Gaffney and beyond

Beluga had an appointment on Monday at the Freightliner Service Center in Gaffney, South Carolina.

Gaffney, home of the Peachoid and Francis Underwood

 She was due to have her fluids changed and, because of her - ahem - advanced age, Dave wanted her to have a complete and comprehensive physical exam.    She trusts him so she acquiesced.

 The Freightliner facility there maintains a number of electric sites in parking lot style configuration for the convenience of those awaiting service so we arrived on Sunday afternoon.    We were concerned that they may all be taken, it's first come, first served, but there were several available when we pulled in.   We chose one near the end of a row and settled in for the night.

It took a day and a half for everything on Dave's list to be taken care of.   While Beluga was in the shop we took Lewis and explored the area a bit.

tradition says that all car road trips must
begin with Dunkin Donut!

 One day we drove north to Hendersonville, North Carolina (just south of Asheville, NC) to have lunch with a friend from Rochester.    Deb and her husband Jim moved to the Asheville area some years ago.   We'd visit when we were in the area and they'd stop by when they were back in New York State.   Two years ago Jim died suddenly and we haven't seen Deb since then.   We had a good, albeit short visit (she had been sick and was still weak) and returned to Gaffney just in time to recover Beluga and pay our bill....gulp.

all done and ready to roll

It was money well spent.   Beluga now sports new chassis batteries, new shocks and air suspension bags as well as having a thorough factory inspection complete with lubes, oil and filters.     She'll give us another 16 happy years now.

Today we drove through South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, into Kentucky and are stopped for the night in Corbin, Kentucky.

We have a lovely quiet spot in the woods at the Corbin KOA.   It took us a very long time to get level, however.   We pulled forward, back, and off to the side.  Dave got out and looked at the lay of the land, got back in and moved again.   Finally we're relatively level.    The site is an unusual one....it has one water spigot, one electric panel, one cable tv connection but six sewer options all in a neat row   An embarrassment of riches!

And for fans of the curly boy, here is a gratuitous picture of patient, sweet Lewis.  He happily endures Dave's foolishness by wearing snake, Christmas mouse, flat fox and roadkill while playing ball after dinner.