Sweet Home Alabama

We have traveled 823 miles since leaving Taft, Tx 6 days ago. It was time for a break so we planned two nights at Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, Al. When we rolled in around 1:30, the office told us there where no available sites other than dry camping. Dry camping means no water, no electricity, no sewer. While we can certainly dry camp, that is not something we are ready to do just yet. Not sure our batteries would power our toys. We knew where Darrell and Judy were parked so we pulled up at their site hoping they would have a solution. They were not home, so we called. Sure enough, they suggested driving through a couple of residential streets here and look for residents who have "For Rent" signs hanging on their lot. This means they rent a site or two next to their home. We called the first "For Rent" we found and left a message. Drove a little further down the road and Carol knocked on the door of another resident with a For Rent sign. The resident came out with Carol and pointed to a spot on their side yard. Next thing I know, we have a spot for a couple of nights for a nominal fee plus electricity thanks to cool couple from Wisconsin, Fred and Deloris. I had to back into the side yard doing a little "S" maneuver while backing. Thirty minutes later, we were set up, at least on the outside.
  

As we looked at the inside, we decide we would go get a bite to eat first. We chatted with Darrell for a bit. He suggested Big Daddy's Grill. While this place was not one of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins or Dives, it certainly could be. The food was absolutely amazing. And we did not get anything fancy. Carol got the Chicken Strip Basket with Sweat Potato Fries while I had Fried Oysters with Onion Rings. What made this simple meal amazing? Everything was freshly made - nothing frozen. Pretty cool. Big Daddy's was a big hit.
  
Next, Carol and I went to Camping World. There were a few things we have been talking about getting for our home. We walked out of there after spending less than $200. That's pretty good considering how easy it would be to spend a bunch. Plus our Good Sam's Club membership qualifies us for a nice discount on all purchases. When we got back home, we had to do something about the inside. Every time we pack up to get on the road, we need to move our recliners and the stuff we normally have on the floor behind them. Notice how the recliners are positioned against the back wall.

We had been discussing switching the recliners with the sewing center. Tonight was the night that was going to happen. Now there is not much space in our home to do a major furniture shuffle so it was pretty crowded for a while. Patches even went into hiding in the bedroom. After getting stuff switched around, we even rotated our dining room table so we have more room coming into the living area.




So what do you think? We will know in a few days if this works for us. The main advantage for switching the recliners to the slide is we do not need to move much stuff when we close up the RV. It is supposed to be stormy tonight maybe. At least that is the way the weather guy described it. We'll know for sure in the morning. Planning to treat Darrell and Judy to breakfast. In addition to chatting with Darrell and Judy, we will get the second half of our trip planned. Saturday AM we head out again.

Thanks for stopping by.

On With The Adventure

Continuing from our last post where we arrived at South Forty RV Park in Giddings. Jacquy/Raye, my brother and sis-in-law, came up from their farm in Burton on Saturday 2/18. While the weather was wet and dreary, their visit perked things up a bit. We also had a visit from our eldest daughter Michele and her son Jayson. We enjoyed Murhpy's Steak House so much on Friday, we went back for lunch. After a long leisurely lunch, we headed back to South Forty RV Park. Weather was just too drizzly to enjoy the outdoors. After saying, "See ya later." to my brother, we settled down for the evening. Michele and Jayson were planning to stay the night. Four hundred square feet of living space plus an active 2 y.o. whose napping schedule has been turned upside down makes for a big challenge for Mommy. No matter how hard Mommy an d G'Mee tried to get that boy to go to sleep, Jayson was just not cooperating. So, around 11PM, Michele and Jayson headed back to their home in Houston. About 10 minutes after they left, Jayson was playing with Mr. Sandman.

Sunday the sun broke through the clouds. What a relief and what a beautiful day. We met Jimmie/Ollie, Carol's aunt/uncle, at FBC. Following the worship service, we enjoyed lunch and chat at Subway. We got caught up on family happenings and had a chance to share a bit more about our adventure. Back at our home again, we saw signs that the Cedar Creek RV Owner folks (Harold, Ray, John, Jerry, Pete and their wives) were congregating around the fire ring. We were invited to join them for an impromptu brown bag supper so we did. After eating and cleaning up, we sat around the fire contemplating solutions to all the world problems. I am sure our elected officials would be interested in a transcript of that conversation. No, Carol is not scolding them here.


Monday we packed up, hitched up and headed out with Carol at the wheel. We waved to all as we drove off. Followed US Highway 290 to Brenham. Drove through town to connect with TX Highway 105 north to Navasota. From there, we took TX Highway 90 to Roans Prairie, then TX Highway 30 to Huntsville. Time for a lunch break so we parked next to J.C. Penney's in a shopping mall. Connected to US Highway 190 in Huntsville and headed for Livingston, then took TX Highway 146 south to Rainbow's End - an Escapee RV park on the south end of Livingston. This is where we have our permanent address. We got set up and went to town to get supplies to build the penthouse floor for Patches. No comments about dinner because it was not worth talking about. Behind the glass window is our mailbox.
 
Tuesday we packed up again. (We are getting good at packing up). The Escapee's park was conducting a trailer weigh-in from 8-10AM. We had no idea how much our new home weighs and that is something all RVer's need to know. So, we got on the scales. Randy and Chris were the official weighers.


First we weighed the truck with no trailer attached, then with trailer attached, we weighted the truck and trailer. I will get our numbers posted later. We are OK on the weight. Just need to do a little rearranging to redistribute the weight better. Got away from Rainbow's End around 11:30M. Weather was sunny and temperature at 60 degrees. GPS took us through some nice quiet back roads away from the congestion and traffic.


Stopped in Vidor, TX for lunch at What-A-Burger. Tricky part was parking. What-A-Burger does not have any RV parking. So I found a large lot behind FBC Vidor that had hook ups for 10 RVs.
  
After walking the fur babies we walked a few blocks to What-A-Burger. After a short break, we continued on I-10. Crossed into Louisiana at 1:45PM. Pulled into Frog City RV Park a short while later.
  
After getting nested, we hunted for cheap fuel. (If you have not used Gas Buddy on your smart phone, you should because it works.) Next on the agenda was finding a restaurant that served Alligator Po-boys. We found a place close (Fezzo's) but they were closed due to Fat Tuesday celebrations. So was Chief Roy's. We ended up at Randol's in south Lafayette. Of course they were in party mode due to Fat Tuesday. Sadly, the food and service was not at all what we had expected.

Wednesday we hit the road about 10:20 with cloudy skies with temperature at 67 degrees. Carol is driving the 200+ miles today. Other than cloudy skies with a light drizzle, and a very bumpy interstate that felt like driving on a washboard, nothing exciting was going on. Then we hit the Atchafalaya Swamp.  Interstate 10 crosses the swamp on elevated pillars on a continuous 18.2 mile bridge from Grosse Tete, Louisiana, to Henderson, Louisiana, near at the Whiskey River Pilot Channel.
  
Next came the granddaddy of all rivers. the might Mississippi. Of course traffic was getting heavy as we approached the bridge to cross the river. Carol does not like driving in this kind of traffic at all. She did fine and kept her cool.


 
Sorry for the blurry images. It is hard to take a decent photo when the vehicle is moving and bucking at the same time. Next Carol has to get in the correct lane to be sure we are in position to make the switch to I-12. She made it with nerves intact.
  
Of course I am helping with my super navigational skills.
  
Time for potty break so Carol pulled off at I-65 into Petro Truck Stop and parked next to another traveler.


Cody and Qianna took a little walk as well. Here they are nestled back in their spaces with Patches in the penthouse.


Shortly after that, we crossed one more state line and are now in Mississippi.
  
Twenty-eight miles into Mississippi, we are ready to head for our destination, Magic River Resort near Long Beach.  I made the mistake of programming the GPS incorrectly and had to do a little fancy navigation to get our RV out of a tight spot. Yes, the stress level kick up a notch. We got parked and nested quickly. This is our first 30A connection which works just fine.
  
We hit a home run for dinner. The original plan was for Fried Shrimp in Gulf Port. I searched for restaurants featured on Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives. We selected Darwell's Cafe in Long Beach. We shared a Crab Cake Entrée with sides of Crawfish Étouffée and Shrimp Creole. For dessert, we had an Apple Bottom Brownie and a Peanut Brownie. This place had the best food since Murphy's in Giddings. Take a look.
  
Thursday we have a short drive to Rainbow Plantation. This is another Escapee park in Summerdale, AL. Here we are going to meet Darrell and Judy Patterson from Wandering America . We have been following them on their travel blog for over 5 years now. We planing on spending two nights there.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoy the journey as much as we are.

1626 Miles to Go

Friday Feb 17th marked the beginning of our 1600+ mile journey to the east coast. This was going to be a busy day. Carol spent the afternoon on Thursday brushing and grooming Qianna. This morning she (Qianna) and Cody had a bath appointment in Corpus Christi early in the morning at the Dog House. We dropped them off after they agreed to have the fur babies ready for pick up at 10:30.

Next stop was breakfast. We had been going to Town and Country Cafe for years so we thought it was fitting to stop by one last time for a hearty breakfast. After breakfast, I stopped at Home Depot to pick up a couple of blades for my circular saw. Next stop was Advanced Hearing Solutions to pick up Carol's hearing aid that had been sent back to factory for repair. Finally back to the Dog House to pick up the fur babies. Corpus Christi tasks are completed.

We headed back to Taft to hitch up our house. As we got closer to the Corpus Christi ship channel, we ran into fog and misty dew. Crossed the channel and ran into light but steady rain in Portland. By the time we got to Taft about 11:00AM, the rain stopped. God gave us a window of no rain to get hitched up. I had already packed away things outside on Thursday so today, I helped Carol inside with moving the recliners and some boxes of photos. By noon, we were done with everything and hitched. The church chimes rang at noon as we pulled out.

The first half of the trip to South Forty RV Park in Giddings was uneventful. As we headed North on Highway 77, it felt a little weird to know we are not returning South in a few days. It was like a trip down memory lane. In Refugio, we turn off on Highway 77A headed for Goliad, Cuerro, Yoakum and Hallettsville. Stopped for a quick lunch in Cuerro. Light sprinkles started just as we headed back to the truck. Doggies got a potty break as well.

Second half of the trip was a different story. By the time we got to Yoakum, the rain was pretty steady. Rejoined Highway 77 in Hallettsville and the rain was heavier. As we were approaching Schulenburg, I commented to Carol about the rain run off filling the many ponds that were bone dry. I saw a sign on the side of the highway warning of a low bridge ahead. Sign said 13' 8". (Not to self - measure height of RV.) About 2 blocks from this low bridge, I turned off the main highway, drove past a school, crossed over (not under) the R/R tracks and stopped for a potty break at Besetsney's Kountry Bakery. Of course I purchased a few pastries for Saturday's breakfast. The rain was still coming down in buckets.

The closer we got to La Grange, I remembered the comment Carol made to me in May 2007 while returning home from a family reunion in Giddings. She said, “You do know, dear, when we retire, I do not want to stay in Corpus Christi, I would like to live closer to family.” I wrote about that conversation on The Plan. Here we are almost 5 years later. Another sign on the highway reminded us of a steep twisty down grade on the final approach to La Grange. Due to the wet road conditions, we opted to take an alternate route. Of course we did not know that Country Club Drive would be under construction and we would drive on wet, very rough caliche. About a mile after I turned off Highway 77, the road transitioned from black top to caliche. I was traveling about 35 mph and realized very quickly that we had to slow down quickly since we did not need the RV to shake, rattle, and roll down the road. Twenty mph was almost too fast. SHEESH, that was a slow 2.5 mile trip.

We left La Grange, headed for Giddings. Thirty miles to go and it is still raining. Now it is time for a serious prayer. "GOD, Thank you for bringing moisture to this dry state of Texas.  However, we could use a sort period of no rain so we can set up. Thank You for understanding." So for the next few minutes, it continued to rain. As we pulled into the South Forty RV Park, it is still raining. As we pulled into our site, it was still raining. About 5 minutes later, the rain slowed to a light sprinkle. Yea God. He is so good.

After we unhitched, we met Harold Dean from Palestine, TX and Ray Sagar from Sevierville, TN. These are two of the founders of the Cedar Creek RV Owners Club. I've chatted with these guys on the internet for the past several months so it was good to put a face to their names. They are here at South Forty for the month of February. Shortly after we got settled in Ray came over and gave us a patch that his wife made and a couple of Cedar Creek coffee mugs they give to new members as they meet them. Thanks fellas.

We drove to Winchester for an amazing meal at Murphy's Steakhouse. I normally do not order Ribeye steak because I have not found many places that cook up a Ribeye as good as me. Not bragging here just the facts. Ask my family. The drive through more rain to get there was certainly worth it. When we got back to our home, we walked the fur babies, raised the bat wing (TV Antenna) and settled in for the rest of the evening.  Carol nested in bed with a book. I was waiting for the weather report but decided to turn in early. The weather will be what it will be.

Murphy's Steakhouise

Saturday we are expecting company as my brother and S-I-L make the trip from their home in Burton and our eldest daughter and youngest grandson make the trip from Houston for an afternoon visit.

Thanks for stopping by. We will keep you up to date as we travel on to our next stop on our retirement adventure.