Skyline Chili

So Eric wanted to head to Skyline Chili one day for lunch. Okay, sure. I have never been but people say it is good so I was game. We sat down right under a TV because the Olympics were on and it was the synchronized swimming. Zoey is just amazed by it so we sat there so she could watch. She was a bit cranky and wanted no part of the crackers they bring to the table. She wouldn't pick what to eat and was just being a stinker. I was looking over the menu deciding which way to get my chili. While talking about all the cheese some guy had on his Zoey decided her lunch would be a bowl of cheese and cracker. Whatever makes you happy kid. I decided to get my Spaghetti Chili with cheese and onions. Don't ask me what way that was. I don't remember. Eric just got a pain bowl of chili. 

Our food came and Zoey was thrilled with her cheese. Sorry to whoever had to clean up the floor after her. I was thrilled with the pile of cheese on mine. As much as that guy who got extra cheese SOUNDED good it would have made a HUGE mess. I was a bit worried when the waitress asked if I wanted a bib. I said no but worried I should have said yes. I mean even if it wasn't messy Eric would have hated it so that is always a plus in my book. LOL Anyway I dug in and took my first bite. I wasn't sure what to think. It was okay, had a weird taste to it but I kept going. Apparently there is cinnamon and chocolate in it. Now I am as big a fan of chocolate as the next female but apparently not in my chili. I ate it, I was hungry. Eric enjoyed his bowl or chili and Zoey loved her cheese but I can't see myself going there again. I mean sure give it a shot if you have never been. The place was busy and everyone else seemed to like it, but personally it was not for me. At least now I can say I have tried it. 

Zoey loved her bowl of cheese. The cheese was really nummy.

My spaghetti chili plate.

Pizza King

As you know every time we move to a new RV park we hit up a Mexican place for dinner. So we heading into Batesville IN to go to the local Mexican place. We parked and then Eric saw the sign for Pizza King. He got all excited and wanted to head there to see if they had his beloved Stromboli. See he grew up in Evansville eating these Stromboli's at a Pizza King. He has been searching for that certain Stromboli for 17 years. Nothing comes close, nothing is the same. Indiana apparently has a different idea of a stromboli then the rest of the country. So we walked through a field to Pizza King. I was super excited for him hoping it would be it. 

We walked in and of course Zoey didn't want anything on the menu. She even said no to spaghetti her favorite. So we didn't order her anything figuring she could have the garlic bread and share with me. Eric ordered his stromboli and I got one too. Because when someone talks about something for 17 years you have to order one too. Of course about 5 mins after we sat down Zoey pipes in with "Okay I guess I'll have spaghetti.". So I went to go order her one. LOL Snot bucket. Our garlic bread came out and it was really good. Nice and buttery and soft. Delish. Then the stromboli's affrived. I waited holding my breath to see his reaction. He was happy with it but it wasn't 100% the same. Turns out the Pizza King in Evansville is not the same as the Pizza King in Batesville. It was okay though as he was still very happy to have something so close to what he remembered from growing up. I wasn't as impressed. Yes, it was good but just not my cup of tea. 

All in all it was a good meal and we were all happy we went. Well that was until the storm a few days later that came through Batesville. Our RV didn't get any damage thankfully but some others did. We can only attribute it to angering the moving day Gods by not getting Mexican that day. We are sorry. We won't let it happen again. 

The garlic bread.

The long awaited Stromboli. 

Thousand Trails Indian Lakes

Our first stop in Indiana was at Thousand Trails Indian Lakes. We loved this campground. I think it has to be one of my favorite campgrounds we have stayed at and DEFINITELY my favorite Thousand Trails location. 

There are A LOT of spots here but not all of them are full hook up. They have a couple large sections that full timers stay in. When we were there they were about to get in a lot of pipeliners. Most of these spots were not full hook up but they were really nice. Most people that live there take really good care of their spots and they looked really nice. The first section for temporary had some full timers in it as well. This section also had a good chunk of pull-though sites though they were set up a bit odd. Not all your connections were on the same side of the rig. Not sure who did that but make sure you have extra hoses and such. There were also a large amount of sites in this section that has no sewer. After this section there is a KOA section. Then there is another Thousand Trails section. This is the section we picked. The spaces are nice and big and from what I saw most, if not all were full hook up. We grabbed a 50 amp that backed up to a view of the park. All the sites have these really nice fire pits as well and there is a place right down the road where you can get firewood for $10. 

The park is beautiful. There is a lake with a slide that goes into it. The kids loved this. The only bad thing was the beach was just really hard packed clay. So they couldn't play in the sand. The water looks a bit sketchy but they check the levels to make sure that it is safe. The playground is AMAZING. There are actually 2 playgrounds. One is old school metal and the other is just amazing. It even has a little workout area. There is a beach volleyball court there (and one by the lake) and some basketball courts. There is also corn hole courts. The pool was nice. There is a small baby pool and then the regular pool. It goes plenty deep and each time we went there was a lifeguard on duty. 

In the front there is a store, gas station (never figured out if this works but I think it is there for the gold carts), a restaurant, and I think even a beauty salon. At least that is what the lady I met a Kroger said. 

We never made it into the rec center when we were there but we did participate in the Friday night movies right next to it. The make popcorn that is free and then they sell drinks and candy for $1 each. The first week was Minions which Zoey loved. Week 2 was Kashi, what a tear jerker. Week 3 we skipped because it was Labor Day weekend and the kids were busy with the MASSIVE amount of kids that were there at the park. 

They have internet at the rec center but like I said we never went do I don't know how it was. Both our Verizon and T-Mobile connections were good. We had no internet problem while we were there. 

Some people have mentioned having a hard time finding a spot, especially full hook up. We came in mid week and had no problems but it was late August as well. I can see it being hard at peak times. Our neighbors at one point had come in during a weekend and did not find a full hook up so they just kept checking every morning till they found one and then moved. I think that is what we would do. Another issue is that the rain seems to just sit on the ground there. So the few times it did rain there were puddles everywhere. Some sites worse then others but it wasn't a huge deal to us. The last thing that annoyed us was the gate system. Most Thousand Trails use a key code system you just punch in the code. Here they have papers with bar codes and you have to scan them. It is a PAIN. It never works the first time so you sit there scanning it over and over and over. Also the scanner is rather low so I actually had to roll down my window and unbuckle and lean down to reach each time. Eric could reach without all that but I couldn't. 

Overall we loved it here. We will definitely be back as it is close to some of our family and smack in the middle of the US. We loved the open feel, the nice big sites, and the nice look of it. Staff was great as well. Totally worth checking out if you are in the area. 

The lake with the slide! So much fun!

Close up of the park. 

You can see the work out area on the left. 

Zoey all ready to watch Minions. She wouldn't let me sit with her on the blanket. :(

Basketball courts. You can get balls from the office.

We loved cooking over the fire pit. This was steak night. Yum!

The fire pit. We made many fires during our stay. 

Moving from Tennessee to Indiana

We decided to leave thousand Trails Natchez Trace earlier then we had planned. Eric was getting tired of working from the rec center and we wanted to get through Indiana before it started getting to cold. We knew we would be in Indiana for 6 weeks so we had to get moving. In case you haven't realized yet, I don't do cold. Yes, I grew up in IL. Yes we lived in DC, VA, and MD. Yes, those are all cold places with snow. Being used to it does NOT mean I like it. So anyway we decided to hit the road. It was a bit odd not having the boys there. I missed my helpers. We all have our jobs on moving day and it was weird having to do it all. 

It was a short move. Less then 200 miles. We try and stay under 400 miles when we move. We only average about 50 miles per hour and so that makes for a long day. We took off and stopped shortly for gas. As we were pulling into the gas station I noticed something dangling under the rig. I follow behind Eric to stay with him and to keep a look out for anything odd. This was odd. So I hooked up to the gas station and went to tell Eric what I saw. He opened the front section and sure enough there it was handing down. A bolt had some loose and part of the horn was hanging down. I opened up a compartment and pulled out some zip ties for Eric to secure it. This did the trick and it was all fixed. It has held up so far so that is good. 

At this point I went and put the gas hose back and Eric checked his fill up. He was still not full but the pump had stopped. That is the problem when your tank holds like 80 gallons. So I had to go inside and stay there while he filled up so they knew we were not pumping and dashing. We got all filled up and hit the road. A few hours later we were at our new spot at Thousand Trails Indian Lakes. 

About to head out. 

Eric fixing the horn piece that fell. 

It makes me laugh how you get to the engine.

Checking to make sure it is nice and tight. 

All fixed.

We had to enter Kentucky for a few miles

We found Indiana

American Girl

Since we are so close to the in-laws they took the boys for a week to stay with them. That left us the parents of one. Let me tell you the difference was INSANE! So much less food was eaten, the level of quite was beyond scary, telling the hostess at a restaurant we had 3 people not 6 felt odd, and most of all it was lonely. Now, don't get me wrong it was also really nice to just have some time alone with Zoey. She gets alone time with one of us but never both except for in the morning so that was really nice for all of us. 

Since we had just her we ran up to Coolsprings Galleria and there was an  American Girl store. We had never been in one before because with 3 boys it just isn't somewhere you go and she is still only 3. So we decided to check it out. Eric I think was thinking about getting her a doll, I had told them they cost the same as a small country a lot but I don't think he thought I was serious. So we walked in and Zoey was in HEAVEN. She LOVED it. Right up front was a cute little diner set and she started playing right away. Once we got her to leave that alone we ended up in front of the display of all the dolls. Then Eric saw it. The price. I believe the words out of his mouth were something along the lines of, Holy crap they cost HOW MUCH?!?! I of course laughed. Apparently his idea of a lot and mine are not the same. I warned him. He didn't listen. Well it took about 30 seconds after that for him to be bored and decided he was going to walk around the mall some more. Now, I am sure at some point she will get one. But not at 3, not for that much money. Not when she still does things like colors her bed wall because she wants it pretty and cries historically when you tell her that it needs to be cleaned up because she wants a pretty room. 

So I stayed with her while she played. We ended up staying till the store closed and she was very upset to leave the babies. I need to figure out a way to fit more doll type stuff in the RV. She has some dolls and food and bottles for them but that is it. We used to have a stroller, but dang those things break after a week it seems. Same with the playpen but that thing was HUGE. Anyway maybe I can empty out a storage bin under the rig for her doll stuff and she can play outside with it. Because looking at these picture again she really did have an amazing time. 

I also have to mention that the dress she is wearing was a bribe. She refused to take off the dress she had one to go to the mall. It was dirty, like embarrassingly dirty but it had a kitty and bunny on it and she loved it. So we bribed her in the store with a new dress if she would take off the kitty dress. It worked. Phew. (It really was bad.)

Talking to the baby in the stroller.

Baby was crying. She had to make it happy. 

Playing with one of the displays. She just loved all the little food. 

See again with the little food. This doll was having a drink. 

Savory Spice Shop

OMG people if you like to cook AT ALL and you are every around Nashville or any of their other locations you MUST MUST MUST stop at The Savory Spice Shop. People this place is AMAZING. They have any spice you can imagine and the prices were really good too. You can buy as much or as little as you need which is perfect for trying something out, getting something you only need a little for for a recipe, or buying mass quantities so you can have enough Hot Chicken Spice to last you through the Zombie Apocalypse. 

When you first walk in a super helpful staff member will let you know how everything works if you have never been there. You can taste EVERYTHING. You just put a little in your hand and then can taste it and if you put to much in your hand you just dump it on the floor. LOL Love it! Things are in sections by type, or country, or theme, but make sure you look over it ALL to find some really hidden gems in there. We love that you can get bottles or bags because bags take up WAY less space and we all know space in a RV is precious. I could have spent hours in there trying and smelling everything but not everyone was as keen on sitting there waiting for me. So I will have to find another one in another location and go alone. 

 I ended up with a LARGE bottle of Hot Chicken Spice, a bag of poppyseed, garlic powder that is AMAZING, some real cinnamon, and a bag of black onyx chocolate sugar (yep it it wonderful as the name suggests). My father-in-law got a bag of some Indian spice. There were SO many things I wanted to buy and will have to stop at some other locations in our travels. Though you can also order online. Their website also has recipes on there if you need some ideas and you can submit ideas as well if you make something really yummy.  

The front of the store. See how cute it is? 

Just one example of the many spices they have. See the little bottles? Those are the samples. 

More and more and more......so much yum.

Ashton was the only kid that cared since he loves to cook. Here is him trying the Black Onyx Chocolate Sugar. 

A whole section of just salt and pepper. And Ashton washing his hands. 

Kids got stickers. Everyone loves stickers. 

Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant

When we are heading to a new place I like to hop on Pinterest to see what there is to do in the area. You can see My Pinterest boards here to follow. I have a travel board, food, and one for The Smith Adventures. Anyway, one of the things I had pinned was things to do in Franklin, a cute town outside Nashville. There were a few restaurants I wanted to try out and Puckett's Grocery and Restaurant was high on the list. So when we walked by and it wasn't super busy we decided to give it a shot. 

 Puckett's is a really cute place. It is small and open. there is a stage on one wall where they have live bands play at night. Next to the stage and the opposite wall from the stage is the grocery store part. In the back is the kitchen which is all open and you actually have to walk through the side of it to get to the bathrooms. There is also a little bar next to the kitchen and grocery wall. The decorations are really cute and it was a really comfortable atmosphere. 

 We looked over the menu and everyone was pretty much in agreement on food choices. Other then my mother-in-law who got a burger there were only 2 other things ordered. The other adults got Hot Chicken (Hey we are in Nashville you have to), and the kids got Chicken and Waffles. None of us had ever had Chicken and Waffles before and I told William he really needed to get them since he has the Vans Chicken and Waffle shoes. LOL He did and the other kids decided they needed to try it too. The food was really good and the kids enjoyed their food too. Then it was time for dessert. My mother-in-law ordered the Deep Fried Brownie Sundae. I didn't get a picture because it didn't last long. It was really good and she talked about it all night long. I am pretty sure she is reading this now wishing she was back there to have another one as her meal. :) 

 We really enjoyed out time there and I would recommend stopping by to grab some food, have dessert, or just come listen to a band play. You won't be disappointed. 

The view of the back wall. 

The stage where bands preform and the cold section of the grocery store. 

The kids' Chicken and Waffles. It was HUGE. No one finished. Shockingly Ashton ate the most. 

The hot chicken. 

Blank space where dessert picture should be. LOL

Milk Soapberry

So my in-laws were up for the weekend and my mother-in-law wanted to check out this little town called Linden TN. It has taken some older buildings and shops and started making them into little B and B's. So we piled in the van and headed over there before hitting up Franklin. It was a really small town with just a few shops on Main Street but we parked and got out to walk around anyway. We walked past this little shop, Milk Soapberry, and I paid no attention to it. I didn't need soap. Well on the way back past it I noticed the display in the window. Was that CONTAINERS?!?!?! Like for making things with OILS?!!?!? Could it really be? So I got all excited and went in. OMG IT WAS REAL! There was a store with all sorts of bottles for storing homemade things using my Young Living oils. Now if you know anything about me you know I am BEYOND obsessed with my oils and I love making things from them. Well it is hard next to impossible to find containers in person and often Amazon has more then I need or I am not sure of the size unless I can see it in person. So I was in Heaven. 

The front of the store

 Just look at all the goodness. Dropper bottles, DEODORANT containers (I got a big and a travel size. It is soooooo tiny and cute), spray bottles, hand soap containers, lip balm containers, and more. She also had a bunch of ingredients that I have only seen on Amazon and her prices were great. I got some grapeseed oil and arrowroot powder. She had a few things I would have loved to get like beeswax but it was out of stock. She had carrier oils, and shae butter, and and and. I would LOVE to have a place like this local to me. 

 She of course has a bunch of home made soaps and all the things to make your own soaps as well. It was a cute little store and well worth the drive if you are in the area. If not, you can order from her website as well. I just love helping out little local stores. 

My precious Look at all the things. 

See what I mean? The travel size is BEYOND cute! 

Hand soap bottle and my cute Azure skirt from LLR.

Fun at the lake

Thousand Trails Natchez Trace has a nice little beach area. So we decided one day to go take a swim. It was really great. The view was AMAZING and the water was really clear. There were fish swimming around so the boys used their goggles to look at them and even tried to catch some in a bucket. See, they still think fish are cool because they don't have someone yelling at them "WATCH OUT! The fish are going to eat you!" every time you go into the lake at your grandparent's house. Thanks dad!!! Zoey had a blast playing in the sand mostly with her new Pets bucket we got popcorn in at the movies. She loves that thing. 

Zoey filling her bucket with sand.

See how clear that water is? You can totally tell I need to do my nails. 

William floating in the water looking at the fish. 

The view from where I was hiding my pale self from the evil sun. 

The view looking the other way. 

William and Zoey playing together. I think they were playing shark. He plays so much better in water. 

The kids floating in their tubes. It was nice and shallow so that was good. 

Thousand Trails Natchez Trace

 We bought a Thousand Trails membership before we left Florida. We bought a USED membership though Chad at Campground Membership Outlet Chad can be reached at 1-800-272-0401. I believe there is some sort of referral program so if you do get a membership I would love if you would use us as a referral. Anyway we bought the Platnium Plus membership. While it does not include all the parks (and Elite would) it was perfect for us and the price was right. 

 The first park we tried out after Thousand Trails Orlando was Natchez Trace outside of Nashville.  It is a beautiful park and the staff is amazing. They are very off in the middle of no where and so our phone singnal (T-Mobile) was non existent. It tried to run in roaming off the AT&T signal but that didn't work either. However we did have a signal from our Verizon Jet Pack and the Rec Center had decent internet as well. Most of the sites are 30 Amp and not all of them all full hook up. We got really lucky and found one of the VERY RARE 50 amp full hook up sites. The site was pretty level but a lot of the non full hook up sites are pretty rough. The sites also come with fire rings and those metal grills. Our site had neither. Most fire rings were just rings of rocks and our grill was just missing. It was okay though, we would rather have the 50 amps.

  The park also has a bunch of cabins you can rent. Some are lake side and some are not. My in-laws came down for the weekend and rented one of the cabins. All the nicer ones were rented so they got a standard one. They definitely need some work done but it gave them a bed to sleep in and a place to shower. I am not sure they would rent them again but it got the job done for the weekend. 

  Their rec center is great. There is an adult room with a TV that gets satellite. That was nice for us since the Olympics were on while we were there. I asked a staff member and they didn't mind if the kids sat in there with us and watched as long as we were there and they were being good. There never was anyone else there at night so it worked out well. They have an office FULL of movies, Xbox games, board games, and outdoor games you can check out. In the kids area there were pool tables, a ping pong table, XBox, VCR, DVD player, books, and a bowling game. We had a good time there and found ourselves bringing our school work up there to work on while we played. They also have a kitchen, a hall for bingo and other events, racket ball, a gym, a library, and I am sure something else I am forgetting. 

William and Zoey watching a show while Eric does school

Ashton playing on the XBox

One of my favorite things was the beach. They have a section roped off you can swim in and the water is really clear. They also have these nifty sail shades so super pale people like me can hide from the evil sun. The view is just beautiful and we really enjoyed it there. They also have paddle boats, kayaks, and canoes you can rent. 

The beach area

There is a pool area that looked nice. we didn't make it there as it was kinda green most of the time we were there. They were working on getting the chemicals right. There is also a barn you can rent out, a small park, mini golf, and a little store. The store even has breakfast and lunch they can make you. My In-Laws took the kids up for breakfast and said it wasn't bad. 

All in all we had a wonderful time here. We did not stay our whole 3 weeks that we had booked but that was because Eric was tired of going up to the rec center to work. We now know our JetPack was being wonky so we might have had signal at the site if it was working right but at the time he had to head to the rec center every day for work. I would definitely go back again.

US Space and Rocket Center

So we decided to take the 2 hour dive to Huntsville AL and go to the US Space and Rocket Center. The kids love museums and especially space. I loved that it was FREE thanks to out ASTS reciprocal membership. We got there and were in awe looking at all the rocket models they have all over outside. We went inside and the first thing we came across was a little live science lesson. We of course stopped in to see what it was all about and all the kids were able to go up on stage using the huge air cannon to knock cups off adult's heads. I took some videos so I don't have many photos but they all had a blast. Eric was going to sit it out till he saw how fun it looked and quickly joined his siblings on stage. 

Ashton knocking a cup off someone's head. 

After the science show we went in the the room that was filled with all sorts of Archimedes' scientific concepts. We were only able to play in here a bit because a school group came in. We don't do crowds. LOL Especially full of school kids. We have come across some VERY polite groups and I always make a point to tell the chaperones how great their kids are. However, we have come across some VERY VERY rude kids too. Ones that I have watched push Zoey, take things from her, break things one purpose, ect. So we just avoid them as much as possible in case now. 

William in a Greek bath. 

William and Zoey building things with foam. Yes there was lots of hand sanitizer used after. 

They had a bunch of shapes and tape here for you to try out. 

Ashton trying his hand at it.

We then came across the activity I knew everyone was excited for, THE ROCK WALL! I had researched the museum before so I knew it was here and had made the kids put on shoes to come here. Usually we are a flip flop family but that has burned us at a museum before when we needed sneakers so I try and find out before hand if we need them. This rock wall is INCLUDED in the price of getting in! You can climb 3 times per turn and if there are not a lot of people they just ask you wait 20 mins before going again. Eric had been rock climbing once before with Boy Scouts so he was our resident expert. William was a bit nervous but I told him I would go with him. So first up was Eric and Ashton. The walls range from difficulty 1 on the left up to 12 on the right. Ashton picked level 1 and Eric did level 12. Ashton made it a tad up before he dropped and Eric went about half way before dropping to do an easier pass. They took their 3 turns and then it was time for William and I to go. Sadly there are no pictures, there IS a video but you will NEVER EVER EVER see it. OMG it is so not good. I did level 2 and William tried 3. We both made it abut 1/3 of the way up. Me a little more then he did. I decided I was done but then I had to get down..... yeah yelling JUST LET GO to someone (Me to Ashton) is A LOT easier then just letting go. Sorry Ashton. So I flopped gracefully fell down and took my other 2 turns. By this time a large group had appeared so I ended my last turn before I embarrassed myself any further. It was a blast but WAY more work then I thought it would be. Holy workout batman. The kids went again later in the day but I decided the bench looked a lot more fun LOL 

Eric climbing 

After the climb we found the Humvee simulator. It fits 4 people but the driver does not get to play so it was perfect for Zoey. She was so excited she was big enough to go on. It is basically a video game. The kids liked it but some of the remotes were having problems during the game. 

Getting ready to play

Eric playing the simulator

We were able to go through a little tour of the space station model they have. It is true to size and shows things like where they sleep, go to the bathroom, work, ect. It is a guided tour and takes maybe 20 minutes. It was really cool. After they have a few photo ops like this one of the viewing portal. The kids tried to make it look like they were floating in zero gravity. 

Yes, this was the best picture I got. LOL

We then went outside to go to the other building that help the Saturn V rocket. It is actually in pieces in the ceiling! Like the REAL ONE. Outside is a model but inside is the real deal. This building had a little play area for little ones which Zoey enjoyed. There was also something you could stand by to see what it felt like when they first had the blaster fire without a malfunction. It was kinda disappointing. It was not as loud as we thought it would be and we thought the little platform would vibrate. This building also has a lot of displays showing NASA's contribution to space exploration. It was a nice exhibit. 

The REAL Saturn V

Liftoff in 5,4,3,2,1

We then went outside to see the displays out there. There is a kid play area out here too but it was hot and the only one small enough was Zoey so we skipped it. Eric and Ashton rode on the G-Force Accelerator. Basically the Gravatron from when we were young at the carnival. This one was all boring safe and stuff. It had seatbelts, and was enclosed, and if you yell stop they stop it. 

We went back inside and played with some other stuff we wanted to go back to. The kids were not ready to go home. There were a few things we didn't get to do (one simulator outside had a line of Space Camp kids) or do as much as we wanted the first time so we tried to hit them again.

All in all we had a GREAT day and closed the place down. All in all we spent about 5 hours there. I thought it would be to long since most people said it only took them about 3 hours to see it all but my kids really like museums. We will definitely go back if we are within a couple hours of there.  I told Eric I even would have PAID for admission there. It is VERY rare for me to say that. Admission for 5-6 people anywhere is a lot of $$ but I totally would have paid for it.