An Almost Ordinary Day

Friday morning we woke early again and raced around to get dressed, eat a quick breakfast and get everything buttoned up so we could once again go to Lee Smith, the RV repair place and get the sick alternator taken care of.  We settled into our seats, Ken turned on the engine to bring up the jacks and bring in the slides and half way through the process the alternator suddenly started working!!!!!!  Unbelievable!!
But we'll take it!!  So he shut down and we reversed the process setting everything back up in place and everyone simply relaxed for a bit.

Ken then took the boys to the pool to play while I tried to catch up on the blogs I've been writing so that they could actually start then going up at the end of each day as originally planned.  I actually completed the ones for Wednesday and Thursday except for a few minor things before lunch.

We had lunch here in the motorhome -- a first since we set off on this trip.  And then we drove to the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum for a short train trip.

After much fussing by the rail personnel we were able to get on and take the ride but first they had to bring a new engine.  Guess they caught our "breakdown disease". :-)

It wasn't an especially long trip but it did take us along Missionary Ridge, an area that was heavily used in Civil War battles, and also has been used for several movies.  We went by the area where the Great Locomotive Chase took place during the Civil War and the movie about it was filmed.

Half way though the trip we arrived at a working turntable.  The engine separated from our passenger cars, drove on to the turntable and then was turned around for the trip back going on a track right next to our cars so it could pass them by and back up to attach to the front.  The whole process was well narrated so we could have some understanding of what all had to take place. It was fascinating to see how it worked to be in the exact balance point such that the tracks were perfectly aligned vertically before being turned. A giant 6 foot diameter bearing makes it all possible.  Knowing our son-in-law, Jason's father, creates this kind of part for companies all over the world made it extra interesting for us.  Jason could truly see how important such an part is.

We also had an opportunity to check out the repair building where they work on old cars and engines bringing them back to life for their museum of cars that is at the beginning of the line.  Most of the ones they are working on are at least 100 years old so they have machining to create parts that no longer exist.

Our ride back provided a bit of a breeze through the open windows but we most certainly were glad to get back in the car, get the air conditioning going strong and head back to the campground.

This heat is overwhelming all of us including Reilly who lives in North Carolina so supposedly is use to it. :-)

Carolyn and the boys played a game of Monopoly Millionaire in the nice cool coach while the rest of the clothes went through the washer and dryer.

Then Ken took the boys to the pool again for an afternoon swim while Carolyn finished off the two blogs she'd been working on and got started on this one so it could go up tonight.  Meanwhile she got some tacos meat cooking for supper that could be enjoyed in the motorhome.    We were actually beginning to get into a "regular" routine and enjoying life as it was suppose to be all week.

As soon as the boys returned and got out of their wet suits, we enjoyed tacos together.

Then after cleaning up we all went to the grocery store together to pick up a few food items to get us through our remaining time together.  The boys helped carry the bags in and put things away.  Then everyone enjoyed a little quiet time: Ken reading, the boys playing with their IPhones, and Carolyn finishing up the blogs so they could be posted.