We made it to the Red Bay RV Park, a big gravel lot with wide sites and full hookups, on Saturday, 3 October after a short drive from Mississippi. I think this is about the quietest campground in the area, and their prices can’t be beat. We signed up for 7 nights which is actually cheaper than the 6 we thought we’d be here for, but it gave us margin in case something happened. We decided to go to Cole’s Smokehouse for dinner, and I am glad we went early since they closed at 5:00 due to staffing issues! We just got our food to go – brisket for Kevin and their fabulous smoked chicken with Alabama white sauce for me. I had two pieces for dinner and 2 pieces for lunch the next day!
Sunday we went to one of the few restaurants open on Sundays in this very conservative area – the Rattlesnake Saloon. They don’t serve beer on Sundays due to blue laws, but they do have good food and a fun, unique environment. Here is a video of how you get down to the cave where the saloon is located. Note I am still having trouble figuring out the way to add videos so you can just click on them, but you can always cut and paste into a browser.
And here are some pictures to let you know why the place is so interesting!
The rattlesnakes don’t hang out in the restaurant part anymore, but the server said they are see regularly well below it in another rock area. This is a mount on the inside part of the restaurant.
And just in case anyone is wondering, northern Alabama is definitely not flat! It does flatten out near the gulf, but this part of the state has lots of hills and creeks.
Monday we started our motorhome fixes. We first saw Precision RV for preventative maintenance – roof inspection, blowing out our air conditioners, clean and inspect our slides, and relieve my mind about the water that occasionally comes inside when we retract the slides after a rainstorm. Tuesday saw us at Chris Berry to fix our moving midship wall. The forward side he had fixed before, and it was stable. This time the back moved, so he added a full length cleat screwed thru the tile to the subfloor. It looks lovely, and the bathroom door now shuts. It had been so far out that we had trouble before. That afternoon we saw Ricky Johnson for a lovely wash and wax. The coach just gleams, and it was only $275 cash. He is as good as any other detailer in town, and much less expensive. Wednesday was Bay Diesel. They discovered the big “CRACK” we sometimes heard after letting the airbags out was actually a broken rear Koni shock! I guess we hit one too many bad potholes somewhere. The other shock was damaged but not broken, and they are trying to get Koni to replace it under warranty. We will see later if they are successful. Obviously the replaced both shocks, and the rig drives so much better now! They also said the ride height was high in the rear which can also cause problems. Other than that it was just routine one year service on the chassis, engine, and generator. We also had dinner with some FRVA folks at Hometown Pizza which is now Mia Marlis. Same pizza, same place, just new owners. Today we went to Custom RV to get the Vroom slide repaired Velocity Truck Centers screwed up. We have been living without that slide for 2 months, meaning a much smaller bathroom and no access to my washer and dryer. It was the washer and dryer that was bothering me, so I am thrilled. We are now finishing up the 8th load of laundry! Note the washer and dryer are apartment sized so 2 weeks of shirts for each of us is a total of 4 loads, then there were 2 loads of jeans, one of towels, and one of kitchen towels and white underwear that needs bleach. But we should have it all done.
The dinner with the FRVA folks was interesting. I sometimes forget just how broad a range of interests RVers have. We all seem to hang with people that have our own interests. For us, that is big western skies, deserts, mountains, outdoor activities, and music. These 3 couples were into Florida golf resorts, very upscale living, and an entire other lifestyle. I am sure they found us just as foreign as we found them! Nice people though. But it makes me glad that people with those types of interests generally stay east leaving more space for us out west.
Tomorrow go to Carlisle, AR then we are spending a couple of nights at Tenkiller Lake, OK before heading to Edmond, OK. More on that later.