We are off and running on our latest adventure and have arrived in Clarkesville, northern Tennessee – about 45 minutes northwest of country music’s mecca, Nashville. We are only here overnight as we have two more days of driving to reach our first, real destination of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

On board with us are the usual suspects! Miss Poppy-dog is out having her evening walk with Mike. Kitties Abigail, Archer, Artie and teenager Cricket, and, me the blogger!

I am really looking forward to this road trip and visiting the very many new places and photographing the wonderous sights and experiences we will have along the way. All that sounds perfect, right? What I fail to elaborate on is the serious effort it takes to get the motor home ready for the off. The upside is the sheer number of steps I rack-up on my Fitbit over a two-day period as I walk miles in and out of the house getting everything loaded. This time around, we didn’t leave home until 12.30 p.m. and had to cover over 400 miles on day one. We arrived at our first destination last night in pitch black at 10.30 p.m. at night very tired people!

Miss Cricket chills on the dashboard and we head down the road. Abigail and Archer are hiding under the armchair and won’t come out until we stop; Artie is in Poppy’s bed!

Hi Everyone,

So sorry for being tardy and not updating the blog, but it has been hectic city here at home with a master bedroom closet painting project in the works which I have now code-named “project runway!”

Referring to ourselves as Vincent and Frida, Mike and I have worked liked dogs to get the darn project complete, and have subsequently delayed our road trip twice to accommodate daily hours of toil and sweat. The inside is in good shape, but doors and drawers will have to be finished on our return!

Our next trip will be amazing and I am super excited about the route Mike has planned. We head straight for Pennsylvania to visit the Civil War battle ground at Gettysburg; on to New York to the famed West Point military academy; into Maine to gorge on lobster!; up to Vermont to participate in a motor home rally and wonder at the autumn colour; then to Niagara Falls which I cannot wait to experience; take in a few Halls of Fame and start wending our way home through Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee.

We plan on being away for about six weeks and very much look forward to having you along for the ride!

Did we really think this one through? Our garage full of the doors and drawers to be sanded, filled, primed and painted for the new closet! An interesting task to undertake in Texas temperatures which have yet to fall below 90 degrees!