Fall Fun

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining, the breeze had a slight chill and the leaves are changing colors. It was the perfect day to go out and enjoy some fall festivities.

The dogs love playing in the "yard"

Our first stop was Glendale Days. Our address may say Elizabethtown but when people ask where we live we say Glendale. Glendale is a tiny country town. The main street/downtown area is 2 blocks and there is no stoplight. Since we moved here I have heard a few people talk about Glendale Days and everyone said it was a must see. The 3rd Saturday in October since 1976 Glendale has hosted 'Glendale Crossing Festival' or Glendale Days. I was told that there would be 100s of vendors and 1,000s of people all in downtown Glendale. Knowing how little Glendale is I just had to see it for myself.

Glendale's main street

I wanted to beat the crowds so we got to Glendale 30 minutes after the festival had started. Even at 8:30 am it was getting crowded. Main street had been blocked off and there were 100s of booths everywhere. The vendors were everything from Amish people selling their wares to businesses selling their products. Some booths were people selling their homemade goodies. One lady had made different candies and fudge. We tried red velvet cake balls and pumpkin fudge first. Both were yummy but I loved the fudge so much that on our way out I got some more. They had fresh sorghum samples and I got a 1/2 pint of it. We also got some pumpkin butter. (I am thinking they will be very yummy on homemade biscuits.) For lunch we got some chili and a brisket taco. Both were really tasty and the booth was run by a cute little family. We ended up staying 3 hours and I definitely plan to go to it again next year.

Next we headed to Bernheim Forrest for Colorfest. Bernheim Forest is an arboretum and research forest. Think of Finch Arboretum on steroids. In 1928 a man named Isaac Bernheim bought 14,000 acres of heavily logged and worn out farm land. Over the years they have changed that land into a beautiful arboretum and forest with several trails, picnic areas, a research building, an educational center and several lakes. Colorfest has been going on for 16 years and has several booths and demonstrations. I just liked the sound of colorfest and thought that now might be a good time to check out the forest with all the leaves changing colors.

Dead tree art

More dead tree art

Station about birds

The bird's way of saying "I want to go now"

When Meric and I got there Colorfest was in full swing. It really was geared towards children and looked like a great activity. They had several different demonstrations about nature and birds and animals. There was a scavenger hunt, hay bale maze and hay rides. There were stations for pumpkin decorating and making art out of twigs, moss, leaves and other nature items. There was even a geocaching station where kids could go a find a geocache. (There are over 80 geocaches in the forest. Meric and I plan to spend a day geocaching there.) All and all it seemed like a great activity for kids and the forest was full of beautiful colors for us to enjoy. I can't wait to go back soon!

Waverly Hills Sanatorium

The view from the roof

Last night Meric and I went on a tour of one of the most haunted places in America: Waverly Hills Sanatorium. It is a massive building located in Louisville. Apparently Louisville was on of the hardest hit area by the tuberculosis epidemic. In 1910, a two-story building was built to accommodate  40-50 patients. That was quickly over filled and so in 1924 they started building the massive structure that stands today. Finished in 1926, Waverly Hills opened its doors to over 400 patients. Even though it was considered the best TB hospital of its time, thousands of patients died there before a cure was discovered. Once TB was no longer an epidemic and the cure was found, they turned Waverly Hills Sanatorium into a nursing home. The nursing home was closed in 1982 due to budget cuts and the building was left to vandals and trespassers until 2001. The current owners are doing renovations and trying to restore the building. They run a haunted house in it for Halloween but they also do historic haunted tours and over night experiences. Meric and I did a historic haunted tour.

The tour started with a 30 minute video of different clips about Waverly Hills Sanatorium. One of the clips was from the 1930s and the others were different clips from TV specials like Ghost Hunters. If you go to their website you can watch the clips. (http://www.therealwaverlyhills.com/waverly_videos/) I thought the videos were interesting and a good way to get you psyched up for the tour.

Once we entered the sanatorium our first stop was the "body chute". The body chute is a 500 ft tunnel that slopes down. There are stairs on one side and a ramp on the other. When the sanatorium was open the ramp portion was actually a conveyor belt used to bring in supplies. There were so many people dying from TB everyday and the doctors thought it would be best for morale if the bodies were removed from the hospital out of sight of the other patients. So when patients died at the sanatorium they were take out of the hospital down the tunnel and out the back door. The tunnel was very long and very dark. Can you imagine what it was like to work in the tunnel? Long and depressing with lots of dead bodies.

Down we go into the "body chute"

We were then lead through the hospital and told some of the history and some of the ghost stories and sightings. There were stories of ghost children, a boy in particular that likes to play ball. Stories of a homeless man and his dog that were found dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft and sightings of their ghosts. One room in particular is said to be haunted, room 502. The 5th floor was where they kept the mentally ill patients. I don't know why they say room 502 is haunted though because the ghost story didn't take place in the room and has nothing to do with the insane patients, plus 502 was actually a linen closet/storage area. The story is that of a nurse who worked at the hospital and apparently hung herself outside of the room. The story goes that she was pregnant, unmarried and just diagnosed with TB. Of course there is always speculation as to whether she hung herself or was murdered but sightings of her on the 5th floor are common.

the haunted linen closet

The tour was very interesting and entertaining. I like a good ghost story and love old buildings with history. Maybe next summer we will take a tour when it is more light outside so that we can see the rooms and inside better. The only disappointing thing was they didn't show us the morgue. That would have been cool to see.

Utilizing Space

One thing about trailers is there are a lot of storage compartments. The benches at the kitchen table are hollow and have lots of room inside. Lift up the bed and underneath is plenty of room to store all our bedding and extra blankets. The couch has a pull out drawer for more storage. Most trailers have lots of nooks and cranies for you to be able to store all of your things. But living in a trailer sometimes those nooks and cranies just aren't enough.

When we first moved into the trailer I had a hard time figuring out the best place to put our bread. I had already used most of the cabinets and needed a good place were the bread wouldn't get squashed. Our solution was to use heavy duty staples and attach a wire basket I already had to the bottom of a cabinet. Essentially we added an extra shelf.

Our trailer comes with two bathrooms. The main bathroom (that I have shown in a previous blog) has the shower and is next to the bedroom. The extra bathroom is a tiny room that has a toilet and a cupboard behind it. We never have used that toilet and don't intend to ever use it so we made that room into a closet. I use the cupboard for extra storage and we put hooks in there to hang our coats. We also have a step stool, vaccum cleaner, shop vac, and clothes drying rack that we store in there. The extra bathroom is such a convient closet.

We have also discovered some extra storage places. Underneath our utility sink is some room for storage, very much like any sink. Not too long after we moved into the trailer Meric was exploring to see what was behind some panels. He removed the panel from under the utility sink and discovered that basically nothing was behind it. We completely removed that panel and now have even more storage space under that sink.

The panel that we removed went towards another "storage tweak". By the TV in the back room there are shelves on either side. Since we hook our TV to the computer we removed one of the shelves and put the computer in its place. Meric put the panel on the bottom of the shelf and hung it up next to the front door. Now we have a shelf for my purse among other things. This shelf has come in really handy to keep some of the clutter off of my limited counter space. We also added the hooks under the shelf to keep our keys organized. (We ended up with an extra hook and I thought it was the perfect spot for my lovespoon!)

We have a few more ideas for adding extra cubby holes and storage to our trailer and are figuring out everyday the best way to utilize our space.

SUPER Foods

Meric and I have really been trying to get healthier over the last few years. It has been an interesting journey with good parts and bad parts. Eating right and exercising doesn't always come easy. It seems like we start, do well for a while and then something happens to get us off track. I can definitely say that good habits don't come as easily as bad ones. Lately Meric and I have been doing better and are getting back into those good habits.(knock on wood)

There are a few "super" food that I have found along the way. I thought I would share them with you. I talk a lot about protein but I want to clarify that Meric and I aren't doing an Atkins high protein style diet. We do a 40-30-30 style diet (at least sort of). That means 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% good fat.

GREEK YOGURT

I love regular yogurt and it is good for you but Greek yogurt has a little more oomph to it. The way that it is made gives Greek yogurt two times the amount of protein as regular yogurt. It is also thicker and creamier. Greek yogurt is also very versatile. Just add garlic and cucumber to plain Greek yogurt and you have tzatziki sauce to go on your Greek wrap. (Really yummy BTW). Also you can use it in cooking and baking. It is really easy to substitute sour cream with Greek yogurt to add a little bit more protein to your recipes. I am loving that Greek yogurt is becoming more popular because it seems like more companies are coming out with Greek yogurt options. I am loving the variety of flavors and brands that are coming out.

FLAT OUT WRAPS

Flat Out wraps are a food I discovered on a whim. Meric and I were shopping ate Costco when I first saw them. I had been wanting to do more wraps, so I thought I would give these a try. Boy am I glad I did! First of all they taste really good and are soft. I really hate dry wraps. Lately I have been trying out all of the flavors and I love all of them so far. These wraps are also high in fiber and protein. Comparing two pieces of bread to one wrap, you get at least twice as much protein (sometimes more depending on the flavor) and less carbs. Also I love anything with a good fiber content. The majority of people do not get nearly enough fiber in their diets and these wraps are a delicious and easy way to get some. These wraps are also versatile. I use them for all my wraps including Greek. I have used them as pizza crust too. Also if you go to their website you can find recipes for several things including desserts. There is a recipe on there that has you cook the wrap like french toast and layer it with berries and yogurt. I cannot wait to try it!

FLAX SEED

I love this stuff! Adding a little of this stuff to your diet gives you so many health benefits. Flax seed has wonderful nutrients and antioxidents. Also you get a good dose of the ever important fiber and omega-3 (good fat). And like the other foods I have listed, flax seed is versatile. I add this to protein shakes and smoothies and you can hardly tell it is there. It is easy to add to yogurts and cereal. Also throw some into anything you bake for an extra kick of nutrition. I love this stuff! Using flax seed makes it easy to get the fiber and "healthy" fat I need in my daily diet while adding antioxidents and other essential nurtients.

 COTTAGE CHEESE

I need to start by telling you that I don't like cottage cheese. I don't like the flavor and hate it plain or even with fruit. With that said, I love it and consider it a super food. I love cottage cheese as long as I can't taste it alone. When Meric and I first started our diet we discovered that carbs are easy to get but protein can be a little difficult at times. Cottage cheese is high in protein so I started experimenting on ways to use it. I discovered that cottage cheese is very versatile. I love mixing cottage cheese and yogurt for breakfast and blending it with some berries makes a wonderful dessert. I also love adding cottage cheese to pasta sauce. There is a "healthy" cheesecake I make with cottage cheese that is super delicious. So even though I don't like cottage cheese after experimenting a little I have come to love it.

So there are four of my favorite "super" foods. As you can tell versatility is a big factor for me as well as health benefits. What makes them super to me is all the different things you can do with them to add variety to your diet without sacrificing nutrition. Also anything with extra protein or fiber wins my heart. Food can be so delicious and nutritious!

Camping in the NC

Over Labor Day weekend Meric and I went camping with some friends in western North Carolina. It was a 7 1/2 hour drive to get to the campground but well worth it because we got to see some of our Fort Bragg friends. The camp sites were nice and surrounded by trees. We were far enough away from the other campers that having the dogs loose wasn't a problem.The only odd thing about the camp ground was the cemetery. We had to pass by it on the way to the bathrooms. I understand that the cemetery is old and was there long before the campground, but it is still a little odd. Also it was surrounded by a fence that had barbed wire on top. You would think it was to keep people out of the cemetery except the barbed wire was pointed inward instead of outward. It was like they were keeping things in instead of out. Spooky!  We were camping with two other couples and one of the couples had two boys and a dog. The boys were funny and would always move their chairs so that they were either sitting next to Meric or me. The youngest boy (about 3 years old) kept referring to Meric as my dad. He would ask me where my dad was or what was my dad doing. It was really cute. The dog that they had was actually a 6 month old puppy. It reminded me of how old my dogs really are. It was nice to go drive-in camping. It has been a long time since I have done that. Usually when we go camping we go backpacking. Of course there are some people who would consider the way we live to be camping.(Sorry no pictures. We took our camera but forgot to take pictures.)

Taking a Dump and Dumping the Tank

It ain't pretty but everyone has to do it. Using the bathroom in a RV is definitely different than using a regular one. Pretty much the toilet is a raised bowl with a hole in the bottom and a pedal on the side.

I will spare you any pictures of the inside :)

When you press the pedal half way down the bowl fills with water. When you press the pedal all the way down it opens the hole in the bottom and flushes the toilet. The toilet water or "black water" as it is called in RV lingo goes into a tank under the RV. Everything from the toilet collects in the black water tank until it is full, about one week, and then we empty it. Everything collecting in that tank isn't all liquid so we have to break it all down. At the beginning of every tank cycle we toss a chemical packet down the toilet hole.

The chemical packet dissolves in the tank and breaks everything down so that it all comes out of the tank smoothly. Like I said, it ain't pretty but everyone has to do it.

The black water tank isn't the only one that fills up and needs to be emptied, there is also the grey water tank. Grey water is the water from the sinks, shower and washing machine. Since there are so many sources of grey water that tank needs to be dumped at least twice a week.

Dumping the tanks has several steps. We need to shut off the water and disconnect the hose from the trailer's water supply and connect it to the tanks. We got quick connectors for the hose to make it easier when switching it from one to the other.

Then we open the black tank and let the sewage flow. We turn the water back on so that can help clean out the black tank. Opening the tanks is done by pulling a handle inside this compartment.

Once the black water tank is emptied we open the grey water tank. By opening the grey water tank second the grey water going through the hose helps clear the black water out of the sewer hose. When both tanks are emptied, we close them, shut the water off, switch the water hose back to the trailer's water supply, turn it back on and then we are done.

When we first moved into the trailer using the bathroom was kind of weird for me. It took me a little while to get comfortable with the idea of the way the toilet works but now it is just normal. The only thing I hate about using the toilet in the trailer is when I really have to pee. Before I use the toilet I need to fill it with water. Sitting there listening to and watching the water run is torture when you really gotta go!

Experimental Meals

One of my favorite things to do is experiment with meals. From trying new recipes to making them up, I enjoy experimenting. I am also very fortunate to have a husband who is willing to try whatever I make. Well almost anything, if you ever think that tilapia, brown rice and broccoli and cheese cream of soup all mixed together might be good, let me tell you that it is gross and not even Meric will eat it!

So I have been experimenting a little and thought I would share. Last night I made chicken, macaroni and cheese with steamed broccoli. Sounds pretty basic right? Well for the chicken I breaded it in crushed pretzels with a little ranch and garlic seasoning. Instead of using regular cheese for the macaroni I used white cheddar, butterkase, and yogurt cheese. Butterkase and yogurt cheese are both semi-soft cheeses so they made the mac and cheese so creamy I didn't have to add any milk. After dishing it all up, I thought it looked so good I had to take a picture. And after eating it, I would have to say it was delicious!

Another experiment was a result of laziness. When I make lasange I mix together sour cream, cream cheese, and cottage cheese. I take that mixture and layer it with meat sauce and lasange noodles. (I started adding spinach to it for some extra nutrition.) Lazy version is to take a scoop of the cheese mixture, roll it up in a lasange noodle and cover it with the meat sauce. It is all the same ingredients but without the layering. The last time I made it I ran out of lasange noodles half way through. As a result I got even lazier. I mixed the meat sauce and cheese mixture together. Then I boiled some tortellini and mixed it all together. The results... YUM! Adding the cheese mixture to the meat sauce made it very creamy and added great flavor.

I have also been experimenting with breakfast, mainly pancakes. My lastest creation was pina colada pancakes. I used a pancake mix and added crushed pineapple, coconut flakes and rum extract. They turned out pretty good. The pineapple made them sweet and the rum extract added good flavor. I couldn't really taste the coconut though. I am slowly starting to like coconut so I was okay with the light coconut flavor. Baby steps!