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Destination Unknown
  • John and Kimberly Haviland

Destination Unknown

Traveling in our van in search of the setting for the next chapter of our lives. Making sure to have a blast along the way. Read more
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  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    11

    Barbecue and Disillusionment

    June 4, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    This part of the trip was all about world famous Snow’s Barbecue in Lexington Texas. I was up and in line at 6:45 am. Kimberly joined me about 7:30 am. They are only open on Saturday and start serving at 8:00 am. I was 112th in line. They actually opened early, a little after 7:30 am. The free bar opened as well. Yes you heard me, free adult beverages. They have beer and vodka drinks like Bloody Marys, Screwdrivers, etc.

    Miss tootsie the 87 year old “pit boss” came out and greeted everyone. There was a lady taking photos and going to do a piece in National Geographic on working and longevity. Tootsie was one of the people she was including in her story. Kimberly had a really touching moment with her when they talked.

    Anyway, amazing brisket and the whole experience was totally worth it. We met amazing people. The one thing that I have to say about Texas is the people are great. I have never met complete strangers who are more friendly, genuine people in my life.

    On to the highland lakes north west of Austin. The drive out of Lexington was beautiful. Amazing rolling hills with beautiful pasture land, until we got to Round Rock north of Austin and traffic and urban sprawl like you can’t believe.

    We made it to our Harvest Host stop for the night by Lake Travis. Lake Travis is million dollar homes packed in around super steep hills of Limestone on and above Lake Travis. We were not fans and even if we were there is no way we could have afforded anything.

    The lake is at 61 percent capacity, take a look at the photos. Those are boat docks that are supposed to be on the water. Imagine paying millions (literally) of dollars for lakeside property and being high and dry.

    Not really any public lake access due to the drought and only private marinas with guards in place. Still no paddle boarding!!!

    Off to more lake areas north of us tomorrow.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Heat wave & questionable water!

    June 5, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Well, the Highland Lakes aren’t really standing up to their reputation (“clear, blue water”). Canyon Lake was gorgeous, but too windy. Now that we are on the chain of Highland Lakes, the water is murky and quite choppy. We drove all around Lyndon B. Johnson Lake, Marble Falls Lake and sections of the Llano River. None of the areas with public access are nice enough for us to want to get on the water.
    We had lunch in Kingsland and the café that I picked out just so happens to be the original house from the Texas chainsaw massacre. Funny!
    When we arrived at our Harvest Host location it was a very nice, grassy area. The deer have been in the yard and all around the neighborhood. Very nice to watch in our air-conditioned van! 101° Today and will be rising all week.
    We aren’t sure where we’re going from here!
    ** Last pic: everything is bigger in Texas. I put the rubber ducky up against the window for a size reference. It was even bigger than it looks in the pic!!!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Finally!

    June 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Headed north up to Ink’s Lake State Park and scored an amazing shady (this is a big deal with cooling and refrigeration!!!!) spot right by the water. Not the clearest water, but at this point, we will take what we can get.
    Unfortunately, once we got to the campgrounds, we realized we had zero cell service! Ended up driving back into town so that we could let Susan know she wouldn’t be hearing from us for the next three days. Loaded up on groceries as well.
    We both feel like chuds after sitting, eating and drinking for the last week. We can’t wait to try our new boards out. We had to purchase inflatables, being that there was no way to efficiently transport our epoxy boards. Paddle boarding is such an amazing workout if your form is correct. Looking forward to sore abs, hams & shoulders!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Ink’s Lake State Park

    June 8, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Our objective on this journey is to check out areas with more affordability for relocation. When planning this trip, we decided it wasn’t realistic to bowl through state after state, while the summer was wasting away. Thus the stops at Natl’ Parks and lakes.
    We’ve finally figured out that with school out and our route fluctuating, choice locations on weekends are not going to happen. Knowing that, we haven’t been making plans on the weekends knowing that we may have to sleep in parking lots. Sunday through Thursday we can usually get into pretty choice sites at campgrounds. Places really clear out during the week and it gets nice and quiet. Very peaceful!
    Our stay at Ink’s Lake has been nice. My inflatable paddle board is a little irritating, as I knew it would be. This type of board feels more like you’re riding on top of the water -vs- being connected to your board and cutting through the water. We both feel they have too much bounce and limited maneuverability. We figured that was the case after researching inflatable boards.
    Still worth it! Being out on the water always recharges our souls. It’s such an adventure to go around a bend of the lake and see different wildlife or something different in the landscape, etc.
    As far as moving to Texas…I’m not so sure. The people are extremely nice and engaging. The landscape is very diverse, so we know we could find something we like. Many of the small towns are quaint with a lot of social activity. But the only water I would want to live on so far would be Canyon Lake or the Guadalupe River, both of which are overpriced and overcrowded! And the heat is mighty intense!
    Heading north out of Texas from here.

    **(I know we’re not supposed to feed wild animals, but I had some mushy blueberries and couldn’t help it.)    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Heading to Dallas

    June 11, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 93 °F

    Super excited to have scored a cat sit in Dallas with a pool, just in time for even more extreme temperatures! Unfortunately, when we got here, we were informed that the pool has an algae problem and is unusable due to chemicals just being added 🤬!
    Anyway…it was a good time to do some catch up. Serviced the van, packaged and mailed some items, laundry, etc.
    First on the agenda though was making tacos and actually watching Netflix/Hulu. We’ve been going through books like crazy! It’s kind of nice that we can’t watch tv at campgrounds. WiFi just isn’t strong enough at most.
    Dropped into a taproom where Rob & Vicki Thiessen’s good friend has a pop-up burger stand in the downtown Dallas area. Enjoyed our Burger-Schmurger and beer immensely!

    Susan is weighing heavy on our minds being that she and Christian are moving into their first apartment this weekend. Thankfully Cathie and Pablo, Christian‘s parents, have been very involved. They moved all of Susan‘s things out of her house while she had to work on Friday, along with providing them with essential grocery items. So happy they are there for them!
    The house we are sitting at is beautiful in a high end north Dallas neighborhood. We will be here until Sunday afternoon. Kitties are sweet!    Read more

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    Drunken Donkey heading north

    June 12, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 95 °F

    After chilling at the house sit in North Dallas for three days it was time to head north and check out three different lakes.

    We did not leave until 1:00 pm and Kimberly was hungry so she found us the Drunken Donkey! What a great bar. Unfortunately their air conditioner was broken and the repair guy had to go to Fort Worth for parts. We stayed anyway and had a great time.

    We met several great people including, Berkeley, the guy Kimberly looks like she is ignoring in the photo below.

    Kasey was the bar manager and he gave us some info on the lakes we were going to. But we also talked about Broken Bow Lake that is in our future farther east. Kasey loves Broken Bow. He wanted to know if we had ever eaten crayfish. I have and Kimberly hadn’t so he gave us a pound of them. They are delicious but totally not worth the effort of getting the tiny bit of meat off of them.

    Our first stop was going to be Lake Lewisville, but we drove over it and just kept driving because the water was not very nice.

    Next was Ray Roberts Lake. Really big lake. We looked at camping at a state park, but when we checked out the water it was decent but the lake was just really big and not a lot of good places to paddle board.

    Kimberly and I aren’t big into fast food but every once in a while we give it a go. We have been driving by Golden Chick fast food places it seems forever. Kimberly wanted to check it out, bad Kimberly bad Kimberly. There was a Sonic right across the street, although I have never been to one it would have been a much better choice. I joked afterwards that it should be called Golden Sick instead.

    On to lake Texoma on the boarder of Texas and Oklahoma. Another really big lake. We checked out yet another campsite and took a closer look at the water. The water was ok but definitely not great.

    I think we both had kind of decided individually that if we are going to consider Texas as a final destination it would most likely be in Texas Hill country.

    We just crashed for the night in a Walmart in Madill Oklahoma.

    We woke up and decided to head to Broken Bow Lake with hopeful thoughts running through our heads.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Ouachita Lake…say that 3 times fast!

    June 13, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    Well, after a refreshing nights sleep in the Walmart parking lot, (actually not too bad… very quiet in these Podunk towns), we decided to head to Broken Bow lake. We have met many people on the way who love this lake. We also watched many YouTube videos about relocation here. When we got there, it was a pretty nice lake. We immediately discounted living there due to major traffic and no homes actually on the water. It has also gotten major touristy in the last five years. We decided to keep moving on into Arkansas.
    The countryside along the way was loaded with fields of Black-Eyed-Susans. I couldn’t help but stop and take a picture because I was thinking so much of our baby girl!
    John almost applied at the Mena Arkansas police department because of their cool cars, (see pic).
    Arkansas is a dark horse for us. Tornado alley runs right down the center, so something I am terrified of. For those of you who have not lived through a major wind event, I will take an earthquake any day. We put it on the back burner, but crossing the border into this gorgeous state was jaw-dropping. Beauty everywhere and water recreation is plentiful!
    It is home to the five diamond Lakes. Supposedly some of the cleanest and clearest in the United States. We headed for Lake Ouachita and scored a water front site for the next 3 days.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Same ole - Same ole

    June 15, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Not much to report. Two more days of relaxing and paddle boarding. Are you getting bored with us yet?
    One of the men camping next to us sauntered over and introduced himself. He is a retired Hot Springs Arkansas police officer. He retired last year at this time. We had a great 2+ hr conversation with him about living in Arkansas, retirement and his 18 yr old daughter. (He has had sole custody of her since she was 3 1/2 years old.) I eventually excused myself and he and John talked for at least another hour. It still surprises us when people are so engaging. It was nice to enjoy some good company.
    John is becoming quite an expert on our Blackstone grill. All the goodies are cooked on the same surface, (think of a restaurant grill). Breakfast for supper is one of my favorites!
    We are having difficulty acclimating to the humidity/dew point, as expected. Tomorrow we will head out and explore several more lakes in the immediate vicinity.    Read more

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    Lake Greeson

    June 16, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F

    Surprise stop at Lake Greeson. We were only going to check out the water on our way to DeGray Lake, but finding an awesome site available, decided to spend the night. We are still traveling throughout the SW corner of Arkansas.
    Arkansas southern accents are incredibly thick. It’s super cute when little kids talk to us. It makes us laugh every time!
    Very much enjoy watching Fireflies again!!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    From Bliss to Bullshit

    June 17, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Well, we woke up this morning on Lake Greeson happy to be alive! Awake early, we were sitting in our camp chairs by 6:30am…the campgrounds nothing but birdsong. We drank our coffee watching the reflection of the trees on the lake. It was like glass! We didn’t want to leave but our campsite was only available for one night. We weren’t too worried about it since we were heading to Degray Lake. All articles and reviews brag about the clarity of the water.
    Beautiful driving! The countryside is so pretty!
    I normally don’t want breakfast in the morning, but while driving through one of the tiny towns I noticed “Trudy‘s Cafe”. It looked inviting so we stopped. I’m not sure how many of you out there would have actually walked into the café once you had the front door open. (See video, paying particular attention to the ceiling and the floor.) The characters that were in there were priceless! But I’ll tell you what… Our eggs were cooked to perfection, bacon perfect, hashbrowns perfect and the place was spotless. Friendly, friendly people and an old fart who made sure to stop by our table to say, “Hope you find a spot to land.” Such sincerity…making sure to look into both of our eyes with a slight nod.
    When we got to Degray Lake all of the campgrounds were up on thickly wooded hillsides, so no easy access to the water. We were super bummed out we left such an awesome campgrounds on Greeson. It was too far to go back, so we started stressing on where to go from there. Lake Catherine was another lake with rave reviews and it was only 25 minutes away. Unfortunately, we also read that they are always full to capacity. We risked it and found a reserved lakeside site that was a no-show. We could not believe our luck and booked it for two nights.
    Weeelll, so here we are. Boards are pumped up and ready to go, three days of good food in the fridge and lake water so nasty I scrubbed the skin off my feet where they actually touched the water. So gross 🤢! We will head north tomorrow!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Revelations about Arkansas

    June 18, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    A very emotional day. It was 96° with a dewpoint of 76 - making it feel like 109°. John and I both agreed that despite the beauty, outdoor recreation and welcoming locals, the humidity in Arkansas is too overwhelming to live comfortably. With that decision made, we decided to forgo heading up to the NW corner of Arkansas and southern portion of Missouri. We both feel a bit deflated and miss having a ‘home’ for the first time. (PLUS, now we won’t be able to see my bestie Jen, who is coincidentally going to be in Fayetteville, AR on the 29th with her sweet as Hell kids, Skylar & Peyton 🥲.)
    So off to Tennessee we rolled. With quick stops at a brewery for John and an ice cream parlor for me, the day got a little brighter. Halfway to Memphis we stopped at a truck wash. Sassy has not been cleaned on the outside since Las Vegas. She looks shiny, bright and new again!
    Staying at a Cracker Barrel 10 miles shy of Memphis. Not even two hours away and the dewpoint has dropped to 64. It is 86° outside, but feels so cool after all of the humidity. I begged John to play checkers outside of the restaurant. When returning to the van, we opened all of the windows. So awesome after weeks of running the air conditioner.
    We are going to check out some neighborhoods tomorrow and book an Airbnb for a couple of days. We will play tourist by catching some live music on Beale Street and revel in the fact that we have a washer and dryer at our disposal.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler

    One of Those Days (or two)

    June 19, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    I want to preface this with the fact that Kimberly and I are very blessed and grateful for everything.

    Kimberly decided she needed a couple days out of the van and I can always relax in a house (couch potato at heart). We decided an airbnb in Memphis or Nashville was in order to play tourist. We decided on Memphis because Iets be honest, I am more of a blues guy then a country western one.

    We left our luxury accommodations in the parking lot of the Cracker Barrel and I navigated Kimberly to La Baguette French Bread & Pastry Shop. We had amazing danishes and good coffee!

    We saw a four year old boy with mom and grandma and overheard them talking to a local couple. Come to find out they were from Wisconsin and had been in Memphis for three months as the little boy had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was in Memphis for surgery and treatment. Memphis has a huge Saint Jude Chidren’s hospital. Saint Jude has always been one of the charities Kimberly and I donate to.

    The young man is doing well now. I relay all of this because I just want y’all to take care of your families and never, even for a minute if possible, take for granted what you have. To always try to be positive and spread positive energy. Take it from me I know it’s not always easy. Try living in a van, but positive energy helps everyone.

    We checked out Airbnb and looked at being downtown Memphis or an area a couple miles out of downtown. We decided to drive around and check things out . We drove by all the iconic spots in Memphis and checked out both areas we were looking at staying. I was worried about parking Sassy downtown with no secured parking. Vans and parking garages don’t really work either. Memphis has huge poverty and pretty high crime rates, but we thought the town was really cool.

    Kimberly and I got in to one of our ‘round and rounds’ - when I am trying to guess what she wants and she’s trying to find the perfect Airbnb that has everything we want for what we want to pay but having zero luck.

    Having no luck in Memphis, she started looking at Nashville to see if we could fine that perfect spot. I figured she was ready to move on, so I jumped on the freeway for Nashville.

    Once again I realized that liking somewhere and having a good time there doesn’t equate to, hey let’s pack up our life and move there. Memphis definitely did not have the water recreation we want.

    There is really only one big town between Memphis and Nashville which seemed weird to me. We made it to Nashville and started the Airbnb search again with similar success - meaning none. Cracker Barrel here we come.

    I decided I wanted a beer and Kimberly found us the Filling Station. A very small taproom in the 12 South neighborhood. Super trendy tourist area which is what Kimberly and I are not looking for. Beer was good but still no progress on Airbnb.

    Dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse with similar disappointing results. Not good at all and shitty service.

    This trip is supposed to be about finding a place we want to move to - but we get off track frequently and it also feels like we are on vacation. It is really hard to explain the feeling or the dynamic.

    The weather has been great the last two days. No air conditioner needed at night. looking back at Arkansas and the nasty weather that chased us out of the state, now is quite lovely.

    I just like to think my spirit guides are given me little nudges, at least thats what I am hoping for.

    Sorry for the long post. Still being thankful and trying to be positive. Miss everyone and hope you are all doing well.    Read more

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    Taking a breather in Kentucky!

    June 21, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    Van = Filthy
    Laundry Bag = Full
    Razor Stubble = 3 Days ( from a woman who abhors the aforementioned and shaves every night.)
    Sleeping in parking lots and eating crap food = 2 days/nights
    I was DONE!!!!!
    Finally found the most isolated and tranquil Airbnb (in our price range) for two nights.
    Chilled and overlooked the lake for two nights. There was lake access, but we only went once because it was quite a hike. Gorgeous water!
    All of our bedding and clothing laundered and folded! Van is now spotless! Sitting around and watching Netflix doesn’t seem like such a ‘loser’ activity to me anymore.
    We are recharged and ready to hit the road again! Onward to the unknown♥️    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler

    Possibilities around Cookeville, TN

    June 22, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 93 °F

    We left our Kentucky/Tennessee (it teetered on the border) Airbnb without much hope. We were both in a good headspace, but on our way to the Airbnb, we had stopped and tried to get groceries in a local town of 4,400 people. We were excited with the prospect of cooking in a full size kitchen 😃! Well, let me tell you, I have family that live in small, middle of nowhere towns and I have never seen grocery stores so nasty. One brand of chicken and all of it looked gray and slimy. The hamburger had such a high fat content that it looked light pink (almost peach). We ended up making BLTs (iceberg 😖) and frozen chicken pot pies. That’s how bad it was! I looked wide eyed at John in the grocery store and he said, “There’s no way we can live here.” So even though our two days at the lake bungalow were a refresher, we were still kind of down on the actuality of living in Tennessee.
    Thankfully we took the time to check out Cookeville being that it is surrounded by rivers, streams and two sizable lakes.
    While grabbing lunch, a young girl complimented me on my earrings as I walked by. I thanked her and later returned to her table being that I felt a pull to give them to her. Rose was thrilled and we had a lengthy conversation with her grandmother, a 27 year resident of Cookeville. Very informative and helpful.
    Today we are camping for two days on Center Hill lake. It is gorgeous water! Looking forward to scoping out the surrounding area this weekend.
    ***Oh, and thanks be to Jesus, the grocery stores are magnificent! 😆    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
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    Center Hill Lake - Tennessee

    June 23, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 90 °F

    Another awesome morning view. Another day of perfect water. Another great meal from my personal chef. Another breathtaking sunset. I guess I should stop complaining?
    We will head out tomorrow to continue looking around this area. Specifically Rock Island State Park on the Caney Fork River and Burgess Falls State Park on the Falling Water River.

    **Enjoy the Fireflies if you can. It’s kind of like that vision test where they tell you to hit the button when you see a dot flash with your peripheral vision.🤣    Read more

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    Scoping out Cookeville/Smithville

    June 24, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    Well, we had a busy day! We Left Center Hill Lake with the intention of looking at Smithville, McMinnville, Sparta and Cordell Hull Lake. Long journey short, if we were to live in this area, it would be between Cookeville and Smithville. Sparta and McMinnville were too far out and didn’t give good vibes.
    We then headed up to Cordell Hull Lake with the intention of spending a few days. It turned out to be very muddy. 😖
    After some discussion, we decided to head back towards Nashville. My dad was stationed at Seward Air Force Base for 6 1/2 years in the late 50s. In 1965, it was flooded and became J Percy Priest Reservoir. I still wanted to go back to see if there was anything left. SO glad I did! I started taking pictures of buildings that looked like they were old enough and sent them to dad. They were absolutely the aircraft hangers from when he was there. (He worked on the aircraft’s electronics.) He and I had a teary-eyed moment over the phone. Too cool!
    We moved on south to Murfeesboro to stay at a Harvest Host brewery. Unfortunately, we would have been parked next to a patio full of people and we didn’t want to run our generator for the air-conditioning. We headed over to Cracker Barrel, only to get there and find our Lithium batteries for the van (not the engine) were dead. Since most of you don’t own a class B van, I will explain why we felt utter horror and vulnerability!!
    • Fridge full of food dead: Could not switch to propane because the igniter is electric.
    • Generator (electrical back up): Could not start because the LED screens run on the battery and were dead.
    •Lights: All dead.
    •Water pump: Dead (no faucets/no toity flush)
    •Ceiling fan, mounted fans & AC: Dead (91° and humid)
    I don’t know about John, but I was doing my best not to freak the fuck out! John started looking for circuit breakers and I got on a Facebook group of Pleasure-Way owners. I found an old post that described the problem and we hit the correct breakers. Success!
    We will head to Chattanooga in the morning.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler

    Checking out more of Tennessee

    June 25, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Woke up feeling very anxious, which I never do. Felt like I needed to be somewhere but sure as hell had no idea where.

    We wanted to check out three lakes south of Nashville about an hour and a half. The first lake was Normandy Lake, which turned out to have crappy water. We moved on to Tim’s Ford Lake and the water looked nice so we tried to go get a camp site but could not get one on the lake. Getting campsites on the weekend has been a total bitch. We could have gotten one up in the hills but I was still feeling anxious, totally weird feeling, and we moved on into the city of Winchester,

    Cool city of about 9,000 people. Kimberly knew I was feelings anxious so she took me to a super cool coffee shop and we checked out real estate online.

    Definitely an area I could see myself in, but not feeling it 100 percent. Kimberly really liked it though.

    We decided to head to Chattanooga. As we were driving east on hwy 41A we came into Sewanee. Super small town up in the mountains that had what looked like a restaurant in an old Victorian house and a couple shops. We decided to stop for lunch. After turning off of the freeway, we decided to find a shady spot to eat in the van instead. We headed north down the Main Street and I thought I drove into a medieval town.

    We had stumbled onto Sewanee College of the South. Goggle it, pretty crazy history. The campus is beyond beautiful!

    We then headed towards Chattanooga because I knew we could get a campsite on Nickajack Lake just west of Chattanooga. Made it to the campsite late, just in time to cook up some steaks.

    Off to Chattanooga tomorrow.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    Tennessee River entering Chattanooga
    T-shirt I begged John to get, but he wouldn't.2

    Another Big City Bust

    June 26, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 86 °F

    Well, we left our campsite this morning with intentions of having a fun filled day. We had been driving and researching for two days straight (gets very emotionally exhausting). John read about the Chattanooga Market in downtown and I was all for it! He also researched Ruby Falls and Lookout Mountain, both things we were wanting to see.

    To sum it up, the market was good, but the other things fell through the cracks. When following Google map directions to a downtown park, it once again shot us back up on the interstate, over the river and out of town. We both laughed remembering that the same thing happened in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. And once again, we took it as a sign that we weren’t supposed to stay.

    We drove all over looking at lakes that sucked. We finally got fed up and headed north towards Knoxville. We zigzagged through the country a bit, again checking out water. We never did find anything we were thrilled with. John thought that a nuclear power plant was pretty cool, being that most people have never seen one.

    Both of us have been surprised that we have not encountered rain on our journey. This afternoon the skies opened up. Lots of lightning and thunder… which I adore! Hopefully the bugs will not follow. We still have not experienced any mosquitoes or biting insects. Kind of confused by that.

    So here we are at our good friend Cracker Barrel! Tomorrow we will head to Norris Lake. This is my number one pick and my most researched destination. But you know…”No expectations, no disappointment”! (My fingers are crossed.)    Read more

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    Happy Campers! ♥️

    June 27, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    So we grabbed our Cracker Barrel coffees and headed towards Loyston Point Campgrounds in hopes of finding a site for a night or two. Norris lake is ginormous! We didn’t quite know where to start. Reviews on Loyston describe it as more tranquil than some of the other campgrounds on the lake.

    On the 20 minute drive over we started to get a little discouraged. Not a whole lot of civilization and some very squirrelly roads. (ALWAYS stop and help turtles cross the road!)

    We were thrilled that there was a lake view site available for 4 nts! We still hadn’t seen the lake yet, so asked if we could drive down and check it out first. When we got down by the water we couldn’t believe it! SOLD!

    At that point we were very excited to have an extended stay at such a beautiful location. Unfortunately, we had not planned on getting that lucky. We had minimal food and were running low on adult beverages. Back over the squirrelly roads we went.

    We popped into Archer’s Food Center in Norris, TN (pop. 1,500). We were thrilled!! Very small market, but everything was high quality! We loaded up and headed back to the lake.

    Boarding was exquisite! The color and clarity of the water is unsurpassed by any of the lakes we’ve seen. We can’t wait to get on the water again tomorrow!

    We are not quite sure where the humidity went. Today was 84° and sunny. Absolutely perfect. We are also very surprised that we are not being bombarded by bugs yet. I think we slipped in here during an unusually perfect weather pattern? Maybe that’s a sign? We fucking love it!!

    We will spend considerably more time in Knoxville and the surrounding areas. Particularly the opportunities available on or around Lake Norris. ♥️

    **(John has hair. What do you think? I was shocked the other night when I was hugging him and I could actually smell his hair. When it is so short it always smells like soap. I could actually smell his fruity shampoo. Nice!😁)    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    Morning coffee ♥️
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    Norris Lake

    June 28, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Paddle boarding and relaxing. Good day!

    ** We are trying, (unsuccessfully), to find an adapter for our Blackstone grill. We can then attach it to a baby propane bottle and get John up off of the ground when cooking. We don’t have enough room to carry a table and our gas line is never long enough to reach picnic areas. I never realized how dependent we were on online shopping. Sucky without it!Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    The man is always complaining about sunscreen in his eyes 🫣Still can't figure out fuck-all on this Apple!

    Day 3 at Norris Lake

    June 30, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    A great day on the water, but it’s obvious people are gearing up for the Fourth of July weekend. A lot more activity in the campgrounds and double the boat traffic.

    Our neighbors camping next to us invited us over for drinks, bbq and conversation last night. A couple that was our age and several of their family members visiting for the evening. Awesome people! They had a lot of information about this area and North & South Carolina. Small social interactions make a big impact on us at this point!

    We’ve been pouring over maps today…like usual 🙄. We haven’t decided how to best go about exploring the lake. All of the roads are very private, hilly and winding. It will definitely take us a while to find which areas are our favorite. Then we need to decide if it’s worth the drive on a daily basis.

    After further exploration of Norris, we will take a toolie into downtown Knoxville. Not sure what the plan will be after that. We will probably find the nearest Cracker Barrel, being that it’s Fourth of July weekend and everything is booked up.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    "Old City""Old City""Old City""Old City""Old City""Old City"

    Finishing up in Tennessee

    July 1, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    Well today was the day we needed to leave Norris Lake. Fourth of July weekend and no availability. Unfortunately, both of us woke up in the early morning hours with an obvious food poisoning situation. After some time spent in the facilities, we were both able to pack up and hit the road.

    We checked out a few small towns around Norris Lake, along with saving another turtle. We figured it would be a good idea to get something in our tummies, so we stopped at a small cafe. After pancakes & French toast we went through various neighborhoods in the city of Knoxville. We loved the “Old City” area in downtown. We would consider starting out there in a loft style rental before committing to any real estate. It would also give us time to get to know the area, people, economy, etc. Plenty of cool restaurants, coffee shops and taprooms that are walkable.

    After that, the day started to go downhill. We had intentions of thoroughly checking out two other lakes in the area, but it became tedious and I was not feeling right yet. We made it to Kingsport, TN and agreed that a hotel room was the best choice for us.

    We are not sure what we will do tomorrow.    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    1Airbnb - Davenport BldgJohn's river walk.

    Holding up in Greenville, SC

    July 2, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    It’s funny, when we get on the water and our boards… We are in such a sweet spot and feel recharged. But we are finding as time goes on, returning to the road is daunting. The information we have to research & process constantly is just too much! It’s easy to add fun photos to our journal… But the daily grind is hard to convey.

    John is in a bad head space today and I’m still sick. We are coming to the end of our potential location list and the thought of making a commitment is terrifying. Nonetheless, we need to keep moving.

    We said goodbye to Tennessee and rolled through the Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains towards Asheville North Carolina. Unbelievably gorgeous drive. During the drive we tried to strategize on what to do next. We were pretty much hitting a wall again, so booked an Airbnb for the next five days to figure out what we will be doing next.

    When approaching Asheville, we didn’t particularly like the look of the area and there aren’t many options for getting on the water. Skipped it and drove straight to our Airbnb in downtown Greenville, SC.

    Our Airbnb is in the historic Davenport building, walkable to lots of restaurants and breweries. John took a walk to get something to eat and clear his head, while I stayed put to drink Pedialyte and nap.

    In the next few days we will do laundry, clean the van and find out where the hell our medical cards are. There are two lakes to the west of Greenville we will be going to see as well.

    And oh my Jesus…I have a bathtub for the first time since we left the treehouse!!! HEAVEN !!!!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    4When you have items that need to be line dried and there's no yard.1

    On the mend?

    July 3, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    Today wasn’t full of fun, but we both feel better mentally and physically nonetheless. It’s always nice to live a ‘normal’ day. To be able to sit on a couch and drink your morning coffee, do dishes and cook in a full-size kitchen, get laundry washed and folded, buy whatever groceries you want because there’s no lack of space, etc. is a treat for us.

    This afternoon we hit the laundromat, scrubbed out the van, and grocery shopped. Before heading out I took a Covid test since I’m still having issues. Negative 🙂.

    Tonight is all about making tacos (screw my gut!), catching up on Master Chef and taking another bubble bath!    Read more

  • John and Kimberly HavilandDestination UnknownTraveler
    4

    Lost Penguins

    July 6, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F

    Well, when we started this trip we were hoping to find the place we where going to settle down for the next chapter of our lives. We had several areas we were excited about and were worried about the humidity and bugs east of the Rockies. I think both of us were more worried about the bugs than the humidity, as we had both tolerated the humidity in the past but really had a hard time with the biting bugs.

    We have decided that regardless of all the positives that several of the places we like have, they are not worth dealing with the humidity. Kimberly had an ‘ah-ha’ moment today like I had in Arkansas. I thought Arkansas did not offer enough for me to deal with the humidity and Texas was just too hot. Kimberly realized today she does not want to deal with the humidity during our most active time of the year.

    We are heading back west to Colorado/Wyoming to regroup and figure out where to go next.    Read more

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