My Third Age Recon Part 1

It is spring break, which, nominally implies spring. You remember, green grass, chicks and bunnies, flowers in bloom, blue skies, puffy clouds, sunshine....you do remember, right?
Not in Ohio, not yet, not now.
So, for spring break, Eldest and I have embarked upon an adventure.
We are calling it my Third Age trip, because we got in the car this morning and started driving south. Agreeing to stop only when the snow was gone, and the green was emerging, and it was somewhere we could consider living when Huz and I enter our "Third Age".
Did I mention Eldest is a PhD student in Human Development and Family Science? The HDFS types have lots of names for the stages of our lives. Apparently, I'm getting older by the day and my Third Age approaches. This is, from what I gather, when my kids are all out of the house, and Huz and I are ready to move on to the next stage of life.
I am afraid to ask if there is a "Fourth Age". I'm suspicious the answer is "No."
So, for my Third Age, I am seeing warmth for this eternally frozen woman.

Drive south. Don't stop until you see green.

 We packed Eldest's little car and put the grey of Cowfeathers in March in the rearview mirror.

Keep driving.
Let me mention, here for non-Ohioans, the first photo was in black and white. This photo is in full color. It really is just this grey.
It snowed for the first 4 hours of the drive.

We crossed out of Ohio and into Kentucky. The cute little hamlet of Maysville KY, on the other side of the Ohio River got us sidetracked a bit. We wended our way through the old town and along the river, ooohing and ahhhing at the grand old houses perched above the town and the wide water.

OOOPS. Zigged when we should have zagged, and ended up back in Ohio. Insert eye roll emoji here.

But, road trips are meant to be adventurous, and handle mistakes. Plus, Eldest's car is the size of a peanut, and easy to turn around.

Eventually we passed into Tennessee. And soon, we noticed not only was the snow gone, but we were seeing greening grass.

We got off the highway to go peek at Lake Norris, and Norris Dam. We discovered much on our cruise of East Tennessee waterways today.

• Lake Norris is invisible. At least unless you're willing to take a hike through the woods. 
• Norris Dam is probably quite lovely for civil engineers and ambitious beavers. Not so lovely to me. 
• The Tennessee Valley Authority has a whole system of dams and lakes up and down the Clinch River between Chattanooga and Knoxville. They drain water out of the lakes and rivers about 6-7 feet in winter, so most waterfront properties convert to "mudfront" for winter. 
• Off topic, but the District of Columbia is called that to honor Christopher Columbus. Bet that gets some folks' panties in a twist. 
• Also, there is a difference between a Funeral Home and a Mortuary. It is subtle, but I think the Funeral Home is like your sit down restaurant and the Mortuary is akin to the drive thru. (Never stop learning, even in your Third Age. And, info like that might help during this stage.)

We continued on, and found that to get to every waterfront property we sought we passed through the following trifecta;

1.  RV park/trailer park.
2. Boat, and/or car graveyard.
3. House buried in junk.

This was a particularly uninviting junk lined street leading to a riverfront property. Windshield wipers are going. It was snowy, rainy or foggy all day, and this was a light as it got. It looked like 6 am or 6 pm consistently.

Definitely vital to go visit properties. This is a flattering photo. Older house, right on the river, house has some Tennessee farmhouse charm. Also, it has a red barn, right on the water, last house on the street. Those are the good points. It is practically under a highway bridge, surrounded by run down homes, and has been on the market for about 4 years. I don't think anyone occupies the home, or takes much care of the place. It's overpriced, under-loved and will be on the market forever unless both change.

So, what do y'all think? I don't think I've found my Third Age destiny. Yet.

Tomorrow, Eldest and I jog east to Lake Santeetlah, NC and a visit with a friend!