The view from our campsite almost all week. I swear, it felt like we were in the zombie apocalypse, with all the empty sites and picnic tables.

A quick update on the travels: It’s been…interesting. Last week, we stayed in a beautiful, (eerily) quiet place on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. I absolutely loved it except I hardly ever had cell service and we had to go up to the office for wifi. I should have gotten a lot of writing done, but unfortunately, not quite as much as I would have liked. I was, at least, able to upload one of my campfire chat videos, so if you’re lost on what’s going on, you can watch that one here: http://kristiecook.com/my-first-campfire-chat/

On Sunday, we headed to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, but a couple of hours away from our next spot, our truck’s tire blew. Angels were watching out for us, because the actual “explosion” (it honestly sounded like someone shot at us) didn’t happen until we were off the interstate and parked at a truck stop. I mean, The Man had no more than put the gear into Park and opened his door when there was a loud BANG that shook the entire rig.

Of course, being a Sunday afternoon, we couldn’t get any of our THREE roadside assist memberships to respond (so much for 24-hour emergency service!). We were able to put on the spare and hobble down to the local Walmart, but they didn’t have our tire size in stock. So, we experienced our first time camping in the Walmart parking lot. Now I have nightmares that we’ll show up on People of Walmart (that’s not me in the PJs and messy hair tangled up in dogs’ leashes, I swear, not at all). We did get the tire replaced the next morning and finally made it to the Smoky Mountains. Whew. *cue brow-wiping and lots of adult beveraging*

I’m sure this is just the first of many mishaps and obstacles we’ll face while on our adventures. Like I said, we were blessed, because it could have happened on the highway, resulting in a loss of control and tragic outcomes I don’t want to think about. I truly believe someone was watching out for us and we were meant to stay there for the night, because everything was working against us continuing on that day. Thank you, my angels.

Anyway, long before any of this happened (well, it feels like long ago, but only a couple of weeks ago), while we were in Nashville, we had a guest stay with us in the glamper. None other than the fantabulous author Brenda Pandos! My bestie. 😀 She’s my very first guest at a Campfire Chat, and we had lots of fun recording this interview. I hope you enjoy it, too!

Even longer ago, on our way to Nashville, we stopped at a haunted RV park in Alabama. Who knew such a thing existed?! Here’s a little video about that.

I didn’t get a Campfire Chat recorded last week, but I hope to do something this week. If you’re in the northeastern part of Tennessee (Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg) area, I hope you’ll come hang out with me and some other Soul Savers fans. We’ll be meeting at the Mellow Mushroom at The Island in Pigeon Forge on Thursday, at 6 pm. The details are here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1_dk1GDryWb_Aehpiu-2ale-zmpWW9yY2zs7t2eYh1fQ/viewform

If you’re in Cincinnati or Evansville, I’ll be hanging out near you, too. Find out more here: http://kristiecook.com/news-events/

Until next time!