Don't know where these people have been, but the shops were not worth the time we spent getting out of the car to go in.

We left town and again headed for WalMart.  This time I had a real reason to go to WalMart.  One of the nose supports on my glasses had broken off.  I went to the vision center to get a new set of supports.  A very nice young man helped me.  I picked out a set from the display, and when I went to pay for them he asked me if I would like for him to put them on for me.  Of course I said yes.  the  screws that hold them on are very small.  I would have a hard time seeing them without my glasses on.  After he finished, and $2.08 later, I was on my way able to see comfortably again.

We had read about the World's Largest Fish Fry in Paris, TN, so we headed for Paris.  We have been to the world's largest chicken fry in Kentucky, so I was looking forward to what the world's largest fish fry would be like.  I was not disappointed.  The Jaycee's in Paris sponsor the event.  There had been a fishing competition during the week, so there were a lot of people out for that.  The fish tent that everybody told us to go to turned out to be a very big steel building.  The Jaycee's had built the building primarily for the fish fry.  I don't know how many people ate fish there Saturday, but when we left the place was full.  The fish, cat fish, was very good.  It was served with french fries, hush puppies, beans, and cole slaw.  I was an all you could eat meal.  For $12.00 you got all you could eat, and I definitely got my monies worth.   The building was full of picnic table to sit at.  I chose a table with a nice looking couple that I thought I could get some local information about the fish fry and the rest of the area.  Well, wouldn't you know it, the couple was there for the weekend for the fish fry.  And to make it even worse, they were from Altoona, Alabama, not far from where we live.  Oh well, better luck next time.  Another couple came to sit down at the table with us.  I asked them if they were from the area, guess what, your right.  They were from West Virginia.  I did get to talk to some of the men that were serving the fish, but they were too busy to spend much time talking.

We headed back home full of fish, but still wanting to know a little more about Paris.  Guess I will have to google it.

The Nathan B. Forrest State Park is adjacent to Lakeshore Assembly.  We had planned to visit it earlier in the week, but never got there.  The rain had stopped for awhile, so we decided it was a good time to go.  In the park there is a small museum that has some history about the local area and the exploits of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.  General Forrest's troops gave the Union army all it could handle in this part of Tennessee.  His biggest accomplishment was destroying a train depot in Johnsonville Station.  Forrest had deployed his artillery across the river from Johnsonville Station and bombarded the city.  The Union forces had a large supply dept there that was supplying General Sherman as he marched through Georgia.  Forrest actions denied Sherman of many supplies that he needed.  But Forrest's actions were too late in the war to help.  There was also a very nice display of pictures of the area prior to the flooding of the area and the making of Kentucky Lake.  The TVA dammed up the Tennessee River, flooding towns, businesses, and farms.  There was a lot of animosity from the local people when this was done.  A lot of this was done along the Tennessee River during the early 1930's.

Sunday started out with the team going to church together at the Eva United Methodist Church.  the church has attendance of about 70 each Sunday.  That is pretty good for a small country church.  The preacher preached a good sermon on getting our priorities straight.  He preached on what we should make as our first priority, and that is making Christ number one in our lives.  Good sermon.

We all went on our own ways after church.  We decided to go to the Johnsville Station National Park.  The park is small, but the history is big.  We were able to see some of the old building foundations from prior to the flooding of the area, and some of the old railroad beds that the Union army had used.  We were met at the entrance to the park by a Union soldier.  He was all by himself, guess the rest were afraid that Forrest would return.

We did get back to work on Monday morning.  Monday and Tuesday we did three different projects.  We started a couple of them last week, so we continued on them this week.  Jerry and I continued on the tile project.  We finally were able to start installing tile on Monday morning.  Joe and Ash started working on building a small storage building.  The building will be used for storing drinks for the camp snack bar.  The ladies have been tasked with replacing the material on the seat covers of over 100 chairs.  They have gotten off to a great start.  Following are some pictures of what we have all been doing so far this week.

Here's Jerry installing the tile around the edge of the floor.  Jerry would make the measurements for the cuts, and I would cut them.  Jerry had the most fun, he got to play in the mastic.

This big tile cutter is great.  I love working with power tools, and this one is the best.  Not only does it do a good job of cutting the tile, but I get to stay cool from the water it sprays out to keep the tile lubricated and cool as it is cut.

Ash and Joe are hard at work building the storage building.  Jerry and I would go and see how they were doing sometimes, and of course we would give them much needed advice on how to do it.  Then we would leave before the nail gun was used for something other than nailing up the walls.

Diana and Kyoka are putting new material on one of the seat cushions.  They are fastening the material on with staples.

Sharon is re-attaching the cushions to the chair frame.  First she has to drill new holes for the screws, then she will screw the cushion onto the frames

 

Libby is at another table putting new material on a cushion.

 

This is what the chairs looked like prior to new covers.

This is what they look like after new covers.  Pretty nice aren't they.

Well it is time to go for tonight.  I will get back to you with more later.

Remember above all things,

God Loves You.

Gary